My Positions On The Issues Raised By Mark Schwebenland

A clear statement of my District 1 platform and the proper role of county government

From: Stanley Bissmeyer, Candidate for Mariposa County Supervisor, District 1

Date: August 15, 2026

Purpose: To state my position on each unique issue in the submitted guide and identify the limits of county authority

My governing principle: I will take every legitimate county concern seriously, but I will not promise powers that one supervisor - or even the full Board - does not legally possess. A supervisor succeeds by listening, asking hard questions, working with others, and earning at least two additional votes for Board action.

How I Read the Submitted Document

Format. The document presents issues and assertions rather than direct questions. I have therefore identified each unique issue and stated my position on it.

Duplication. Sections 7 and 8 and much of Part 2 are repeated in the file. The technology section also says there are five pillars but supplies only three. I answer each unique item once; any missing fourth or fifth pillar cannot be answered until it is provided.

Homeowners Insurance Crisis

Relevance: Directly relevant, but county authority is limited. Wildfire insurance is one of the most serious threats to household stability, real estate, local business, and the county tax base.

My response. My priority is to reduce the underlying wildfire risk through faster initial attack, stronger rural fire staffing, roadside fuel reduction, defensible-space work, reliable equipment, and coordination among Mariposa County Fire, CAL FIRE, federal agencies, local fire-safe councils, and residents. My current proposal is to move eight presently unstaffed rural stations toward paid staffing: a four-person crew around the clock during fire season - one captain, one equipment operator, and two paid-call firefighters - with two staff members on one eight-hour shift outside fire season. Volunteers should be preserved and supported, not pushed aside. The final plan must be based on verified costs, labor requirements, recruitment capacity, response data, and sustainable funding.

Limit of office. The Board of Supervisors cannot set insurance premiums or order private carriers to write policies. The county can pursue recognized community-hardening standards, document mitigation work, seek grants, and advocate with the California Department of Insurance and carriers. I will work toward better insurability, but I will not guarantee that county action will reduce any individual premium. The ISO states that if you live within 5 miles of a staffed and operating fire station it could reduce your insurance premiums up to %50.

Wildfire Mitigation and Forest Biomass

Relevance: Directly relevant. I have consistently identified wildfire as Mariposa County's greatest public-safety threat.

My response. I support aggressively pursuing competitive state and federal grants for fuel breaks, evacuation corridors, roadside treatment, home-hardening assistance, and local crews. Local work should be tied to a public priority map, measurable acres treated, maintenance schedules, and transparent reporting. Because so much land is federally managed, the county must press the Forest Service and BLM for coordinated treatment near communities and county infrastructure rather than quietly shifting federal responsibilities onto local taxpayers.

Biomass and prescribed fire. Forest biomass, prescribed burning, and mechanical treatment can all be part of the solution, but none is a blank check. A biomass or cogeneration proposal must prove its feedstock supply, hauling radius, air-quality compliance, utility interconnection, capital cost, operating partner, power or product buyer, and long-term financial viability. This type of system has been used successfully in other counties. I have also proposed studying materials-recovery and cogeneration options at or near the landfill, but only after an independent feasibility review and full public disclosure of risk.

Infrastructure, Evacuation Routes, and Broadband

Relevance: Directly relevant. County roads, bridges, culverts, evacuation routes, and public communications are basic responsibilities, although state highways, federal roads, and private roads have different owners.

My response. I support a public, multi-year capital and maintenance plan that ranks projects by life safety, evacuation value, condition, traffic, emergency access, cost, and available outside funding. Residents should be able to see why one road or bridge was scheduled before another. Deferred maintenance should be identified honestly instead of hidden until failure forces an emergency expense.

Broadband. Last-mile broadband is both an economic-development and emergency-communications issue. The county should continue regional coordination, simplify lawful deployment, map the remaining gaps, (I Don't believe there are any at this time), and pursue grants and private-provider partnerships. I do not favor making the county an open-ended internet company; I favor using county authority to remove avoidable barriers and attract accountable providers.

Tourism and the Local Economy

Relevance: Directly relevant, with an overstatement in the guide. Tourism is essential to Mariposa County, but heavy dependence on one industry leaves revenues vulnerable to wildfire smoke, snow, park closures, and national downturns.

