"If you build it, they will..."?

I was recently intrigued by a post on the Facebook wall of Sandy Crow Baird-Sanders, owner of the Plymouth House Bed & Breakfast:

"...My Plymouth water bill from Oct 15 to Nov 15 almost 500 bucks. That's robbery. Then if you check Trip Advisor dot com you see a post for me and the city as [looking like a] dry and a depressed area. Yes, my inn and the town, too. People don't know that a 500 dollar bill won't cover keeping even a few plants green. Disgusting."

"...Oh yeah, and then the City raises TOT taxes. That's on travelers. After paying operating expenses what's left?!"

The quote that Sandy Crow Baird-Sanders was referring to can be found at: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32905-d562202-Reviews-Plymouth_House_Inn-Plymouth_California.html

"The landscaping was only fair. The lawn was partially dried up and there weren't a lot of flowers. I don't know if Plymouth has water restrictions, which it may. Nothing in town is very green."

Now mind you, I took some time to look at quite a few of the other posts of her past customers, and

it appears that the majority of Sandy's customers have had positive experiences at her bed and breakfast. However, if you're a savy business owner, as Sandy certainly seems to be, you always hone in on customer service...the kudos, the criticisms, the ratings, the score card, the bottom line opinion.

To me, a $500 water bill is a slap in the face.

I'm sure there are thousands upon thousands of business owners who are experiencing exactly what Sandy is experiencing today.

So many want Amador County succeed in this economy, yet antediluvian city/county ordinances and utility services - arm in arm with a State government that has a history of shooting itself in both feet (and other appendages) by investing in the opportunistic greed of attorneys, politicians and lobbyists instead of their own spine (i.e. small business)...make it near impossible to even do or maintain business, much less succeed. Make no mistake, non-profit organizations and churches are businesses, too, and they run into the same problems when it comes to grants and donations that once were their community programs' homemade bread and sweet cream butter. I remember the words of Amador County Supervisor John Plasse, when I sat down in an interview with him a while back: "Why would anyone want to open a business right now? They'd be behind before they even open their doors."  He was right. He is still right.

The problem? Old mentalities, old ways of thinking, many old business strategies that no longer work in a technologically-progressive and ever-changing world. Information and demographics are either not being studied properly, or they're simply being ignored by those who sit in city/county seats. Educated ignorance? Idiocracy now? I lived in Amador County for a total of 11 years, and even today, I continue to hear grumbles and whisperings about the "good ol' boys" in control, that "no one is listening anyway, so why try?", to people being laid off/fired for no good reason...to a few half-glass-full hopefuls who will never give up because they believe. Believe in what? Can they even define it now? It is a weird time for Amador County.

Business owners can renovate and remodel, cities can apply and receive facade improvement grants...yet when all is said and done, who will come, who will buy? Gone are the days when it was believed, "If you build it, they will come." Sure, it does depend on what is being built and offered, but we live in a global market/economy, and therefore must compete in a global market/economy. We have generations coming up that could care less about gold country history, our amazing wine country, our historic downtown districts and the Americana way of life. "Do they have a Gamestop here? Where's the mall? This restaurant sucks, where's the McDonald's? This is boring, I want to go home."

I asked one of my Glee students last year, what they planned to do after high school. Their response? "Get as far away from this place as I can."  My own two children joined the Marine Corps. You want drama, there's a whole other can of worms. One of my voice students is on a path to success in Los Angeles. She did not get there because of Amador County's school system or [lack of] music programs; she got there because of the talented, gifted young woman she is and will be. Our youth want to get out of Amador County to succeed. What does that tell us as adults? Do our future generations want to be lifting their pinkies, sipping wine at the National Hotel ("...in a small city hurting for help" re: CBS 13 Sacramento)? Do they want to take a tour of the Kennedy Mine? Do they want to get their food at the local farmers' market? Maybe...for their own amusement, or to show their kids where they grew up; but my take is, never, ever underestimate the power of the future. So what does the future want?

It's been said, "Progress happens one funeral at a time." Additionally, one of my good friends once said that, "People come to Amador County to die." (ie. retire). The truth sometimes hurts, but perhaps it is time that Amador County seriously looks at what is and what is not. Gone are the "Leave It To Beaver" homemade meatloaf days. What is here is Xbox, iPhone, skate/snowboards, casinos, Chili's and Ambercrombie & Fitch. Doin' it "Gangnam Style"...Tobuscus...etc. etc. Oh, y'all have no idea...and I thought I was boss in the 80's with big ratted hair and The Cure.

I've lived in Pioneer, Drytown, Jackson and Ione. I've run Amador Community News since April of 2007, when it was just a simple, community bulletin board that filled a certain need for those just wanting to know what was happening in "The County". I've separated myself from existing, corporate local media that caters to back pockets. What can I say, I'm in tune with a much broader demographic with 3,600 Facebook friends, and if Amador County ever wants to rise to an existing global market, sure, I'm there. If not, I'm there, too. I'm about a complete community that is willing to bridge generational gaps.

Hell. Let's do it "Gangnam Style".
Carol Harper
Editor, Amador Community News