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Your
legislators
U.S. Senate
Barbara Boxer
1700 Montgomery St. Ste 240,
San Francisco, CA 94111
415-403-0100
Dianne
Feinstein
One Post St. Ste 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
415-393-0707
U.S. House
of Representatives
Lassen/ Modoc County
John Doolittle
4230 Douglas Blvd, Ste 200
Granite Bay, CA 95746
916-786-5560
C.A. State Assembly
Doug
LaMalfa
2865 Churn Creek Rd. Ste. B Redding, CA 96002
530-223-6737
State
Senate
Sam
Aanestad
777 Cypress Ave.
Redding, CA 96001
530-225-3207
House of Representatives
Wally Herger
55 Independence Cir, Ste 104,
Chico, CA
95973
530-893-8363
Lassen
County Supervisor
Brian Dahle
Bieber
294-5728
Modoc County Supervisor
Dave Bradshaw
155 Co. Rd. 90
Lookout
294-5314
Shasta
County Supervisor
Glenn Hawes
1815 Yuba Street
Redding, CA 96001
1-800-479-8009
|
|
January 31, 2012
Editorial
Community involvement is
important and I was delighted to see
that a lot of people turned out to
listen to the political candidates and
the informational meeting about the
financial problems the Fall River Joint
Unified School District is facing.
The political system has finally reached
a point from the county level to the
federal level that it can’t be ignored
and we need informed, interested
citizens involved who will hopefully
hold the politicians feet to the fire
and steer it in a better direction.
My compliments to the Tea Party and the
School District for hosting good -
informative meetings and everyone who
attended for having the interest and
taking the time.
Comment
My thoughts
By Valerie Lakey
Mountain Echo reporter
I attended the Candidate’s Night last
week and was very pleased to see a full
house. It is great to see so many people
get out to hear what the candidates have
to say. With that, I have a few
thoughts.
First of all, the Intermountain Tea
Party did a wonderful job setting it up
and providing a great format. Yes, a
format to follow. As an audience member
we must remember that in the interest of
time, it was set up to run smoothly. If
you had a question, you were to fill out
a card. As a member of the
audience, we were there to listen to a
biography of the candidates and hear how
they answered the questions that were
written on the cards. Everyone had a
chance to fill out a card. It was not a
debate. Our job was to listen, take that
information and determine if the
candidate was someone we would want to
support.
I was disappointed that was not always
respected. I heard snickers,
disagreements, blurted out comments and
questions from the audience when people
were not in agreement. I respect that
people have a right to their opinion. I
didn’t agree with everything I heard.
The fact is though, that these
candidates are stepping up and trying to
make a difference. We owe them respect
for that. If we disagree, we put that
information in our minds and use it when
deciding how to cast our votes.
The other thing I was disappointed with
was that there was not one question
posed about education or healthcare. Two
topics I believe are a lot more
important than pipelines.
Overall, I am thrilled that so many
people came out that night. I just
believe that these candidates are taking
a big plunge and unless we are willing
to do it, we should offer them respect
and listen to what they have to say…then
make our decisions.
Comment
Thank You
We would like to thank all for their
cards and phone calls after Dorothy’s
passing.
My special thanks to all who made
memorial contributions to the Leland
Kerns, Nurse Scholarship in memory of
Dorothy.
Thanks to all the nurses and CNA’s at
Station two for the wonderful c are and
concern they rendered to Dorothy while
she was hospitalized for the last four
years and the help, concerns and
helpfulness that made her stay more
comfortable.
To Doctor Watson, thanks for the great
care and comfort that you rendered.
All of you will be remembered for your
kindness and thoughts.
A memorial service will be planned for
June and we want to invite all to attend
and participate.
Thanks
Randy Scholl,
Marvella and Virgil
Crosswalks
Editor: I don’t think this will do any
good, but I am going to submit it
anyway. I walk most days for health
reasons and I’m totally amazed at the
people in this community who don’t know
what a crosswalk is, including the
Highway Patrol.
The definition of a crosswalk in the
dictionary is a marked path for
pedestrians (a walker) crossing the
street. If my memory serves me
correctly, the vehicle code states that
you will stop for all pedestrians.
Something needs to be done before
someone gets killed. Then I guess maybe
something will be done.
Wally Estes
Comment
Editorial
Baby Sophia Kammerer, is safe,
well and home after recovering from the
surgery that gave her a new heart at
Stanford Medical Center and the family
has been reunited on home turf.
As Sophia’s mother, Natalie says, “Thank
you God!”
I have to admit I turned chicken
Thursday evening and didn’t make it to
the Municipal Advisory Committee meeting
but I did have a long talk with Steve
Murdock and Diana Rogers the next day.
They are and will continue to beat their
heads against a brick wall to try and
get county officials and Supervisors to
recognize a group chartered to present
an educated summation of the Valley’s
point of view when the last thing any of
the Supervisors or County hierarchy
wants is the Intermountain Area’s point
of view.
In addition, they are trying to
accomplish two other items. They want to
completely divorce themselves from
Community Service District control.
The CSD formed the committee and started
it with two directors of the district as
members of the committee.
Of the five members currently on the
seven person board, only one is a former
director. They are seeking two new
members (see articles page 1).
They are also re-writing their policy
manual, eliminating the statement that
committee members must be appointed by
the CSD directors.
Both stress that the committee is not an
action committee. They do not act on
decisions. Their role is advisory. They
meet, take public input into specific
issues and present their recommendation
to the appropriate board. Their
recommendation is the majority vote by
audience and board after hearing
presentations on the issue. They
will also give a summation of the
majority and minority reasoning for
their vote.
I recommend that if you live in the Fall
River Valley and have a little time to
devote to your community, that you
submit your application and become
involved.
Comment
Guest Editorial
By Matt Rees
CEO Mayers Memorial Hospital
With temperatures dropping last week
(week of January 16th), Mayers had two
pipes freeze, then break during the
warmer hours of the day. The first pipe
is located over the Acute Nurses
Station, flooding four rooms, including
one empty patient room. The second, is
an enclosed room containing water
heating units, and was only noticed when
water could be seen leaking on the
sidewalk outside the room. There was no
equipment damage, but this shows that we
need the community’s support more than
ever to make the necessary changes in
improving our facility. Replacement of
the gas line, new pavement, new roof,
new equipment; without these upgrades
Mayers will literally fall apart. By the
end of this next year, we will have put
almost $4 million toward the facility,
modernizing technology, upgrading the
building and keeping up with constant
changing regulations. Funding is coming
from Measure D, Electronic Medical
Record (EMR) Bond issue, grants,
fundraisers, operation and donations.
We are in the process of planning and
designing a new replacement building,
and should be ready to put a shovel in
the ground within the next three to four
years. As some of you know, the original
building was built in 1953 in memory of
Dr. and Mrs. Mayers. What some of you
may not know is that the original
building was built and funded solely by
community members just like you, with
help from performance benefits by Bing
Crosby and land donated by Anna McArthur
Ritter. They believed in the vision of
Mayers, and what it would serve. Today
regulations and procedures have changed,
and while we can’t as community members
pick up the hammers ourselves, we still
need the unyielding support that was
present so many years ago. The passing
of Measure D was the first step, and now
we need to finish what was started. This
new facility is a major part in moving
forward as well as keeping Mayers as a
viable facility in this area.
Right now, the estimated cost for a new
facility is $36 million, $9 million of
which will come from the remaining
Measure D funds. The rest needs to be
obtained through grants, other revenue
bonds, fundraising and private
donations. While we don’t intend to
increase the amount paid to over $50 per
100,000 assessed value for tax payers in
the area, the decreasing assessed value,
interest rates, and state and federal
economy may cause that rise to happen in
future years.
Mayers Memorial Hospital has been around
for many years, and with the community’s
support we can keep the services this
hospital provides available for future
generations of the Intermountain Area. I
appreciate all the support the hospital
currently gets from our community, both
in the utilization of our services, tax
support and other donations.
Comment
Ought to be
ashamed
Editor: Regarding the story
“Hawes and Mull under investigation?”
What perfect timing! Just when the
Republican primary is in full swing and
everyone, including Republicans,
Democrats and the rest of the left wing
media is throwing out all kinds of
accusations, whether true or not,
whether rumor or fact, whether accurate
or not, whether “taken out of context”
or not, your article falls right in line
with the rest of them.
I am no fan of Supervisor Hawes and do
not know Mr. Mull, however, I do believe
that any information that may, in any
way, harm the integrity of anyone,
should not be based on a “rumor.”
As you know, Mr. “Joe Public” doesn’t
always bother to dig deep to get the
facts. He assumes that a negative
connotation like “under investigation”
that is a headline in a newspaper must
have a least some validity. This flawed
but common line of reasoning is obvious
detrimental to Mr. Hawes and Mr. Mull.
Regarding your editorial: your statement
“When rumors, true false or otherwise
reach the public for whatever reason or
in whatever manner, they may impact the
election of any official such as Mr.
Hawes.” This is very true but is not
right. In addition I don’t agree with
your statement “The constituents can
make up their minds as to whether the
rumor is true or false.” Is everyone
going to call the FBI? I don’t think so.
And don’t hold your breath waiting for
the FBI to shed light on the subject.
By the way, I heard a rumor that Walt
Caldwell is a….On second thought I will
keep that rumor to myself.
Frank Germano
Editor’s note: Mr. Germano doesn’t
read very well. The story is based in
fact. I received calls from folks in
our area, who heard on two different
news talk shows that Hawes and Mull
were being investigated by the FBI.
I tracked the information back and
eventually called Mr. Anselmo. He
flatly said he had turned information
on both over to the FBI and had been
told it was being investigated. Since
the FBI doesn’t talk about their
cases, I couldn’t verify it. For that
reason I labeled it a rumor.
I presented what I had learned. I was
careful to separate what I knew from
what I couldn’t verify and made it
abundantly clear which was which. From
there it is up to the reader. If Mr.
Germano doesn’t have enough faith in
the average American reader to allow
them to make up their own minds,
that’s his problem. The public has a
right to know and it is much easier
for Hawes and Mull to battle what they
know, rather than what is being said
behind their backs.
Comment
Editorial
I’m going to touch on two things this
week.
First: I’ve been quick to criticize the
Community Services District when I feel
they’ve done something stupid or wrong,
so I’m going to be just as quick to say
that if this last meeting was an
indication of the way the district’s
business is handled in the future, that
it will eventually get on a solid
footing both financially and
infrastructure-wise.
Chair Bill Johnson ran a good meeting
while allowing for reasonable audience
participation.
A number of concerned citizens have
started to show up to the meetings
consistently, made intelligent input,
and held the board’s feet to the fire.
The board is being transparent, is
listening to what is being said, asking
and getting answers from their general
manager and tabling issues for more
study if they don’t have all the
information they need.
Second: Regarding the State agency in
charge of licensing rest homes, I would
like to know why any agency,
especially one charged with assuring the
welfare and care of senior citizens who
need 24-hour residential care, would put
the lives of those seniors in jeopardy.
That is exactly what supervisory level
staff in Department of Social Services,
Division of Community Care Licensing did
when they failed to assist their
State Licensing Program Analyst for
Community Care Licensing, hampered her
efforts to force compliance, halted the
disciplinary proceedings, finally taking
her off the case before finally doing
anything about it.
Then to have one of the Public Affairs
people further cover for them, basically
either knowingly or unknowingly giving
information that, in this case had no
bearing in fact.
I have confidence in Kim Young’s version
of what happened. The official version
didn’t ring true when it went down.
