Section 5: Statements on Calaveras County Public Corruption

"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.  

This first Regular Meeting of the newly-composed (Calaveras County) Board of Supervisors represents an orchestrated stress test, by the four incumbent Supervisors, of Supervisor Andahl’s susceptibility and willingness to join her four new colleagues in their established, corrupt voting block and pattern.  

CEO Hitchcock, thus far you’ve been largely spared from my interrogations. 

This is partly because your Board of Supervisors has provided a perpetual flow of malfeasance – and it is partly because you’ve been given fair and ample opportunities to put your stamp upon this government as you near completion of your second year of service.  

As an observant citizen, my two-year grade of your performance and your demonstrated competence in the role of CEO is a D- and plummeting.  

How is it that you sat beside Stopper during the November 26th meeting and did not advise him or insist that he stop texting like a teenager from the dais during open session?  

Teresa, it’s now time to exercise the exit clause in your employment contract. 

At your annual salary of two hundred and twelve thousand dollars, Calaveras citizens deserve a County Executive Officer that provides disciplined leadership and oversight of the elected governing body.  

Now that three of the four returning Supervisors – Huberty, Folendorf and Tofanelli – are under open and pending California Fair Political Practices Commission cases for a range of violations of the Political Reform Act, including failure to file factual and timely campaign finance statements, failure to disclose conflicts of economic interests, and in the State’s open case investigating Folendorf, the disposition of almost eighty five hundred dollars in missing union campaign contributions to her 2020 campaign, your turn is coming Ben (Stopper - District 5).  

I anticipate that the FPPC complaint I initiated against you will soon be a publicly visible State case. 

At that time, all four incumbent Supervisors – Huberty, Folendorf, Tofanelli and Stopper – would be under open and pending FPPC cases for the previously cited violations of the Political Reform Act, potentially paralyzing this government and requiring immediate State intervention to provide some manner of interim provisional governance.

Additionally, Ben, if an investigation of allegations of your conflict of economic interests for unreported business activities with one of your favored constituents proves accurate, you’ll be the respondent to a sworn complaint for a violation of California Government Code Section 1090. 

The absurdity of Huberty and Stopper having just been respectively elected as 2025 Chair and Vice-Chair, reflects the ethical bankruptcy of this government which will lead to its inevitable reputational and financial bankruptcy.  

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.   

The following statement is to be entered, in whole, into the public record and become part of the official minutes of this meeting, with me identified by name, Christopher Buttner, as having registered my opposition to the board’s approval today of Action Item 16 - Human Resources (ID #8351) Approve appointment of a candidate in the Sheriff's Department pursuant to County Code Section 2.64.645 - Employment of Family Member. Item 16 was moved to Items Removed from Consent Agenda.   

The agenda item Discussion/Summary states that - QUOTE - Every effort was made to recruit for the position of Deputy Sheriff I/II, in which the family member is being employed. - END QUOTE.   

“Every effort” is a vague, yet declarative and hyperbolic statement. 

It needs to be substantiated with hard facts and documentation for review, otherwise it is just fluff concealing nepotism.  

Prove it. 

Prove that QUOTE - EVERY EFFORT WAS MADE TO RECRUIT. - END QUOTE.   

That documentation needs to be provided for review by the five members of the Board of Supervisors prior to their vote to determine whether, in fact, QUOTE - EVERY EFFORT WAS MADE TO RECRUIT - END QUOTE.    

The agenda item Discussion/Summary states that, QUOTE - The candidate is an experienced lateral hire and will not have to attend the academy. - END QUOTE.  

In what department within Calaveras County government is this “lateral hire” family member currently working, and what prior experience as a Deputy Sheriff I/II does this individual have that they will not have to attend the academy?

That is a reasonable question to be asked and answered. 

What is their name?  

That, too, is a reasonable question to be asked and answered.  

Continue Agenda Item 16 for further consideration, once the questions I’ve presented here have been adequately and transparently addressed for the public.  

The majority of the members of this (Calaveras County) Board of Supervisors are now individually under active State investigations for numerous allegations of financial impropriety with their campaign finance filings, with Supervisor Gary Tofanelli as the newest member joining the Open and Pending FPPC Case Club for numerous violations – allegedly – of the Political Reform Act…  

This would be a good time for this board to open its eyes – collectively – and realize that you folks better start playing by the straight and narrow right now.  

Full transparency would be a great start of this 2025 new year. 

Let it begin today.   

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."  

Agenda Item 16 passed with a 5-0 vote. 

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.   

The following statement is to be entered, in whole, into the public record and become part of the official minutes of this meeting, with me identified by name, Christopher Buttner, as having registered my opposition to the board’s approval today of Item 17. Approve appointment of an extra-hire candidate in the District Attorney's Office pursuant to County Code Section 2.64.645 - Employment of Family Member. Item 17 was moved to Items Removed from Consent Agenda. 

