Electric Issue Divides Mountain Town : Power to the People: Some Don’t Want to Get Wired

POST MOUNTAIN, Calif. — A proposal to introduce public electricity--and the taxes to pay for it--to this remote community in the Trinity Mountains of Northern California is creating an uproar in local hollows and gulches.

“In this day and age you would think everyone would want electricity. Not here. Many are dead set against it,” lamented power proponent Art Zacharias, 63, a retired telephone company engineer.

On Tuesday night, ballots cast over the last three weeks by the hamlet’s 120 registered voters and mailed to the Trinity County clerk in Weaverville will be counted to decide whether to establish a public utility district to bring in electricity.

The issue has split Post Mountain--5 miles down the road from Peanut, 12 miles south of Hayfork--into two camps. There are retirees like Zacharias who moved here to live in the wilderness with city conveniences and there are those seeking a simpler life without the frills of modern times.

“We came here to live a less complicated, less stressful life. There are millions of places to go if you want to use a hair dryer or a toaster. If Post Mountain gets electricity, people will move in and our way of life will be destroyed,” said Susan Santa Cruz, 51, who with her husband Andy, 36, take turns manning a U.S. Forest Service fire lookout.

Adds teacher Carol Norris, 43: “Pro-power people call me a subversive, a wild-eyed fanatic because I don’t want electricity. I’m just as good an American as they are. I came to this isolated place to escape the city, not to bring it with me.”

But Joann Askim, 44, a waitress who moved here from Petaluma with her husband Arthur, 45, a bus driver, represents the other side. “Welcome to Never Never Land,” she sighed. “We moved here because my husband likes the hunting and fishing.

“Everybody has generators. You cannot believe the noise from the generators. You come here for peace, quiet, crickets and the birds. It’s like living in the middle of a freeway at night with the generators running. That’s why I want electricity.”

In fact, most of the people here do seem to have generators--some large and some quite small. They run them varying amounts of time, depending on how much power they want. But bring in a public utility, with its lines and taxing powers, would be different.

Mountain Spaces

Post Mountain is among a relative handful of communities scattered through rural California that do not have a public electrical system, according to a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. A 2,000-acre enclave surrounded by the Trinity National Forest, the land was subdivided 20 years ago and sold through newspaper and television advertising in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The 1,100 undeveloped lots, mostly 1 1/2 to two acres in size and scattered on slopes of steep mountains, were snapped up quickly by buyers at an average cost of $3,000 each.

The terrain is rugged and the lots far back in the woods can be reached only by steep, winding dirt roads. Since 1968, only about 50 rough-hewn dwellings have been built, with about the same number of lots occupied by campers, trailers and tents. The population, most people around here figure, is about 150.

“It’s a poor man’s subdivision, without building restrictions. If you want horses, hogs, chickens, goats or whatever, you can have them,” said longtime resident Earl Cruson, 67. “Many who live here have outhouses. Many haul their own water. Cost-wise it would be prohibitive to bring in electricity. Most people can’t afford it and don’t want it.”

A number of lots have been foreclosed on and are now owned by banks. Several are on sale for the original selling price or less.

Absentee Owners

There are no stores, no gas stations, no other commercial establishments here. There is no post office or other government agency. Most of the absentee property owners live in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.

Zacharias was one of the original buyers in 1968. He retired and moved here from Fullerton with his wife, Phyllis, 62, five years ago. They are living in a geodesic dome house they built from a kit.

“I’m certain once we get electricity people will move up here. Electricity is an inherent right of all citizens of the United States. Imagine living without electricity in America in 1988. It’s unheard of,” said Zacharias. “Electricity will be the key to the success of Post Mountain. And we can get it at a reasonable cost if people vote for the public utilities district.”

He said a feasibility study, done for free by an Idaho engineering firm that hopes to be hired to design and build the power system, showed it would cost $1.6 million to locate a substation not far from town and run 25 miles of electric lines throughout the community. The town could apply for a low-interest loan from the Rural Electrical Administration to be paid back in 30 years, he said.

Estimating Costs

“We figure it will cost each of the 1,100 property owners $15 a month (in taxes) to pay off the loan. Monthly electrical costs would average about $90, depending upon usage,” he said.

Opponents of the electrification measure dispute these figures, suggesting they are too low. Norris said all sorts of cost estimates have been tossed around during the campaign and many don’t know how much property taxes would have to be increased to pay for power. Even those homeowners who might opt not to sign up for electricity still would have to pay the tax.

Zacharias is among the five candidates for the three-member utility board that would be set up if the measure wins a majority. The board would prepare a detailed electrification plan that would have to be approved in a later election by both resident voters and absentee property owners.

Zacharias said he paid $4,000 for a diesel-powered generator that costs $230 a month to operate three to four hours a night. The generator powers lights, runs the washing machine and pumps water into the house. The toilet flushes only when the generator is running. He and his wife cook with propane and heat the house with a wood stove.

Norris said she paid $3,400 for her three acres on a mountain slope. It cost $6,000 to build her two-story home. “My house is paid for. I pay $36 a month for my land payment, $48 a year on taxes.

Self Sufficiency

“I am self-sufficient. I live alone. I raise all my own vegetables and meat--chickens, turkeys, rabbits and sheep. I could move to the city and have a full-time job. I don’t want that. I am a substitute teacher and work part time. I can’t afford electricity. I don’t want electricity.”

Susan Santa Cruz notes: “My three children went through Hayfork High School studying each night by kerosene lanterns. It didn’t hurt them. Each one won scholarships to universities.”

But Tom Finch, 64, who moved here in 1971 from Torrance with his wife, Barbara, and their daughter, Trina, now 14, is convinced life would be a lot cheaper and easier with electricity--”and considerably quieter without the noise pollution from the generators.”