Show: Insight Station: KNCO File: 9:21.mp3 Air date: 2026-09-21 Source: OpenAI whisper-1 · shrunk from 98.6 MB to 12.3 MB --- transcript --- Welcome to KNCO Insight, Nevada County Action, KNCO's local issue talk show. This is your chance to gain insight into issues affecting Nevada County. Be a part of the show. Call with your questions or comments. The number, 477-5626, that's 477-KNCO. The opinions expressed are those of the hosts and callers and do not reflect the opinions of the advertisers, staff, or ownership of Nevada County Broadcasters. Now here is your host, Tom Fitzsimmons. Yep, that's me, KNCO Newstime, 907, 69 degrees, and yeah, there's still some clouds just looking out there. Clouds are still taking up a lot of the sky. It's going to be mostly sunny by the afternoon, and as the sun breaks out a little bit more, we're expected to get up close to 80 degrees for the high today. Tomorrow starts fall, and by Wednesday, the first full day of fall, we're supposed to be mid to upper 80s, so we'll still have a summer type of feel, and that's not unusual for us. It is a time of year. You still have to be careful outside if you're doing any type of work in the yard. We really encourage you to get defensible space and do all that stuff, but please use your common sense. Make sure you're safe about it, and make sure it is a day like this, a little bit cooler, and if you have a little bit more humidity and stuff, that's even better, but yeah, we don't want to have a different department to talk to from the county today, like, oh yes, we have already done that, haven't we, Allison? We have several times. Several times, and because it is very important and stuff, and we want to protect housing, which is my transition right there. What a great transition. We're talking about housing today, and never have I felt really more inadequate to talk about something, even though I have a house and all that stuff. Planning and the process of planning it and making it work for a county is a tough thing for me to wrap my head around. Well, then this is the perfect show. We have two guests with us today. We have David Nicholas, who is Nevada County Senior Planner, as well as Tyler Barrington, who is our Director of Nevada County Housing, and is also going to be talking a little bit about community services. All right. So, what's one department that you've never worked in, in all your years at the county? Actually, I don't even think they know this, I did the Housing Voucher Program when I was in Social Services. Oh, you did? I did. And I did some of the CSBG programs as well. You know, that's one of your strengths, Allison, is that you've been in so many different departments over the many years you've been involved with the county, that it does give you that, you know, kind of understanding of a lot of different places. No, absolutely. But, like anything, everything evolves, especially rules and regulations with all these programs, so it's really, you know, an honor to work with staff who are the subject matter experts that track all of that and really put Nevada County in the forefront. Oh, here's the funny thing. I saw David, outside David Nicholas, in our little voyeur area there, the hallway, and said he looked like a planner. The only reason I said that, David, is that I had your name on a list. So, you don't look like necessarily a planner, you look like a great young man. You're the Nevada County Senior Planner, so what's it mean to be the Senior Planner? It means just, you know, working on a variety of projects. I've been working for the county for a little while, so I'm involved with some of our current planning, so some of our development projects, just making sure things that are being built are aligning with our rules and regulations and coordinating with other departments, but also some more of the policy and the guiding documents for the county, such as this housing element that we're talking about today. Okay, now, being the Senior Planner, do you have planners under you, like a number of planners as well, the way it works in the hierarchy? No, it's not a supervisory role, so there's still the planning director that we all work underneath. Is he a nice guy? Oh, Brian's great. Is he? Hey, what's so nice about him? I don't know if I've ever, has Brian been on here? Oh, if he has not been on here, then we need to get him on. Which Brian's last name? Foss, and he actually has been with the county probably just as long as Tyler and myself, so over 20 plus years. I don't think so. I think I remember that name, Brian Foss. Incredibly smart. Yeah. Right. Yeah. You see, that's smart. That's from you. Okay, that's from you, young lady. What do you think? You see that smart, David, or you're smarter than him? Brian's sharp. He's got some good insights, clever responses, and Brian's funny, too. Yeah, and you never know what I'm going to ask you, David, too. That's what you're going to find out today. We always appreciate Brian's board presentations. That's why I'm surprised you aren't familiar with Brian, because he has among the best staff presentations to the board. Yeah, and to tell you the truth, probably the years I was at the board meetings, I probably did cover it. He was there. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. And it's just one of those things that's in the back of my brain someplace. A little with Tyler Barrington's name, because Tyler, first time on the radio here. Is that right? Yeah. I was actually on another show with the radio, so first time with you, though, Tom. Oh, okay. Was it a man or a woman that talked to you? Who talked to you? It was a real estate agent, and it was about housing, obviously, and I forget her name at this point in time. Yeah. All right. I usually forget about them, too. Now, it says here you're the Housing and Community Services Director, so what's that mean, that title? That's correct. So Housing and Community Services, we do a lot of programs to help support our community, primarily focused on our low-income residents, but also with the direction of the Board of Supervisors recently, we're leaning into a little bit more of that workforce housing range, which essentially means somewhere that you earn between 80% and 120% of the area median income kind of puts you in that workforce housing group, if you will. Yeah. It's an amazing, tough thing to deal with, isn't it? Absolutely. In this state. I imagine in our county as well, right? Correct. All right. Now, Allison, just bringing these people together, I know Taylor's been talking about, Taylor Wolf, that is, been talking about a survey that was out there and stuff. Correct. How were the responses for the survey? Were they the numbers you were hoping to get? Yeah, we had a really meaningful response. We had over 300 responses to the Housing Element Survey. Okay. That's all right. And it closed on September 6th, and I think it's really important to look at what of those surveys that sampling in the public is telling us, because I think it does translate to what we hear anecdotally in the community. So among renters in the unincorporated county, 56% said it was difficult to find affordable rental housing, and 44% said it's an overall lack of available rental units. So Tyler is director of a new department, less than a year, and he is really bringing focus to just housing. So before, how housing was living a little bit in HHSA, Health and Human Services Agency, Community Development Agency. Okay. Tyler is doing a fantastic job bringing in those components and really creating a work plan to enhance and increase housing stock. And that's the whole continuum from affordable housing to market rate housing and looking at what can we do better as a community. Because as you know, Tom, and I'm sure you see this in your own workforce, it is hard to find housing or a rental in this community. Absolutely. And that is going to be really important for a community that's vibrant and quality of life and making sure that people are able to work and live here. Yeah. My news department there, Chris Gilbert's the head of it. He lives down Marysville. Yes. Mo Howard, who's the morning show host, he's not there at the moment. I think he's in the production room. He lives in Sutter. Comes up from Sutter. Right. Base of the Buttes. So that's a great example. Because they couldn't really find housing up here. They'd love to. Because they love to come here for events. And obviously they work here and stuff as well, but it has been very, very tough. All right. So I see something here, David, about the housing element. And see, this is where terms get to me. Housing element is part of the county's general plan. What's the housing element? What does that mean? Yeah, the housing element is a state mandated portion of our general plan. It really guides the way that housing develops in the county. In this housing element, there's multiple components of it from understanding the needs of the community, realizing constraints, and also trying to figure out what we can do about removing some of those constraints so we have housing that's affordable for all income groups. Part of this general plan also involves making sure we have enough land zoned for the different housing types of the various income groups so we can have those market rate housing. In addition to rezoning and trying to find adequate housing for all people, there's also programs in there where Tyler's department comes into play. Things such as these programs for grants and community housing and different programs we can do to help people out. Is that when developments come in front of the Board of Supervisors or the Planning Commission maybe as well, obviously. They say we're going to want to put in, I'll just throw a number, 300 units out there. Does that mean that housing element says yeah, but we need some of it to be affordable housing, some of it to be multiple purpose dwellings or things like that? In a way, the housing element kind of lays the framework for it. As part of the housing element, we do have to do some rezoning to create areas with more density. Those areas that have additional density would be things that have good roads and infrastructures and access to services like schools and public utilities and things like that. Those are the sorts of areas we're looking for where we're realizing that that might be able to have more high density, which could be more affordable to more people. We're also trying to balance that with having a rural quality of life, protecting the environment, and not encroaching too far into the high wildland severity area. It's a real balance. But kind of back to your question, once we have those areas identified where it makes sense to put higher density housing, then a developer could come in with a proposal to build those units. Then we'd have to review that project to make sure that it's all consistent with the design standards and all the other county requirements to make sure it's got adequate utilities and things like that. Then that's where it would go before a hearing body that you were talking about. How long does it take? I see a date here, David, that the current update of the housing element, 2027-2035. How long does it take to get that update done? Is it a six-month process, year-long process, maybe even years long? Because it's such an intense type of thing. Well, the cycle of those housing elements can be eight years or are eight years. We're trying to do the update in one year, and it's going to eventually, we're looking for certification from the state by May 15, 2027. And then once we have that adopted, that's going to be the guiding document for the next eight years until we have to update it again pursuant to the state laws. Is it tough going through the state? It seems like anything in Sacramento is tough. Yeah, it's becoming more and more challenging. Housing is a big challenge, so a lot of what we're doing with our housing element, in addition to being aware of the community's needs and taking into consideration what the survey is saying, we also have to update the housing element to be consistent with all the state laws in terms of ADUs and streamlining and other various state laws that have been passed because of that statewide push to make housing more affordable for