The agenda item Discussion/Summary states that - QUOTE - This is an urgent placement and will be filled on a temporary basis by an extra hire. - END QUOTE.   

“Urgent Placement” is a declarative statement of an immediate need having arisen, therefore, this urgency for placement must be substantiated with hard facts and documentation for review, otherwise, as noted in my opposition to Agenda Item 16, it is more fluff concealing nepotism.  

Prove that this placement is urgent.  

Substantiate the urgency and the reason or reasons for it.   

Is District Attorney (Barbara) Yook under pressure to establish a public integrity unit in her office to investigate endemic Calaveras County government corruption?   

Is this “urgent placement” in response to District Attorney Yook having numerous new sworn complaints filed in December against her and her office with both State and Federal law enforcement agencies for negligence of oath of office, breach of the public trust, quid pro quo corruption, selective law enforcement, civil and constitutional rights violations, as well as abuse of discretion?  

Is this “urgent placement” in response to District Attorney Yook anticipating time and resource consuming interactions with any or all of the following agencies? 

The 2024-2025 Calaveras County Grand Jury, State Bar of California, California Attorney General, California Civil Rights Department, the US Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and the Fair Political Practices Commission.  

And, in what department within Calaveras District Attorney’s Office will this family member currently work?

...and what prior experience does this person have to meet this urgent requirement for placement?

...and what is this individual’s name?  

All are reasonable questions that need to be transparently answered. 

Continue Agenda Item 17 for further consideration, once the questions I’ve presented here have been adequately and transparently addressed for the public.  

As noted in agenda item 16, this would be a good time for you folks to realize that you’d better start playing by the straight and narrow right now.  

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."   

Agenda Item 17 passed with a 5-0 vote.    

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.   

Ben (Stopper), during the January 14, 2025 Board of Supervisors meeting, you attempted to have portions of my public statement stricken from the published record of the meeting because my statement included — quoting you — “allegations of malfeasance or whatever,” and that you “didn't hear… burden of proof.”

For the record, County Counsel was compelled to verbally advise you – in real time, publicly – of the fallacy of your attempt to suppress official acceptance of my comments, in whole.

Let’s examine your concerns.

Was it “allegations of malfeasance or whatever,” when I stated you were officially warned of potential fines in 2019 due to your 2018 campaign finance violation of the Political Reform Act, with you having been classified by the Fair Political Practices Commission as a Campaign Non-Filer in their Case Number 2019-00576?

Was it “allegations of malfeasance or whatever,” when I stated I had irrefutable evidence to submit a formal complaint to the FPPC about your persistent violations of the Political Reform Act as a Campaign Non-Filer, despite you having been warned in 2019 by the FPPC – of the potential for consequences, including hefty fines?

Is it “allegations of malfeasance or whatever,” when I state that all four of last term’s continuing incumbent supervisors are now subjects of concurrent, open and pending, FPPC cases for an assortment of campaign finance violations of the Political Reform Act?

Since I last addressed this board two weeks ago, the FPPC published case number 2025-00042.

That’s the FPPC’s newly opened and pending case filed against Supervisor Stopper.

Was it “allegations of malfeasance or whatever,” when I stated you’d been caught on video, by Calaveras County TV during the November 26, 2024 livestream of the Board of Supervisors meeting, surreptitiously texting with one of your constituents who was seated in this room?

Or that I had acquired evidence of your text message exchange from County Counsel by public records request?

Or that your constituent had a matter with beneficial property tax implications coming before this board in two agenda items later in that meeting?

Or that you - ethically - should have recused from voting due to an appearance of conflict of interests stemming from your constituent relationship?

My fact pattern reveals I’ve repeatedly met your burden of proof.

You now realize you face – potentially – tens of thousands of dollars in fines, for multiple flagrant campaign finance violations of the Political Reform Act.

The FPPC explicitly warned you, Don’t Do This Again!

You did, I caught you.

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."   

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.   

During the January 14, 2025 Board of Supervisors Meeting, District 1 Supervisor Tofanelli stated the D1 position on the Calaveras Fish and Game Commission had been, “...empty for a while.”

I’ve since learned this Calaveras Fish and Game Commission position was vacant for eight years, and after a prolonged gap and neglect, had attracted a well-qualified candidate for the County’s consideration for appointment.

The appearance of a dark horse candidate for the position, announced by Tofanelli during the last Board of Supervisors Meeting, took attentive observers by surprise.

Improbably – after eight years vacant – this position suddenly attracted attention and candidacy from a second individual at the eleventh-hour – on January 14, 2025 – from applicant Erik Holt, Director of the Calaveras Office of Emergency Services. 