Since then I talked to a source who had
been inside the establishment while it
was in operation and told me about a bin
of dirty “poopie rags” in the room next
to the kitchen with an open door between
them and of cats in the kitchen, I
talked to a highly respected past
patient and her daughter who told me
about medication problems, refusal to
give them medical information, failure
to properly care for her while
transporting her. Then there was the
body of a person being found between the
bed and the wall of the room one
morning. It obviously wasn’t criminal,
but it sure doesn’t seem right.
While, because of HIPPA regulations,
they won’t talk to me, I know enough
about the sincerity and character of
those who serve and have served in Adult
Protective Services and the Ombudsman
program to know that, with what I
already know, that what Young said about
the Ombudsman’s office and Adult
Protective Services representatives
being concerned would be true. I talked
to the deputy who said he accompanied
Young on civil standby. I know that the
District Attorney’s version of what
happened, as well as Young’s, don’t
match what the PR man for the division
said. Additionally the owner of the
facility pled guilty to not being
licensed.
The state needs to conduct an
investigation into what went on and take
the appropriate action, if for no other
reason than to insure that it doesn’t
happen again.
Comment
Guest
Editorial
By Greg Hawkins
FRJUSD
Superintendent
The Trigger’s Been Pulled!
In an earlier interview with one of our
local newspapers, I made a statement
that our district was financially in
“good shape.” In comparison to
other districts, I could easily validate
this statement, which was a testimony to
careful planning and prudent decision
making by our district in the past
years. Unfortunately this solid
ground on which we were standing began
to shake as our state fell short of
reaching its economic recovery
benchmarks, and growing speculation of
districts being faced with mid-year
reductions, commonly referred to as
“Trigger cuts,” ominously loomed
throughout our schools. Recently, this
trigger has not only been pulled, but
yanked so aggressively that our
district, as well as most districts
throughout the state, finds itself in a
position having to make reductions
unlike any we have been faced with in
many years.
This is not an overnight occurrence but
one that districts have been struggling
with for some time. During the
past five years, public schools in
California have had a twenty percent
revenue cut while the state continues to
give deferrals (commonly referred to as
“IOU’s”) which are nearly forty percent
of the total revenue. While it may
appear our district has a sizeable cash
reserve, in reality the actual “cash on
hand” is considerably less.
Unfortunately, we must operate our
district with available cash, not what’s
been promised to us sometime in the
future. Our district, like most in
the north state, continues to experience
a steady decline of student enrollment,
losing nearly one third of our students
in the past ten years, from 1501
students in 2000-01 to our current
enrollment of 1083. We receive
approximately $5,600 per student
enrolled, and loss of enrollment only
compounds the problem faced with the
loss of state revenues. In
addition, we have no control over the
overall economy which has been very
difficult and unstable in recent
years.
With the current midyear trigger cuts,
our district will lose $272,000, roughly
half of our allotment for home-to-school
transportation, and nearly $15,000 in
revenue limit cuts (ADA). For a district
as widely spread as ours, transportation
is essential. As we approach the
mid-point in our current school year, we
are taking full precautions to purchase
only essentials; however, the emphasis
on reductions ultimately must take into
account the plan for next year.
The idiom, “drastic times call for
drastic measures” seems relevant.
Difficult decisions will be made, but
please be assured, this process will be
a collaborative effort of stakeholders
with a common goal—to assure that our
top priority is to insure that our
students have every possible opportunity
for success.
What can be done? To the innocent
bystander, many suggestions or solutions
may seem quite simple or logical,
however there are many interconnected
complexities of the whole picture that
must be considered. Unfortunately
the educational legal system also
influences the outcomes of many
decisions. Governor Jerry Brown’s
latest effort to support schools stems
from a proposed sales tax increase,
which he hopes will generate the
necessary support to be on the ballot
next November. If not or if the
measure fails, we will once again be
looking at another round of mid-year
cuts which the Department of Finance
estimates will be equally or possibly
more devastating than this year’s
reductions. If truly interested, I
would urge you to contact a state
official and emphasize your concern with
the constant cuts schools are
experiencing. These representatives
include State Assemblyman Jim Nielsen,
Senator Doug LaMalfa, House
Representative Wally Herger, and
Supervisor Glenn Hawes. Their
contact information can be found
on-line. For any of you who would
like to further understand our
district’s budget as well as the
additional challenges we are being faced
with, there will be a board budget
workshop at the District Office on
Wednesday, January 25, beginning at 5:00
P.M. This meeting will focus on
revenues, expenditures, and
suggestions. You are welcome to
attend. Our community is a vital
part of our schools, and we will work
together to get through tough times.
Comment
Thank
You
Editor: This year’s FFA apple pie sale
went very smoothly. The McArthur Chapter
made 756 apple pies in 6 hours. McArthur
FFA would like to thanks all the people
that helped make this year’s sale very
successful.
Editorial
Supervisor Glenn Hawes questioned why I
would do a story about an alleged FBI
investigation into he and the head of
County
Planning Russ Mull, when it was based
“on a rumor.” He also pointed out that
no other news media was reporting on the
rumor.
My reasoning is simple.
First, I don’t base my reporting on what
any other media organization does or
does not choose to report. My job is to
report accurately, fairly and be as
thorough as possible on issues of
interest to my readership, not what some
other media
organization thinks is politically
correct or of interest to their readers.
Second, I’ve never been known for being
politically correct, or willing to back
off because someone would rather I not
do a story.
Third, Mr. Hawes is a public figure,
elected by the voters of Shasta County’s
District 3, of which the Intermountain
Area is a part. Mr. Mull is a bureaucrat
serving at the pleasure of Mr. Hawes and
the other supervisors. What these two
men do directly affects our daily
lives and future of those they
serve.
As examples, the County Board of
Supervisors, at the recommendation of
the Planning Department have considered
and passed controversial measures with
the potential of major impacts such as
the “High Density – Low Income” planning
measure and the Knighton Road Project
and the Hatchet Ridge Windmill Project,
each which had large numbers of
individuals in the affected areas
opposing them. In the case of the
Knighton Road Project the citizens have
gone so far as to force the issue to be
placed on the June ballot.
Fourth, Reverge Anselmo, is not known as
a kook. He is a legitimate rancher and
business man, well known and successful,
who became embroiled in a dispute with
the County in a highly publicized matter
still going through the courts.
Fifth, Mr. Hawes has announced he is
planning to run for re election and his
record is under scrutiny by his
constituents.
When rumors, true, false or otherwise
reach the public for whatever reason or
in whatever manner they may impact
the election of an official such as Mr.
Hawes. If, for no other reason, they
deserve to be aired to help set the
record . The
information gathered can then be
presented so that the constituents may
evaluate the issue and act with a better
understanding of what the “rumor” is all
about. The constituents can make up
their minds as to whether the rumor is
true or false.
It is too bad that law enforcement
agencies at all levels will not “confirm
or deny” inquiries about their
investigations. That would quickly turn
a rumor into fact or garbage. However,
if they did that, it would also severely
hamper, if not
destroy, many of their chances to
complete an investigation.
With that in mind, I did everything I
could to verify the validity of the
rumor. I presented what I
found out fairly and thoroughly and kept
side issues and non-related issues out
of the story.
My door is always open to anyone who
wishes to give further information which
may shed additional light on any story,
including the one in question.
Comment
Thank
you
Editor: The family of Gerry Crane would
like to thank everyone for the kindness,
help and support they gave us during the
loss of our beloved wife, mother,
grandmother and great grandmother, Gerry
Crane.
We cannot begin to express the comfort
your help has brought to us. We all miss
Gerry terribly, but your help and
support has made the loss more bearable.
Thank
you all so much
Lee, Henry, Susan,
Jim, Jeff, Jennifer, Katy,
Craig, Jon and Gavin
Editorial
In case those of you who have
internet subscriptions wondered why your
Christmas edition was early, Donna and I
went on vacation.
There is also a very good reason that
everyone else got their paper on time -
We have the best staff in the
world. They work extremely hard
and extremely well.
Then there are our customers who alert
us to news stories. For example I got a
call on my cell phone from a wonderful
lady I know alerting me to a story.
Being in North Carolina, I wasn’t able
to follow up on it, but Ron did and we
got the story.
I got an e-mail from Mayers and again,
there wasn’t much I could do, but Val
was great!
In reality our staff and customers made
it possible to have a wonderful time
without missing a beat and we really
thank all of you!
We don’t think a lot about it, but when
people start spending big money to add
space to business, add new businesses or
services, it is significant.
The U.S. hasn’t seen a lot of
construction nationwide and we closed
the year out with five projects, not
just on the drawing board, but under
construction.
People don’t spend that kind of money
unless they are pretty certain that they
can realize a profit. The banks don’t
lend that kind of money unless they are
pretty sure they’ll get paid back
and we benefit!
We benefit from increased services,
goods, jobs, and better communities.
It makes me feel good to know that they
feel we are on a positive track and are
wanting to do something about it.
On another note, I only have seven
copies of columnist Sharon Nesbit’s
wonderful book
Sunny with Occasional Tirades, 100
columns celebrating a century., left.
Sharon’s columns were featured in
Mountain Echo for years before her
retirement. She, her motorhome “Maude”
husband, “Hubs,” No. 1 and No.2 kids,
delighted us weekly, making us
laugh, think and in my case,
occasionally change my ways. They are
$15.95 and worth every penny of it.
Comment
Thank
You
The McArthur Volunteer Fire Department
would like to recognize Hat Creek
Construction and Materials, Inc.,
Packway Materials, Inc. and Brent
Cassity for their gracious donation to
help construct a new exit gate for the
Intermountain Fairgrounds. With all your
contributions the fair traffic went so
much smoother.We, the McArthur Volunteer
Fire Department, are so grateful to have
people like you around. Once again,
thank you so much for your courteous
donation.
Thank
You
Editor: I would like to commend the
Volunteer Fire Department for their
quick response when my barn/shop was on
fire Sunday, 12/18.
I would like to thank them again for
their quick and efficient work!
Great job guys!
Robert Tomaino
Hat Creek
Editorial
It has been a long, hard year for
a lot of folks economically. It has been
a tragic year for others. Yet, in spite
of the difficulties, tragedies and our
differences, the Intermountain Community
pulled together to help those less
fortunate.
We have had major fundraisers to help
those in need. We have had fundraisers
to help research illnesses that afflict
some of us. Thanks to the generosity of
those in our communities, they have all
been successful.
Yes, we’re facing hard times. Houses are
monetarily under water. Some folks have
lost their homes. Some businesses are
teetering economically. Gas prices
have gone through the roof. The Postal
Service may close some of our post
offices. The state has dumped their
prisoners into the mainstream, which
can’t help but increase crime in the
area.
But, economic slumps generally prove to
be temporary, We like to gripe about it,
but we have never counted on the County,
State or Federal Government for real
help. They have always been a hindrance.
More importantly, we have people who
care. We have people who provide and run
food banks, a soup kitchen, hospice,
fund raisers for those in need, fire,
ambulance and hospitals.
We belonged to a caring community in
2011 and we’ll belong to a caring
community in 2012.
We are strong, resilient, we care and we
are willing, as individuals, small
groups and communities to help.
I was proud to say I’m an Intermountain
Area citizen in 2011 and I’m looking
forward to 2012.