My response. I will support tourism while pressing for economic diversification in trades, forest products, agriculture, remote work, homegrown small businesses, and other year-round activity. Transient Occupancy Tax and sales-tax assumptions should be conservative, and the public should be able to see how tourism-related revenues and costs affect roads, waste, law enforcement, fire, and public facilities.

Correction of scope. The statement that tourist emergency costs are funded strictly by local taxpayers is too broad. Funding sources and agency responsibilities vary. The Board approves the Sheriff's budget and county service contracts, but it does not personally command search-and-rescue operations or govern an independent health-care district. The proper question is what the county actually pays, what revenue offsets those costs, and whether the current arrangement is fair and sustainable.

Housing, Short-Term Rentals, and County Staffing

Relevance: Directly relevant. Housing supply affects families, seniors, teachers, emergency dispatchers, road crews, behavioral-health workers, and local employers.

My response. I favor expanding lawful housing choices by reducing unnecessary permit delay, improving customer service, using pre-reviewed plans where practical, supporting accessory dwelling units, and aligning development with real water, wastewater, road, and fire-protection capacity. Publicly supported housing projects must disclose total cost, funding restrictions, operating responsibility, rent collection, long-term maintenance, and measurable public benefit before approval. A lot of the problem is Yosemite National Park began actively reducing employee housing out of the Park in the 1980's and again in 1998 floods where over 200 employee housing units were destroyed, and then in earnest in 2014.

Short-term rentals. The county should protect property rights and tourism while addressing documented neighborhood, safety, septic, parking, and housing impacts. Any rule should be based on local evidence, applied consistently, and reviewed for actual results rather than driven by slogans or arbitrary countywide assumptions.

Homelessness. My approach is compassionate and accountable: safe temporary shelter, clear conduct standards, case management, connections to mental-health and substance-use treatment, protection of nearby residents and businesses, and measurable movement toward stable housing. Any county site must be evaluated for access, utilities, hazards, operating cost, transportation, neighborhood effects, and long-term management before it is selected.

Aging Population, Youth Opportunity, and Small Business

Relevance: Directly relevant. An aging population, youth leaving the county, and weak business formation all affect the future tax base and the ability to maintain services.

My response. I support practical senior transportation and service coordination; trade, technical, and apprenticeship partnerships for young people; and a business climate that reduces regulatory uncertainty without sacrificing health, safety, or neighboring property rights. Mariposa should help existing local businesses expand, encourage value-added forest and agricultural work, and make it easier for a responsible applicant to understand the cost, requirements, and timeline before investing.

Unfunded State Mandates

Relevance: Directly relevant as a budget and advocacy issue. A county supervisor cannot repeal state law or simply vote to ignore a legal mandate. The Board can document the local cost, pursue waivers and exemptions, seek reimbursement and grants, propose rural alternatives, join other counties in advocacy, and challenge unlawful action through proper legal channels.

SB 1383 organic waste. The county should verify its current exemption or waiver status, compare the cost of each lawful compliance option, use rural flexibility wherever available, and avoid building an expensive system before the Board understands collection volume, contamination, bear-proofing, transportation, processing, and end-market costs. The guide's claim that implementation comes without state funding is too absolute because grants and waiver pathways exist, even if they do not cover every local cost.

AB 109, CARE Court, and behavioral health. These requirements affect county budgets and staffing, but the Board does not direct judges, prosecutors, or the independently elected Sheriff. My role would be to demand accurate cost tracking, seek outside funding, review outcomes, protect employees and the public, and insist that Sacramento understand the limits of a small rural workforce.

Housing Element. The county must comply with state housing law while documenting the real limits of water, wastewater, roads, fire protection, and transit. Mariposa County's 2024-2029 Housing Element was adopted and certified in March 2026. The practical job now is lawful implementation, public transparency, and opposition to proposals that ignore infrastructure or shift unreasonable costs to existing residents.

What a Supervisor Actually Does

Budget. The full five-member Board adopts the budget and major expenditures. One supervisor can question, propose, vote, and build support, but cannot spend or move county money alone.

Land use. The Board adopts the General Plan, zoning rules, and some project decisions and appeals. It does not personally review every building permit or parcel map, and an individual supervisor should not pressure staff to give favored treatment.

Health and social services. The Board sets policy, approves budgets and contracts, and evaluates county leadership. Supervisors do not personally manage confidential cases or dictate professional clinical judgments.