This matter serves as a valuable civics lesson in participatory local government, providing an example and examination of the intentional lack of transparent administrative practices by this Calaveras government.

Any extra time Holt may have for another position would be better spent serving the unmet needs of Calaveras citizens, hardening the County’s built and natural infrastructure against potential man-made and natural disasters, and focusing on preparing and maximizing critical resources required and anticipated for the County’s inevitable response and recovery efforts.

Perhaps Holt, in his role as Director of OES, might invest any extra available time toward mitigating the unnecessarily elevated risk of a catastrophic fire posed to the community of Arnold – and the surrounding inhabited and uninhabited areas within the Stanislaus National Forest – by the new Tesla Supercharging Station that was inexplicably approved for installation, and is now operational behind Meadowmont Center.

Need I remind you that Calaveras is in the TOP TEN of California’s most wildfire-prone counties, having the unfortunate distinction as one of the top four counties in America with the highest cancellation rates of homeowners insurance?

Perhaps Holt might – in any extra available time – accompany a County engineer on periodic structural inspections of our aging local tourist attractions such as our three local caverns – long-cherished internationally-renowned attractions, where visitors from around the world arrive with an expectation of Calaveras public safety vigilance.

Diluting Holt’s primary job as Director of the Calaveras Office of Emergency Services by adding the responsibility for representing District 1 on the Calaveras County Fish and Game Commission – I respectfully argue – may jeopardize public safety.

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."   

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.   

In previous appearances before the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, while addressing matters specifically related to the Calaveras Visitors Bureau being the recipient of public funds sourced from County transient occupancy taxes, I’ve been critical of the CVB’s persistent misportrayal of its economic benefits to the county, and its statistical manipulations employed to sidestep facts behind the County’s annual tourism revenue stagnation.

The CVB’s repeated boasts of having produced outstanding economic value and returns, relative to the County’s TOT investment, appear to routinely minimize or dismiss annual inflationary impacts that would otherwise be calculated utilizing the federal government’s Consumer Price Index for inflationary adjustment. 

The Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget cycle will soon take center stage during several springtime Board of Supervisors meetings.

According to ledger reports I’ve received from County Counsel in response to my public records requests, cumulative TOT contributions disbursed from Calaveras County’s treasury to the CVB far exceed $2 million dollars since mid-2019, when current Calaveras County Board of Supervisors Chair Martin Huberty assumed the role as CVB’s Executive Director.

It is unacceptable that Martin (Huberty) has been holding two full-time positions; one is fully funded by taxpayers and the other partially funded by taxpayers.

I intended to be standing at this podium requesting Martin (Huberty) provide written evidence of a very specific statement appearing in the July 10, 2024 CVB Board of Directors meeting minutes

That statement, I’m now quoting, is… 'Visit California says inflation does not affect those numbers.' (Refer to Page 3, Item B: 2024/25 Budget discussion. Last sentence). 

Instead, I just want to hear Martin announce today that he’s resigning as the Executive Director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau so that he may focus his full attention on the demands of the role of 2025 Calaveras County Board of Supervisors Chair.

Notably, one of those demands is the daunting reality that all four of last term’s continuing incumbent supervisors – with Martin (Huberty) leading the charge – are now under State scrutiny, having all concurrently become the subjects of open and pending Fair Political Practices Commission cases for an assortment of campaign finance violations of the Political Reform Act.

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."   

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.

Today’s comments to each of you begins with me reading to you the definitions of three words –  irrational… rational… and… responsible – that you’ll easily find in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law.

Please listen carefully… Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law defines irrational – an adjective – as “not governed by reason, mental clarity, or understanding… not governed by a fair consideration of facts or evidence.”

Conversely, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law defines rational – an adjective – as “having reason or understanding… relating to, based on, or guided by reason, principle, fairness, logic, a legitimate state interest, or a consideration of fact.”

I’ve read to you the definition of irrational… and rational… now I’ll finish with the definition of responsible.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law defines responsible – an adjective – as “liable to be called on to answer… liable to be called to account as the primary cause, motive, or agent… liable to legal review or in case of fault to penalties… characterized by trustworthiness, integrity, and requisite abilities and resources… able to choose for oneself between right and wrong… marked by or involving accountability.”

Sheriff Rachelle Whiting, who is usually here in the back of the room right now, has spent an inordinate amount of her taxpayer-compensated time focused upon one particular individual in this community who has freely exercised their freedom “... to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” as provided by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

On August 13, 2024, Sheriff Rachelle Whiting, in her statement before taking her oath, said, “I believe in upholding the Constitutional Rights of our citizens,“ and, “I take the expectation of accountability and transparency seriously.”

She then swore a solemn oath to bear, “true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California,” and to “well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am upon to enter,” and for “upholding the Constitutional Rights of our citizens.”

