Section 6: Statements on Calaveras County Public Corruption

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

The Enforcement Division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission has completed its investigation of multiple complaints lodged against Calaveras County District 3 Supervisor Martin Huberty, pertaining to case number 2023-00471.

The Enforcement Division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission has concluded that Huberty committed numerous violations of the Political Reform Act, as had been alleged, and issued a stern Warning Letter (below) to Huberty dated February 3, 2025.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission Warning Letter informs Huberty that his failure to comply with the provisions of the Political Reform Act in the future will result in monetary penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation.

Upcoming budget discussions leading to a vote on Calaveras County’s 2025-2026 fiscal year budget find Huberty on the cusp of inviting a new, considerably more serious allegation; and potentially more legally consequential than what he has already been formally warned about by the State of California.

I remind Martin Huberty, and all of you, that the July 1, 2023 Agreement for the Promotion of Tourism, which was executed and entered into on August 22, 2023 by and between the Calaveras County government and the Calaveras Visitors Bureau (CVB), contained a glaring misrepresentation of the CVB’s nonprofit corporation type that was allowed to persist despite my cautioning.

I remind Martin Huberty, and all of you, that the CVB’s nonprofit legal type changed from a California Public Benefit Nonprofit Corporation to a California Mutual Benefit Nonprofit Corporation on July 12, 2021, effective upon recordation of amended Articles of Incorporation with the California Secretary of State.

California Public Benefit Nonprofit Corporations and California Mutual Benefit Nonprofit Corporations are distinctly different legal entities requiring different bylaws.

As the Executive Director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau, Huberty was legally and ethically obligated to accurately disclose the legal type of the nonprofit organization he represents that receives public funding from transient occupancy taxes.

The 2025-2026 fiscal year budget cycle approaches.

The CVB will once again be considered for an allocation of funding.

At the time of your vote in June, will the County’s Agreement for the Promotion of Tourism accurately reflect the CVB’s legal type as a California Mutual Benefit Nonprofit Corporation?

Or…

Following the vote, will it be necessary to file a formal allegation with the Enforcement Division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission seeking investigation of Huberty’s persistent fraudulent misrepresentation and exposing the complicity of this delegitimized government?

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

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

As the direct result of a diligent private investigation, four of you – Huberty, Folendorf, Tofanelli and Stopper – received formal notification from the Enforcement Division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission – FPPC – informing each of you that you were under investigation for multiple violations of the Political Reform Act for your respective failures to file accurate and timely campaign finance forms.

Each of you has delegitimized the Calaveras County government and its spending authority by your financial misconduct and your blatant concealment of facts to benefit your respective campaigns for office.

You’ve demonstrated the inability to accurately manage your own campaign finances, yet collectively you control the expenditure of almost four hundred million dollars.

Huberty has already received his Warning Letter from the FPPC in February 2025 (below), declaring Huberty as a “Statements of Economic Interest Non-Reporter,” and informing Huberty of the severe consequences of another investigation and confirmed violation of the Political Reform Act.

Three of you – Folendorf, Tofanelli and Stopper – are in the FPPC Enforcement Division’s investigatory pipeline for multiple violations of the Political Reform Act as Campaign Non-Filers. 

Two of you – Folendorf and Tofanelli – may expect to receive Warning Letters in coming months pending completion of the Enforcement Division’s investigation.

One of you –  Stopper – having already received a Warning Letter in May 2019 (below) for your violations of the Political Reform Act – may anticipate stern measures, including fines, from the FPPC’s Enforcement Division.

One of you – Folendorf – has yet to publicly account for over eighty four hundred dollars in labor union contributions that mysteriously vanished from your 2020 campaign finances directly under your control.

Several weeks from now, when the Board of Supervisors votes on the Calaveras County 2025-2026 fiscal year budget, it will be faced with an ethical conundrum.

Does this board admit complicity to its citizens for its intentional failure to ensure the accuracy of the four-year Agreement for the Promotion of Tourism with the Calaveras Visitors Bureau and for intentional perpetuation of the fraudulent misrepresentation of the CVB’s nonprofit type, or does it continue to deny the facts known to the board since August 2023?

