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Opinion
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- Written by: Mary Borjon
I invite readers to do the same for Lake County’s elected officials within their specific districts or towns.
Doing the work of local government is difficult and it is challenging to identify folks who are willing to run the gauntlet of open and harsh criticism each and every day of their public service.
Verbal attacks and threats of personal harm are no longer uncommon. Of late, there are occasions where a sufficient number of candidates cannot be identified because of the expense and personal vulnerability encountered when campaigning.
Once elected, the harshest criticisms often come from individuals or groups with special interests.
While that special interest is important to those individuals and groups, an elected official is sworn to look out for the good of the constituency as a whole. They are also bound by work place standards such as respecting the relationship and boundaries between staff and elected persons.
Hopefully each elected official is guided by a moral compass and a set of personal ethics. When charged to do the work of local government they are guided and also restricted by laws, codes, regulations and available funding.
Elected officials are regular citizens who step forward with a vision and a desire to do something important, something beneficial, something lasting for their communities.
I challenge readers to take the time to offer a word of gratitude and encouragement to their locally elected officials including school boards, city council members, law enforcement, and other county officials.
Let’s express value for the scope of work that has been completed by elected officials at the expense of their personal time, sincere dedication, heavy workloads and frequent barriers to success around which they must work.
To that end, I offer my gratitude and encouragement to those elected officials who serve the Kelseyville area which include:
• Kelseyville Unified School District Board of Trustees: Rick Winer, Gilbert Rangel, Sabrina Andrus, Michael Brown and Weston Seifert.
• District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska.
• Lake County Office of Education Superintendent Brock Falkenberg and Area 5 Trustee Itzia Rico.
• Sheriff Luke Bingham.
• Judges Shanda Harry, Andrew Blum, Michael Lunas and J. David Markham.
• County Treasurer/Tax Collector Patrick Sullivan
• Auditor Controller, Jenavive Herrington.
• Assessor-Recorder Rich Ford.
• District Attorney Susan Krones.
Mary Borjon lives in Kelseyville, California.
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- Written by: Glenda Wasserman
I own a house in Clearlake which is a primary residence and I have a problem with Clearlake's waste policy and its arrangement with C & S Waste Co. I have spent about half my time outside the area until recently; I am retired and I liked to move around.
One day about six months ago I came back to my house to find three waste containers in front of my gate. There was little advance notice of this. I immediately thereafter received a whopping bill of approximately $150. This company had provided not an iota of service but was demanding $150.
After being turned down for a waiver which I believed I was entitled to, based on compliance with legal requirements, I sent an appeal to the city of Clearlake; I never received a response. At this time my circumstances have changed and I can use their service.
Interestingly, the bills have been constant up to now: C & S is now demanding $300 for absolutely no service rendered, before the start of any service. Additionally, they offer no senior or income-based discounts; even PG&E and the water company, to their credit, offer such.
It costs $6 to leave a large bag of garbage at the dump. I'm told it's about $100 for 2 or 3 months of C & S service; I've heard complaints of having to pay substantial bills even when a person is not ready for waste to be picked up.
Bottom line: This policy needs to change. No one should be forced or coerced into using this waste company. It's about time the laws are reviewed. I'm at
I was able to change the California state laws regarding the medical insurance companies by filing papers with the California Department of Managed Health Care. As a result, the insurance companies can no longer, under Covered California (and maybe beyond), deny primary coverage to anyone (only offering secondary for whatever reason) and still collect thousands if not millions of dollars in government subsidies (mostly federal) called “tax credits.” This case involved Anthem Blue Cross. The end goal is a universal, single payer health care system ASAP.
I had a medical issue recently where I needed an MRI and an appointment with a specialist. No one would accept Anthem Blue Cross and they wouldn't pay for an MRI. I was able to switch to Blue Shield PPO which is 10 times better and I pay exactly the same fees. All the specialists accept Blue Shield and I had my MRI paid for. Anthem was completely useless — it's only good for the most basic needs.