everybody. So, Tom, the one thing that we haven't talked about, which is really important for the community to understand, is that the state gives an allocation of numbers that you have to work towards in terms of housing. And so the cities get a number, the town gets a number, and the county gets a number. So we are going through the same housing element cycle with our city partners, and we're looking at this holistically. But just to give you an idea of the importance of rezoning or upzoning is that the state has given us our allocation, our numbers, of 3,712 housing units. And so David could talk a little bit about that. It does not mean the county is going to go out and build 3,000 plus units. It's talking about the land use, the zoning requirements that would enable developers to come in and do that. Yes, exactly. So that, as Allison said, we have our obligation to have enough zoning available for 3,712 units. And of that 3,700 units, there's different allocations for various income groups, which is triggering that requirement for some form of upzoning. And that's in unincorporated areas. Correct. Correct. It's called the Regional Housing Need Allocation, or you'll hear it in Planner speak as a RENA. And the county and the cities get their allocation, and then we have one year from the state providing the allocation for us to complete the update to our element. Is that easier said than done? It's not easy. Yeah. It doesn't sound easy. Especially in a rural community. Yeah. And especially when we're struggling, you know, with wildfire and other state rules and regulations that are telling us where not to build, we have a state department that's saying like, oh, build more. So it's very much of a balance, and I'm so grateful to have staff that understand that balance, that need, and to really have a thoughtful process where we involve the community so we have a plan that's really going to be beneficial. All right. Well, we have to take our first break. Let's do that right now. Get that in here. Talking about housing today, and again, I'm going to get educated just like you at home, so we're going to have a quick break. We'll be right back. Why is my lawn still drinking like it's July? Good question. Even when it's still hot outside, it's a good time to check your water use. 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If potholes, crumbling driveways, or worn paths are showing the effects of winter wear, now is the perfect time to plan ahead. Early spring scheduling helps ensure your project is done right and done on time. Call Hanson Brothers, HBE Rattles, at 273-3381, or visit gohbe.com for more information. Hanson Brothers, built on experience, and trusted across Nevada County. All right, KNC Newstime on 923, we'll call it 70 degrees, welcome back to KNC Insight, highlighting the County of Nevada today, Allison Leeman here, County CEO, along with David Nicholas, the Nevada County Senior Planner, Tyler Barrington here, Nevada County Housing Community Services Director, haven't seen Violet yet, our Youth Commissioner, we're going to try to have a Youth Commissioner here, talk about the youth issues and such, which is kind of an interesting thing in itself, Allison, because you have youth at home. I no longer have youth at home, Tom. Well that's true, you're kind of an empty nester. I am. But you never know, they do have a boomerang effect sometimes. You know, I hear that. And one reason why is housing, you know, because it's not easy for youth. Oh, you have no idea. Even to wrap their head around it, right? As a parent, it's tough for us to do it, never mind them. Yet the county wants to embrace youth housing, it sounds like. No, it's really interesting because as you are aware, Jeff Dulles, our coordinator of the Youth Commission, part of what he does, he facilitates policy objectives each year with our board-appointed Youth Commission, which are students of all our local high schools. And each year, they come up with three or four policy areas that they want to bring focus to. Last year, the Youth Commission brought up housing. And so they went through a year process where they did policy development, they talked to planning staff, they talked to their peers, they talked to our community stakeholders, and they recommended to the board of being part of the outreach and stakeholder group for this year's housing element. So kudos to them. As you just said, like, what is a housing element and, you know, and what is it exactly? These youth really did a deep dive. They understood that this is a policy tool that's really going to make the biggest impact. So our Youth Commission has been fully engaged, and they have done outreach or upcoming workshops where it invites the public to participate. They've really enhanced our social media outreach on Facebook and Instagram, and which really to date has had over, you know, hundreds and hundreds of interactions with the public. So we really appreciate them being an important thought partner and being part of this process. Yeah. All right. I do appreciate that. And I'm glad they have the foresight that it is an issue. It's probably been talked about around their kitchen table, hopefully, or just among themselves because it is kind of funny, isn't it, Allison? All of a sudden, they're making these big decisions going to college, and you grow up big time. All of a sudden, you have to get yourself up for school, all these little things that your kids mature in. But they start thinking about, where am I going to live after this? Oh, for sure. And it's the affordability crisis, right? Absolutely. And it's not just unique to Nevada County, but all over California. And it's, I think, that generation of students, housing is in the forefront of what does that look like for them and what their options are, and really is going to dictate in terms of where they're able to live. So David, being one of the senior planners, is it tough to bring the youth issue into planning? Because it is a different type of demographic, as opposed to somebody with a season amount of jobs and income and things like that. Yeah, well, we're looking at these different income