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Letters
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- Written by: Claudine Pedroncelli
Our Northshore Fire Department urgently needs the passage of fire Measure N simply because they need to be current and up to date on their equipment, manpower and their ability to continue to save lives.
What impresses me most is the four-minute rule to save life. It could be your life. Sixty percent or more calls are medical. So we need quick response.
The cost is minimal. Twenty cents a day is a very small amount to ensure our safety from both fire and medical emergencies.
Get out and vote “yes” on fire Measure N.
We can all rest more soundly at night knowing that our Northshore Fire Department will be supplied with the best equipment and ready to continue to respond to any emergency when we pass fire Measure N!
Please join me. Yes on N!
Claudine Pedroncelli lives in Upper Lake, Calif.
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- Written by: Jim Burton
It’s been more than 15 years since the Northshore Fire Protection District budget has been increased. As a result, the district is facing hard times and the Friends of Northshore Fire are asking District 3 voters to support Measure N to bring in badly needed resources. The election is on Nov. 5.
District 3, on the county’s Northshore, is the biggest in the county, 357 square miles and 47 miles of highway. Our fire district serves about 10,000 residents in the communities of Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Blue Lakes, Upper Lake, Nice, Bartlett Springs, Lucerne, Glenhaven, Clearlake Oaks, High Valley, Spring Valley, Long Valley, Double Eagle and several other small communities.
That’s a lot of ground to cover and people to serve. Our firefighters do a great job responding to fires, medical emergencies and automobile accidents. But when engines break down or the station doors don’t open or personal gear malfunctions, delayed responses are inevitable and the consequences can be dire.
In our fire-prone environments keeping fires small so they don’t spread to a neighbors home or other building requires fast response. And it goes without saying that the faster help arrives to a medical emergency, the better the odds of surviving.
If approved by voters, Measure N will enable better training and retention of fire fighting personnel. It will allow the hiring of additional fire fighters for 24/7 coverage at the Upper Lake station bringing it up to par with the other stations in the district and allowing for faster response to calls in and around Upper Lake. Measure N will also replace very old equipment and engines and get our fire stations in compliance with basic standards. More importantly, it will enable our firefighters to respond faster to fire and other emergencies.
I’m a former fire chief so I am familiar with the needs of the district. In the case of Measure N, the money collected stays in our local fire district budget – it can’t be used for other purposes. Also, Measure N replaces the current fees beginning next July. The new tax on a single-family residence will be $126 a year, about $2.50 a month.
For more information about Measure N, check www.friendsofnorthshorefd.org, send an email to
It’s not right to ask our fire fighters to do a job with less than optimum tools. Measure N will change that.
Jim Burton is the retired fire chief of Clearlake Oaks, Calif. He also chairs the Northshore Fire Protection District Board.
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- Written by: Anna Rose Ravenwoode
One (of many) federal public services includes providing military protection (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps) for the American people. This one area of public service takes 55 percent of the total federal budget.
Likewise, the state of California, provides public services via environmental protection (maintaining and enforcing clean water policies); and (among others) providing a large portion of funding for teachers, police and firefighters.
At the county level, public services are provided by office workers at various departments. Most of these essential services are funded by local tax payers.
It is apparent to me that elected officials have difficult spending decisions to make in administering the local level of government. And maintaining a handle on government expenses is one of their responsibilities. But that must be balanced with the requirement to provide competent and essential public services to the people of Lake County.
If the Lake County Board of Supervisors allows county staffing levels to diminish to a point that essential public services cannot be provided and maintained, then I question their responsibility to the people of Lake County. The need to balance incoming revenues, with outgoing expenses in providing public services are the difficult decisions they were elected to make.
Anna Rose Ravenwoode lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Edgard Schmidt
When the politicians talked about taking off the coverage for preexisting conditions, they were talking about a mass assassination of people like me.
What a shame, that the ones with a great deal of money have forgotten about the ones that don’t. We are citizens of this beloved country of ours. They pretend that we don't exist, and if we do, we don't deserve to be alive!
Edgard Schmidt lives in Ukiah, Calif.