CAP Board Members & Staff

John Trinkl, Co-Chair—John Trinkl came to CAP from a lifetime of activism in various social causes and has been focusing much of his energy recently on preserving the quality of life of Calaveras County. He and his family own a cabin in Big Trees Village north of Arnold. John is a current Board member and former President of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch. John has been a reporter, writer, editor, marketing specialist, web developer, and has worked in the travel industry, the book publishing business, and high tech ventures.

Joyce Techel, Co-Chair—A business owner and long-time resident of Valley Springs, Joyce has been involved with various volunteer activities in the county for two decades. She is a founding member of MyValleySprings.com, one of the major groups in the Calaveras Planning Coalition.

Bob Dean—Member of the Calaveras County Water District, Bob works extensively on water issues. He is a long-time involved resident of Calaveras County. Currently, Bob is also spearheading a two-county effort to develop a citizen group to support preservation of foothill oak woodlands; he is on the Board of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch. Bob is vice chair of the Mother Lode Land Trust, a regional group which supports land preservation in Calaveras and Amador Counties. He serves on the board of the Youth Mentoring Foundation.

Linda Mariani—Linda, a 25-year resident of Calaveras County, was a founder and administrator of a charter school supporting alternative education and engaging parent and student voice. She is committed to principled leadership, focusing on common values, engaging parties with polarized perceptions into productive conversations and solutions, sustainability, community health and thoughtful, long-range planning. She is a long-term member of the Board of Directors of The Resource Connection.

Holly Mines—Holly served on the Calaveras County Planning Commission from 2005-2008. She has played an active role in Community Planning in District 2, Calaveras County, and chairs a stakeholders committee on Affordable Housing. She served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay from 1967-69 and has volunteered in the communities where she has lived ever since.

Michelle Plotnik—Michelle is a local architect who has been involved with various local planning and business groups for many years including the Calaveras Council of Governments, the Murphys Business Association, the Ebbetts Pass National Scenic Byway Association, and the Central Sierra Ecological Building Association. Michelle is particularly interested in community planning issues and ensuring that our planning documents and policies reflect the values and goals of our communities.

Penny Sarvis—A former teacher and minister, Penny brings considerable skills and commitment to the CAP Board. Penny supports environmental preservation and sustainability as well as social justice both in Calaveras County and internationally. Penny has been active in CAP since its inception and is also an EPFW representative at the Calaveras Planning Coalition.

Jan Schmidiger—Jan is a licensed General Contractor, Green Builder, Advanced Green Builder and a Green Point Rater. She is a General Contractor with the Calaveras County chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a Foothill Collaborative for Sustainability (FoCuS) board member, and an active member of the Central Sierra Ecological Building Association. Jan is a volunteer tennis coach at Calaveras High School.

Mickey Williamson—Mickey joined the Calaveras Planning Coalition as a representative of the Foothill Collaborative for Sustainability (FoCuS). She served as Coordinator for CAP before joining the Board. A teacher at heart and by profession, she has been an advocate for nature, humanity, community, and economy in many organizations in Calaveras County and the Bay Area. In Calaveras County she has been active in environmental issues in several county nonprofits and in animal welfare with the Calaveras Humane Society.

CAP Principal Staff

Tom Infusino, Planning Consultant, CAP/Calaveras Planning Coalition Facilitator

Tom has extensive experience in county planning and management. He served as a consultant to Mariposans for the Environment and Responsible Government in its work to secure passage of the Rural Character Protection Alternative general plan for Mariposa County (2005-2006). He assisted El Dorado County Taxpayers for Quality Growth in efforts to develop and promote smart growth land use policies for El Dorado County (1992 – 2000). He helped Sierra Nevada forestry advocates identify and articulate resource conservation positions (1992 – 1999).

Tom has provided numerous seminars to volunteers to maximize their effectiveness in participating in the CEQA and NEPA processes. He is a consultant in writing issue-oriented scoping comments, DEIR comments, and DEIS comments regarding Sierra Nevada land use.

He chairs and facilitates meetings of the Calaveras Planning Coalition. He served as meeting facilitator with the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation (CSNC) from 1992-1999, and with El Dorado County Taxpayers for Quality Growth from 1992-2000.

Among other writings, Tom contributed material to the Forest Defense and Monitoring Handbook (1997) and wrote the Federal Public Forest Law Update 1996-1999.

For more information on the Community Action Project in Calaveas County, please contact us.