groups that we have an obligation to have different levels of affordable housing for. The youth are typically someone that's just getting their life started and can benefit from some of these programs and zonings to create housing that's more available to them. There's not a specific call-out for the youth. They're not one of the state-mandated protected groups or special focus groups. But it is something that we value their input from, and they've done a good job of reaching out. And they're also someone that we encourage to be involved with the process by turning in comments and also attending our upcoming meetings, our board workshop on October 20th, and also another workshop where we can give some more information to the public that's coming up, which is going to be on September 29th from 6 to 7.30 p.m. at the Eric Rood Center. Oh, okay. So the whole community is invited to that? Yeah, including the youth. Including youth. All right. Are you happy with the numbers you got for the surveys and stuff? Is that enough numbers for you to work on prior to this meeting? Yeah, it was really interesting, and it was informative seeing the responses from the communities. We had about 322 responses and people from different viewpoints, and that just really emphasizes the balancing act we're trying to do with these different views and the different constraints we have. Well, and maybe for David and Tyler, and maybe even Allison for that matter, ADUs were talked about for a while, and there was excitement about them and such, and I don't know where it's standing now. It seems like they could be, perhaps, residences for youth or maybe even older couples or something like that. How are we doing with ADUs? So, David, you can probably speak to this a little bit, but I think we do around 10 to 12, maybe 15 ADUs a year permitting-wise. Okay. We're still required to provide adequate water and sewer. And Tom, I actually, I moved to the county in 2005, and I lived in an ADU for approximately eight years before I was able to afford to buy a house. Yeah. So, it's a really good stepping stone. I totally agree. And so, it does provide some of that housing stock. The county's really leaned into ADUs. We have a master housing plan. I think there's four different plans that would fit as either a primary residence or an ADU that you can use for fairly cheap. We're, I think recently the planning department made some amendments to the zoning code to meet state law consistent with for ADUs. And so, the state's always kind of pushing and trying to make it easier to accommodate those units. And it seemed like, too, David, that if I recall, the county, even when ADUs were coming forward, even had special plans for ADUs that people that wanted to maybe build them and stuff and have them happen, that they were kind of set plans that maybe made the process quicker? Yes, exactly. That's what Tyler was discussing with those ADU master plans. Master plans. Okay. So, you can build an ADU with an architectural firm. So, someone who wants to build an ADU can buy these plans at a discounted rate, you know, that's facilitated through the county to that architectural firm. And they can take those plans and build that ADU with those plans, which are about $1,000. All right. The numbers don't sound great, though. Am I wrong on that? Because it seems like, I was expecting it to be very popular. So is it pushback from neighborhoods not wanting to see ADUs go up? It's the cost of building. Cost of building. Okay. I was just going to bring that up because of a whole bunch of reasons for that. Yeah. I mean, the county typically, and staff could fact check me, but, you know, it's thousands and thousands of dollars to get an engineer and design and, you know, an architect to do all that. So, the county did the work on the front end to reduce those costs to help people get that jumpstart to build an ADU. So, we're hopeful that it's going to be one of those programs that will pick up the people who have used the program. We've heard really good feedback. I personally went out with a building inspector to see one being built, and they're beautiful. I mean, the design is, they're really, really, the architecture and the floor plans are really great. So, it's one of those programs that we want to make sure that the public knows is available. All right. So, it's still available. So, between cost of money, you know, interest rates have gone up and all that stuff as far as financing something like that, and then the price of, between, you know, the lumber and all that stuff, you know, the tariffs that are going out, I said curfews in the back of my mind, but tariffs that have been happening out there, driving up costs, that's all making it kind of tough at this point, isn't it? Correct. The cost of housing, building the unit itself, but also the cost of infrastructure, because an ADU still has a, you have to have a place for really solid waste to go. You have to have water and all those things you're going to have to provide on site, and so that does increase the overall construction cost. Yeah. You want to do it the right way, though, because the right liability factors, just resale vectors, all that stuff. Yeah, and, you know, the board's really leaned into some alternative housings over the last two years, alternative housing policy, pro-housing, if you might want to call it that. The board has allowed for tiny homes on wheels to be either a primary residence or an ADU or both, which helps reduce the cost of construction, and then they've also created what's called Title 25, if you will, or limited density rural owner-built housing, which is a reduced engineering standard, if you will, in order to ensure that health and safety is maintained, but the cost of construction, it goes down. All right, and you have made, by the way, down in Penn Valley, that senior housing that went in and stuff, that was exceptionally done, it seemed like. Was that well-received down there, and is it still well-received? Sure, yeah. No, I mean, I think there's a waiting list for the existing units. There's 31 units that are actually under construction now. The county