County supervisor, sheriff announce bids for reelection
Two more Tuolumne County incumbents have announced their plans to seek reelection next year amid what local elections officials say has thus far been a relatively quiet pre-campaign season.
County Supervisor Ryan Campbell and Sheriff Bill Pooley each said they will seek another four-year term when their seats go up for grabs in the June 7 primary election, joining incumbent County Supervisor Anaiah Kirk who announced his plans to run again over the summer.
Potential challengers have yet to emerge against any of the three elected officials who have announced their candidacies, all of whom are currently serving their first terms.
Debi Bautista, the county clerk, auditorcontroller and registrar of voters, said the county Elections Office has not fielded as many inquiries from people mulling a potential run as they typically would by this time before an election year.
The county Elections Office hosted a meeting on Monday to provide information for prospective candidates. Bautista said the only people who attended were six incumbent elected officials and a person interested in possibly running for Sonora City Council.
Campbell’s District 2 seat and Kirk’s District 3 seat are the only two from the Board of Supervisors that will be on the primary election ballot for registered voters who live within the boundaries of their respective districts.
Six county-wide offices will be on the June 7 ballot including Pooley’s, as well as district attorney, auditor-controller, assessor-recorder, treasurertax collector, and superintendent of schools.
Bautista declined to comment on her plans at this time.
Two seats on the Sonora City Council currently held by Councilman Jim Garaventa and Councilwoman Colette Such will also be on the primary ballot. The two candidates who get the most votes in that race will win the seats outright and begin their four-year terms in July.
If no one gets at least
Mut decided to retire, we took it over.”
All of the volunteers, including Dennis Kavie, 34, of Jamestown, feel the same when it comes to the bean feed and its founder. He volunteered to help make the quesadillas and to do whatever was necessary to make the bean feed a success.
“It’s very important to come out and be a part of the tradition that Mut started,” he said. “It’s important to continue the tradition.”
Kavie first attended the event in 2002, when he was a student at Sonora High School.
“It was awesome to see so many people from the community come together,” Kavie said.
In years past, prior to COVID-19, downtown sidewalks would be flooded with 500-700 people, who would patiently wait in line for their turn. The event was cancelled last year due to the pandemic.
Morales believes the organization served between 300-400 people, and suggested that the lower turnout could be because people “are afraid of COVID-19.”
A lower turnout didn’t mean that the people who attended were dissuaded. In fact, it was quite the opposite for Bob Foster, 71, of Sonora.
“It is my 17th year attending the bean feed. I was the first in line today,” Foster said. “I always wanted to be first in line. Now I can check it off my bucket list.”
While ringing the bell, Mutzner was cheered on by the crowd, who whooped and hollered, clearly loving the fact that he was there honoring his father and they were showing him how excited they were to be there to witness it.
Santa Claus, aka, Bogio Ditler, 54, of Phoenix Lake, traded in his sleigh for an electric scooter, which he drove around downtown Sonora to encourage people to stop by and get some grub. Ditler, clad in a white beard yelled, “Merry Christmas! Come to the bean feed,” as he scooted along in his red and white Kris Kringle suit, complete with bells on his black boots.
People driving cars down
S. Washington Street honked while cruising by and people yelled, “Merry Christmas!” as they continued along their way. The sun was shining and though it was cold, the people who gathered were jovial as they exchanged pleasantries and stories of bean feeds past.
For besties Cate Richards, 67, of Sonora, and Karin Clancey, 67, of Tuolumne, the event could not be missed.
“I love Cate and Cate loves the bean feed,” Clancey said.
“We weren’t going to miss it.”
This year’s celebration was Clancey’s second bean feed and Richards’ 18th.
“This is an event I love to attend because of all of the people who come out to show their community support,” Richards said. “You never know what you are going to see. It’s different every year and that’s why I love it.”