Each of you will be hearing considerably more – in the coming weeks and months – about those three words –  irrational… rational… and responsible.

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."

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"My name is Christopher Buttner. I am a Murphy's homeowner and my family’s life savings are invested in Calaveras County.

This community – and several nearby wildland urban interface communities in the dense timber belt of the four-county South Central Sierra Subregion – are under an extraordinary new threat of a catastrophic fire, of manmade origin and negligence, erupting twelve miles to the east of here – in Arnold – behind Meadowmont Center. 

We drove past Meadowmont Center twice yesterday during our Calaveras Big Trees State Park road trip.

This threat of catastrophic fire has a name.

Electric. Vehicle. Charging. Station. EVCS. Tesla Supercharger.

A rationally sited EVCS would have been a very desirable addition to Arnold.

Unfortunately, this is not it. 

The EVCS site selection process – and its construction at this precarious location – was irrational and irresponsible.

I’ve been advised this week, by the leadership of SNC, that the agency “has no authority to take any action on the project described in my letter.”

I respectfully request that SNC reconsider that position and examine its core mission more closely.

SNC, a State agency, is tasked with building resilience in California’s Sierra-Cascade region, inclusive of improving the environmental, economic, and social well-being. That should include doing everything possible in SNC’s power, as a State agency, to ensure our region is not reduced to ash from a 100% preventable and forewarned man-made calamity.

The seed of a potential fire-bomb – capable of laying waste to communities in the four-county South Central Sierra Subregion – was negligently sited in a vulnerable location – in distressingly close proximity to a densely forested neighborhood, large capacity propane tanks, and unregulated traffic with limited ingress and egress.

Regardless of how rapidly fire officials claim they are capable of effectively responding to the scene of a potential EV fire at this location, it is unlikely fast enough to suppress the potentially devastating effects of thermal runaway.

Here are some recent catastrophic fires you are all familiar with: Lahaina, Pacific Palisades, Rim, Butte, Paradise, Eaton, Tubbs, Caldor, I can go on. 

I urge SNC today to reconsider its position on my request for action.

SNC not having authority to take any action on the project described in my letter does not preclude SNC channeling my valid and grave concern to the proper State agency that does have the authority to take action on the project described in my letter.

Please recognize the urgency of this concern and take action immediately to protect the Stanislaus National Forest, Calaveras Big Trees State Park and our forest communities from this forewarned and preventable disaster.

Thank you. My name is Christopher Buttner."

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"I am Lynette Smith-Covey, I own 4 Horse Ranch of Valley Springs with my husband, Jeremy.

We are trying to build a non-profit 501C3 business that offers horse breeding, training, riding lessons and trail rides. Our clientele would be primarily foster children and families with special needs children - 40% Calaveras residents / 60% tourists from all over the world. 

4 Horse Ranch has been subjected to, we allege, institutionalized Calaveras county-sanctioned conflicts of economic interests, cronyism and exclusionary collusion through the willful suppression of entrepreneurialism and innovation in favor of select support of legacy and politically-connected personalities and businesses through the advocacy of individuals entrenched in a range of both Calaveras governmental and business bureau leadership positions.

4 Horse Ranch comes before the Calaveras Planning Commission on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 9 am, for a conditional use permit hearing, case CUP 2024-013. 

We’re here today to request the assistance and support from:

• District 1 Supervisor Gary Tofanelli, who is also a Board member of the Valley Springs Area Business Association and former board member of the Calaveras Chamber of Commerce; 
• District 3 Supervisor and Board Chair, Martin Huberty, who is also the Calaveras Visitors Bureau executive director, and the former Chamber of Commerce executive director, 
• District 5 Supervisor Benjamin Stopper, 
• Calaveras Office of Economic and Community Development Director, Kathy Gallino, 
• Calaveras Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachel Sparks and President Sherri Reusche. 

Over the past two budget cycles, at the insistence of D1 Supervisor Tofanelli, D5 Supervisor Stopper and former D2 Supervisor Jack Garamendi, the Calaveras Chamber of Commerce has received 100,000 dollars from transient occupancy tax revenue - 50,000 dollars per annual budget cycle - to ‘fund the promotion of tourism to the west end of Calaveras County.’ 

4 Horse Ranch, in spite of repeated requests, has never received any substantive support from the Calaveras Chamber of Commerce, the Valley Springs Area Business Association, the Calaveras Office of Economic and Community Development or the Calaveras Government. 

4 Horse Ranch is an exemplification of the west end Calaveras county tourism promotion business the T.O.T-funded Calaveras Chamber of Commerce is supposed to be developing, supporting, and promoting. 