doesn't really, isn't a developer, but we partner with the Regional Housing Authority of Nevada, Sutter-Yuba counties. Oh, interesting. Regional thing, okay. Yeah, so it's regional. The county, a lot of times, will put up gap financing to help support the development and their application for tax credits, and so the county has put up approximately $2.3 million for the loan of phase two senior apartments. We're also facilitating an $11,000 home loan, which is a federal loan that's passed through the state government to help facilitate the development of that project. Yeah, we're really proud of the efforts being made with these partnerships, and the county has brought on over 300 units beds for individuals in our community, and we're just keeping that momentum under Tyler's leadership with a second phase of loan out, a couple of projects up in Truckee. It's not just the housing element, but all these different tools that make it happen, and then I know we're going to be talking about actually some programs right now in action that are available to residents to help with affordability and housing. All right, well, let's take a news break right now. We have a good time to do that, because we'll talk about those programs, so we'll take a quick break here. We'll get in a news update, weather forecast. We'll be right back. Good morning, I'm Paul Haas with a KNCL local news update. Grass Valley's interim city manager will soon become the town's permanent manager. During their Tuesday night meeting, the city council is expected to approve an employment agreement with Alex Gammelgaard, who has been police chief for the last 10 years. Gammelgaard took over as interim manager last spring when Tim Keeser resigned to take another job in the state, and since that time, Mayor Hilary Hodge says 73 applicants were interviewed. We hired a professional consulting firm who has experience with city managers, and ultimately it was very easy to make a decision for someone who loves our city as much as Alex does, and who has the leadership skill set he has. In a news release issued by the city, longtime council member Jan Arbuckle said she has complete confidence in Gammelgaard and his ability to lead the city through the next decade. She also noted that having community members and staff participate in the interview process ensured they made the best choice. Meanwhile, Gammelgaard, as city manager, hopes to appoint the seventh chief in the town's history before the end of the year. And Nevada County's clerk recorder has received some international prestige. Armando Salud-Ombres says he was amazed to be one of only two U.S. representatives to participate in the first ever accredited international panel observing Sweden's election earlier this month. He says it's part of an international observation program, and it fulfills a longtime ambition. Salud-Ombres was among 18 participants selected from 40 applicants representing different nations. He participated in briefings and meetings with various organizations there, and he learned among other things that Sweden is the only nation that allows people to regret their votes. If you change your mind, or let's say there's a political scandal, or the most common practice in the United States, if a candidate claims that they're no longer wanting to be in office, on election day, you can come back to the polls in person, they will take your voted ballot because they haven't counted it, they only count on election night, delete and or trash or toss that ballot, and you can renew your vote by casting a whole new one. But with the mail-in ballot system in place, Salud-Ombres says the regret-their-vote wouldn't work here or elsewhere in California. Join us for our next local news update at the bottom of the hour for news traffic and weather. Any time, visit KNCO.com. I'm Paul Haas, KNCO News Talk at 830. Nikki Glaser We don't talk about ugly people, because no one's ugly. The Stunning Tour Come on. Like, there's some people, they're ugly. I'm not saying they're a bad person, it's not their fault. I mean, it's their parents' fault for being cousins or something, but it's not their fault. Nikki Glaser Friday, September 25th, the venue at Thunder Valley. Tickets on sale now at ThunderValleyResort.com. Don't miss Nikki Glaser, The Stunning Tour. Colorectal cancer is the leading cancer killer in men under 50, and the second leading cause of cancer death for women under 50. The American College of Radiology urges you to get screened, starting at age 45. Now, Medicare and insurance companies are required to cover not only colonoscopy, but less invasive exams, like virtual colonoscopy. Talk to your doctor about your options. For more information on virtual colonoscopy, visit RadiologyInfo.org slash virtualct. This from the KNCO-BNC ACE Home and Garden Center Weather Center. ACE is the place. Here is your forecast on KNCO News Talk 830. Sunny, with a high in the upper 70s today, a very light westerly wind. It's going to be clear overnight, Arlo mid 50s, and then warmer air will make its way in on Tuesday, with a high in the upper 70s to around 80. Tuesday night, clear, Arlo mid to upper 50s, warm and dry on Wednesday, with a high in the low to mid 80s. For weather anytime, click on the Weather Center at knco.com. I'm meteorologist Ann Holliday on KNCO News Talk 830. Hey, KNCO News Time, 937, 70 degrees, welcome back to KNCO Insight, highlighting the county of Nevada today, Allison Lehman here. We have Tyler Barrington here, David Nicholas as well. We have actually, Allison, a young man named Dylan who's called in, because as we went to break for everybody out there, we've been talking about housing and the programs that they have at the county in particular we're going to talk about today. I think, Dylan, you were saying that you got some, I think it was down payment assistance? Is that right? Yeah, we applied and got accepted into the county's middle income range down payment assistance program, which really helped us get into our first home. Well, congrats on that. That's a very exciting thing. Was it a tough thing paperwork-wise to deal with? Because you're talking to a guy