Comment
Guest Editorial
By Suzanne Kane
SNIPPP
December 18th, five years ago, someone
or some family made a fateful decision:
their female dog had a litter of pups
about five weeks before, and the pups
had become too inconvenient, or too
messy, or too expensive….so they had to
be gotten “rid of.” The weather was
5-degrees that morning; the pups were
put in an old box and tossed out into
the road at Jack Rabbit Flats. That’s
when their lives, and ours, took an
interesting turn.
A couple was driving down the road,
looking for firewood, when they noticed
these tiny babies struggling beside the
box, nearly frozen to death. They picked
them up, and took them to the Sheriff’s
substation, which was actually staffed
back then.
The puppies were so young that they
would not have made it in the County
kennels, so the Sheriff’s Office asked
Dr. Woodin and her staff if they would
take them, which they kindly did.
Because the pups were so little and
needed 24 hour a day attention they
called my husband Phil and me to see if
we could possibly care for them. With
some trepidation, we agreed and then
sent out a cry for help to people we
knew in the area who loved animals. We
suddenly needed lots of newspapers,
puppy food and toys, and blankets. The
response was immediate and
heartwarming….everyone came through.
After this ordeal of the Christmas
puppies in our mudroom -- WHAT A MESS!
-- everyone who helped thought that
maybe we’d better do something about the
abandonment issues in the Intermountain
area. Puppies and kittens were being
given away without any thought about
their safety and happiness, abandoned
dogs were running the streets, feral
cats were roaming the alleys, and
litters of puppies and kittens were
being dumped in the woods.
With the kindness of a local attorney
who donated his services so that we
could become a non-profit, SNIPPP was
born, and since then 1,800 dogs and cats
have been spayed/neutered, well over 400
dogs and cats have found new homes, and
105 lost dogs and cats have been
reunited with their owners.
While my husband and I are no longer
able to rescue due to our physical
limitations, we continue to be amazed at
SNIPPP’s outreach. This community is
very lucky to have people who care, and
who have come forward to help these
blessed animals. Rescue is a very
demanding and heartbreaking job but the
volunteers and Board members continue to
do everything they can to make life
better for our companion animals and the
people that love them.
Thanks to all of you in the
Intermountain area who have made SNIPPP
a reality. And if you have considered
volunteering with SNIPPP this would be a
wonderful time to give them a call and
offer your services, 336-6006. They and
the animals really need your help!
By the way, the dog in SNIPPP’s logo is
our own Tiny Tim, one of the five pups
who were rescued that fateful morning.
Originally weighing less than 3 lbs., he
now weighs in at 75 lbs.
Editorial
The concept being floated that
the residents of Fall River Mills will
not have to pay their share of the cost
of a water tower or tank if the
district decides to put one in McArthur,
doesn’t hold water (so to speak).
The water system in McArthur is not
separate. The water is currently pumped
from the district’s well in McArthur and
used by citizens in Fall River Mills.
Water is stored and returned into the
system from tanks in Fall River
Mills. The two towns are on the same
water system and have paid for the same
water system.
If an additional tank or tower is put in
McArthur, it will help equalize the
pressure throughout the district, add
storage for the entire district and
allow the district the luxury of having
a storage facility to use regardless of
whether one is off-line for whatever
reason or not.
Everyone in the district has paid
for and is paying for the current
system. Everyone has and is benefiting
from the current system and everyone
will benefit from any improvements to
that system.
When the Fall River Fire District gave
the existing tanks in Fall River to the
CSD, boosting Fall River’s water
pressure, McArthur residents did not
benefit equally from that addition, but
they paid for the refurbishing of those
tanks over the years because they used
the water.
The only way the theory that
McArthur would be the only one to
benefit and therefore should be the only
one to pay would work is if McArthur and
Fall River each had wells and the lines
delivering water to each town were
separate, They aren’t,
therefore if the district wants a
storage facility in McArthur everyone is
going to have to pay for it.
Comment
Thank
You
Four years ago we moved from Burney to
Redding because of Bob Hoodenpyle’s
declining health. Bob received the
best of treatment in Redding but sadly
on Monday, December 5th, he passed
away. The forty years he spent in
Burney were dear to his heart.
Burney is a warm, friendly, town and our
three children grew up there. Over
the years, Bob was the principle of
Burney Elementary, started and ran a
real estate office, was a board member
for the Fall River Joint Unified School
District, and he was involved in many
community activities. He got to
know the entire town. Because of
this we choose to have the memorial
service in Burney last Saturday,
December 10th at the Presbyterian
Church. We were stunned by how
many people were able to show up with
very little notice; proof that Burney is
a close knit town where word of mouth
still works. Our family is so
thankful that we were able to celebrate
Bob’s life with our extended Burney
family. You should be proud of
this little town with great
heart.
We would like to give special
recognition to the following:
Dr. Howlett, our family physician for
many years, made a special trip from
Redding to play the organ for the
memorial.
Rev. Marty Murdock not only presented a
wonderful memorial for Bob, he also took
the time to help us with our grief.
Rev. Alex Monroe and the members of the
Burney Presbyterian Church for making us
feel welcome.
Angelina’s at the Rex Club for providing
delicious
refreshments.
Sincerely,
Marge Hoodenpyle
and the whole Hoodenpyle family
Thank
You
Editor: I would like to thank the kind
lady who found my wallet near Safeway
and returned it! Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year.
Kathy Star
Thank You
Editor, We would like to thank
everyone for their kind thoughts and
prayers following Jim’s accidental fall.
He is making steady progress towards a
full recovery. At this time our shop,
Double S Automotive, is open for
business with the exception of smog
testing. Look for updates on the
business’s marquee.
We appreciate your concern.
Jim and Susie Staggs
Editorial
There are only 11 more days to
shop before Santa comes.Remember to shop
locally first.
You’ll be amazed at the variety and
bargains that you can find right here at
home.
Your local merchants are the ones that
support your kids in school, donate to
everything from Soccer candy to yearbook
ads. Without them the schools and
organizations will not be able to offer
the wide variety of services they
do now.
Comment
Emergency Room service
Editor: It is my understanding
that the CEO of Mayers Memorial
Hospital, Matthew Rees, has made the
arbitrary decision to eliminate our
local doctors from Emergency Room
service. In their stead are four doctors
from out of the area. This decision was
made without board approval (sounds like
Obama-it is t o me)!
To add salt to the wounds, the cost for
these new doctors is approximately
$400,000 more per year! As Mayers
Memorial has been in the read for years,
I don’t understand the reasoning for
this. Again, it sounds like another
government faux pas.
We have recently received mailers asking
for donations and extolling the virtues
of the hospital! Hello – what an
unnecessary expense for the printing and
mailing of such a brochure, and what
unmitigated gall to fire our doctors and
ask for monetary assistance to support
that.
Doctor Dan Dahle is the only Doctor Big
Valley has. So many depend on him for
his personal and professional caring. He
is a local an is loved and respected.
We appreciate our local hospital and the
doctors, nurses, EMT’s and staff! This
new CEO, however, can go back to where
he came from.
John and Sheila Conner
Adin
Comment
Open letter
State Responsibility Fire Tax Fee
Sirs: (Those seven members who voted
“Aye”): I am absolutely stunned and
outraged at the back-handed manner in
which you forced this issue. It is so
unjust.
It harkens back to (not so ‘merry’) Old
England when King John sent his henchmen
out to knock on the doors of poor people
and snatched the “Coppers” from mother’s
fingers, with which they meant to buy
bread for their children.
I think it is time for mothers and
grandmothers in California to organize.
Maybe we can mix up our history and
myths and Shakespeare and form a
counterband of “Hoods” with a slogan
something like” “Robin Hood, oh Robin
Hood, wherefore art thou, Robin Hood?”
We are going to need a lot of Robin
Hoods if you guys don in Sacramento keep
this up.
Jane Pratt (concerned mother,
grandmother, great-grandmother)
Fall River Mills
Comment
A special Thank you from Mickey
I wish to say, “Thank you all so
very much to my family and friends in
the Redding area and my good friends in
Fall River Valley for remembering me
during my stay at the Northern
California Rehabilitation Hospital in
Redding.” Thank you for sending all of
the wonderful cards, beautiful floral
arrangements and telephone calls I
received while I recovered from the
trauma of a broken hip.
Mickey Young
Editorial
People are going to die if Big Valley
loses its ambulance. There is no way
that an ambulance can come out of
Alturas or out of Fall River and cover
an accident on Highway 139 south of Adin
in a timely fashion. It is highly
doubtful that they could take care
of a heart attack, stroke, or farming
accident with severe trauma in Lookout
or some of the ranches south of A-2 in
enough time to save the victims - and
that’s in good weather when they can
still call an ambulance in to get them
to a trauma center. What about
wintertime when there’s snow and ice on
the ground, especially on the mountain
passes.
This may not be popular, but if I were a
resident of Big Valley I’d be
petitioning Mayers Memorial Hospital to
start working toward annexing the Valley
into that district.
At their worst they are far better than
Modoc Medical Center and far more
stable.
Mayers board members are approachable,
and know what they are doing. The
hospital has top notch management and
staff. Additionally an awful lot of you
or your relatives already use Mayers and
are familiar with it.
Comment
Open letter regarding SRA Fee
Staff, State Forestry and Fire
Protection Board: The legislators have a
unique way of redefining words to make
them more suitable for their own ends.
For example, in any thesaurus the
synonym for tax is fee. So let’s call
this bureaucratic maze that those
legislators who were responsible for
what it is—a tax.
The manner in which this tax was passed
makes one realize how corrupt our
legislative and judicial processes have
become. The fire tax/fee violates both
propositions 13 and 26 where a
two-thirds vote of approval is required
by the legislature because it supports
general purpose programs rather than
providing a direct benefit to those
citizens who are paying the tax.
This tax is unfair in that it is being
imposed on rural areas only. One is
reminded that one of the most
devastating fires in California occurred
in an urban area -- the Oakland hills
fire in the early 90’s. Not only was the
loss of property staggering; more
importantly, 24 people lost their lives.
One is reminded all too frequently on TV
of the massive wild fires in the
southern part of California where Cal
Fire is called in to assist local
agencies in controlling the blazes in
urban areas.
It seems to me that this issue is what
has become more insidious with
politicians these days where they want
to accomplish their personal agenda by
pitting one segment of the population
against another. In this case it is
rural versus urban.
It takes the efforts of everyone to pay
for and prevent wild fires.
Patrick J. Duval
Strangling liberty
Editor: Regarding the ongoing
saga of the CSD vs the world:
In general, I agree with the assessment
of Terry Briggs in his letter to the
editor of November 15, 2011. The
federal, state and county governments
are strangling the liberty of the people
by adopting (as Walt Caldwell stated)
“the multitude of complex laws of the
state and federal government.”
In my opinion, without all the “complex
laws” we wouldn’t need LAFCo! Walt
Caldwell also stated “if there were no
LAFCo, governance of the Intermountain
area would be in chaos. Well, if what’s
going on with the CSD is not chaos, I
don’t know what is! No offense to the GM
and the board.
I would think that “public opinion”
would have some compassion with those
who must deal with the “bureaucracy” to
get something done. (The chamber of
commerce and I had to wait nearly a year
and a half to get all the
approvals needed to build our “welcome
to Fall River” sign).
And don’t forget that the founders of
our country didn’t have the “Brown Act”
when they wrote the Constitution.
Frank Germano
Editorial
While I am noted for being full of
manure, I have, over the years, worked
diligently not to be covered with it.
For that reason I have had the hard,
fast rule of not being placed in the
position of being the first car in a
line behind a cattle truck - that was,
until last Monday night.