We respectfully request that you all speak on the behalf of 4 Horse Ranch at the conclusion of Thursday’s Planning Commission meeting, as 4 Horse Ranch has been designed to meet and exceed all criteria set forth by the Calaveras Planning Department and Commission to safely, professionally and respectfully ‘promote tourism to the west end of Calaveras County.’

I am Lynette Smith-Covey, I own 4 Horse Ranch of Valley Springs with my husband, Jeremy." 

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.

Here are excerpts from the statement I delivered on March 6, 2025, at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board of Directors Quarterly Meeting.

This community – and several nearby wildland urban interface communities in the dense timber belt of the four-county South Central Sierra Subregion – are under an extraordinary new threat of a catastrophic fire, of manmade origin and negligence, erupting in Arnold – behind Meadowmont Center. 

This threat of catastrophic fire has a name.

Tesla Supercharger. Electric. Vehicle. Charging. Station. EVCS. 

A rationally sited EVCS would’ve been a very desirable addition to Arnold. 

Unfortunately, this isn’t it. 

The EVCS site selection process – and its construction at this precarious location – was irrational and irresponsible.

On March 4, 2025, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy – SNC – advised me by letter that the agency “has no authority to take any action on the project described in my letter.”

I respectfully urged SNC to reconsider their position on my request for action, and examine their core mission more closely.

SNC, a State agency, is tasked with building resilience in California’s Sierra-Cascade region, inclusive of improving the environmental, economic, and social well-being.

I had expected that includes doing everything possible in the agency’s power to ensure our region is not reduced to ash from a 100% forewarned and preventable man-made calamity.

My response to SNC’s Board of Directors – which now includes Martin Huberty (Calaveras County District 3 Supervisor and Calaveras Visitors Bureau Executive Director) – was that lack of authority does not preclude SNC from directing my valid and grave concern to the State agency or agencies having authority to act on my concerns.

That agency may be CalFire, or CalOES, or perhaps CalEPA – whose mission is to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality and economic vitality.

Regardless of how rapidly fire officials claim they are capable of effectively responding to the scene of a potential EV fire at this location, it is unlikely fast enough to suppress the potentially devastating effects of thermal runaway.

The seed of a potential fire-bomb – capable of laying waste to communities in the four-county South Central Sierra Subregion – was negligently sited in a vulnerable location – in distressingly close proximity to a densely forested neighborhood, large capacity propane tanks, and unregulated traffic. 

Lahaina. Pacific Palisades. Rim. Butte. Paradise. Eaton. Tubbs. Caldor.

The list tragically grows.

Do we want to lose our cherished Stanislaus National Forest, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and forest communities to a forewarned and preventable disaster?

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com." 

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My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com. I reside in Murphys. My life savings, my family and my future is invested in Calaveras County. 

Whenever I address this government, I always read from a script, but I am going off-script. 

Your Chair (Michelle Plotnik), holds leadership positions with three different tourism promotion and business bureaus. 

She is the president of the Murphys Business Association, she sits on the Board of Directors of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau and she is the interim president of the Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway Association. 

I will let Julie Moss-Lewis decide if conflict of Interest exist when she should be hearing anything on this Planning Commission relative to any tourism promotion business in development. 

Therefore, I am segueing right into my prepared statement. 

As an entrepreneur who wanted to create beneficial Calaveras tourism businesses, like Jeremy and Lynette Smith-Covey, I too, for five years, have been the target of personal and professional attacks, including defamation of character, tortious interference, restraint of trade, trade libel, false light, and trademark infringement, constituting numerous civil and constitutional rights violations, by a wide range of colluded individuals in both governmental and business bureau leadership roles. 

I am here today to support these good people. 

As an award-winning entertainment and hospitality marketing specialist, with over 40-years of real world, results-oriented experience, I can prove failed Calaveras county governmental and business bureau “leaders” have cost Calaveras tens of millions of dollars in unrealized annual tourism revenue since 2019. 

Inclusive of the Calaveras Office of Economic Development, there are 15 recognized business bureaus in Calaveras that, in my professional opinion, cannot rub two nickels together to make ten cents. 

These business bureaus, as well as government agencies and offices, need to be purged of ineffective and colluded leadership, restaffed, and consolidated into financially viable and sustainable entities with a common mission to support existing and emerging innovative Calaveras businesses, like 4 Horse Ranch, as well as bring new businesses and monied tourists to Calaveras. 

I allege the willful and malicious business suppression by the hostile behavior by individuals cited in the report I emailed to all of you yesterday, cost, not just me, but Calaveras County, my two viable tourism businesses, at a personal cost in excess of $170,000 in legal fees and other expenses, depriving Calaveras county of millions - tens of millions - of dollars, over five years, in tourism revenue.   

