Population of county shrinks by 615 people

The populations of Tuolumne and Calaveras counties are shrinking.

According to California Department of Finance figures measuring the period from July 2008 to July 2009 note an overall decline of 1.37 percent in Tuolumne County and 0.28 percent in Calaveras County.
 

Both counties experienced what the Department of Finance’s Demographic Research Unit described as a “natural decrease,” meaning that more people died than were born.

In Tuolumne County, however, the biggest losses were from people leaving the county altogether. An estimated 632 former residents left Tuolumne in the span of that year and only 17 moved in.

The weak economy is blamed for the departures. Tuolumne County’s unemployment rate is 13.7 percent, the highest it’s been since 1993.

According to Tuolumne County Supervisor Teri Murrison, who represents the Tuolumne and Twain Harte areas, the figures reflect a reality she is seeing in her own district.

“The numbers to me indicate a correlation between losing certain key businesses and what people have to do to make a living,” Murrison said. “A number of schools have shut down, including the Black Oak School in Twain Harte. Schools and businesses are the canary in the mine. I think they foretell greater impacts down the line.”

Murrison’s District 3 doesn’t have much commercial property, leaving tourism-based businesses to carry the local economy, Murrison said.

“Also, we haven’t necessarily spent enough time talking to our youth to find out what they want to see here to stay,” she said. “It’s on our board goals list for this year. Hopefully, it’ll stay on for next year, because it’s vital to making sure we don’t dry up and blow away.”

Different opinions abound on how, exactly, to revitalize the economy in the face of what popular culture has dubbed “The Great Recession.” Facilitating local business expansion is the place to start, said District 2 Supervisor Paolo Maffei.

“With economic development, the easiest thing is to take care of what you’ve already got,” Maffei said. “If someone outgrows their warehouse, we should make sure we help them get into a bigger warehouse ... Make sure there are places they can go, make it easy on them.”