We were en route to pick up last week’s
issue from the press at about 5:30 when
I ran into fog at the passing lane at
Little Hatchet. By the time I started
around the curve just west of Moose Camp
Road, I could see exactly 2.5 yellow
reflectors on the yellow line. It
remained that way until I was past Windy
Point Road on the Montgomery Creek
Grade.
On the way back I spotted a couple of
cattle trucks with more red lights on
the back of them than the CHP have in
their rear windows. I got a safe, not
quite tail-gating distance behind, and
stayed there. A third cattle truck
passed three other cars and myself and
cut into their line at the passing lane
on the Drinking Fountain grade. Believe
me,when we hit the fog again it having
them in front was wonderful. I kept one
eye on their tail lights and the other
on the reflectors on the center line so
I’d know it if they went straight when
they should have curved. We made it back
to Burney without incident and Donna
didn’t have to pry my fingers off the
steering wheel.
I don’t know who they were or who they
were hauling for, but Thank you! And,
thank you for having washed out your
trailers before coming to pick up your
loads.
Comment
Correction
In last week’s editorial I stated that
the CSD had failed to comply with a
request from LAFCo for information so
LAFCo could complete the Municipal
Service Review.
Barbara Briggs came by the office
Wednesday and pointed out that statement
was in error.
They had, in fact hired a consultant
(Jan Lopez) who was working on it.
Stuart Busby, did submit a
questionnaire, but did not consult with
his board as the board felt he should.
Lopez was rehired and was getting the
information LAFCO needed when she
(Briggs) got off the board.
Mountain Echo apologizes for any
inconvenience .
Editorial
In response to
Mr. Briggs’ letter
Districts whose managers know the laws
and follow them, have little difficulty
in accomplishing what their boards want
done – as long as it is legal, doesn’t
step on or duplicate other district’s
authority, is within their stated
powers, is needed and wanted by the
citizens of the district.
District’s who have a manager like John
Van den Bergh who do not know or refuse
to follow, the laws that govern the
district, whose board members, Quincy
Hatch, Sandi Jensen and Sharon Hanson do
not take the time to find out what they
can and cannot do and who don’t care if
things are done right, as long as they
get done, are the ones that get the
negative reaction.
LAFCo’s job is to make sure that the
ever increasing complex web of services,
district boundaries, spheres of
influence, abilities and needs, all come
together in a well organized system.
That system has to work for the people,
each and every
district, city and county and comply
with the multitude of complex laws of
the State and Federal Government. If
there was no LAFCo in today’s world,
governance in all areas of the state,
including the Intermountain Area, would
be chaos.
The newspaper, (Mountain Echo, owned and
operated by Donna and I in Fall River
Mills for 33 years), does its job. It
reports what goes on.
The CSD ignored LAFCO’s repeated
requests for updated information to
complete their municipal review while
the other districts throughout the area
completed their LAFCo requests and
submitted them. The CSD did not. During
Stuart Busby’s short term as general
manager, he noticed the district had not
complied, contacted LAFCo, found out
what was needed, wrote it out and sent
it in. The CSD’s board recalled it
because it wasn’t to their liking.
Rather than change it to their liking,
the board didn’t bother to send it back
to LAFCo until a few weeks ago, over
5-years late. LAFCo, Shasta County and
Mountain Echo don’t make the Fall River
Valley CSD look bad – The CSD’s current
manager and tenured board make it
look bad.
Mr. Briggs may want the CSD to be able
to do what it wants when it wants,
whether it is legal or not, but that
district and its goals are a prime
example as to why LAFCo and the laws
exist.
Comment
Doesn't
think they should have to comply with
the laws
Editor: It’s Tuesday, so it must be
‘beat the crap out of the Community
Services District Day. Today’s episode
looks a lot like a re-run of last week,
the week before and the week before
that: “The CSD can’t do this.” The CSD
can’t do that.” And according to LAFCO,
the CSD can never do anything again
without going through them for approval.
Apparently the State of California, in
all their imminent wisdom, made a law
that makes all Community Services
Districts come crawling on hands and
knees to their local LAFCO, to exercise
the powers that were given them in
previous decades by…wait for it…the
State of California. The by…wait for
it…employees of the State of California.
The difference now is that this power is
centralized in the county seats by…wait
for it…employees of the State of
California.
Apparently the State of California (by
the way of LAFCO), County Supervisors,
and local newspaper editors believe that
folks in rural enclaves lack the
intelligence, ability and vision to
control their own desires, their own
resources, their own destiny. It is
becoming painfully clear that all future
rural development will be at the whim of
politicians, bureaucrats and newspaper
publishers, with an axe to grind.
That being the case, I suggest that the
CSD board of directors just resign en
masse. And that all future opportunity,
decisions or plans of the CSD simply be
submitted to Mr. Caldwell, Amy Mickelson
and Glen Hawes for approval, none of
whom, in this case, live in the Fall
River Valley.
Of course, there’s nothing revealed in
this week’s version of “Truth, Clarity
and the American Way’ about LAFCO’s five
year failure to do their job for the
District. But I guess that would sort of
muddy the narrative being built by the
Mountain Echo wouldn’t it?
Welcome to the future comrades.
Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Redding
and Walt Caldwell, will now be our
guiding lights, noting that they have
done such a ‘great’ job so far.
Terry Briggs
See
Editorial
Comment
'Editorial
The Fall River Valley Community
Services District’s apparent refusal to
accept the fact that Senator Kehoe
introduced Senate Bill #135 which
amended the State’s Community Services
District Law when the Governor signed it
on September 22, 2005.
That bill stopped Community Services
Districts from putting into place any of
the powers to provide services that were
not being provided prior to January 1,
2006, without going through the Local
Agency Formation Commission process and
gaining approval for each new service it
wished to provide.
In the case of then Fall River Mills
CSD, that district did not indicate that
it was providing parks and recreation
services so it is only legally able to
provide water and sewer.
Now the board approved a resolution to
form zones for several services it can’t
provide and is in the process of
spending money to mail information to
all landowners in the district and will
have their Municipal Advisory Council
(which is really only a citizen’s
committee) have a hearing.
They are also in the process of getting
a loan from the Feds which they will
have to pay back, and are trying to find
a building they can move into because
their office is beyond repair.
Those are expenses being borne by the
water and sewer users in the district at
a time the district wants to replace
water lines and talk them into paying
over $10 more a month for a water
storage.
Some spending may be justified, but
their priorities are way out of whack.
Comment
Keeping the water clean
Editor: I hear how the local
farmers and ranchers are keeping the Pit
River Water clean...ya, sure!
I invite every one of them to come and
drink out of Horse Creek when the foam
is about two feet high and the water
color is ugly brown.
Horse Creek should be as clear as Hat
Creek.
If people were responsible in the use
and care of the waterways we would not
have to spend billions reversing the
misuse.
It is my understanding that 90% of our
fisheries are destroyed due to runoff
from tainted sources. Some of that
tainted water comes from agriculture.
The State of California has voted more
than once for clean water and now that
it is starting to be implemented the
misusers are squacking like stuck pigs!
Dale Mollenhauer
Little Valley
Editorial
I’ve been doing a series on
Bullying and I’ve learned a lot about
myself and my behavior.
I knew I had been bullied as a child,
but it wasn’t until I started
researching the subject that I
recognized the behavioral problems that
have carried into my adulthood.
What really surprised me was to find out
that I do bully or have behavior that
encourages bullying and so do most of
the adults I know.
It’s verbal bullying and is often so
ingrained that I don’t even recognize
it.
A typical example is that I have little
use for the current president of the
United States - guess what pops into my
mind and on occasion my tongue when he
really irritates me. Not only is
it not nice, it is demeaning and if
anyone of the same race hears me,
it affects them.
“That’s being silly,” you’re thinking.
It isn’t, for several reasons. His race
has nothing to do with his performance,
beliefs or lack of performance. It is
meant to be demeaning.
So are other racial slurs, on
individuals of other races,
religions, and other
differences.
It is proven to hurt, to hold an
individual up to ridicule and is thus
bullying. If it is overheard by young
folks it gives them the improper
perspective that it is okay to use it.
If it is overheard by someone that could
be targeted by those words it affects
their self confidence and depending on
circumstances, can cause fear or hurt
them as bad as if I punched them.
I’m going to try harder to curb
that type of speech and ask that other
adults do the same.
It is pretty hard to tell teens
they are bullying and punish them when
they pick it up at home or from those
they look to for guidance.
You don’t have to physically beat on
someone to be a bully, words can be just
as bad.
Comment
Editorial
When the CSD Manager originally
talked to special districts in the area
about accepting the district’s “Sphere
of Influence proposal” he told them the
CSD was not trying to take them over,
just provide services like weed control
and snow removal.
Now that has changed. He is trying
to go around those board’s and sell the
citizens of those districts the
advantage of getting involved in the CSD
using fear tactics. Here are a couple of
examples....
...”The one exception is fire protection
districts. When a fire district
fails, some local agency MUST take those
services over in order to dissolve the
fire district. No
exceptions. In that case, it could
be the county (if they still
provide fire protection services in that
area), an adjacent fire district (they
must share at least one boundary), or a
community services district like the
Fall River Valley CSD.”
“While the CSD is not searching for
failing districts to rescue, if asked,
the CSD will entertain discussion about
the possible merger with districts in
order to avoid outsiders from dictating
services in our valley.”
The CSD isn’t as well off as Manager Van
den Bergh likes to portray. Nor is it
that well run. He currently is trying to
see if he can raise rates in the
district $11 to $13 a month to get a
needed water tank. He is trying to put
the district in major debt to build a
“community center” that isn’t needed.
Almost every district in the area is on
a tight budget, but it doesn’t make
sense to entertain the idea of having
another district with a tight budget and
poor track record like the CSD take
anyone else over.
Comment
Open
letter to State and County
representatives
Dear Honorable Representatives:
Please accept these comments on behalf
of the Northeastern California Water
Association (NECWA). We are a voluntary
membership organization of over 170
members and a geographic region that
covers 75,000 irrigated acres for the
Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program
(ILRP) in the northeastern corner of the
state. NECWA was formed prior to the
implementation of the ILRP for the
purpose of protecting our member’s
interests in water rights and water
quality. Our members were proactive
prior to the implementation of the ILRP
and we still feel that the IRLP program
is unnecessary, burdensome and costly to
our members and to the state. We are a
sub coalition that is a member of the
Sacramento Valley Water Quality
Coalition.
Our region consists of roughly 2,752,300
acres, which includes the Upper Pit
River Watershed, the Fall River
Watershed, the Burney Creek Watershed
and the Hat Creek Watershed. Of the 2.7
million acres in our coverage area, only
roughly 3% is in irrigated or partially
irrigated agricultural uses. Compare
that to the 60% ownership by the Federal
and State governments, and roughly 15%
by private forest landowners. Obviously
irrigated agriculture is a very small
component and is also very light touch,
since we are in a high elevation setting
with a limited growing season and crop
availability.
The fee increases that have been
proposed are outrageous, and place the
very nature of our “voluntary”
organizations and rural families at
risk. With little or no compliance
enforcement from the regional board, the
stage is set for a full scale
mutiny with this approximate 410%
increase in fees.
Our farmers and ranchers, families that
have worked and lived here for
generations, have to tighten their belts
and cut back in tough economic times. We
don’t see that same philosophy
entertained by state government. It
should be. We have been spending
hundreds of thousands of dollars to
perform monitoring to ensure agriculture
is not harming the beneficial uses of
water. You know what we’ve learned in
all those years and all those dollars
wasted? Agriculture is NOT harming the
beneficial uses of water. The program
should be downsized and scaled back
where it has been shown NOT to be
needed! The absolute wrong
philosophy is to simply “tax” or “fee”
continuance of a program that is not
necessary. Cut back, tighten the belt.