Jeremy and Lynette Smith-Covey are now going through what I have been put through for five years by, I allege, self-serving government officials, legacy business owners, and business bureau leaders. 

I can no longer tolerate seeing any business owner, as wonderful as these people, who want to make Calaveras a better place, be subjected to what I have endured for five years. 

The Planning Department and this Planning Commission needs to prioritize business development. 

I’m respectfully requesting you vote to do the right thing so 4 Horse Ranch may establish itself as a viable Calaveras-based tourism business. 

I am also - with respect - demanding the Calaveras Planning Commission immediately investigate my allegations of willful and endemic suppression of business development - by one of your own - that I explicitly described in my emails of January 14 and March 12, 2025."

Today, I respectfully request the Calaveras government start working for its citizens. 

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com. 

Let me repeat that so you can all write it down, Calaveras2026Election.com."

NOTE: Michelle Plotnik holds conflicted leadership roles with the following business and tourism development bureaus, aside from being the Calaveras County Planning Department District 3 Commissioner and Commission Chair: 

• Murphys Business Association - Interim President, Communications, Murphys Day of the Dead Co-Coordinator, and Murphys Irish Day Coordinator - https://visitmurphys.com/contact 
• Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway Association - Acting Executive Director and Treasurer - https://scenic4.org/contact 
• Calaveras Visitors Bureau - District 3 Board Member - https://www.gocalaveras.com/calaveras-visitors-bureau-board-of-directors  

The evidence presented to Bret Sampson at the conclusion of Mr. Buttner's statement includes the following documents, all of which may be accessed and reviewed from this DropBox link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/cf52361uwd5b5dwg2z2n4/AMlxQTAstl0GOrI6eOMZAdc?rlkey=oagn879pqrpfjqvtz3g9a0n5v&dl=0

The five documents are: 

1 - March 12, 2025 at 10:11 AM: Subject: SUBJECT: Planning Commission Staff Report Hearing | CUP 2024-013 | 4 Horse Ranch | Jeremy and Lynette Smith-Covey, March 13, 2025 | Recusal Request - Conflict of Interests | Michelle Plotnik, District 3 Planning Commissioner and Commission Chair

2 -  March 12, 2025 at 10:36 AM: Response to the previous document by Lynette Smith-Covey, co-owner of 4 Horse Ranch. 

3 - Monday, July 8, 2024 9:10:15 AM: Perry Willard written statement alleging the willful and malicious suppression of 4 Horse Ranch by a Calaveras County elected official, District 1 Supervisor Gary Tofanelli, Calaveras County Planning officials and colluded legacy business owners. 

4 - January 25, 2025: FPPC Filing - Gary Tofanelli FPPC form 460 revealing a $500 campaign contribution received from North State Landscaping, recorded with the State of California January 25, 2024. 

5 - March 13, 2025: Allegation Michelle Plotnik, as president of the Murphys Business Association, and other Calaveras County elected and appointed officials, Calaveras County law enforcement officials, as well as business bureau leaders and board of director members, have allegedly, knowingly, and willfully, since October 2024, suppressed knowledge of formal Sheriff harassment complaints against an adjudicated pedophile who continues to work and flourish at a leading Murphys hospitality business.  

Additional recommended reading: October 2024: Calaveras County Has A Pedophile Problem... So, is Calaveras a safe place to visit or live in?  

Do you feel your business ventures and/or personal and professional rights have been suppressed by Calaveras County government officials? We want to hear from you. Contact Calaveras2026Election.com at our contact page and tell us your story. 

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Calaveras County citizen drops bombshell allegation that Calaveras County District 1 Supervisor Gary Tofanelli and members of the Calaveras County Planning Department conspired against a business owner to suppress her fledgling horse riding and training business, by attending an orchestrated meeting, arranged and designed by a Gary Tofanelli campaign contributor, to "shut 4 Horse Ranch down." 

The evidence presented to Bret Sampson at the conclusion of Mr. Buttner's statement includes the following documents, all of which may be accessed and reviewed from this DropBox link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/cf52361uwd5b5dwg2z2n4/AMlxQTAstl0GOrI6eOMZAdc?rlkey=oagn879pqrpfjqvtz3g9a0n5v&dl=0

The five documents are: 

1 - March 12, 2025 at 10:11 AM: Subject: SUBJECT: Planning Commission Staff Report Hearing | CUP 2024-013 | 4 Horse Ranch | Jeremy and Lynette Smith-Covey, March 13, 2025 | Recusal Request - Conflict of Interests | Michelle Plotnik, District 3 Planning Commissioner and Commission Chair

2 -  March 12, 2025 at 10:36 AM: Response to the previous document by Lynette Smith-Covey, co-owner of 4 Horse Ranch. 