Either way, another formal FPPC complaint is being prepared against Huberty for his blatant conflict of interests in this matter.

I urge Supervisor Huberty to resign immediately as Executive Director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau. 

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

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

Informed citizens might reasonably question whether the Warning Letter that Board Chair Martin Huberty received from the Enforcement Division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission was the consequence of a political novice’s multiple innocent errors and violations of the Political Reform Act due to failing to comprehend instructions and seek guidance, leading to his failure to disclose… or whether it was an intentional act of income concealment that is ethically, and potentially legally, concerning.

Informed citizens might then question whether Huberty’s failure to disclose multiple sources of income – a fact corroborated by the FPPC – was an isolated novice incident or a future glimpse into a troubled pattern of conduct.

Four Board members face ethical, and potentially legal, dilemmas when voting on the 2025-26 fiscal year budget.

Huberty will recuse from voting, as required, due to his conflict of interests holding a second full-time, taxpayer-funded job as the executive director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau.

The ethical, and potentially legal, dilemma will be whether any of you vote YES to continue funding the CVB in the 2025-26 budget without first correcting the July 1, 2023 Tourism Promotion Agreement between Calaveras County and the CVB to accurately represent the CVB’s California nonprofit corporation type.

• On August 22, 2023 this Board was credibly informed, as was County Counsel and the CEO, that the Tourism Promotion Agreement misrepresented the CVB’s California nonprofit corporation type; 
• The CVB had surrendered its public benefit nonprofit corporation status in July 2021; 
• The CVB had become a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation at that time operating without valid bylaws as legally required;
• …and for the 2024-25 fiscal year budget vote, this Board was credibly reminded the Tourism Promotion Agreement was misrepresented and needed to be corrected for legitimacy. 

The Board unwisely dismissed these facts.

Members of this Board, by voting to approve any 2025-26 fiscal year funding for the CVB without first requiring that the misrepresented nonprofit corporation type be corrected in the Tourism Promotion Agreement will be complicit in Martin Huberty’s alleged fraudulent misrepresentation.

Respectfully, that would be a very unwise choice for any supervisor currently under investigation for financial impropriety by the FPPC’s Enforcement Division.

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

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

County Counsel Edwards…

As an attorney, you would know that Mutual Benefit Nonprofit Corporations differ greatly in several respects from Public Benefit Nonprofit Corporations.

There are several factors specific to the distinct differences between a Mutual Benefit Nonprofit Corporation and a Public Benefit Nonprofit Corporation.

These include the nonprofit corporation’s mission, its permissive activities including political activity, and its taxation, fundraising, and distribution of assets upon entity dissolution.

When the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors votes on the 2025-26 fiscal year budget, will you have heeded my repeated cautioning and facilitated revision of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau Tourism Promotion Agreement to correct the CVB’s fraudulent misrepresentation of the business bureau’s nonprofit corporation type?

County Counsel Edwards…

I have not prefaced the words fraudulent misrepresentation with the word alleged because fraudulent misrepresentation is factually what is occurring on your watch concerning the CVB’s nonprofit corporation type.

County Counsel Edwards…

You, CEO Hitchcock, and the Board of Supervisors have been explicitly cautioned on multiple occasions that fraudulent misrepresentation was occurring.

That concern remains ignored to the legal and financial detriment of Calaveras County.

One of your principal responsibilities is providing Calaveras County with qualified legal advice to minimize its legal exposure.

Because of the CVB’s fraudulent misrepresentation occurring and perpetuating on your watch, the Calaveras County government – with you as County Counsel – finds itself at a precarious legal juncture.

Concerning the CVB’s deception – the fraudulent misrepresentation of its nonprofit corporation type – you are failing to meet one of your principal responsibilities… providing Calaveras County with qualified legal advice to minimize its legal exposure.

Furthermore, the CVB perpetuates a blatantly false claim on its public-facing website asserting it is a non-profit association.

The legal differences between a non-profit association and a nonprofit corporation are substantial.

As a practicing attorney, you would know this fact ‘chapter and verse.’

