PG&E to conduct drill in Browns Valley

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company will be conducting drills in parts of the Yuba County foothills today (Thursday) to practice its responses during Public Safety Power Shutoff events, though power will not be interrupted to customers during the drill.

The drill will include helicopters patrolling and inspecting power lines to improve the time it takes to turn the power back on safely. Today’s drill will focus on the vicinity of Browns Valley and surrounding areas. Residents in those areas may see additional PG&E and contractor trucks during the drill as well.

PG&E announced it is expanding its Community

Accomplishments

Wightman said the department has come a long way since he first started.

“When I first got here, we were on Second Street and the police department was a double-wide mobile home,” he said. “We have since moved into this facility (on Main Street), have very modern equipment.”

Wightman said the department also had been buying used patrol vehicles.

“Through good fiscal management and keeping an eye on the budget, we don’t buy used cars anymore,” he said. “We buy top-of-the-line patrol cars, we have the best weapons, we provide officers with all of the mandated training plus additional training inside our training budget.”

Toni Gugliotti, administrative assistant with the department, who has been with the department since 2009, said she has been given several opportunities to get involved in a lot of different things since Wightman has been chief that she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do.

“(Wightman is) very open to requests for additional training,” Gugliotti said. “He also gives us opportunities to participate with other agencies and expand our knowledge and skill levels.”

Wightman said keeping a full staff has probably been one of the biggest challenges.

“We’re a 24/7 operation,” Wildfire Safety Program to further reduce wildfire risk and keep customers safe following two years of significant wildfires throughout the state. That includes expanding its Public Safety Power Shutoff program to include all electric lines that pass through high fire-threat areas – both distribution and transmission lines. he said. “There’s eight sworn officers, including myself, so there’s seven patrolmen and I have four reserve officers, we rely heavily on them. So if one gets injured or one leaves, it puts a major burden on everyone else because we still have to provide that same coverage.”

He said keeping a recruiting pool and retention are two important things to keep in mind.

What’s next?

Wightman said he felt like it was time for him to retire and that it will be good for the department and community to have a new face.

“I think it will be good for the department because of bringing in a fresh set of eyes with new modern visions. I’m old school,” he said. “It will be good for the officers here, it will be good for the community. We’ve done some

As part of that program, PG&E may de-energize the lines, shutting off power to customers. During a power safety power shutoff, PG&E crews will inspect every part of the de-energized lines from the sky and from the ground to identify and repair damage before restoring power.

great things in eight years here but it’s time to get somebody fresh and energized.”

Wightman said he plans to take a break and relax for about six months but then would consider doing some consulting or interim chief work at small agencies before they hire or recruit a permanent chief. But it all depends.

“I’m kind of an energetic guy so standing around, doing nothing is not my style,” he said. “But I’ve got three grandkids so they’re going to occupy a lot of my time.”

Wightman said it’s been an honor to serve as the police chief for Wheatland.

“It’s been an honor to serve this community,” he said. “… I think we’ve created a very safe community here, the officers are responding on the spot, providing a good level of community service, we’re invested here and we want to keep Wheatland safe.”

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