here, I hate paperwork. So was it a very time-consuming thing? In a sense, but it's all the exact same paperwork that you have to do to get into a home anyways, so we had it all there already. Since we actually got the grant after we were already in escrow for a house, we managed to fit it in under the wire there. So all we had to do was send all that same information again. Very good. Well, Tyler, is this one of the programs you have to get people to get that home? Correct, Tom. So the Board of Supervisors recently provided the Housing Department with some funding to help provide middle income down payment assistance. I'll tie this back to the housing element. A long-standing program of the housing element is to come up with a regional area-mediated income for qualifying applicants for different programs. Typically the area-mediated income applies to the entire county, and the board wanted to create a program, the down payment assistance program, that looked at different AMIs for the Truckee area and western Nevada county. I can see that. Yeah. So a family of four in western Nevada county can earn up to about $168,000 collectively and qualify for a program where if you're a family of four in Truckee, about $210,000 could be your income and still qualify for a $50,000 loan at 3% interest. That's excellent. Wow. At 3% interest. I imagine, Dylan, that was quite an exciting time for you to be able to qualify for that. Absolutely. Yeah. It really gives us some breathing room month to month, especially because that interest is deferred until the end of the loan or until the house is sold. So lowering that monthly payment and getting up to that 20% down payment with our own money added on, cancelling out that home insurance or that mortgage insurance really helps too. Yeah. Especially with the price of gas and groceries these days, we definitely appreciate it. Yeah. No doubt. That is such exciting stuff. If you didn't get this assistance, would it be impossible for you to get the home you're in now? It would have been a lot tighter. Yeah. Okay. I think, yeah. We would have been a lot more stressed. I think we have a lot more peace of mind and we can afford to put a little bit of money away each month because of this assistance and be able to live a normal life and not just barely get by. Yeah. It's great to hear this. Tell you what, as a county resident, I love to hear, Allison, that there's programs like this that the county has. Yeah. And I really want to give credit to Chair Swarthout and members of the board because the state has programs that we're all familiar with for low income. And once you start making above that threshold, then there aren't any programs, state or federal programs that are able to help families with what we're calling workforce housing. And so what the board decided to do is to take general fund dollars that do not have those restrictions, dedicate it to the housing department to run a parallel program and we're seeing great success. Tyler, I'm just kind of curious, just like Dylan, are there enough people signing up? Are there still more opportunities out there? There are. I think we're in maybe five or six loans that we've given out and I believe we have 11 total. So there's about four or five. We have people in the queue right now are looking for homes or in escrow. So we have two or three or four qualified applicants and we're still reviewing applications. All right. So how did you find out about it, Dylan? Was it through your realtor or was it through somebody at the county? I'm a personal trainer and my client mentioned that he had seen it on UBINET, so I checked it out and then went to one of those Zoom meetings to find out more information and figured out that it would work for us. So I really appreciate the people in the department that made it possible for us to still get the assistance, even though we were kind of already in the process of getting a house, because I know that wasn't easy. All right. So somebody that's not training with Dylan, Tyler. I love that you're a personal trainer, by the way, Dylan. How did they go about getting the process started? So we have a staff person who's dedicated to this project. Her name is Angela Lomasker. She's a senior administrative analyst and as Dylan mentioned, she's extremely helpful. And so people can look at our website, mynevadacounty.com, housing, and type in down payment assistance program on the county's website, and there's all kinds of information related to the program guidelines, how much income you can have and qualify, and the process for actually qualifying for the loan itself. Okay. But Tom, I think it's really important that we've talked about probably half a dozen programs so far from ADUs to down payment assistance program, and we're going to be talking about the MORE program. The residents don't have to know what program they qualify for. All they need to do is call the housing department, and they're going to assist them and let them know what programs are available to them, and then help them navigate the different systems. All right. And Dylan, it wasn't intimidating to work with the county then? No. No. Because sometimes you get almost... They were very... Yeah. Oh, this is very easy to work with and amenable and responsive. So yeah. Excellent. Yeah. I give a lot of credit to my fiancee who's super good at all that technical stuff. I know. I know. My wife's the paperwork person, so I understand that totally. You're busy pumping iron, my friend. Dylan, thank you for calling in. I appreciate all the input on that. That could really inspire some people who can maybe get that same assistance. Yeah. You don't know unless you find out, so... Yeah. Appreciate that. Thanks for having me on. No, I appreciate you being on. And actually, we actually have another caller, though. We have a young lady from the county, Allison, that's calling. And she lives in the county and I believe got some assistance with a mobile home that she's in. Is that right? Yes. Yeah. That's accurate. It was through the county office, the MORE program. The MORE program. You were just mentioning. Yeah. Yeah. M-O-R-E. I applied for