County Counsel Edwards…

Again I ask, when the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors votes on the 2025-26 fiscal year budget, will you have heeded my repeated cautioning and facilitated revision of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau Tourism Promotion Agreement to correct the CVB’s fraudulent misrepresentation of the business bureau’s nonprofit corporation type?

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

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

Fiduciary is a term derived from Latin, meaning trust and confidence.

As public officials, you are bound and obligated by your fiduciary relationship and duty to the county government and the public you are privileged to serve.

As public officials, you are expected to maintain an ethical and competent standard of care when performing your required fiduciary duties of office.

At the last Board of Supervisors meeting, I presented facts of the substantial legal differences between a public benefit nonprofit corporation and a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation. 

These substantial legal differences between a nonprofit corporation’s type include the corporation’s mission and whether it serves its members or the public first, its permissive activities including political activity, its taxation, its fundraising sources, and its distribution of assets upon entity dissolution.

Mutual benefit nonprofit corporations are typically oriented to be self-funded; raising money by charging its members dues.

It is not typical for a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation – which the Calaveras Visitors Bureau became in 2021, when it switched its nonprofit corporation’s legal type – to be fundraising 90% of its annual operating expenses from public sources.

Counsel Edwards is responsible for protecting the county from damaging legal exposure arising from the CVB’s persistent misrepresentation of its nonprofit corporation type.

Counsel Edwards may, therefore, wish to immediately stop facilitating the CVB’s persistent misrepresentation, and transparently expedite the revision – for legitimacy – of the county’s Tourism Promotion Agreement with the CVB to avoid a credible allegation of legal malpractice.

The CVB’s 2024 documented underperformance – evidenced by Visit California’s “2024 Economic Impact of Travel” report – revealed a loss of 180 direct Calaveras tourism industry jobs in 2024, following the loss of 160 direct tourism industry jobs in 2023, for a shocking total of 340 direct Calaveras tourism industry jobs lost during the last two years… that’s a very disturbing 12% loss of direct county tourism industry employment on Martin Huberty’s watch, who serves as both District 3 Supervisor and CVB executive director.

Calaveras is reported to have lost $4.6 million in direct earnings from tourism in 2024 over 2023, a 3.5% loss, with a 1.4% loss of tourism tax revenue of $300,000 for 2024.

In contrast, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Amador, El Dorado, and even Alpine enjoyed increased 2024 tourism spending.

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

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

I’m registering an informed, evidence-backed challenge into this meeting’s public record, specific to agenda item 26, the fiscal year 2025-26 CEO recommended budget coming before the Board for approval on June 24, 2025.

I challenge CEO Hitchcock’s fiduciary standard of care, as demonstrated by her recommended budget allocation of $400,000 to the Calaveras Visitors Bureau for fiscal year 2025-26.

The CVB is contractually eligible – through the end of fiscal year 2026-27 – to receive an annual allocation of public funding from Calaveras County’s transient occupancy tax.

At issue is Hitchcock’s knowledge and dismissal of the persistent contractual misrepresentation of the CVB’s nonprofit legal type – falsely stated in the Tourism Promotion Agreement to be a public benefit nonprofit corporation.

Ms. Hitchcock. The CVB is a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation. It is not a public benefit nonprofit corporation.

District 3 Supervisor and Board Chair Martin Huberty has a fiduciary duty to Calaveras County, and has sworn an oath of office.

The CVB, a nonprofit corporation led by executive director Huberty since June 2019, also requires his fiduciary duties to be performed with a standard of care and competence on behalf of the CVB’s Board of Directors.

During Huberty’s first two years as executive director, from June 2019 to July 2021, the CVB’s legal nonprofit type was a public benefit nonprofit corporation.

Under Huberty’s leadership as executive director, in 2021 the CVB petitioned the State of California to change its legally-registered type to a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation.

From July 12, 2021 onward, upon the CVB having received approval from the California Department of Justice and registering the CVB’s legal type with the California Secretary of State, the CVB has been a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation and operated for three years without legally required bylaws.

