Thumbnail photo: Members of the Del Norte Sheriff's Posse raised $10,000 to bring Otis, a 1954 Ford police car, back to the community last month. | Photo courtesy of the Del Norte Sheriff's Posse Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting: Supervisors accept “Otis”: Though the vehicle has already been purchased, Del Norte County supervisors officially accepted Otis on Tuesday. The 1954 Ford police car has been in movies, including the 1996 crime flick “Mulholland Falls,” according to Sheriff Garrett Scott’s staff report. Over the summer, the Del Norte Sheriff's Posse, the nonprofit organization supporting the sheriff’s office, raised $10,000 to buy the vehicle. With the Board of Supervisors unanimously accepting the vehicle’s title and ownership from the nonprofit, Otis will make appearances at parades and community events, Scott said. “Every fire department has an old fire truck they like to display,” the sheriff said. “Not only does it help your community to mingle with the deputies out there, it brings a lot of camaraderie within an organization and there’s so many facets of leadership that come into play there.” The sheriff’s posse will ensure Otis’s is maintained, clean and cared for, according to Scott’s staff report. Not everyone was pleased with the purchase. Before receiving his answer from District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey concerning the vehicle’s maintenance, county resident Greg Bianchi pointed out that unless Otis is jacked up, its tires would go flat from sitting there. Bianchi also asked where the car would be kept and said that the donations used to purchase Otis could have been used for another purpose. “You don’t need to go buying junk cars and go fixing them up,” he said. “Those funds should have been used for something else that promotes the livelihood of this community.” Otis came to Del Norte County from Merced, according to a July 29 Del Norte Sheriff’s Posse Facebook post. According to the post, Hank Akin brought the vehicle to Del Norte where it made its first appearance at the Andy Larson Memorial Classic Car Show at the local fair. Yurok Tribe Donates Patrol Vehicle: Supervisors unanimously approved the donation of a 2013 Dodge Charger, valued at about $18,000, to the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office. According to the sheriff’s staff report, the vehicle includes a radio and emergency lighting and is in good condition. “It is a police package vehicle and pursuit-rated for safety and does meet the criteria for our current fleet,” Scott stated in his staff report. The donation comes as the Yurok Tribal Police Department, which has switched its fleet over to SUVs and four-wheel-drive vehicles, according to the staff report. Scott stated that he estimates the cost for registering and cleaning the vehicle will be under $1,500. Supervisors Support Fix Our Forests Act: Supervisors unanimously approved sending a letter to U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla in support of the Fix Our Forests Act, which aims to reduce wildfire risk and make forest management “more efficient and responsive.” The Fix Our Forests Act was initially introduced by representatives Scott Peters, a Democrat from California, and Republican Bruce Westerman of Arizona during the Los Angeles County wildfires in January. Padilla and senators John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), John Curtis (R-Utah) and Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) introduced a revised version of the bill in April. In their letter, Del Norte County supervisors supported the bill’s creation of a Wildfire Intelligence Center, which would create an interagency program to help communities build and retrofit with “wildfire-resistant measures.” Supervisors also supported the bill’s aim to improve reforestation and nursery capacity with programs specifically focused on white oak restoration. “This legislation is consistent with several of Del Norte County’s priorities in regard to forest management and we truly appreciate your leadership in introducing this critical legislation,” the Board’s letter states. Howard, Wilson bring up California redistricting vote: Reporting back from a recent California State Association of Counties meeting, District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard said Del Norte and other counties will be reimbursed for holding a special election focusing on redistricting. “It went from a conversation of no reimbursement to a conversation of partial reimbursement to a conversation of you will be reimbursed as counties if a special election is held,” Howard told his colleagues. “My hope is that [when] this thing does happen, which I really don’t want it to personally, however if it does happen, we will be reimbursed.” Howard’s report to his colleagues came after California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law an attempt to thwart a redistricting effort in Texas that would add to the Republicans’ majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Newsom’s plan, which will be added to a special elections ballot on Nov. 4, would redraw California’s congressional map to be more favorable to Democrats in the 2026 midterm election, CBS News reported on Aug. 21. Chiming in following Howard’s report, District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson said he’s concerned about an election that he estimated will cost between $225 million and $250 million Wilson also referred to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which was created through voter approval of the Proposition 11, Voters First Act in 2008, and revised through the Voters First Act for Congress, or Proposition 20, in 2010. Wilson also argued that redrawing California’s map would take away Del Norte’s voice in Washington D.C. “We have a voice right now, not in Sacramento, but in Washington D.C. that are ag-based voices and they pursue rural issues for us,” Wilson said. “Their redesign will take at least four of those voices away from us in Washington D.C.” California’s redistricting measure, named Proposition 50, has its opponents. Opposition mailers have already been sent to voters, according to ABC7, ABC’s Los Angeles affiliate. Republican lawmakers have also backed a 432-page petition challenging the legality of Newsom’s redistricting plan, CBS News reported. On Aug. 18, CSAC stated that it didn’t have a position on the current redistricting efforts.