North Eastern California Water
Association
P.O. Box 367, McArthur, CA 96056
NECWA’s Mission is to protect and
enhance water rights, water quality and
riparian areas to the benefit of
agriculture, the environment,
recreation, and wildlife in the
Northeastern California region.
In that light, we ask that you require
the Central Valley Regional Water
Quality Control Board to provide to you
a full accounting of the costs of the
Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program. It
is imperative that you require them to
demonstrate how they can justify program
costs and raise fees, when the program
is not doing anything except cost
landowners and the state money. Our
area, and several other geographic areas
across the state like us, have years of
data showing that agriculture is not
harming the beneficial uses of water.
The program therefore, ought to be
downsized to match the lack of risk. It
should not, be maintained or increased,
at a cost to our landowners.
Our members are price takers, not price
makers. They can’t pass along the costs
of these increased fees to their
customer like an irrigation district or
a municipality. When you add up all of
the increased fees: the ILRP; the Water
Right fee; the Dam Safety fee; the State
Responsibility Area fee from CalFire;
and the increased property tax from the
Williamson Act, it is harmful to rural
California’s infrastructure. The very
infrastructure that is so critical in
providing clean water to the entire
state and all of its residents. The
clean water that we provide to the state
is a public benefit!
We ask for full accountability and
reason to all of the programs. Justify
the cost of the programs. Please ensure
that there is a full cost/benefit
analysis done in all departments and
fight in the legislature and at the
county level to cut programs where it is
shown they are not needed.
Sincerely,
Pam Giacomini for Roderick McArthur
Roderick McArthur, President
North Eastern California Water
Association
P.O. Box 367
McArthur, CA 96056
Comment
Editorial
It is so easy to forget or
overlook just what a great group of
youngsters we have in the Intermountain
Area. I’m referring to kids in the
elementary schools through the young
adults in our high schools.
I’m not going to pretend to mention all
of their good deeds because I’d be sure
to miss half of them but a sampling will
demonstrate what I mean.
Sophia’s car wash. Sophia’s golf
tournament and the Susan B. Kommen
efforts at both ends of the district.
It isn’t only the organization and work
involved in arranging and putting on the
variety of events, it is the massive
student support given the projects such
as the drive for food for the food
pantry put on by the elementary
students, participation in the events
such as the Heart and Cancer walks. I’m
really privileged to live in the
Intermountain Area and be able to brag
about the quality of young folks we
have.
Thanks guys.
Comment
Thank You
Thank you to the Skilled Nursing
Facility, known as the Burney Annex.
All of you, Dr. Watson, nurses, staff,
and housekeeping crew – the whole bunch
of you are angels.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank
you. Never could this be said too many
times.
Thank you
Patricia Shiperly
Daughter of Betty Shafer
Thank You
The Fort Crook Historical Society
would like to thank the following
businesses and members of our great
community for raffle prizes and services
donated for our annual Harvest Dinner.
The Harvest Dinner honors our Pioneers
and Senior members of our Intermountain
Area. This raffle is what helps to
support the Fort Crook Museum.
Howard White and the Fort Crook Masonic
Lodge, Valley Hardware, Burney’s Napa
Auto Parts, Shasta Angler, Diane Head,
Burney’s Hearthstone Foods, Hovis
Hardware, Jerry Duerre at Fall River
John Deere, McArthur Farm Supply, Penny
Rand, Safeway, Ray’s Market, Moore’s
Country Kitchen, Gepettos, Jeannette
Ciriello, Fall River Golf Club, Duncan’s
Frosty, Alpine Drive In, McDonald’s
Restaurant, Liz Crum, The Frosty,
Weigand’s 101 Ranch, Lorrie Ingram.
Thanks also go to Adin Supply and Thor
Thorlaksson for the meat and services
provided for the annual Golden
Anniversary at the Inter Mountain Fair.
We sincerely thank who support the Fort
Crook Museum throughout the years.
Thank You
Editor: To all FRHS students,
faculty, staff, supporters, and
community members
I would like to use this as an
opportunity to thank several individuals
for their support and assistance for the
Fall River High Powder Puff Game on
Wednesday October 19th. We want to thank
everyone who took part, helped,
supported, played and watched the games.
You all made the game a success,
Clarissa Rowley
Fall River High School Teacher
Editorial
It was brought to my attention
recently that the Sierra Pacific
Industries employees are under the
company’s self-insurance plan when it
comes to ambulance service, and they had
refused to pay for a retired employees
trip in a Burney ambulance following an
emergency.
The company has a policy not to pay for
ambulance service in emergencies if the
ambulance picking up the insured belongs
to a
government agency supported by tax
revenue, including Mayers Memorial
Hospital or the Burney Fire District. I
verified that with the company.
I understand their reasoning, but at
least in the case of Mayers and the
Burney Fire District, that reasoning is
totally off base.
Ambulance service is just that – a
service provided by Mayers on the one
hand and the Burney Fire District on the
other.
The fact that both districts are
partially tax supported, does not mean
that the ambulance is. The logic just
isn’t there.
In the case of Mayers, does that
reasoning carry on to the emergency
room, operating room or the patients
beds and meals? It is all the same
thing, part of the services they provide
and charge for.
In the case of the Burney Fire District,
the folks of Burney formed the Burney
Fire Protection District as a Fire
Protection District, not as a fire and
ambulance district. They pay taxes to
maintain the building and the fire
apparatus and the costs associated. It
purchased the ambulance and runs it
because the service is needed.
The reality of the situation is that
either of the two can elect not to
provide ambulance service at any time on
a vote of the board. It does not
have to go to a vote of the people.
What SP is asking is that the people who
pay taxes in these two districts
subsidize Sierra Pacific’s employee
insurance commitment.
The Burney Fire Protection District’s
boundaries are roughly the towns of
Burney and Johnson Park. Their ambulance
service area is from Cassel to Fender’s
Ferry Road and from the Siskiyou County
Line to Lassen Park entrance.
What would happen if they decided to
pull back and service only those within
the fire district? Suppose an SP
employee was having a heart attack in
Big Bend or was in a traffic accident on
top of Hatchet Mountain,
Would that mean that when 9-1-1 was
called, an emergency operator
would need to ask where the victim was
and since they were outside the
district’s boundaries whether the victim
wanted the operator to call Mercy
Medical Center or Shasta Regional and
have them dispatch their ambulances?
In the medical circle there is what is
known as the “Golden Hour” which means
that the patient’s chances diminish with
time. Medic’s do everything they can to
get to and start to treat the patient
within that first hour. It saves lives.
Both Mayers and Burney’s ambulance
services have such huge areas that they
often have trouble getting to the more
isolated areas as quickly as they would
like. Try adding the time factor
into the equation when the ambulance has
to come out of downtown Redding.
I know that Sierra Pacific Industries
wants the best for their employees and
like all entities has to really watch
expenses, especially if they think
someone is getting paid twice to provide
a service.
SP isn’t being asked to pay for
something someone else has already paid
for. They also need to realize that
Mayers and Burney ambulance services
have a similar problem. They have to be
paid for their services or they can’t
exist.
The boards of both district’s have
discussed eliminating their ambulance
services and have thus far shelved the
issue because of the critical need for
local ambulances.
SP is a vital part of the Intermountain
Community, So are the ambulance
services. Hopefully those using SP
insurance won’t need an ambulance very
often, but when they do it is only right
that the insurance pay for it.
Comment
Thank you
so much
Dear Inter-Mountain Area friends,
Don and I want to thank you from the
bottom of our hearts for your prayers
and love, which we are certain provided
the heart that Sophia received early
Wednesday morning. She is
progressing rapidly. The
ventilator that was placed into her
lungs on August 20 is planned to be
removed on Monday or Tuesday. If
all goes as planned she may be
discharged to her parents care at the
Ronald McDonald house the earliest in 2
weeks and home in 2-6 months.
We know that miracles do happen when we
have God’s will at hand and the support
that you have given us.
Celebrate the rebirth of Sophia
today. Lets make it a very happy
one.
Thank you so much
Lani Martin
Thank you
Editor: The Lookout and Adin Fire
Departments would like thank everyone
who donated, helped with and those who
came and enjoyed the Buck Hunter’s Ball.
Thanks to you it was a big success. We
hope to see you again next year.
Thank you again,
The members of the Lookout
and Adin Fire Departments
Editorial
I hadn’t planned on using this space to
discuss the Fall River Valley Community
Services
District this week, but Mrs. Briggs sent
in a letter (See letters) which leaves
me no
choice. Taking her points in sequence:
(1.) Mrs. Briggs claims the district has
a policy that the manager has the
authority to do what he did and the
board knew about it.
I suspected that the Community Services
District had a policy allowing the
manager to make decisions, but I
question his ability to hire an attorney
without board knowledge for a couple of
reasons.
First, other boards like to be involved
when it comes to attorneys. Second Mr.
Van den Bergh didn’t announce that an
attorney had been hired in either
the meeting of September 14 or 28. He
didn’t indicate it on the agendas or by
saying so during the meeting. Instead,
he let the board argue about not wanting
an attorney involved at this point.
Mr. Van den Bergh didn’t inform the
board of his decision. In fact, he
skirted the issue to the point of being
deceptive. If anyone thinks I’m wrong I
invite them to make an
appointment, come down to my office and
listen to the tape I took of the
meeting.
Secondly, the board certainly wouldn’t
have wasted time discussing the point
and letting tempers flare in the course
of two meetings about something they
knew had already been done.
(2.) Regarding Mrs. Briggs
accusations about Ms. Michelson
deserving the treatment she received at
the public hearing: It was a public
hearing and like any member of the
public she had a right to speak.
Ms. Michelson did let the manager know
ahead of time which was obvious by the
way a set of rules were read at the
start of the meeting which put any
comments by outsiders at the end of the
meeting.
The Chair was curt and unfriendly toward
her to say the least. Mr. Van den Bergh
was belligerent as he rebutted her
public comment. They demonstrated
first that she wasn’t welcome and second
that there was no reason for her to make
any presentation because the board had
no interest in listening to what she had
to say. I will grant that Ms. Michelson
could have picked a better time for the
presentation. All in all, however I’ve
sat through a lot of public hearings and
unfriendly public meetings and this is
the only one that was so abusive as to
leave me embarrassed by what went on and
how it was conducted. Contrary to what a
couple of the board members think I sure
didn’t see any “olive branch being
offered at any point.”
3. Mrs. Briggs attacks Mountain Echo for
not bringing out the positives.
Mountain Echo does report on the
positives. For reasons of her own, Mrs.
Briggs doesn’t recognize the good
things that are reported or to
acknowledge them.
Regarding the finances, she is twisting
the facts and I can’t figure out why.
Yes, there was a point in time that
they, the board, thought the district
only had $400 in the bank and were on
the verge of bankruptcy.
In reality, they were on the verge of
bankruptcy. But it was Mrs. Briggs who
had the skill, interest and tenacity to
discover some long forgotten stock which
changed the picture. We reported on that
and on the board’s okaying the sale of
that stock. Both Mr. Busby when he was
District Manager and Mr. Van den Bergh
helped improve collections and watch the
spending. The board and Mr. Busby
plugged a lot of areas where money was
being lost or misused and we reported on
it. It just doesn’t suit Mrs. Briggs
purpose to remember those articles.