Earlier, I provided you with a refresher on substantial legal distinctions between two types of nonprofit corporations, informing you that County Counsel Edwards invites legal consequences for the county if this Board approves funding for the CVB without first having transparently corrected the CVB’s nonprofit corporation type on the Tourism Promotion Agreement.

The substantial legal distinctions between nonprofit corporation types are the basis of my informed concern and allegation of persistent misrepresentation by the CVB of its legal type in the Tourism Promotion Agreement with the county.

In conclusion, the parade of Calaveras county government departments expressing financial concerns during today’s budget hearing is now a wake up call for Calaveras county employees to call for a one-day general strike and protest against this administrative incompetence and malfeasance.

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

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

On May 28th I met with California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, at which time we explicitly discussed the substantial evidence I’ve compiled of malfeasance and corruption by Calaveras County officials and the shocking fact that all five district supervisors are presently under FPPC investigation and/or under Enforcement Division Warning Letters for campaign finance violations of the Political Reform Act. 

The actionable outcome of that recent discussion three weeks ago with State Treasurer Fiona Ma, following her expression of dismay concerning revelations of the FPPC investigations of all district supervisor’s financial misconduct, was her very specific guidance for me to directly escalate my evidence-backed allegations of Calaveras County government malfeasance to the California Attorney General’s Office and to the California State Controller’s Office.

Escalation to the California Attorney General’s Office and to the California State Controller’s Office, following State Treasurer Ma’s guidance, is now underway.

There is little, if any, precedent in the State of California for the entirety of a county’s Board of Supervisors to simultaneously be under investigation or warning by the FPPC’s Enforcement Division.

Calaveras County may stand alone in this ignominious distinction, a fact in the process of being confirmed for me by the FPPC.

Related to the persistent corruption of the Calaveras County government, and of the County’s immediate concern, is its Government Crime Policy with American International Group (AIG) is in jeopardy of cancellation or nonrenewal, due to my evidence-backed allegations of persistent collusion between the Calaveras County government and the Calaveras Visitors Bureau to intentionally deceive the taxpayers of Calaveras County by continuing to facilitate and fund a nonprofit corporation – the Calaveras Visitors Bureau – that persistently lies as to its legal type while under contract for funding with Calaveras County transient occupancy taxes.

Be assured I’ve already had initial conversations with AIG representatives concerning the misconduct of their policyholder, the Calaveras County government.

You certainly cannot reasonably defend your persistent misconduct or your deception of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau nonprofit corporation type to AIG.

Lastly, due to the dismissiveness, insolence and collusion of the Calaveras County government and the Calaveras Visitors Bureau in refusing to address what is clearly an intentional and persistent misrepresentation of the nonprofit’s legal type for Martin Huberty’s personal financial gain, I’m seeking investigation and revocation of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau’s 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status by the IRS for cause.

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

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

On June 30, 2023, I published to my website a forensic audit of 18 consecutive years of the Calaveras Chamber of Commerce’s IRS filings, titled “Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce Revenue/Expense Analysis,” revealing a near-two decade legacy of endemic fiscal negligence.

I also investigated and documented the Chamber’s $50K annual transient occupancy tax allocation, publishing the findings, titled 'Calaveras Supervisors Strain to Justify Chamber TOT Funding.' to my website on September 24, 2024. 

The Board of Supervisors asks us to believe two years of $50,000 Chamber allocations is to promote tourism in the west end of the county. 

My published reports document $100,000 in total TOT funding allocated to the Calaveras Chamber as being used to prop up a fiscally mismanaged business bureau.

The Chamber’s 2024 IRS Tax return reports total annual revenue of approximately $156,000, with $37,000 of that revenue received as TOT funding, and total expenses of $152,000, with $101,000 allocated to salaries and other compensation.

The Chamber generated more revenue as a landlord by subletting $23,508 in office space compared to revenue generation from annual dues and subscriptions, which totaled a mere $5,900. 

In 2024, the Chamber allocated a mere $1,738 to advertising and promotion while earning a paltry $190 in annual advertising revenue, revealing endemic marketing impotence. 

