Angora Fire -- county supe defends actions

Unedited version of 08-07 Tahoe Mt. News story

Santiago defends her presence, or lack thereof

By Kathryn Reed

Criticism has been levied against El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago in regards to her absence at several meetings related to the Angora Fire.
She was a no-show at all three community meetings while the fire raged, as well as the one arranged last month and moderated by Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville.
Santiago did coordinate a press conference in July to outline how the county was handling debris removal. She also led Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a tour of the devastation.
But the route she chose has been criticized by some officials because it was not the most severe region.
Santiago after the Aug. 2 meeting about the 10-year fuels reduction meeting led by the U.S. Forest Service defended her actions in the weeks after the Angora Fire.
“I was at the fire. I was busy getting things done,” Santiago said of where she’s been.
At the time of the first community meeting she had been up for 36 hours. She believes her time was better spent getting shut-eye while her assistant Judi Harkens attended the forum.
However, neither was present at the other two forums.
Santiago said she consulted with the sheriff’s department to see if her presence was needed. She said they told her no.
Because all of the 200 plus homes that were incinerated were in the county and not the city, she said she had more work to do than the city officials who were seen at the bulk of the meetings.
Santiago said she has been meeting with victims, trying to streamline the recovery process and arrange debris removal.
“That’s where my focus is,” she said.
As for not attending last month’s meeting arranged by Gaines, she was out of town on county business that could not be changed. Harkins was in attendance, but was not asked by Gaines to be on the multifaceted panel as the county representative. Nor did Gaines bother to explain why the county was not represented. Nor did Harkins ask to be at the head table.
Santiago has said doing work for the victims and helping to prevent another disaster as well as attending to other county work has been her priority more than attending every public meeting.