Linda Arcularius
The news of former Inyo County Supervisor Linda Arcularius’ death hit the community and the Board hard. She retired from her District 1 seat in 2015 but memories of her counsel, her strong stances on issues, her dedication to sustaining Inyo’s rural economy and way of life and her encouragement and openness to those who needed to tap into her lifetime of experiences were still fresh in the minds of Board members and staff at Tuesday’s meeting.
As a refresher course on Arcularius’ legacy, Darcy Ellis, Inyo’s Clerk of the Board, sent out a copy of the resolution passed in December 2014 prior to her successor Dan Totheroh’s swearing in. The following are excerpts from that resolution:
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She was appointed to the Board in 1993 to fill an unexpired term, then went on to serve five terms, in four of those elections she ran unopposed;
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She remained true to her values, worked hard and earned the respect of her constituents, staff and colleagues;
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She was proactive in resolving issues “in favor of the County’s immediate and long-term needs;
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During those 21 years, she represented Inyo County as a delegate on the National Association of Counties, the U.S. Forest Service Centennial Congress, the Rural County Representatives of California, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the California Statewide Watershed Committee, the Inyo/Los Angeles Standing Committee, the Inyo Council of the Arts, the Inyo County Financial Advisory Committee, the Local Agency Formational Commission, the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments and the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District;
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She strongly supported securing Federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes (reimbursements for state mandates and vehicle license fees), coordinating with Federal land managers on decisions impacting the County, Digital 395 fiber optic project and protecting public access to public lands;
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Her two-plus decades of service saw statewide droughts, the implementation of the Long Term Water Agreement, unification of the court system, natural disasters, the creation of the Eastern Sierra Transit Authority, County infrastructure projects, the construction of the Juvenile Hall, the Bishop Airport Terminal and the County Animal Shelter in Big Pine.
In short, she lived a long and productive life.
On a personal note, I sat down with the Arcularius’ while working on a series of stories on Inyo’s ranching families. Re-reading that story, once more Linda-ism is clear: the story she and her husband Howard told was the Arcularius story, not the Linda story. She met and married Howard in Nevada, building a house on the Arcularius ranch at 7,000 elevation at the end of a 45-mile dirt road, describing it as “pretty remote.”
The first Arcularius purchased land in Round Valley in the late 1890s. The family story is shared by the Eastern Sierra’s long-time ranching families—you do what you have to in order to live the life you treasure.
Howard and Linda relocated to Sierra Valley, California, then back to the homestead in Round Valley in the 1980s. One point of pride: the family retained water rights on Pine Creek. The Arcularius’ leased the family cow camp portion of a fishing resort in Long Valley for limited summer grazing.
While the Eastern Sierra is changing with each new wave of former visitors looking for a simpler life in a beautiful place, Linda Arcularius and her story is an important part of the land’s history.
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I used to go to a lot of board meetings. After a while, you’d realize that Supervisor Arcularius was the most capable politcal leader in the room. She could talk the talk when she needed to, but she knew how to get to the point and get things done.
She didn’t know it, but I she taught me so much. A true professional who represented our county well, not just here, but in Sacramento also.
Very well said, Tom.
Linda was a practical woman with a good sense of business principles mixed with common sense, along with a dose of necessary skepticism when appropriate. In many ways, she was a “realist.” Interviewing her was almost always rewarding because she told you what she truly thought about a topic or an issue. She seldom seemed to dance around an issue. Whenever she did not know enough about an issue or topic, had not yet formed an opinion on it, or was not in a position to legally discuss it, she just simply told you so.
Even after retiring from office, Linda often proved a credible resource on so many local issues. I suspect that, along with other local journalists, I continued to contact her for her thoughts on a number of local issues. She almost always had something interesting to say that could be added to your understanding of an issue, which is the point of good journalism. Along with so many others, I will miss “her voice.”
While many others may not have always agreed with her positions as a supervisor on some controversial issue or topic, almost everyone one would agree that “Linda was always straightforward, sincere, likeable, and knowledgeable.”
Howard, my best wishes to you and your family. You were certainly married to a remarkable woman.
Our kids grew up in the Round Valley district, and always loved interacting with Linda and Howard. We were so blessed that our kids went there. Linda was always a staunch advocate for her constituents. I had opportunity to interact with her on Digital 395. During construction, there was talk of rerouting the fiber away from Round Valley due to cost. She absolutely refused to compromise on that, and it ended up being built just as originally planned. Round Valley elementary ended up being the very first school to sign up for service from Digital 395, and now EVERY school in Inyo and Mono counties get reliable, high-speed data service from that fiber – because of her. When there was that huge fire in Round Valley a few years back, the Verizon fiber (now owned by Frontier) burned, because it was on poles, and all of Mammoth (and anyone north of Round Valley) lost Internet service. But not Digital 395, because it is buried fiber along the entire route. Verizon had to temporarily lease service on Digital 395 until they could rebuild that fiber on poles, but every school stayed online with no outage at all.
She had many such struggles advocating for Owens Valley and her constituents, but that’s one I was directly involved with. I’m grateful for her leadership, and will miss her.
What a huge loss. Linda was an excellent person with a real commitment to her community. She lived with huge generosity , a sense of humor, and a bottomless font of wisdom. What an inspiration
What a loss for the community, Linda was an excellent woman who dedicated years of service to Inyo County- she is a treasure sure to be missed.
Our community has lost one of its truly honorable people! Whether you agreed or disagreed with Linda on an issue, she remained respectful, thoughtful, and engaged. While staying true to her values, she balanced her stance with listening to other points of view, and participating in meaningful dialogue in a civil and kind manner. As an effective member of the Board of Supervisors for a couple of decades, she set the bar for all of us. Thank you, Linda, for touching my life and showing us all what meaningful, civil discourse looks like.