I report what is going on in the
district’s that I cover. I often
overlook minor problems because I don’t
like to attack folks. I’m no different
than any other professional reporter,
when I smell a rat I report on it. When
a district or its management starts to
throw up a smoke screen I start digging.
The CSD isn’t the first district by far
that I’ve done that to and it
undoubtedly won’t be the last.
I’ll end by reiterating the warning that
is in the top, left hand corner - “If
you don’t
want to see it in the paper - don’t do
it.”
Comment
Rebuttal
“... I wish to clarify the facts, please
do not cut up or alter.” Barbara Briggs
As a former Board Member of the FRVCSD I
would like to set the record straight
regarding the sensational headlines in
the Mountain Echo of October 4th.
FIRST: The Manager did NOT retain
an attorney without the board’s
knowledge nor did he exceed his
authority. There exists in
the budget for 2011-12 $12,000 set aside
for legal
and consulting fees. The Manager
has, through our Policy and Procedures
Manual the authorization to spend up to
a certain limit for various
purposes.
The General Manager was instructed by
the Board in a previous meeting to seek
legal counsel on the subject of LAFCO
and the Sphere of Influence application
in an effort to be sure we were acting
legally and to protect the investment
that we have made so far in this
process.
Mr. Cibula’s task is single purpose, not
an ongoing contract. There was no need
for further Board approval. He
accomplished this task and was informing
the Board of the result. That it
came as a surprise or without the
knowledge of one of the Board
members....well, that’s what happens
when you don’t attend the meetings.
SECOND: It came as no surprise that
there has been a lack of cooperation or
civility from Amy Michelson. She
had been asked repeatedly throughout
2010 to attend a Board meeting and
inform us of the LAFCO process.
She nor any other representative from
LAFCO had the courtesy to attend our
meetings.
Ms. Michelson claims to be treated
disrespectfully. The situation is
that she barged into a Special
Meeting. This meeting was for the
sole purpose of getting public input on
the proposed Sphere of Influence
application. Ms Michelson was NOT
on the agenda. Ms Michelson was NOT
invited to give a presentation. Ms.
Michelson was completely out of line in
representing her agency at this meeting,
uninvited and attempting to negatively
sway public opinion. Ms
Michelson treated the Board of Directors
of the CSD, the Management of the CSD
and the public in a disrespectful and
unprofessional manner.
THIRD: Instead of focusing on the
negatives of the CSD and tearing down
the Board and Management, I suggest that
the paper shed some accurate light on
the positive things that the District
has accomplished.
LASTLY: There once was a surplus of
almost $200,000 in the District.
Through mismanagement, lack of oversight
and outright corruption, it evaporated.
We have gone from ZERO cash in the bank
and bouncing checks in 2004, to today,
having $12,982 dollars in operating
funds.
$52,993 in reserves as required by the
bond covenants and $22,682 in
savings. We exchanged an expensive
health and dental package that was
costing the rate payers $57,000 a year
for three people with a more reasonable
program. Cut expenses where ever
we could.
We’ve made cruical repairs and upgrades
to the system. Such AS:
replacing defective meters at a cost of
$16,991 which has already generated an
increase in revenue of approx $5000 a
month. Repaired one aging
lift station at a cost of $22,979. These
repairs are to prevent sewage spills,
increase efficiency and prevent the
District from incurring large
fines.
Obtained a Grant of 150,000 and a loan
from the USDA in the amount of 350,000
to repair the infrastructure, water
lines, in the area that has the most
potential for leakage and
failure. Have obtained two other
Grants to help with the Stewardship
Lands acquisition.
Developed and implemented a Policy &
Procedures Manual, a Sewer Service
Management Plan, A Backflow
Policy.
We have brought the District into legal
compliance with State laws by conducting
the required audits, which had not been
performed for 4 years. Developed a
20 year plan to comply with Audit
requirements. Discovered to our dismay
that previous management had not been
paying the required disability coverage
or unemployment insurance. This
has since been fixed, but has cost the
rate payers well over $20,000 in UI
payments from cash flow. AND much
much more.
We have restored the cash reserves and
savings and upgraded and repaired the
system.....AND we have done it without
raising rates.
All of these positives have been
accomplished through the hard work of
our General Manager and through the hard
work of several Board’s of Directors
since 2007.
I don’t know what the agenda or end game
is in this vendetta that the paper seems
to have in focusing on the negatives and
in focusing exclusively on the CSD when
there are other agencies that have never
received the same oversight or
scrutiny. The CSD expects to
be called out when they do something
wrong, such as the illegal meeting held
previously.
However, the CSD expects to be treated
fairly, honestly, with the correct facts
and without malice. The CSD is
much too important to the future of this
community to be taken down for some sort
of personal animus.
Barbara Briggs
Former Board Member
Comment
Thank
You
I just wanted to say thank you to all of
you at home that have put on the golf
fundraiser, and all the other
fundraisers that have been done and
continue to go on. I know it must have
been a lot of work. Thank you too for
all of you who donated beautiful things
for the raffle for the golf course. Lani
sent me pictures of everything. It
brings tears to my eyes to think of all
of you at home who care so much about my
family. Everyone has gathered together
and it just reinforces my love for our
community. I don’t know how I will ever
thank all of you. Every one of you have
had a major part in helping us through
this. I am so proud of my community and
proud to call the intermountain area my
home. Thank you so much I will always
tell Sophia about how many people helped
and cared for her. All of you will have
a part in her growing up. I can’t wait
to watch her grow up with her big
Intermountain family.
Natalie Kammerer
Thank
You
With the love of family and the loyalty
of good friends we feel abundantly
blessed!
Thanks to everyone for their hugs, phone
calls, visits, food, cards and donations
after the loss of our mother,
grandmother, great-grandmother, and
great-great grandmother, and “our Nana”,
Dorothy Gerig. She was special to
so many people.
We appreciate your thoughtfulness,
Peter and Lynne Gerig and Family
Glenda and Carl Stanfield and Family
Editorial
The directors of the Fall River
Mills Community Services District need
to wake up to the fact that they are not
getting the complete story about what is
going on in the district they are sworn
to oversee.
Manager John Van den Bergh is basically
doing what he wants without bothering to
get board approval on items that require
board approval, not giving the board the
full story, being evasive when asked
questions, failing to provide the board
with correspondence they need to have to
make intelligent decisions on behalf of
the tax payers they represent.
It ends up with board members throwing
up their hands in frustration or sitting
around making fools of themselves.
He complained at the last board meeting
that because of the CSD’s wonderful
transparency, LAFCO staff already had
the district’s sphere of influence
documents.
He told everyone he has an open door
policy, then he responded to the public
records request giving me prices of what
it would cost for information I
requested. “My best estimates, he wrote
in an e-mail, “Option 1 would cost about
$50. Option 2 would cost about $705.
Please advise which option you wish us
to pursue...”
In an e-mail to LAFCO Executive Director
Amy Mickelson he requested
“that you do not make any public
comments about our SOI (Sphere of
Influence) application until the CSD
submits an SOI application to Shasta
LAFCO.”
Rather than advise his board to postpone
a meeting because they didn’t have a
legal quorum, he got a third board
member (who was trying to enjoy a
vacation) on the cell phone and lets the
three members of the board violate the
Ralph M. Brown Act in several ways,
embarrassing the board and making them
have another meeting to rectify
it.
He couldn’t plead ignorance to the law
because he didn’t go forward with a
similar meeting a few months before
because he was told it was a violation
of the law.
He let the board spent a significant
amount of time at a meeting argue about
whether or not to retain a lawyer when
he had already retained him.
I’m sorry CSD board, but this guy is
acting like a loose cannon and you’re
letting him get away with it.
He has already caused you significant
embarrassment, seriously damaged the
district’s credibility and if left
unsupervised, proven that he can get you
in a lot of trouble.
Comment
Thank
You
Editor: The friends of the Martin and
Kammerer Families have proven to be
everything that we are proud to say that
you are: an extended family that cares
for us deeply and supports us in
sickness and in health. In the past four
weeks, we have been treading through a
very difficult journey. Without your
prayers, concern for our welfare and
overwhelming love, this would have been
much more difficult.
There is much more to come in saving our
poor little Sophia’s life and it is very
comforting to know that we are enveloped
in your hearts; giving us hope and
strength to get through each coming day.
We have faith that the Lord has a plan
that will save our Sophia’s heart. Thank
you for your continued prayers and
support.
Love
The Martin and Kammerer families
Water
is precious
Editor: Water is the one resource that
all of us cannot do without. Luckily, in
this valley we are blessed with an
abundance of it. But think about this
when making decisions about it. Do we
really want all of it put in one
basket? Do we really want all the water
in the intermountain and outlying areas
controlled by one entity? As for rumors,
the CSD should look at their own basket
first.
Harold Bassett
Fall River Mills
Thank You
Editor: Potters Hand Pregnancy Help
Center would like to extend a great big
thank you to everyone who helped with
our dinner & auction fund raiser. We
were able to raise enough money to pay
for about four months worth of bills.
Thank you to those who contributed
auction items, those who bid on the
items, those who helped put the event
on.
Thank You to all the community members
that came to dinner and had fun at our
auction!! With out all of you we could
not do what we do!
Lots of Love, Kristi Laughlin (Director)
Editorial
Like anything else the government gets
involved with there is far too much
paperwork, but the Pit River Watershed
planning process has the potential to
really be of benefit to the area.
With $6-8 million potentially up for
grabs it is no surprise that Cal Trout
and other conservation groups are
interested. It is no wonder that
concerns about the “PH” balance of the
water is questioned. Since this is a
competitive process which is geared to
be as broad as possible, and since there
appears to be ample funds that will be
made available I have no problem with
it.
Here’s where things get really
interesting. Projects that will actually
help the people of the area,
infrastructure projects like replacing
antiquated pipes and equipment in small
water districts are also eligible for
funding.
The process includes private and public
systems so Del Oro’s Johnson Park Water
Works is eligible right along with the
Fall River Community Services District
and Burney Water District.
There are the usual hurdles. There will
have to be significant up front money.
To win a spot on the list that will get
funded in the first round, projects have
to be ready to start digging, not
planning.
The folks putting the plan
together appear to be helpful and
anxious to work with people.
I hope it works and I hope agencies take
advantage of it
Comment
Editorial
I’ve covered over a thousand special
district meetings and public hearings as
a newsman since I first started covering
the news for KAVA Radio in 1976. I’ve
also been a board member in reasonably
tense meetings in those 30 plus years
and I deal with board members and board
management on almost a daily basis.
The meetings have covered the gamut from
tragedy and crisis to routine. But the
meetings that will forever be etched in
my mind as the most ridiculous is last
week’s Fall River Valley Community
Services District meeting.
It was a blatant and purposeful
violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act.
A few months ago that board wanted to
have a special meeting but couldn’t
field a quorum. Smith, who was going to
be out of town had volunteered to make
himself available by phone. The board
and General Manager John Van den Bergh
agreed. After checking with Attorney Jim
Ewert, I advised Van den Bergh it was
illegal to do that.
The CSD has a history of violating the
Brown Act and shrugging it off.
Partially because of that, and
preferring to have districts know what
they are doing so Mountain Echo didn’t
have to be the bad guy and make them
look bad, we sponsored a seminar by
California Newspaper Publisher’s
Association’s Legal Counsel Jim Ewert, a
premier authority of the Brown Act. That
was less than a year ago. We
specifically invited all of the board
members and the general manager of the
CSD – none bothered to show up.
