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Letters
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- Written by: Bob Bridges
The Lakeport City Council, with the help of a $40,000 Washington consultant and its half a million dollar staff, has been working for three years on this 100-percent water and sewer rate increase that is supposedly “only for necessary projects.”
While the city council was disappointed with the lack of public input in this process, when they had a room full of people, they responded by limiting the public’s responses to their three-year plan to only three minutes.
Despite this drastic time limit, the public was able to tell the council that their lists of “necessary” projects included $900,000 worth of new electronic water meters that are not required by the state.
It took the public, who aren’t on the city payroll, to get the city staff to admit to the council that the new electronic water meters are not required.
What else does the city’s wish list have that is not necessary?
Isn’t it strange that the S. Main area has survived for 30-plus years with the existing water line that now suddenly has a “health and safety problem,” that requires a $1 million-plus loop to the new college site. Why do the rate payers have to pay for this, instead of the owners of the land the city hopes to annex?
Isn’t it strange that the north half of Lakeport, whose sewage flows north to the county’s sewer plant for treatment and disposal, is going to be charged new and higher rates, which is equal to the south portion of the city when the city doesn’t even process or dispose of the effluent?
Has anyone noticed that Proposition 218 prohibits the city from charging us more than the actual cost of our service, yet their notice tells us our water rate includes the cost of watering the city parks?
There is an election coming up in six weeks for three seats on the Lakeport City Council. On Tuesday, Oct. 2, watch to see if the council votes to saddle you with a bill for the unnecessary projects.
While the city council gets to vote on the rate increases, you get to vote on whether they stay for another term. Look for the candidates that will stop or moderate this horrible increase.
Thanks to everyone who filed a protest.
Bob Bridges lives in Lakeport, Calif.
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- Written by: Annelle Durham
The Lake County Chamber of Commerce claims that Proposition 37 is imperfect and I would have to agree.
But, I would go on to say that I wish that the agricultural biotech companies and the FDA had applied a standard of perfection to genetically engineered crops before approving them, but they didn’t.
In fact, all the FDA did was review the data presented by the very corporations seeking approval for their genetically engineered seeds.
The first ever long-term study of GE food just came out in the peer reviewed journal “Food and Chemical Toxicology.”
Rats were fed a strain of Roundup Ready corn and the findings included massive mammary tumors, kidney and liver damage and other serious problems: http://research.sustainablefoodtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Final-Paper.pdf .
If the FDA and Monsanto had done a study like this and not released that corn into our food, I’d be willing to wait for a perfect proposition – but heck, I didn’t even get a perfect proposition from my husband and I still accepted him and have no regrets!
As it stands now I’ll take the imperfections of Proposition 37 over the imperfections in the industry, the FDA and GE foods any day.
So, I’ll be voting yes on Proposition 37 in November.
Annelle Durham lives in Upper Lake, Calif.
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- Written by: Ray Perry
Lake County is a great place to live. It has clean air, good schools for the kids, college campuses conveniently located on both ends of the county, two hospitals, well maintained major roadways, open spaces, an up and coming wine industry.
There are lots of mom and pop shops and businesses instead of huge malls that give Lake County a unique atmosphere.
There is also a good amount of quality housing for very reasonable prices compared to the rest of the state that attract buyers for second homes as well as retirement. We are not so far away from major metropolitan areas that it makes a trip to Lake County a major ordeal.
The jewel of Lake County is our lake. Everything seems to get its life; it’s identity from the beautiful lake that many of our small communities nestle up to.
Recently we have seen news reports that several business have been closing down due to lack of customers that are turned off by the condition of the lake. There are reports that tourism is down because of the economy and the lake’s condition.
Even though we know that Clear Lake is a natural lake, that it has been this way for thousands of years, there are reports that the lake has been steadily getting worse over the past couple of decades.
Some of our Realtors report that many of their buyers expressed a concern over the condition of the lake and we have heard reports of business not wanting to locate in Lake County because of the smell.
Our Realtors are very concerned about these issues that seriously impact the economic survival of Lake County. We need a healthy clean lake to support our businesses, wildlife and property values.
The Lake County Association of Realtors (LCAOR) understands the benefits that will be achieved with the passing of “Measure E.” This includes the enjoyment of the lake for recreational purposes: boating, water skiing and fishing.
Tourism will increase leading to profitable businesses in Lake County which then results in more jobs. Also benefiting will be the wildlife that depends on the lake as their natural habitat.
We expect a clean, healthy lake will bring about increased property values resulting in more tax dollars for Lake County to work on other projects.
LCAOR supports this small increase in the Sales Tax which will be held exclusively for the preservation of our beautiful Clear Lake.
“Measure E” is a win-win for business, nature, county residents and the visitors who come to enjoy the beauty that nature has given Lake County.
Ray Perry is president of the Lake County Association of Realtors, serving Lake County, Calif.
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- Written by: Nelson Strasser
John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath. It is a novel about the 300,000 souls escaping the dust bowl and migrating west to California.
Some were from Oklahoma, but they were all called, derisively, “Oakies.” They sold what they could, at bargain basin prices and bought cars and headed west.
There is a standalone chapter about a used car lot owner. The owner of the lot knows the farmers are desperate and is a sociopath (someone who knows the difference between right and wrong, but does not care).
The owner of the lot has a selling frenzy, taking advantage of the farmers’ desperation, and overcharging for junk vehicles. The farmers have to go 2,000 miles with their family and possessions aboard those jalopies.
I was thinking about how the novel was timeless. In fact, the situation in our senior mobile home park is analogous to the plight of the “Oakies,” except, we are the “oldies.”
The new owners have raised the rent. Under current law, there is no legal limit as to how much they can raise the rent. There is only a practical limit: starving us out, which would kill the geese that lay the golden eggs.
There is no choice for us. We have nowhere to go, and no means to get there. And, even if we had the energy and the means, we can’t easily sell our mobile homes, and as the space rent goes up, our equity plummets. We are a captive audience.
Meanwhile, the owners are making an 8.5 percent (before the last raise) return on their investment of almost a million and a half dollars. Evidently, they want to boost it higher, and the easiest way to do this is to increase NOI (net operating income).
This can be accomplished by raising the space rent, and they can do that with impunity, because the only limits they have are conscience and satiety.
In this regard, satiety is unattainable because they can’t answer the question, “When is enough, enough?
So, I made a presentation before the Lakeport City Council. I brought a petition for rent control signed by almost every resident of the park. They listened politely, asked some questions, thanked me and sent me on my way. I was unfamiliar with the process, so, I was surprised at the outcome: none.
My next step in the democratic process is the initiative. This will require signatures from a percentage of the registered voters in Lakeport.
I am writing to let you know that I will be around and about in the near future, asking for your help. Let’s put it on the ballot and let the citizens of Lakeport vote “yes” or “no.”
Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.