3 - Monday, July 8, 2024 9:10:15 AM: Perry Willard written statement alleging the willful and malicious suppression of 4 Horse Ranch by a Calaveras County elected official, District 1 Supervisor Gary Tofanelli, Calaveras County Planning officials and colluded legacy business owners. 

4 - January 25, 2025: FPPC Filing - Gary Tofanelli FPPC form 460 revealing a $500 campaign contribution received from North State Landscaping, recorded with the State of California January 25, 2024. 

5 - March 13, 2025: Allegation Michelle Plotnik, as president of the Murphys Business Association, and other Calaveras County elected and appointed officials, Calaveras County law enforcement officials, as well as business bureau leaders and board of director members, have allegedly, knowingly, and willfully, since October 2024, suppressed knowledge of formal Sheriff harassment complaints against an adjudicated pedophile who continues to work and flourish at a leading Murphys hospitality business.  

Additional recommended reading: October 2024: Calaveras County Has A Pedophile Problem... So, is Calaveras a safe place to visit or live in?  

Do you feel your business ventures and/or personal and professional rights have been suppressed by Calaveras County government officials? We want to hear from you. Contact Calaveras2026Election.com at our contact page and tell us your story. 

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, I am the publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.

I am a full-time resident of Murphys. My entire family savings are invested in Murphys. 

Here are excerpts from the statements I delivered on March 6, 2025, at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board of Directors Quarterly Meeting, and again during the General Public Comments period of the March 11, 2025 Calaveras Board of Supervisors Regular meeting.

For context, I am the son of a firefighter. I have over three decades of experience in event safety protocols for arenas, amusement parks, convention centers, and cruise ships. 

Additionally, I am an advanced open water, stress-rescue scuba diver with 25 years experience. 

I am trained in American Red Cross CPR and other lifesaving skills. 

As a scuba diver, I was deeply involved in marine, environmental and wildlife conservation efforts and I regularly interfaced with and promoted leading professional scuba personalities and their internationally-recognized marine protection and preservation efforts.   

I’ve seen the aftermath of multiple disasters on land and sea, and disturbingly what I am going to tell you this evening has many of the earmarks. 

This community – and several nearby wildland urban interface communities in the dense timber belt of the four-county South Central Sierra Subregion – are under an extraordinary new threat of a catastrophic fire, of manmade origin and negligence, erupting in Arnold – behind the Meadowmont Center. 

This threat of catastrophic fire has a name. Tesla Supercharger. Electric Vehicle Charging Station. Otherwise known as an EVCS. 

A rationally sited EVCS would’ve been a very desirable addition to Arnold. 

Unfortunately, this isn’t it. 

The EVCS site selection process – and its construction at this precarious location – was irrational and irresponsible.

On March 4, 2025, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy – the SNC – advised me by letter that the agency “has no authority to take any action on the project described in my letter.”

I respectfully urged SNC to reconsider this position on my request for action, and examine their core mission more closely.

SNC, a State agency, is tasked with building resilience in California’s Sierra-Cascade region, inclusive of improving the environmental, economic, and social well-being.

I had expected that includes doing everything possible in the agency’s power to ensure our region is not reduced to ash from a 100% forewarned and preventable man-made calamity.

My response to SNC’s Board of Directors – which now includes District 3 Supervisor Martin Huberty, who  is also the executive director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau – was that lack of authority does not preclude SNC from directing my valid and grave concern to the State agency or agencies having authority to act on my concerns.

That agency may be CalFire, CalOES, or perhaps CalEPA – whose mission is to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality and economic vitality.

Regardless of how rapidly fire officials claim they are capable of effectively responding to the scene of a potential EV fire at this location, it’s unlikely fast enough to suppress the potentially devastating effects of thermal runaway. 

Let’s keep in mind, the first casualty of war is always your plan. 

The seed of a potential fire-bomb – capable of laying waste to communities in the four-county South Central Sierra Subregion – was negligently sited in a vulnerable location – in distressingly close proximity to a densely forested neighborhood, large capacity propane tanks, and unregulated traffic. 

Additional concerns is the backlash Tesla is facing due to Elon Musk’s erratic behavior which has led to increased vandalism of Tesla vehicles, especially Cybertrucks, as well as Tesla Superchargers, which includes, but is not limited to, arson. 

When an arsonist strikes, they rarely consider the collateral damage of their actions. Arson at this EVCS could have devastating effects reaching far beyond just the Tesla product they hope to vandalize or destroy.  

Lahaina. Pacific Palisades. Rim. Butte. Paradise. Eaton. Tubbs. Caldor. August Complex.

The list tragically grows.

Do we want to lose our cherished 898,000 acre Stanislaus National Forest, inclusive of Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and forest communities to a forewarned and preventable disaster?