this program online. It was fairly simple. And I just couldn't believe that they contacted us and let us know that we qualified. They made everything quick and easy and simple. They came out and inspected and decided it needed to be replaced. It was... While the wiring was extremely on fire safe and just having... I just can't stress enough that having this home has completely changed the trajectory of mine and my child's life. This is a once-in-a-lifetime gift and blessing and the home is beautiful. It's brand new. It's wonderful. Wow. All the appliances are brand new. Everything is brand new. It's just this immense stress has been lifted off of our family's shoulders because our old home was falling apart and in need of multiple repairs and all of our time and money was just pouring into that and not anymore. And now we just have this ability to not have to focus on that and to put our hearts into other things. I had a great experience with the entire process with the county. My mobile home park managers had our backs. They advocated for us so much and the county did as well. The mobile home manufacturers were very helpful throughout the process, letting us pick things out and it's made the county... This program is, I think, really helping to ensure that the county has such better fire safety by replacing these older mobile homes that have faulty electrical systems, black mold, or simply just falling apart and becoming unsafe. Yeah. This is just, I just, you know, 13 years ago, I made the decision to call 2-1-1 for assistance and I found out about so many different types of programs and got connected with the county office. And it's all because I decided to check and see what the community, Nevada County, had to offer. And, you know, I just want to encourage people to reach out to your local county office. Reach out to your local 2-1-1 and just take a step in the right direction and see where it can lead you. And I'm just so overwhelmed with this blessing and thankful to God and Jesus Christ. And this is just a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing. And I just hope that other people get to experience this. Well, I can hear the emotion in your voice. I'm just so excited it gives you time to be a mom. Like you have a child, now you have time just to kind of nurture your little one and grow together in a happy and healthy environment. That's a wonderful thing. Absolutely. And exactly. And, you know, me and my child had been talking for so many years that once we got our old home fixed up, we wanted to foster. And now that we have this blessing in our life, our new home, we signed up to foster. It just doesn't feel right not to share that blessing. So... Well, you've got some county people here besides Allison, you have a couple of guys from the housing department. How does that make you feel, you know, Tyler? Yeah. It's been one of the most impactful projects or programs that we've been running. And it's been really wonderful to see these folks move into these new homes. Unfortunately, it's very limited. You know, we don't have the funding to replace all the homes in the county, but it's been very, very impactful. Are people taking advantage of it, like this young lady? Correct. Yeah. So the county has approximately, or we started out with approximately $1.5 million from the state through the Manufactured Opportunities Revitalization Program. And unfortunately, we're able to help, well, fortunately, I guess, we're able to help nine individuals replace older manufactured homes. Some of these homes are, you know, the 1974 era, and you can imagine they're not insulated. And then we also did about five replacements. And so I think we've got five, or five repairs, excuse me, but we've got five of the replacements are done. We have four more that were going on. Three of the homes are in North San Juan. We have one in Penn Valley. We have one in South County and a couple in Grass Valley. So it's really been spread out. And in addition, my department's been applying for additional funding to help supplement this program because we have over 125 applicants and could only help out 15 people. Okay. So yeah, it's quite a balance to try to help. Okay. And really, staff needs to get credit because these programs are competitive. We appreciate the funding available through the state of California, but it's definitely not a passive approach is that staff is leaning in to apply for these grants that are very competitive and have been very successful. Well, Wonder Mom, I tell you, you're an inspiration for a lot of people out there. This is like one of the more heartwarming stories I've ever heard doing the radio for a lot of years. It's wonderful to hear. No, and from staff, we just really appreciate you sharing your story. It really provides our why and it energizes us to really demonstrate the importance of this work. So thank you for calling in. Thank you guys for everything you've done. I really hope that everyone knows someday or gets blessed like this in some way so that they can experience this feeling. Thank you guys so much. All right. You blessed us with the call. I appreciate that. Thank you, you guys. You guys all have a wonderful day. You too. That's as sweet as it gets, really. I know. That is a wonderful thing. And that's, I guess, guys, that's what you guys do in housing, right? Ideally. Yeah. You know, because everybody hears about the housing, the reason I ask questions like, is it a daunting thing to call? Were you afraid to call? Because we all think about a bureaucracy there and paperwork stacked about a foot high and all this stuff that you maybe have to deal with. But this is like the human element that you guys are really, you know, attending to at this point. Absolutely. Yeah. I liked how she reminded all of us that 2-1-1 is available as a starting point. So if the county seems intimidated, intimidating for individuals, just call 2-1-1 and they could also connect residents to services that they're eligible for. And you're very slow on taking credit. And I know you never want to take credit, but your leadership has been great on this as well. And there's something to be said about the way you have led from the top at the CEO's office to help make everybody stay on task about making the world a better place. Oh, thanks, Tom. I appreciate that. I mean, it really is. It's as basic as that. So we do have to take our last breaks. Let's do that right now. I don't think Violet's coming, right? I just got a text from Taylor because, you know, Taylor, she's on top of it and it looks like Violet is on her way to do the final report. Okay. That's what I was just wondering. I was just wondering if that was going to happen. All right. We're going to take our break and we'll try to sneak her in here down the home stretch. We'll be right back. Escape the everyday and enjoy a little more time to relax with a weeknight getaway. Because this year, Stellar Rewards members of every tier can enjoy 50% off all suites and 30% off all standard rooms Sunday through Thursday. 