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- Written by: Jean Jackman
Political stories today are often disheartening. However, this time, we have an opportunity to elect a person who has proven he works for the common good, a person who has consistently been a leader with courage and integrity.
Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza is running for the Fourth Assembly District.
It is hard to imagine a person who has better credentials to face the problems facing our state.
In his teens, Joe became an Eagle Scout. He is a sharp lawyer who studied water law at UC Davis. He used his knowledge of water law to protect our local creek and get 50 percent more water that attracted salmon back to an historical run. Then he worked with groups on amazing riparian restoration of the creek.
He helped build the UC Davis campus Institute of Transportation Studies and its Energy Efficiency Center.
His 17 years of experience in developing clean transportation and energy-efficient projects at UC Davis is essential as California grows and with it, traffic problems.
As mayor of Davis, he took on huge budget challenges and put Davis in a good place by being courageous about ruffling feathers to get the job done.
Compare his breadth of experience side by side with other candidates. There is no comparison. Mr. Dodd has deep pockets and switched parties. We have Mr. Wolk who wishes to leave his city council term before his term ends, with little experience and run on State Senator Wolk's name.
It is critical with our water, fiscal, environmental, transportation and growth issues to have a person with experience who walks the walk.
Joe has proven to be a public servant who puts community first and is extraordinarily civil and articulate, even with people of divergent views. We need him.
Please vote for Joe Krovoza on June 3.
Jean Jackman lives in Davis, Calif.
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- Written by: Daniel McLean
In December of 2013 we approached the Board of Supervisors stating that we wanted to help create an medical marijuana cultivation ordinance that would be fair and effective, rather than fight them in the courts or by referendum. We were ignored. This is now Measure N. Measure N is short-sighted, unfair, unfunded and unenforceable.
Measure N is bad policy on so many levels. Due to the fact that the supervisors refused to have a committee or work directly with its constituents to create real solutions, we have taken democracy into our own hands. Because of our referendum, the supervisors have placed Measure N on the June ballot for the people of Lake County to decide, and we are confident that the people will vote no on Measure N.
Since the state of California has failed to pass regulations effectuating Proposition 215, which was passed in 1996, Lake County and other local jurisdictions have been left to pass their own medical marijuana regulations. In Lake County we have been attempting to create a cannabis cultivation ordinance that will be effective and fair.
In 2012, there was a broad-based committee formed by the Board of Supervisors with the goal of creating an ordinance that would preserve the right for patients to cultivate their own medicine, while maintaining a high standard of public health and safety.
But this committee was unwisely disbanded by the supervisors, when its work was nearly complete. Supervisor Farrington decided to quit this committee prior to a lawsuit being filed. Supervisors Rushing and Smith had encouraged Supervisor Farrington to continue on the committee, but to no avail.
In fact, that committee’s interim recommendations were largely adopted in the current ordinance which is still in effect, but were totally ignored in Measure N.
Finally, we recognized that our job would not be complete if we just defeated Measure N. We saw the need to offer a viable, financially sound and forward-thinking solution. We retained counsel to write a sound and fair regulatory ordinance, with a funding mechanism and strict environmental controls. It is known as the Medical Marijuana Control Act and is scheduled to be on the November ballot for the people of Lake County to vote on.
Alternatively, the supervisors can simply adopt the Medical Marijuana Control Act as the permanent ordinance for Lake County once the signatures are verified. There is an alternative to creating criminals out of patients for growing a handful of plants.
Vote no on Measure N on June 3! And then let’s implement regulations that work for everyone!
Daniel McLean of Lower Lake, Calif., is campaign coordinator for the No on Measure N campaign.
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- Written by: Dave Rouse
I really want to see Bob Chalk get elected as sheriff of Lake County. Why? Because I believe he is absolutely the best person for the job.
I worked with Bob when I was a Lake County Sheriff’s reserve deputy before I went on to a career with the California Highway Patrol.
I have worked with a great many people over the course of my law enforcement career. Some made a lasting positive impression on me that helped me mold myself into a conscientious and effective officer.
Bob was one of those people that led by example, and he showed me that law enforcement was an honorable and worthwhile career.
I know him to be honest and conscientious, I know he has integrity, and I know he has the public’s best interest at heart.
In short, he has the necessary knowledge, skills, ability, commitment and desire to make the Lake County Sheriff’s Department a much better organization than it is today.