The 2024 IRS filing lacks a line item detailing where the TOT revenue was allocated for the promotion of tourism in the west end of the county.

As a partially publicly-funded entity, the Chamber is also derelict in failing to:

1. publish on its website its monthly meeting schedule, 
2. agenda items, 
3. meeting minutes, 
4. mission statement, 
5. applicable bylaws, 
6. annual expense and financial budgets and reports, 
7. strategic business development and marketing plans, 
8. and any accurate reporting of the allocation of annual TOT funding for its explicitly intended purpose of west end tourism promotion.

The Chamber has therefore forfeited its privilege of receiving funding in the 2025-26 fiscal year budget by its lack of transparency and misallocation of two years of TOT funding (Estimated at $100,000).

Continued TOT funding of the Chamber exacerbates the existing complaint being filed with the State Controller's Office regarding the fraudulent misrepresentation of the CVB’s nonprofit corporation type.

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

• Read the detailed September 2024 report: "Calaveras Supervisors Strain to Justify Chamber TOT Funding."
• Calaveras County Tourism has fallen off a cliff. Read the June 13, 2025 edition of the Calaveras County Government Watchdog, "An Open Letter About Fiduciary Duty to the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, County Counsel, and County Executive Officer." https://calaveras2024election.com/f/calaveras-government-watchdog-cvb-fraudulent-misrepresentation 
• Did you know, according to the Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce website, "Our Chamber staff is here to assist you and help your business succeed!"? Reach the Calaveras County Chamber Staff and Board of Directors at this link and ask them, "What did you do with the $100,000 in transient occupancy tax revenue provided by the Calaveras County Government to promote tourism in the west end of the county?" https://www.calaveras.org/board-and-staff

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

The Calaveras Visitors Bureau is not a public benefit nonprofit corporation. There is no ambiguity in that statement.

The Calaveras Visitors Bureau is not a public benefit nonprofit corporation. 

That is a factual statement.

The Calaveras Visitors Bureau is not a public benefit nonprofit corporation.

Having now heard that unambiguous, factual statement three times in the last 30 seconds, is there any part of that declarative statement that any of you are incapable of comprehending?

Ms. Edwards? 

Ms. Hitchcock? 

Ms. Folendorf? 

Ms. Andahl? 

Mr. Tofanelli? 

Mr. Stopper? 

Mr. Huberty?

The Calaveras Visitors Bureau has been a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation since July 12, 2021.

Is there any part of that declarative statement that any of you are incapable of comprehending?

Ms. Edwards? 

Ms. Hitchcock? 

Ms. Folendorf? 

Ms. Andahl? 

Mr. Tofanelli? 

Mr. Stopper? 

Mr. Huberty?

The CVB is a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation subject to different laws and regulations.

I’ve previously articulated the numerous differences, so for Calaveras County and the CVB to contractually represent otherwise, after having been credibly advised and cautioned by me for two years, invites legal and financial consequences for each of you and your government careers.

All of you have been cautioned of this repeatedly – some of you for two years – yet this government and the CVB, led by executive director Martin Huberty and Board of Directors President Susan Weatherby, smugly persist in advancing Martin Huberty’s false CVB narrative for financial gain.

I’m disgusted by your collective arrogance. 

You intentionally deceive the public you are supposed to be ethically serving.

The Tourism Promotion Agreement between Calaveras County and the CVB, dated July 1, 2023 and signed on August 22, 2023, falsely claims the CVB to be a public benefit nonprofit corporation. 

Apparently, this government believes it is above the law. 

You are not above the law and will be held legally accountable for your collusion and corruption.

You’ve dismissed my legitimate concerns of your fiscal misconduct and cast me as a villain.

You’ve abused the power of your office and your authority.

Vote today to approve three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the CVB for fiscal year 2025-26 and that misguided action will be countered by me seeking revocation of the CVB’s tax-exempt IRS status, cancellation of Calaveras County’s Government Crime Policy, escalation with the FPPC of claims of conflict of interests, criminal complaints with the District Attorney and the Office of the Attorney General, and presentation of cause for an audit conducted by the California State Controller’s Office.

