Town Narrowly Approves Power Plan

A proposal to form a public utilities district in the remote Northern California hamlet of Post Mountain--the first step toward bringing public power to the isolated town--won by one vote in a special election, it was announced Wednesday.

When the ballots were counted Tuesday night it showed 45 residents in favor of forming a public utilities district to introduce electricity to the community and 44 against.

However, the balloting was only the first step toward electrifying the community. Under the ballot measure, the utilities district will prepare a study of the costs of electrifying the community. Imposition of a tax to pay for construction of a local power system would have to be approved in a second election by residents and property owners. Currently, residents use kerosene, wood stoves and independent generators for power.

Art Zacharias, 63, a retired telephone company engineer, and Art Askim, 44, a bus driver, the two leading proponents in the campaign for bringing electricity to Post Mountain, were defeated in their attempts to win election to the utilities district board. They finished last among the five candidates for the three-member board.

The election campaign caused considerable controversy in this town of about 150 residents, located in Trinity County, just down the road from Hayfork and Peanut. The election pitted those who wanted the comforts that full-time public electricity offers versus those who like the rough-hewn life style that now exists.