How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Letters
- Details
- Written by: Nelson Strasser
There will be a hearing March 6 at 3:30 p.m. The court is being asked by the local mobile home park owners to do a pre-ballot review of our rent control initiative in an effort to keep it off the ballot.
In truth, I don’t know what the outcome will be. I have been thinking about the legal issues for months, but today, I want to talk about what is really going on, and what is at stake.
Fairgrounds Village Senior Park, my park, had been owned by a woman who occasionally raised the rent small amounts, as was her due. There was, I am told, little grousing among the tenants.
The park was sold and the new owners smelled blood: There is no rent control in Lake County, and, the elderly poor are pretty much defenseless, or so they imagined.
Moreover, the majority of the Board of Supervisors has been openly hostile to rent control, even though over 100 municipalities in California have rent control ordinances for mobile home parks.
And lastly, the tenants are captive: As a practical matter, mobile homes are not mobile. Our homes are on their land and can’t be moved. They raised the rents many times the increase in the cost of living index.
Let me be clear. Most of the park owners have been fair. In fact, unbelievably, a few of them signed our petition to put the initiative on the ballot! And, they will, under the initiative, be entitled to a cost of living increase automatically.
I don’t know how this case will be decided; clearly our initiative is not perfect, but the case law says it does not have to be.
I recently discovered that with 25 signatures I can have the California State Office of Legislative Counsel draw up a new version of the initiative, and, it will be airtight.
So, should we lose in court, like the Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger famously quipped, “I’ll be back.”
As long as you folks continue to show your overwhelming support, I will gather signatures.
And to the sharks swimming out there: You picked the wrong county. We don’t mind you making money, but not by gouging seniors.
Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif. He is a member of “Save Our Seniors,” which gathered enough signatures to place senior mobile home park rent control initiatives on the June county ballot and the November Lakeport municipal ballot. The initiatives are being challenged in court by a coalition of Lake County mobile home park owners: http://bit.ly/1bqjVvq .
- Details
- Written by: Dave Lowrie
In response to Tom McFarling’s Feb. 8 letter regarding dangerous mountain bike riding on Lake County Trails and the new Strava app (McFarling: 'Strava' causes concerns on local trails, http://bit.ly/1grf8gw ) , I offer the following opinions.
I am an experienced equestrian of over 60 years; involved in training, backcountry riding with pack strings and trail building.
Mountain biking evolved in Marin County back in the 1970s when riders took to public trails with balloon tire bikes without permission.
After many conflicts and incidents, bikes were restricted to fire roads and not the narrow footpaths used by hikers and horseback riders. Bikes are going far faster than equestrians and hikers, dangerous on narrow trails with cliffs, blind corners and a lot of trees or brush. Other counties restrict bikes to wide fire roads.
There is not just a perception about this danger, but documented injuries and deaths to other users from mountain bikes.
Bicycles now have sophisticated suspension equaling the dirt bikes of the 1970s and nearly as fast. Riders are often wearing face helmets and full body armor.
The hazard comes in the fact that these trails are the same footpaths which hikers walk watching birds, exercising or simply out to have “family time,” equestrians and joggers enjoying the serenity of nature.
The state prohibits bikes on public sidewalks for safety reasons and they do come under the auspices of the Motor Vehicle Code.
How can people, hiker or equestrian, indulge in safe recreation when they face the possibility of being struck by a mountain biker hurtling down a trail at 20-plus miles per hour or 29 feet every second with more energy than a bullet leaving the muzzle of an AK-47? (Hiker/horse 6 feet /sec.)
The county has a “user agreement” allowing the high school racing mountain bike team to train at Highland Springs, which seems contrary to the fact that the county has a fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of keeping them safe. I have called Scott De Leon, head of Public Works and a signatory on the document, but he has not returned my call after two weeks.
In early January, an experienced rider on a well-trained horse in Folsom was thrown after an altercation with speeding mountain bikers, breaking her pelvis in three places along with five ribs, and dislocating another bone.
Horses can be trained to accept traffic, loud noises, crowds, loose dogs and wildlife but any animal, be it horse or human, is going to jump out of the way when a speeding vehicle is coming directly at them from the front or behind.
Already, many of our State Parks have become unsafe for hikers and equestrians, with Annadel, Wilder Ranch and China Camp simply being avoided by both. Illegal trail building and resource damage cost counties thousands of dollars also.
Boggs State Forest has mountain bikers training at a fast speed for sanctioned races on a constant basis. Both Youtube and Strava are proof of all these activities.
This isn’t a case of a few bad apples, but a regular occurrence countrywide. Bicycles also need to be removed from public trails for it has become a venue for racing via Strava.
Drag racing, ski racing, stock cars, horse racing all have specific venues where they practice and race. Why should the county allow racing when the public has a right to quiet, safe enjoyment of their public lands?
Perhaps the county can find a separate location for mountain bikers to develop their own trails and practice their sport. There are also hundreds of miles of ORV trails in this county that are more suited.