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

The Calaveras Supervisors voted to approve the $350,000 in Calaveras Visitors Bureau funding triggering formal complaints to the IRS, California State Controller, Calaveras DA and California Office of the Attorney General.  

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

August 27, 2024, I addressed the issue of the animal shelter with a blog post at Calaveras2026Election.com called, 'Calaveras County Supervisors Commit to Inhumane Animal Treatment.' 

I am going to read some highlights from that... 

This board’s diversionary response and tactics distracts from the tragedy underlying a government riddled with public corruption and fiscal negligence, that for decades, has inhumanely treated generations of innocent, helpless, and wholly dependent animals in its custody.

There have been 12 grand jury reports since 2010. 

These grand jury reports and the Calaveras government has again squander the public’s goodwill and faith, spinning an illusion of hope you’d finally do the right thing for our vulnerable shelter animals. 

If not for the wonderful, dedicated volunteers from Gimme Shelter who tolerate the same deplorable conditions the animals are forced to survive in, the situation would be far more critical.

I found the Animal Shelter money, so follow along…

* Four point one six million dollars is already allocated.

* Terminate the LDA Partners contract and that’s a half million dollars.

* Put out a competitive bid for a revised, appropriately scaled animal shelter.

* Terminate ALL plans and funding for the DA’s new office building due to numerous allegations of her quid pro quo corruption and that’s six million dollars more.

* Next, fully defund the CVB and Chamber of Commerce of undeserved TOT revenue for another four hundred fifty thousand dollars annually.

Just like that… OVER eleven million dollars for a new, compassionate and caring Calaveras Animal Shelter.

I am trying to launch a national public relations campaign engaging preeminent animal rights organizations including PETA, focusing on nearly four decades of willful animal cruelty caused by an inhumane Calaveras government that refuses to prioritize funding due to its endemic corruption.

If anyone would like to help me out, I have 200 blog posts on my website regarding endemic corruption by this board. 

I am backordered 115 other blog posts. 

Shame on all of you." 

Christopher Buttner is the publisher of Calaveras2026Election.com. 

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

I recently read a courageous County Civil Grand Jury report.

The report documented that the county grand jury had performed its duty to the county’s citizens by investigating complaints of misrepresentation of information to and from the Board of Supervisors, investigating complaints of differential treatment by senior county administration, investigating complaints about hiring practices in county government, as well as having investigated other materially related concerns.

Unfortunately, this was not Calaveras County’s 2024-2025 Civil Grand Jury report I was reading.

I was reading neighboring Tuolumne County’s 2024-2025 Civil Grand Jury report.

The report presented a detailed description of a “type of Grand Jury Investigation called a Carry-Over Investigation” that the Grand Jury had completed.

The Grand Jury’s report summarized a Carry-Over Investigation in the following manner, “...when a prior Grand Jury provides information in the form of complaints, documentation or interview notes on a topic that the Grand Jury was not able to adequately investigate or complete a report about.”

The Grand Jury report continued, “...a Grand Jury would not be able to complete and investigate a topic for many reasons; the most common reason would be that each Grand Jury is only empaneled for one year. Whatever does not get finished within that time frame must either be dropped or carried over for the next Grand Jury… The major issue with a Carry-Over investigation is that the new Grand Jury must start from scratch and must conclude and publish in one year. If any information was provided, this Grand Jury would have to do the entire investigation again; use of prior witness statements is strictly prohibited.”

Reading about Carry-Over Investigations directed my concerns to the eight complaints I’ve filed during the 2023-2024 and the 2024-2025 Calaveras County Grand Jury terms; I’ve seen no evidence of any of my complaints having been considered or investigated.

As the 2025-2026 Calaveras County Civil Grand Jury empanels and begins reviewing complaints it will consider, I urge the jurists to take a courageous step, as neighboring Tuolumne County’s Grand Jury has, by attempting to bring accountability, integrity and transparency into local government.

The 2025-2026 Calaveras County Civil Grand Jury may expect to receive continuing calls and demands for a credible, unbiased investigation of the business practices of the Calaveras County administration and the Board of Supervisors.