His accomplishments as chief of police with the city of Clearlake clearly bear out the comments listed above, and is a record anyone could be proud of.
As a former CHP Area commander (Tracy, Calif. Area, 2003 thru 2005) I know what it takes to run an effective operation.
Managing personnel, budgets, working with the community for the good of all, earning the trust and respect of the public, and establishing positive and effective relationships with allied agencies are just a very few of the vital issues that face a commander.
I have absolutely no doubt Bob Chalk has what it takes to do the job, and to do it well.
Although I no longer live in Lake County, I was raised there, and still have ties there.
Having the right person as sheriff is critical to Lake County. Bob Chalk is that person, and a vote for him is a vote for a better Lake County.
Dave Rouse is a retired California Highway Patrol lieutenant. He lives in Rogue River, Ore.
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- Written by: Philip Murphy
A “yes” vote on measure N will mean that thousands of local residents who legally grew a few plants outdoors for their own medicinal use last year will be forced to grow indoors, so they'll need a spare room and have to spend thousands on lights and ventilation systems the county now requires to meet code.
They will also have to spend thousands more on power, and deal with the mold and bug problems that always come with indoor grows.
To make matters worse, they'll have to post their prescription documents on the outside on the their home, making them an easy target for home invasion robbers.
Marijuana growing in residential areas wasn't a major problem until the board of supervisors closed the dispensaries and told people to grow at home, but in spite of an admission that was a mistake and a promise to reopen them this hasn't happened.
Even if they did reopen the dispensaries it wouldn't matter, because if people vote “yes” on Measure N there won't be enough marijuana legally grown here to supply them, since you'll need 20 acres of ag-zoned land with a house on it occupied by a legal caregiver to grow for dispensaries.
There aren't enough legal ag parcels available to meet the demand, plus they are very expensive, and with state legalization likely in the next two years why would anyone make such a large investment when future rules are so uncertain?.
Then there are the rules that constitute an unfair business practice, making the county ripe for legal action. Why do marijuana plants need to be twice as far from streams than any other crop? Why do only marijuana growers need large setbacks from property lines and homes?
Marijuana will only be legally grown for money on ag land, so by the county's own zoning regulations it must be considered an ag crop and therefore is subject to the right to farm ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors.
You can't have it both ways, if marijuana isn't an ag crop then it can't be on ag parcels, if it is an ag crop then there is no exemption for it in the right to farm ordinance so it cannot be discriminated against.
On top of these rules you need a very specific type of fencing, you are restricted to local outlets for your crop, and have special rules to follow for fertilizer and pesticides as marijuana growers will be held to much higher environmental standards than for any other crop for absolutely no logical reason.
A “yes” vote will help criminal growers, because for thousands of Lake County medicinal marijuana consumers the illegal growers will become the closest and cheapest source, and like closing the dispensaries the people who want marijuana to go away will have this backfire on them for the same reason: a fundamental lack of understanding of how the marijuana industry works.
The BOS was told loud and clear that closing the dispensaries would create more crime and more problems with backyard grows, and as one supervisor recently said “It's 10 times worse,” which shows even they now understand the cause-and-effect relationship from that failed experiment .
We need a better ordinance than what the county has given us, one that isn't so restrictive that it encourages illegality as the hopelessly impractical BOS version does. A far better ordinance has been drafted and will be on the November ballot, or the BOS could adopt it right after the election.
So in spite of what the “yes” side is saying, a “no” vote doesn't necessarily mean we will have no rules come July, as there is a perfectly reasonable alternative on the table.
This grower-sponsored ordinance would not allow any more plants on commercial grows than the county ordinance did, it mainly lets residential growers have a few (four on lots smaller than an acre) outdoor plants, and lets commercial grows operate on large parcels that are not zoned ag.
This growers' ordinance also collects fees from growers to fund a code enforcement officer to oversee marijuana plantings, so there will be constant oversight with clear, fair rules to follow.
This growers' ordinance was drastically revised during its drafting in response to the input of numerous citizens, unlike the ordinance passed by the BOS which did not incorporate any of the changes suggested by any of the 43 citizens who spoke out against it at the BOS meeting.
Without listening to the primary stake holders any ordinance is bound to fail in the real world, where rules need to respect reality if they are to work as intended.
Please vote no on Measure N, and demand that our BOS deal with this issue in a balanced and fair manner that does not shut major sectors of the public out of the process.
Philip Murphy lives in Finley, Calif.