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- Written by: Randy Ridgel
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- Written by: Holley Luia
While the teachers are the product we are the services that students and parents receive during their education.
We are the lowest paid work group within the educational system, we have had our benefit packages capped a long time ago, and it is nearly impossible for one of us to get enough work hours to even make us eligible for insurance benefits.
After working for the district for 25 or more years we get 25 percent of the insurance paid leaving our retirees to have to come up with 75 percent of the cost, which basically means that, like the general population, we have to work until we are of Medicare age at least!
Despite being the workers whose livelihoods least impact the district budget and despite being the workers first willing to sacrifice, we are also the workers first targeted for cuts even as managers and others enjoy costly insurance benefits without a cap and 80 to 100 percent benefits at retirement!
In essence, classified workers get stuck paying the bill for the cost of everyone else not wanting to rein in the expenditures. Our livelihoods may not be much in comparison to everyone else around the District but most of us depend on it and support families with it.
We wonder why the district has kept telling us about the pending financial doom but never imposed a hiring freeze, why furlough days weren't an option during our negotiation process, why a school closure was studied and shot down in November,why the unrepresented group hasn't imposed insurance benefit caps on themselves?
We wonder why the most compensated group (management) isn't willing to set the example and come live in our world and why any cost savings measures that would be fair and equitable to all has been overlooked?
We had a member stand and state at a recent board meeting that if all work groups were to live within the classified work group means; there would be no financial crisis, that was an extremely important and valid point!
We felt the compassion in your article for the people having to make these tough choices. However, knowing that these tough choices and more should have come long ago to avoid our current predicament and knowing that the classified workers will be paying the price, our compassion is more on the lines of frustration and outrage.
What we do impacts the Kelseyville students every day! We transport them, feed them, account for them, clean up after them, teach and nurture them while they are at school.
Despite the tiny price tag our group brings we have a mighty impact; we are valuable and it's painful to be treated otherwise by a district we all love.
Holley Luia is president of CSEA Chapter No. 638. She lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Margaret Eutenier
One might think that there's nothing to do on the local farms and ranches during the winter, and it's true that it's a relatively quiet time.
But there are important activities to be done: maintenance and repairs of equipment; searching catalogs for vegetable and flower seeds and plants for the upcoming season; pruning and shaping of trees and vines; attending numerous educational forums to keep informed of industry changes and research findings; filling out sustainability surveys to evaluate and improve practices; maybe fingering checks for payments from previous years' crops. Tax planning and filing is compressed for the March 1 deadline for farmers and fishermen.
The one activity that captures attention annually is the application of various materials by spraying. Somehow that bold and visible mechanism stirs concerns in the community.
We may use cleaning sprays in our kitchens, hair sprays in the bath, degunkers and starting fluids in our shops; but the sight of powerful tractors pulling tanks of material through acres of orchards or vineyards causes alarm to many.
But the concept is simple: a small amount of selected material, be it a pest suppressor, an oil, a soap (all variations of chemicals) can be distributed over a wide area by being suspended or dissolved in a large volume of water and sprayed under pressure.
Some frequently asked questions:
1. Are all sprays poisonous? No, at least not to humans in the doses applied. Some sprayed materials are intended to kill or suppress a specific insect pest known to be present in harmful numbers, but this might be accomplished by other means than poisoning it (suffocation by oil, for example). Other sprays are intended to prevent bacterial or fungal infections or to keep fruit from falling off the tree prematurely. Farmers these days use target-specific, “soft” chemicals for control because they don't want to kill beneficial predator insects that provide natural biological control.
2. Then why do the applicators wear protective gear? This is not unlike our wearing an apron in the kitchen or coveralls in the shop. The spray suit protects the applicator's clothes, it protects him from contact with concentrates when filling the sprayer, it prevents absorption of spray mist, and it keeps him warm, especially at night or in the early morning. Those are chosen times to spray because there is less likelihood of wind to blow the spray away from the intended target. Very few spray materials require the use of a mask or respirator, but many applicators like to wear them anyway as “an abundance of caution.”
3. Does every farmer have to spray? In order to avoid damage to their crops and to maintain the health of their plants, most farmers spray – organic farmers included. Spraying is the most efficient mechanism for getting materials onto the plants or trees. It is not done by either the calendar or guesswork, but when a professional pest control advisor (or trained grower) identifies a problem and selects a treatment based upon what will be both safest and most effective. The timing of treatments is usually critical.
When you see our local farmers at work, know they are using up-to-date methods to continue to grow safe, healthy food and fibers for our use.
And join us in celebrating them during National Agriculture Week March 13 through 19 and Ag Day on Tuesday, March 15.
Remember: Every day is Ag Day for us!
Margaret Eutenier is a member of the Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture. She lives and farms in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Jeanette Kemp
I am in favor of banning medical marijuana dispensaries in Lake County.
Jeanette Kemp lives in Lakeport, Calif.