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

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

Two years ago, in July 2023, I investigated and published a detailed report alleging an irrationally and irresponsibly sited Tesla Supercharger Electric Vehicle Charging Station (EVCS for short), located in Arnold, in District 3, that poses an extraordinary, yet avoidable, threat of a catastrophic wildfire to our wildland urban interface communities.

This potential firebomb of manmade origin was, allegedly, negligently sited in an extremely vulnerable location, in distressingly close proximity to densely forested neighborhoods, large capacity propane tanks (picture below), and unregulated traffic at the fringes of the approximate 900,000 acre Stanislaus National Forest and 4.1 miles east from one of the most pristine and majestic groves of giant redwoods on Earth – Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

Facts and concerns stated in my report have evidently been dismissed by the entirety of the Calaveras County government for two years, so I shared the facts and concerns of my report beyond Calaveras County with State officials and agencies to break through the resistance and bureaucratic insolence. 

My efforts resulted in a strong expression of interest by a senior staffer to a member of the California legislature, informing me that the local hazard I had identified and documented at the Arnold electric vehicle charging station bore some striking similarities to previously documented hazard concerns related to two other Tesla Supercharger installations elsewhere in that legislative district, having been independently documented to the legislator’s office by CAL FIRE Unit chiefs.

I was encouraged by the staffer to further research overlapping points of hazard concern common to the three Tesla Supercharger installations.

I now ask you for your commitment, as the president and CEO of the Rural County Representatives of California, to partner with me and waste no time in urging the Boards of Supervisors of its member counties to 1) ensure existing Tesla Supercharger installations are safe, secure and as fire hazard-free as possible and 2) review their county permitting processes in order to ensure the inclusion of local and regional fire officials in the permitting and approval process for all future non-residential Tesla Superchargers and similar EVCS installations and facilities.

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

Read the report: Tesla Supercharger Poses Central Sierra Wildfire Threat. Irresponsibly sited Tesla Supercharger poses wildfire threat to Calaveras County communities and wilderness. 

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

On June 24, I explicitly cautioned this Board of Supervisors that a misguided vote to approve three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the Calaveras Visitors Bureau for fiscal year 2025-26 would be countered by me seeking revocation of the CVB’s IRS 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status.

A tax-exempt organization complaint referral was submitted to the IRS seeking an investigation to corroborate allegations of the CVB’s misuse and abuse of its tax-exempt 501(c)(6) status, as a precursor to revocation of the CVB’s tax-exempt status for persistently and willfully violating the laws and rules governing mutual benefit nonprofit corporations; those laws and rules differing significantly from those of a public benefit nonprofit corporation in mission, permissive activity, political activity, taxation, fundraising, and other significant aspects.

The IRS was informed that the CVB, a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation since July 12, 2021, willfully and persistently misrepresents its legal designation as being a public benefit nonprofit corporation to the County of Calaveras, and as a nonprofit association to the City of Angels Camp.

The CVB has not been a nonprofit association since April 2000, at which time it incorporated as a public benefit nonprofit corporation.

The IRS was informed of significant supporting evidence of the CVB allegedly having persistently and willfully engaged in deceptive business practices by its yearslong intentional misuse and concealment of its tax-exempt 501(c)(6) designation as a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation, willfully and persistently contractually misrepresenting its legal designation as being a public benefit nonprofit corporation to the County of Calaveras and as a nonprofit association to the City of Angels Camp, and that the leadership of the CVB willfully and persistently refuses to address this contractual misrepresentation with the County of Calaveras and the City of Angels Camp, its two largest benefactors of public funds representing the source of approximately 90% of the CVB’s annual operating funding having been allocated from transient occupancy tax funds.

The IRS was informed the CVB’s persistence in engaging in a pattern of willfully misrepresenting its legal designation allegedly causes harm to the public interest, financial harm to the community, and potentially harm to any non-governmental donors to who may have been induced by the CVB’s willful and persistent misrepresentation of its nonprofit corporation type.

This pattern of misrepresentation potentially caused non-governmental donors to erroneously believe that their donations were tax-deductible, leaving those donors vulnerable to IRS penalties.

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

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