Downstroke

“Everything is kind of on hold,” said National Labor Relations Board supervising field examiner John O’Hearn.

The NLRB is going over contested ballots and considering charges of unfair labor practices. If staff investigators can determine if there were truly unfair labor practices, they’ll issue a “complaint” and set a trial date with an administrative law judge. If contested ballots can’t be settled and are still outstanding, O’Hearn said, “we just put it all before the administrative law judge.”

The NLRB could instead determine that the charges are unfounded or get the parties to agree to withdraw them. That way, the ballot objections could be heard before NLRB staff—a much quicker process.

“When results are up for grabs like that, sometimes you get objections from both parties,” he said. As usual, the objections were filed by the side that seems to be behind in the votes.

Two units—food services and housekeeping—employed by outside contractors clearly voted in favor of the union, and the results have been certified by the NLRB.

O’Hearn said that nothing that’s transpired has been unusual, but, “this was complicated from the beginning because there are so many elections lumped together.”

Run down by law: A Butte County sheriff’s deputy hit and killed an Oroville pedestrian Saturday night as the man, who witnesses said had been drinking, attempted to walk across Oro Dam Road. According to CHP Sgt. Dan Rodman, pedestrian Joe Steven Frazier, 40, was crossing Oro Dam at about 11:50 p.m. when he was struck by a patrol car driven by Deputy William Olive, 31, who was responding to a disturbance call at Gold Country Casino.

There is no crosswalk where Frazier was walking, Rodman said. Witnesses told police Olive was traveling at about 35-40 mph with his lights and siren off. Deputy Olive was treated for minor injuries and placed on standard administrative leave. Results of a CHP investigation, including an autopsy and toxicology report, will likely be made public Friday, Rodman said.

Fee-for-all: If the Butte County Board of Supervisors takes the advice of a report it commissioned from a Sacramento consulting firm, fees for most county services will likely be going up soon.

The report, prepared by Sacramento consulting group Maximus, contends that most of the services the county offers cost much more than the fees it charges for them. For example, if the county charged applicants the actual amount in labor-hours and administrative fees for, say, an exotic-animal permit, the cost would be $295 instead of the current $100. By bringing fees up to what the services actually cost, the county stands to save about $2.75 million a year.