The Chairman, Quincy Hatch, who is also
a volunteer battalion chief with the
fire department knew about the upcoming
meeting and knew about an upcoming
“Practice burn” that conflicted with it
at least two weeks in advance. He could
have done something to change one or the
other so he could attend both. Instead
he decided that it was more important
for him to be at the fire than at the
board meeting.
We end up with the August meeting which
was conducted in a less than
professional manner. Those present used
a cell phone, illegally, to connect
Smith to the board meeting. The cell
phone ended up “L” shaped and propped in
an empty drinking glass in front of
Jensen with her leaning forward every
once in awhile to ask if he heard them.
These folks are on a course of self
destruction. On the surface they started
out trying to save a nearly bankrupt
district that has deteriorating
infrastructure so they can continue to
follow their charter and provide water
and sewer service to
their customers. Instead they are trying
to expand, promising services they can’t
possibly provide to an area they can’t
possibly handle without the money to do
what currently needs to be done.
They have an agenda and they don’t care
about the laws that dictate what they
can and can’t do. That is not good.
Violating the Brown Act is just one sign
of their arrogance and people need to
bring it to a screeching halt.
It is time to preserve the Fall River
Valley Community Services District,
upgrade its equipment, its
infrastructure, build its bank account,
comply with all of the laws, provide all
of the services that are currently
within the district’s power and put the
district back on a solid footing before
trying to fulfill someone’s pipe dreams.
Curing and correcting their blatant
violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act
before they have to go to court would be
an intelligent start. There are two ways
to do things - the right way and the
wrong way. It makes a lot more
sense to do things the right way,
especially when it doesn’t take any more
real effort.
Comment
Thank
You
Editor: First off, we would like to say
“Wow.” What an outpouring of love and
support we have received from these
communities
whether in the form of cards, flowers,
food, hugs, a quick smile, a shoulder to
cry on or an ear for listening.” Thank
you.
We are so very proud to be a part of it
all, not only in the weeks since Bill’s
passing, but also throughout the five
years
of his declining health.
Thank you for the thoughts, prayers,
offers to help and the help.
It’s been said that you can tell how
well a person was thought of by the
number of people attending their
funeral. We’ve
always known what a wonderful man Bill
was, but it was so great to have it
affirmed by the masses.
The words, “Thank you” aren’t enough to
express our gratitude to these
communities in our time of need.
We are truly humbled by your endless
support.
Thank you,
Liz Crum, Donald Flyn and child, Cathy
and Richard Turner and children, Donna
Crum and child, Sam and Ellen Crum and
child,
Alice Linler and child, Jody and Beau
Brown and child
Editorial
From the Internet - Obituary printed in
the London Times.
When you read this you will see how
stupid the human race has become. Most
of it is oh so true.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved
old friend, Common Sense, who has been
with us for many years. No one knows for
sure how old he was, since his birth
records were long ago lost in
bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having
cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the
rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound
financial policies (don’t spend more
than you can earn) and reliable
strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge). His health began to deteriorate
rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in
place.
Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with
sexual harassment for kissing a
classmate; teens suspended from school
for using mouthwash after lunch; and a
teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly
student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents
attacked teachers for doing the job that
they themselves had failed to do in
disciplining their unruly children. It
declined even further when schools were
required to get parental consent to
administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a
student; but could not inform parents
when a student became pregnant and
wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as
the churches became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than
their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you
couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar
in your own home and the burglar could
sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to
live, after a woman failed to realize
that a steaming cup of coffee was hot.
She spilled a little in her lap, and was
promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by
his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter,
Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so
few realized he was gone.
Comment
Thank
You
Editor: We would like to thank the
people of the Inter Mountain Area for
their support.
We want to express our humble gratitude
for your continued support during our
annual BBQ Fundraiser. You always
support us with your presence and your
cordial attitude.
It is a great privilege to serve you on
the chow line and the fire line.
God Bless and Thank You
Everyone with the Soldier Mountain
Volunteer Fire Company #13
Thank
you folks
Editor: I don’t know who was in charge
of all the work that was done on
Christmas Tree Lane.
But I saw a lot of people working there.
You did a great job. Everything is just
beautiful, especially that big rock that
is spraying the water, and all the
flowers surrounding our beautiful flag.
Thank you again,
Elizabeth Luck
Editorial
I have to admit that I’m really
frustrated.
In my 30+ years with Mountain Echo I’ve
been a part of the News industry’s
growth and watched the growth of related
industries that we rely on.
I spent years in the dark room
developing film, squinting as I tried to
bring them to sharp focus, I spent years
waxing, cutting and pasting the long
strips of “copy” onto newspaper
grid sheets and burnishing the page with
a wooden spoon so it would stay.
I spent years driving the finished
product to the press - at that time the
Red Bluff Daily News, 80+ miles away so
the paper could be printed.
Now I develop the photos in
Photoshop, type my stories in
Word, run spell check, do my graphics in
Illustrator, put it all together in
Indesign, PDF it in Adobe and send it to
the Press (Record Searchlight) over the
Internet.
If I need research I have the Internet.
If someone has a picture, article or
press release the e-mail is a major
option.
That’s not to mention the variety of
programs I have to use to do our online
version as well as breaking news on
mountainecho.com. Again, I rely on the
Internet for timeliness.
The problem is that we don’t have
reliable internet service.
Unfortunately there is a major weakness
in the system. If we were in the big
city we’d have access to AT&T or a
half-dozen other reliable internet
services. We don’t have that here. We
have Frontier Communications.
I was told and promised I’d have good
access to DSL at home even though it was
short of what they considered optimal
distance to their fiberoptics.
I was told I’d have excellent service at
my office, supposedly a few feet from
fiberoptics.
Then a few months ago I started having
problems.
The Frontier rep comes by the office
when I’m not there, says its our
internal network that’s the problem and
we are too far away from the fiberoptics
at home. He never came back, nor does it
matter that I know of a whole lot of
folks that have similar problems from
the Lassen County Line to the West end
of Burney.
I call up Frontier Tech Support and a
rep tells me there was a problem with
their servers, but it would be fixed as
quickly as possible. That was a few
months ago and it still isn’t fixed.
Comment
Guest
Opinion
State Senator Doug LaMalfa
Billionaire Warren Buffett has been
showered with a good deal of media ink
this past week for his insistence that
the ultra-wealthy are not paying enough
in taxes. He wants tax rates raised on
those who are doing very, very well. His
comments are sweet music to the ears of
many who are eager to justify the
confiscation of more of our citizens’
income.
If Mr. Buffett and others like him are
convinced that they should be paying
more to the state or federal government,
there is nothing stopping them.
Although Mr. Buffett stressed that his
income tax burden amounted to only 17.4
percent of his income when all was said
and done, he failed to note that much of
his income was originally taxed at a
corporate rate of 35%. The income he
lives on is primarily derived from
dividends and capital gains on those
investments, which is taxed at 15%,
resulting in a cumulative tax rate of
about 45%. Mr. Buffett also fails to
mention that the bulk of his fortune has
been transferred to a foundation where
it is sheltered from federal taxes. This
is a move he has chosen to make based
upon his belief that those foundations
“…will do a better job with lower
administrative costs and better
selection of beneficiaries than the
government.” Nevertheless, Mr. Buffett’s
comments are fanning the flames of
opportunity in the minds of those who
support raising taxes further on the
“rich.”
Even State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
acknowledged just last month that
California’s top personal tax rate is
about as high as it can go before the
rich leave California and take their
money with them. There is evidence that
an exodus of sorts is already underway.
It seems not a week goes by that I don’t
receive a letter or e-mail from a
business owner who says he or she is
being forced to leave their home state
where they’ve gone to school, built a
home, raised a family and tried to make
a go of it only to be taxed and
regulated to the point of discouragement
or defeat.
Some just close up shop, but many
business owners have either left or have
plans to leave California and put down
stakes elsewhere. I have never heard
from a business owner who said that he
or she was leaving California because
taxes are too low and our business
climate is overly hospitable.
On the other hand, I do get an
occasional letter from a constituent who
has been financially blessed and
sincerely believes he or she should be
paying more in taxes, and I certainly do
not want to discourage their
benevolence.
So, I am grateful that this week my
Senate Bill X1 3 passed the Senate
Appropriations Committee and will soon
be heard before the full Senate. The
bill will establish the “Help Our State
Act,” and place a line item on our state
tax forms to allow taxpayers to
contribute additional taxes of any
amount to the state.
Like Mr. Buffett, there are some who
think they should be paying more, and
they want to be a part of the solution
to our state’s fiscal problems. SB X1 3
creates no additional tax burden but
provides a straightforward and practical
means of allowing all who are inclined
to make a donation in any amount to fund
our state and its programs. SB X1 3 is a
simple, commonsense solution, and I am
pleased to have the opportunity to make
this option available.
And, if Mr. Buffett decides to move to
California, the state will be happy to
accept a gift in any amount he deems
appropriate.
Comment
Thank
You
Editor: We would like to thank the
people of the Inter Mountain Area for
their support.
We want to express our humble gratitude
for your continued support during our
annual BBQ Fundraiser. You always
support us with your presence and your
cordial attitude.
It is a great privilege to serve you on
the chow line and the fire line.
God Bless and Thank You
Everyone with the Soldier Mountain
Volunteer Fire Company #13
Thank
you folks
Editor: I don’t know who was in charge
of all the work that was done on
Christmas Tree Lane. But I saw a lot of
people working there. You did a great
job. Everything is just beautiful,
especially that big rock that is
spraying the water, and all the flowers
surrounding our beautiful flag.
Thank you again,
Elizabeth Luck
Editorial
It has become obvious that what the Fall
River Mills Community Services District
board of directors needs to do is spend
another couple of hundred dollars with
either the Shasta County Council’s
office or another attorney qualified to
give them an opinion about exactly what
laws the CSD has to follow in trying to
obtain their sphere of influence.
The CSD is telling the agency in charge
of setting the boundaries that its
experienced staff doesn’t know the
law and the CSD is going to do it its
way.
I personally wouldn’t want to hire a
lawyer to oversee the repairs on the
water or sewer system. I think it would
be much more logical to get a lawyers
opinion on the law, especially since
their position is being challenged by
the experts.
The CSD might just have a lot less egg
on their face when its all over.
Comment
Thank
You
We would like to thank Dr. Wilkins, and
the Long Term Care Staff at Mayers
Memorial Hospital, for the wonderful
care they gave to Jean Bowman during her
Long Term stay.
Kathy Ontano and the Family
Editorial
It would be nice to have a more
autonomous stronger form of government
in Eastern Shasta County but what the
Fall River CSD is trying to do is
wrong. Even if it was right, the
Fall River CSD is not the entity that
should do it.
I’ll be the first to admit that I, and
just about everyone I know, is fed up
with Shasta County government’s
treatment of the Intermountain Area.
That is a problem that has been
festering for some time and primarily
reached the boiling point with the
low-income high-density housing move
which has the potential to turn the area
into the county’s dumping ground for
those they don’t want in the first
place.
That being said, ill conceived plans
amount to no more than a power grab by a
few individuals who head a district that
does not have the finances,
experience or track record to handle it.
In the past 20+ years they have
not shown that they have the ability to
run their own district in a consistent,
professional manner, not to mention a
larger area and more responsibility.