Sheriff and jail. The Sheriff is independently elected. The Board funds the office and jail, approves certain agreements and positions, and may demand lawful financial accountability; it cannot command investigations, arrests, or day-to-day law-enforcement decisions.

Assessment appeals and ordinances. Serving as the local Board of Equalization and voting on lawful county ordinances are core Board functions. Decisions should be based on the record, due process, equal treatment, and fiscal impact.

Constituent service. A supervisor should be accessible, help residents reach the correct department, follow up on delay, and identify repeated system failures. A supervisor is not a private judge in neighbor disputes and cannot unilaterally order an employee to approve a permit, waive a rule, or repair a road.

Technology in Planning and Building

Relevance: Relevant, but the premise is partly outdated. Mariposa County already has an online permitting system and multiple public GIS tools. The next question is whether they are reliable, understandable, fully used across departments, and genuinely shortening review time.

My response. I support public permit tracking, shared interdepartmental workflows, clear checklists, online payments, electronic plan review where appropriate, and published performance measures. Technology must improve service rather than become a new barrier. Residents who lack reliable broadband or digital skills must retain a practical phone and in-person option.

Technology in Administration and Finance

Relevance: Directly relevant. A unified financial or enterprise system can improve purchasing, payroll, grants, audit trails, and public reporting, but a failed conversion can waste money and disrupt core services.

My response. Before approving a major system, I would require a documented business need, total lifecycle cost, implementation schedule, migration plan, cybersecurity review, staff training plan, contract protections, data ownership, backup and recovery standards, and measurable savings or service gains. The county should avoid vendor lock-in and should not buy new software merely because the old system is unfashionable.

AI-assisted grants. Secure tools may help staff locate opportunities, summarize requirements, or prepare drafts, but a qualified employee must verify every submission. Confidential resident information, protected personnel data, law-enforcement material, and privileged county information should not be placed into unapproved public AI services. Public-records retention and authorship responsibility must remain clear.

Digital government. I support searchable agendas, minutes, ordinances, budgets, contracts, votes, online payments, e-comment options consistent with open-meeting law, and easier public-records requests. Digital access should supplement - not replace - meaningful in-person access.

Education and Post-Secondary Innovation

Relevance: Mostly outside direct Board authority. The County Board of Supervisors does not run the school district, set curriculum, direct school technology, or control community-college academic programs. Those are not promises a supervisor should make.

Appropriate county role. The county can be a willing partner on broadband, library access, workforce development, internships, shared facilities, grant applications, and employer connections.

Lower priority items. A specific purchase such as library 3D printers is not a central supervisor issue by itself. I would consider it only in the normal library budget, preferably with grant funding, demonstrated public use, maintenance costs, and higher-priority services protected.

Bottom Line

Most of the guide's subjects deserve discussion. My answer is not that county government can solve every problem; it is that the Board must focus on the responsibilities it actually controls, measure results, publish costs, protect rural residents, and collaborate without surrendering independent judgment. I will listen before I lead, tell residents what the office can and cannot do, and judge proposals by legality, public safety, fiscal responsibility, transparency, fairness, and long-term benefit to Mariposa County.

Official Sources Used for Scope and Current Status

These sources support the office-authority and current-status notes; the policy positions above are my campaign positions.

Source: Mariposa County Board of Supervisors - 2026 Board Meeting Guide - Board composition and core budget, land-use, and legislative duties.

Source: California Department of Insurance - Safer from Wildfires - State insurance framework recognizing individual and community wildfire mitigation.

Source: Mariposa County - Online Permitting Information - Current Development Services online permitting access.

Source: Mariposa County - GIS Mapping - Current public GIS, parcel, emergency, and fire-history tools.

Source: Mariposa County Planning Department - Current permitting information and March 2026 Housing Element adoption and certification dates.

Source: CalRecycle - Department-Issued Waivers - Rural, elevation, and low-population pathways under the organic-waste regulations.

Source: Mariposa County Sheriff's Office Organizational Study RFP - County description identifying the Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator as an elected county office.

Source: Mariposa County General Plan - Independent Special Districts - Identifies the John C. Fremont Healthcare District and its elected board as independent of the County.

Source: Mariposa County - Central Sierra Broadband Utility Zone Consortium - Regional broadband coordination and provider engagement.