Dave Lowrie lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Tom McFarling
In the past few months, hikers and equestrians in Lake County have encountered a new scare on the local trails in our parks and open space.
The concern is a new phenomena called “Strava.”
Strava is a “social fitness” Web site where mountain bikers upload their performance with a smartphone app. This allows a community of competitive bikers to track their and each other's speeds on any given trail in the local community.
At any time, someone can cycle a trail, track their route, distance and speed, upload it to Strava's Web site and compare their results with that of others who have done the same route.
The holder of the top speed is awarded the title “KOM,” or “King of the Mountain.” This title and record then becomes a challenge for anyone else who wants to better that speed and become KOM themselves.
To quote from strava.com: “We are athletes. We do what we do, no matter what. It's in our blood. It's who we are. We have our own code. Alone, together, we strive. Pushing harder is a source of pleasure. It's how we measure ourselves. It proves we're crazy. It proves a great story. Prove it.”
The concern to anyone who hikes or rides horses on single-track county trails is obvious: a hurtling bike coming downhill at speeds in excess of 20 miles per hour, its rider hell-bent on maximum speed and a possible new record, is a danger that far outstrips the fear of mountain lions, errant hunters, slippery trails, bad weather or an abundance of poison oak.
There are documented instances in other counties in California of hikers being hit and permanently injured and in a few cases, death to the hiker.
Last year a local community hike leader was almost struck by an out-of-control member of a high school mountain bike team at Boggs Mountain.
In the past few years there have been numerous cases of rude riders who have forced people off of trails at both Boggs Forest and Highland Springs Reservoir, popular spots for Strava riders.
Boggs Forest has been the site for many years of sanctioned, organized bike races. These are held on weekends and the public is notified of the event and which trails are to be used.
Unfortunately, now with Strava, every day on any random trail can be a race day. No longer can a hiker wanting a peaceful back-to-nature experience know that they can walk a trail without the threat of meeting a high-speed cyclist on any trail at any time in these two popular venues.
Older people out bird-watching, families out for a stroll or young people learning to ride a horse all are at greater risks now. There has even been documented (through the Strava Web site) evidence of cyclists racing on Mt. Konocti, where bikes are prohibited.
Fortunately there are solutions here.
Right now – with the exception of the rainy season – all trails at Highland Springs and Boggs are open to cyclists and can be traveled at any speed. Public property managers, following the lead of other counties, could designate separate trails for these incompatible user groups.
Even bikers who are not trying to set speed records usually travel three to five times faster than hikers or equestrians on narrow trails. Bikers themselves would feel much safer riding and racing on trails set aside for that activity.
The rest of us could avoid those trails. Volunteer monitor crews could periodically walk or bike trails to encourage compliance and educate the public.
As it stands now, however, it's the wild west on all of the trails in both of these places. Bicycling on narrow single-track trails is considered an extreme sport. The majority of bicyclist ride on fire roads, wide multi-use paths, established bikeways or city or county roads.
We need our county officials along with responsible users from all three groups, hikers, equestrians and cyclists to meet and create solutions to this growing problem.
Tom McFarling lives in Lower Lake, Calif. He leads local hikes for Sierra Club, Tuleyome, Konocti Docents and the Bureau of Land Management, which are all open to the public. The above views are his alone and do not represent any of these organizations.
- Details
- Written by: Jeff Eller
If there is any constant in today’s health care landscape, it is change.
As a new leader of the Adventist Health Northern California Network, a five-hospital network that includes St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, I hope to bring with it positive changes.
I feel privileged and blessed to be given a leadership role in this region and to work on such important initiatives for the Lake County community. I’m looking forward to learning more, getting to know the culture, and the people.
Being new to the area, I want to share with you a little bit about myself and my desire to help make a difference in the way health care is viewed and received in Lake County.
First, I am passionate about people – in fact that is one of the reasons I chose a career in health care. Health care is all about people, relationships and respect.
I believe our physicians, caregivers and staff are devoted to our mission of sharing God’s love by providing physical, mental and spiritual healing.
I know that when it comes to health care, there are many challenges.
When I first started my career with Adventist Health in 1987, the climate and landscape had many similarities to its current state.
Private insurance was becoming more common, changes in how hospitals got paid and how patients were treated and cared for was becoming highly regulated.
It really was not much different from our health care landscape of today, where the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is said to make a sizable impact on around 12,000 of our community members in Lake County alone.
As I look toward the future I can’t help but be optimistic. Despite differences over the ACA and
reductions in reimbursements, I remain committed to the people of Lake County.
In fact, in 2014 St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, under the leadership of interim Chief Executive Officer Steven Herber, MD, and Vice President of Operations David Santos, will be adding physicians and expanding the services offered at our hospital and 10 clinics throughout Lake County.
Together the people of Adventist Health and St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake will provide care for many generations to come.
I wish each of you good health so that you may Live Younger Longer.
Jeff Eller is president of the Northern California Network of Adventist Health.