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You can let us know about birthdays, anniversaries, or even special accomplishments, so we can announce them at 7.55am and 11.26am here on KNCO. You can text at 530-913-4685, you can visit our website knco.com, or you can send your message to info at knco.com. Make us a part of your birthday, anniversary, or special accomplishment for free. Our personalities are ready to celebrate with you each weekday morning on KNCO News Talk 830. Ow, ow, ow, KNCO News time, just about 955, 71 degrees down the home stretch here of KNCO Insight. Violet Johnson in the house, the Youth Commissioner, Violet, where do you go to school at? I go to Nevada Union High School. What's with that football team? I've only been to one game, I wouldn't know. I'm telling you, they need to get going. They got shut out last Friday night, so I'm hoping that since Violet here is going to give them good mojo. So Violet, Allison just got handed the stuff that she's going to read, so maybe you guys can work it together about the happenings that are going on. Right? Yes, so Violet, you want to kick us off with the Housing Element Community Workshops? Yeah, let's see, the top, right? Yes. All right. The Housing Element Community Workshop, September 29th from 6 to 7.30 p.m. This Community Workshop on the County's 2027-2035 Housing Element Update. Do you want to keep going down the list? Yes, that's going to be at the Board Chambers, as Violet mentioned, on the 29th from 6 to 7.30. And, Tyler, are you going to be there, and are you going to be there as well, and Nicholas? Great. Yes, I'm going to be there. And so the staff that you heard from today will be part of that workshop, and we're going to be talking about getting community input on the housing needs in the unincorporated areas of Nevada County. So not within the city limits, but outside the city limits. Very good. And it's important to you, this housing thing, huh? Right, yeah. I actually got the opportunity to create a video on it, and it gave me a little more insight on the topic, which I was grateful for, because I didn't know a whole lot about it, but it's definitely important. Excellent. Excellent. All right, so what's next on your list there, Violet? All right, next we have the free flu shot clinics coming to communities across Nevada County. Nevada County Public Health is hosting free community flu vaccine clinics throughout October. Vaccines are free, no insurance needed, and clinics serve ages 3 and up. Six clinic opportunities across Nevada County. I'll read those off. Sure. October 2nd, Sierra Gold Community Senior Center, Grass Valley, 9 a.m. to noon. October 6th, Truckee Sierra Community House Warehouse, 1 to 5.30 p.m. October 7th, Twin Cities Church, Grass Valley, 9 to 11.30 a.m. October 13th, San Juan Ridge Family Resource Center, North San Juan, 10 a.m. to noon. October 14th, Senior Health Fair at Gold Miners Inn, Grass Valley, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 21st, Washington Fire Station, Town of Washington, noon to 2 p.m. All right, now I have to ask you, since you're our youth representative, do you plan to get a flu shot? Is this like a new ... I feel like I already have one. Is it like a ... Not like a vaccine. So this is what you get yearly to kind of protect you from the flu, to having bad effects from the flu. Right, yeah. I think I definitely will. I've always ... yeah. Because I never know if kids do that and stuff. Do your kids get flu shots on a regular basis? I don't know if my ... You don't have flu shots. Yeah, I don't know if my kids did. Yeah, I think I've gotten like the ... I don't know how many. Yeah, I think maybe when they're really physical, but October is a good time to get vaccinated before flu activity, which typically increases around the holiday seasons. Yeah, exactly right. I totally agree. Is there anything else on your lady's list of things going on? Well, the last thing, which is super exciting, that we want to give credit to our elections department, Armando, is that he's hiring up to 20 high school students to be poll workers for the election day on November 3rd. So if you are a student of our local high schools, please go to the elections website and you can Google that, and there's more information on how to get enrolled. All right. Any plans on doing that, perhaps? Oh, yeah. I'm definitely going to apply to do that. Looking for you. Yeah. Well, that's great. Violet, you did very well for a short time you were on the show. That was like whirlwind stuff. Thank you. And I just told Violet that she was named after the dark-haired girl in Charlie Brown's ... Oh, right. Charlie's Angels. Well, no, no. No, Charlie Brown, with the Halloween one, where the kids were dancing, and the dark-haired girl that danced like Frankenstein, that was Violet. And Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And Charlie. Oh, yeah. That's Violet, Violet. Oh, boy. That's another one. All right, guys. Thank you. Thank you, Tom. We appreciate you. Yeah. It was a great show, and got to learn a lot about housing, and also the youth getting involved in that, with the thanks of Violet. All right. That does it for us. We've got ABC News coming up next. --- end of transcript ---