After you’ve reviewed the leave-behind materials, I would welcome the Calaveras County Conservation Resource District to consider an evaluation field trip to the Tesla Supercharger at Arnold’s Meadowmont Center in the near future. 

Thank you for your rapt attention to these recent and important concerns that now confront our homes and families in our four-county South Central Sierra Subregion. 

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.

I am going to read this California public records request emailed on March 25, 2025 at 8:00 AM Pacific Standard Time to Sarah Edwards, Calaveras County Civil Counsel.

Martin Huberty is a public official currently serving in the full-time capacity of District 3 Supervisor and Board of Supervisors 2025 Chair, while also currently serving in the full-time capacity of Executive Director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau, a California nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, which is more than 90% publicly funded by Calaveras County transient occupancy tax per the Calaveras Visitors Bureau’s IRS filing for fiscal year ending June 2023.

The above fact pattern is relevant inasmuch as it establishes that this public official earns two taxpayer-funded salaries (all or in part) as compensation for two 40-hour per week positions.

Therefore, with the Warning Letter dated February 3, 2025 from the California Fair Political Practices Commission to this public official, Martin Huberty, upon the FPPC’s Enforcement Division having completed its review of the facts in this case, number 2023-00471, I submit this Public Records Request for:

ONE) an accounting by this public official of the number of hours required of them to successfully complete the Fair Political Practices Commission’s Political Reform Education Program course mandated to remediate their double-digit violations of the Political Reform Act, for failing to timely disclose economic interests on their Statements of Economic Interests Form 700; and, 

TWO) to determine whether any of this remedial State-mandated education occurred during the “business hours” of this public official’s eighty (80) hour work week consisting of dual 40-hour full-time positions at taxpayer expense (all or in part).

This is a request for a public official’s accountability. 

The public has a right to know how much time this public official, Martin Huberty, has spent on this remedial activity, and if this remedial activity was conducted at any time during Huberty’s taxpayer-compensated 80-hour work week when he is expected, as a public official, to be working exclusively on behalf of the public that is paying both of his salaries.

Specifically, the responsive records being requested are Huberty’s test logs indicating the cumulative time this public official spent on the FPPC’s Political Reform Education Program course, and the date/time stamps of each instance of his sessions.

My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com."

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"My name is Christopher Buttner, publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com.  

This is the March 21, 2025 Edition of the Calaveras County News and Valley Springs News.   

I am going to read the Letter to the Editor on page 7, titled: Officials Warned of Potential Disaster.   

This is applicable to responsible EV charging infrastructure development.  

Calaveras, and its wildland urban interface communities, are under an extraordinary new threat of a catastrophic fire of manmade origin and negligence erupting in Arnold behind Meadowmont Center.   

This threat has a name.  

Tesla Supercharger. Electric Vehicle Charging Station. EVCS.   

A rationally sited EVCS would’ve been a very desirable addition to Arnold.  

The site selection process and construction at this precarious location was irrational and irresponsible.  

On March 4, 2025, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy – SNC – advised me by letter that the agency “...has no authority to take any action on the project described in my letter” of concern.

I respectfully urged SNC to reconsider their position on my request for action, and examine their core mission more closely.  

SNC, a State agency, is tasked with building resilience in California’s Sierra-Cascade region, inclusive of improving the environmental, economic, and social well-being. 

I expected that includes doing everything possible in the agency’s power to ensure our region is not reduced to ash from a 100% forewarned and preventable man-made calamity.  

My response to SNC’s Board of Directors – inclusive of Martin Huberty, Executive Director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau and Board of Supervisors Chair – was, lack of authority doesn’t preclude SNC from directing my entirely valid concern to the State agencies having authority to act on my concerns.  

That agency may be CalFire, CalOES, or perhaps CalEPA – whose mission is to “restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality and economic vitality.”  

Regardless of how rapidly fire officials claim they are capable of effectively responding to the scene of a potential EV fire at this location, it is unlikely fast enough to suppress the potentially devastating effects of thermal runaway.  

A potential fire-bomb capable of laying waste to our community is negligently sited in a vulnerable location, in distressingly close proximity to densely forested neighborhoods, large capacity propane tanks, and unregulated traffic.

Lahaina. Pacific Palisades. Rim. Butte. Paradise. Eaton. Tubbs. Caldor.  

The list tragically grows.  

Do we want to lose our cherished Stanislaus National Forest, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and forest communities to a forewarned and preventable disaster?  

Respectfully Submitted,  

Christopher Buttner 

Publisher 

Calaveras2026Election.com"  

CONCLUSION was excluded due to 3-minute time restriction on opposition comments: "In conclusion, the faulty 2017 EVCS ministerial permitting process must be repealed and replaced to specifically insert County and State fire officials in the permitting and approval process for all non-residential EVCS installations."

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