Lake and Mendocino counties are extremely limited when it comes to specialists. In comparison there are huge medical resources in Santa Rosa. It would be easy to get there by bus and return to Clearlake on the same day — but the Lake County Transit makes this impossible. If the Lake County bus left from Pear Tree in Ukiah at 5:30 instead of 5 p.m. — we could easily get to Santa Rosa and back on the same day.
It makes no sense to deprive Lake County people of the Santa Rosa medical resources when it's so simple to make this minor change. To emphasize this point I want to mention that I found only one spine specialist in all of Lake and Mendocino counties: This is unacceptable and intolerable.
These aforementioned issues need a thorough and serious rethinking. I have many more issues to discuss but those will be left for another time.
Glenda Wasserman lives in Clearlake, California.
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- Written by: Linda Diehl-Darms
This letter is in regards to the Lake County Board of Supervisors vote on recommending to the Board of Geographic Names to change the name of Kelseyville.
It is apparent that the hat two of the Lake County supervisors, Moke Simon and EJ Crandell, were wearing were of influential county tribal leaders and not the hat of elected officials representing all citizens of Lake County who voted 70.58% advising the supervisors to recommend “no” to the Kelseyville name change.
What was the purpose of putting this on the ballot if the decision had already been made? Was the hope that the vote would go the other way and they could say “we went with the people”? It appears that there was a rush to get this through before two of the board members left office.
In my opinion, both supervisors who are also tribal leaders should have recused themselves due to a conflict of interest as the name change recommendation of Kelseyville centers around Native Americans.
The history of Lake County in the 1800s concerning Native Americans was horrendous. Blood was shed on both sides. The solution is not erasing history, the solution is learning from the mistakes of history, honoring and mourning the loss of innocent people. As Supervisor-elect Helen Owen has said on numerous occasions, let’s not erase history, let’s honor and mourn the loss and create an interactive cultural center in Kelseyville — similar to the ones at the Little Big Horn or Custer’s Last Stand.
The people of today had nothing to do with this event. There are Native Americans in our county who are not in agreement with changing the name. How will changing the name bring healing? Are there those who carry anger and bitterness toward acts of long ago that no one in the present day committed? How will changing the name change hearts?
Is it possible that the overwhelming vote to recommend not changing the name had nothing to do with a community of racists, but had to do with the fact that this name change will have a negative financial impact for thousands of people who live and own businesses today in Kelseyville? There will also be costs incurred for the county of Lake in time, labor and material to change property tax rolls and other paperwork concerning the proposed name change.
One would think that the vote of our county supervisors who we elected (with the exception of one appointed) and entrusted with overseeing the business of Lake County would have been a unanimous “no” honoring the vote of the people of Lake County. After all, four of the five would not hold office if it weren’t for voters. One would also think that consideration of the county expenditure involved with this name change would in itself call for a “no” recommendation so that more funds are available for much needed road repair or other infrastructure needs that would benefit all Lake County residents.
On a side note: My summation is that the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names are agencies tasked with changing names to geographical appropriate sites.
Mt. Konocti is a geographical site so the word Konocti would be in line with these agencies for approval of a name change.
Had the board voted “no” on the recommendation to change the name, then as far as these agencies are concerned, it would have been the end of it.
Linda Diehl-Darms lives in Middletown, California.
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- Written by: Carolynn Jarrett
Supervisor Moke Simon is quoted as saying, “I got what I wanted.” Good for him, but what about the rest of us?
The board made an end run to avoid a controversial decision and voted to get public input by putting Measure U on the ballot. The voters were loud and clear: 70% said NO to the name change. If Supervisor Green thinks 30% is a “significant number” (of yes votes) – what does he think of 70%?
We the people paid $50,000 to have that measure on the ballot. If it was just a meaningless gesture, perhaps those supervisors who had already made up their minds should foot the bill. Governing means that you listen to all the input before you make up your mind.
I am totally in favor of bringing this issue back before the board after the new supervisors are seated in January. When that happens there should be two separate decisions: should the name be changed? And if so, what should the new name be?
In south county, the Konocti Unified School District has been in existence for decades. It makes no sense for the new name of Kelseyville to be Konocti.
Carolynn Jarrett lives in Clearlake, Calif.