The concept of the Fall River Valley
Community Services District taking over
much of the Intermountain Area is not
only infeasible, it is unwise, unneeded,
and doomed to failure. I contacted a
number of the districts within their
proposed planning area and they all
recognized the CSD’s shortcomings and
didn’t want to be a part of it. For the
most part the people I talk with are of
the same mind. Yes, they want more
representation and say in their destiny,
but jumping off a cliff isn’t the way to
get it.
The Fall River Valley CSD should be
concentrating on weed control at their
sewer pond property instead of trying to
tell other districts they would contract
to do weed control for them.
The CSD should concentrate on getting
their financial house in real order
rather than spending money on LAFCO
reports that the agency has said weren’t
what they wanted, running around the
countryside trying to sell their plan,
buying land and planning a building on
the hope they can get grants and raise
enough money to pay the loan back,
asking to buy new chairs for the board
room and computer programs to replace
perfectly good ones already in use.
If they can’t afford a second part-time
office person, how are they going to
take over other district’s office work
being promised.
Even if telling Shasta LAFCO, the County
of Shasta and the State of California to
shove it, is a good idea, which it
isn’t, they can’t win.
LAFCO has the mandate and power and will
eventually follow their charter and the
laws under which they operate. They will
disallow the work and decisions made by
the CSD and do their own. Since their
word is law, the CSD will either accept
it or file a lawsuit. The CSD doesn’t
have enough money to take on a LAFCO
agency in court and even if they did,
the LAFCO lawyer would walk in, drop the
law on the judge and get it thrown out
of court.
I don’t mind people batting their heads
against a brick wall (been there – done
that) or spending their money on a
dream that isn’t going to work, that’s
their business, but when they use money
paid for by Fall River Valley Community
Services District customers and their
tax dollars, I do object.
Unprofessional
Dear Bill and Walt: Here is the
situation. Apparently the Shasta LAFCO
executive officer, in submitting her
response to the District’s CEQA Notice
of Intent to Adopt a Negative
Declaration for the Fall River Mills
CSD’s SOI resolution of application,
took the unusual and uncommon action of
also sending her preliminary comments to
the Intermountain News and the Mountain
Echo newspapers.
This is an uncommon move for a reviewing
agency (as LAFCO is in this process, or
as the County Planning office is for
development projects) who receives the
notice requesting a preliminary
evaluation in order to provide the
sponsoring agency (the district) with
comments on the project, and to see
especially if there are any
environmental issues the sponsoring
agency might have missed the first time
around.
After the sponsoring agency reviews all
the written responses (we sent out 53
notices and received four back), both
the responses and agency’s comments on
those responses will become part of the
public record when the proposal is
placed on the agenda (8/24 at 6:30 PM)
along with a staff report before the
board reviewing the project. The
sponsoring agency (CSD) must comment on
and address any CEQA questions raised at
least 10 days before the matter is
heard.
I hope this doesn’t sound too
complicated, but it is important. An
individual may be free to submit their
personal comments to the newspaper as a
letter to the editor. But I have never
heard of a reviewing public agency’s
professional staff (Shasta LAFCO)
complicating the review of the proposal
by sending their preliminary responses
to local newspapers at the same time
they send those comments to the
sponsoring agency, before even receiving
or reading the sponsoring agency’s (CSD)
comments on the issues they raised.
I believe Shasta LAFCO has acted in an
inappropriate and unprofessional way.
The CSD will continue to stand up for
the rights of the people of this valley
and will not be intimidated.
John Van den Bergh
General Manager
Fall River Valley CSD
Editor’s
note: Speaking for Mountain Echo, Mr.
Van den Bergh is wrong. Ms. Mickelson
did not arbitrarily send the letter in
question (See August 16 issue of
Mountain Echo) nor volunteer to give
it to me.
I
contacted the Executive Director of
Shasta LAFCO in my capacity as a
reporter, trying to get information
for a story on the LAFCO process and
how it affects the Fall River Mills
CSD. In the course of that interview
the subject of correspondence between
the two entities came up and I learned
that a letter had been sent to the
district.
Since
there had been no mention of any
letters from LAFCO at the district’s
board meetings, I asked for a copy of
it. As correspondence regarding a
public matter between two governmental
agencies it was subject to the Public
Records Act. I asked for a copy of
that letter.
She is
a professional. She knows the law. She
provided it.
Thank You
Our family would like to offer sincere
and heartfelt thanks and appreciation to
all who offered aid, encouragement, and
hope to my brother, Jerry Joiner, during
his fight to overcome his illness.
It was a long and courageous fight and
he could not have done it without the
help of his brotherhood at the VFW and
American Legion posts and his many
friends and family.
Special thanks to Herb and Colleen
Schmidt, Dave Gilmore, Ron Harshman, Jim
Arveson, George and Twila Halter, Bill
Baldwin, Jeff and Julie McGram, Moe and
Sally, Joe Harvey, Barry and Sharon
Humphreys, Jeannine and Jake, Teresa
Tompkins, Marcus Murray, Cathie, Stretch
and Randy O’Neill, and all of you
who called and visited, both at home and
in the hospital.
J.J. was ever-present at the Vet’s Hall
last Saturday and there was a lot of
love in that room. Thank you to
all who came to offer respect, love and
comfort to the family. Special
appreciation to our cousins, Dave and
Skip from Lewiston, Idaho, and J.J.’s
life-long friends, Mike Corella, Bill
Jones (from Reno), Sonny Hoyer, Bob
Buick. Special appreciation to 1st
Sgt. Arnie (Caldwell) Cobos who came in
uniform from Fort Bragg, North Carolina,
and so many others. You know who
you are.
That sense of community spirit and
support are what Johnny and I have
missed so much since we moved away.
Royce Brazo
Editorial
The more I look at what has been
happening behind the scenes at the Fall
River Valley Community Services District
the more questions I have and the more
alarmed I become.
John Van den Bergh’s response to
the LAFCO letter specifically indicates
the district has spent money belonging
to the district to study what the people
of the entire valley may want and need.
Admirable on the surface, but did anyone
ask the voters or the water and sewer
users if they wanted to forgo needed
repairs and equipment needs to fulfill a
few people’s dream of the CSD becoming
the governing body of the Fall River
Valley?
There was no indication in the board
minutes that the documents sent to LAFCO
were supposed to be internal planning
documents. The board minutes reflect
that they agreed to pay over $9,000 to
Jan Lopez so they could have these
reports for LAFCO. The minutes
specifically mention the Municipal
Services Review and Sphere of Influence
Study LAFCO needed.
Now acting Board Chair Qunicy Hatch says
the board had hired Lopez to develop her
documents as internal documents that
they could furnish to LAFCO so the
agency would understand what the CSD did
and prepare the documents they were
supposed to prepare.
If I’m to believe Quincy’s version, I
would have to believe that the board
okayed $9,000+ to develop internal
documents when just a few months before
they had something like $400 in the
checking account and were teetering on
the verge of bankruptcy.
I was on the board at the Burney Fire
District when they cleaned up their
boundaries. It was a lengthy pain in the
butt, but we didn’t land up in a boxing
match with LAFCO. Additionally a number
of boards have been asked for updates
and completed them quickly in house, not
twiddled their thumbs for 10 years.
The scathing letter sent to the board by
the Executive Director of Shasta LAFCO,
brings up a number of questions such as
why hasn’t the CSD finished a report
that has been due for over 10 years and
every other district in the area has
completed without any difficulty or
major expense and why did they go to the
expense of having a document prepared
that wasn’t necessary unless it was to
do exactly what Hatch suggests, try to
expand their power base?
Regarding this letter. Why didn’t the
board receive and discuss the LAFCO
letter in an open session of the board
meeting. In reality the board didn’t
publicly acknowledge receiving the
letter and didn’t publicly respond to it
until they found out I had a copy.
If a letter from the executive Director
of a state mandated agency with some
authority over the district isn’t
important board business, I’d like to
know what is. If the public didn’t have
a right to know, I’d like to know why
not.
It may be all right for the district to
negotiate the purchase of real estate
in closed session, it isn’t all
right to hide or gloss over letters from
other agencies because they don’t make
them look good.
What gives the board the right to bless
their manager’s efforts to extend their
services beyond the district’s
boundaries and the manager the right to
waste the district’s money by expending
his time outside of the district
irritating and wasting the time of other
special district boards trying to tell
them the CSD wants to provide weed
abatement and snow removal, etc.
For a district that has been crying for
years about poor pipe, poor meters,
broken lift stations, an ill-advised
well that has major sand problems, to
spend money on someone’s pipe dream -
one that isn’t well received in the
entire community, it strikes me that the
grand jury ought to look into the way
the district spends money.
Open Letter
Governor J. Brown, California
Legislators, California Department of
Forestry and any others who may be
concerned:
I have been studying a recent article in
the Mountain Echo reporting new
legislation which allows you to assess a
fee of $150 per structure on property in
a certain area, for something called
“prevention,” (of fires?). The entire
“intent” of this assessment is lost on
me. The manner of implementation has me
raging.
Traveling west on Hwy. 299 from Fall
River Mills there is a beautiful new
dwelling on a secluded wooded hilltop.
It is certainly a credit to the
community. Continuing west, there are
umpteen similar dwellings. Some have
attached garages. Most of them have a
fair market value in the range of $1
million.
Going east on Highway 299, you have a
different scene. There are small
acreages, with numerous outbuildings.
These are occupied by retirees or
families with children who are involved
in FFA and 4-H projects. These require
out-buildings. Many of these properties
are “below” the $500,000 range.
The million parcels will be assessed
$150 - $300.
The modest 2-bedroom home with perhaps
six “structures” (you mentioned barns,
storage sheds, etc.) valley at $300,000
will be assessed a whopping $900. This
means that those families whose property
values are 1/3 the amount of another’s
will be assessed almost 3-9 times more
and if you figure that a neighbor’s
property had a fair market value of a
million dollars with six “structures”,
the neighbor would still only be paying
$900. There is a serious mathematical
inequality in this legislation and/or
its implementation.
Do you realize that families with
children are paying $5 for a loaf of
bread and that a normal family may
consume one loaf of bread daily? That
equals $1,500 per year. I don’t think a
mother should have to make her kids cut
down on bread to pay more than their
fair share of some ill-concieved
assessment “scheme.”
Jane Pratt
Fall River Mills
Comment
Water
Editor: Water is one resource that all
of us cannot do without. Luckily, in
this valley,. We are blessed with an
abundance of it. But think about this
when making decisions about it. Do we
really want all of it put in one basket?
Do we really want all the water in the
Intermountain andeoutlying areas
controlled by one entity? As for rumors,
the CSD should look at their own basket
first.
Harold Bassett
Thank
You
Editor: On behalf of the Cassel
Volunteer Fire Co. Auxiliary, I would
like to thank Ron Mosher for his
excellent article on the visit of the
Bike and Build cyclists to our area.
This is a tremendous group of young
people who are making significant
contributions to our country, and Ron
did a great job of capturing their
spirit.
Thank you...
Michael Kerns
Editorial
It took awhile but I finally figured out
that the letter from the board attacking
me wasn’t because of my reporting, but
because I dared publish my opinion.
Shoot, the story on page one of last
week’s issue didn’t cover the public
hearing because there was really nothing
to report other than it took an hour or
better to conduct what should have taken
10 minutes. For that reason I
concentrated on the results of their
closed session which were furnished to
me by their manager.
The items they were complaining about
came off the opinion page and I think I
have rebutted their rebuttal
sufficiently with my editor’s comment so
I won’t bore anyone with a repeat.
I thought about rebutting the personal
attack but then decided that these folks
don’t live in the real world. With the
exception of newspapers in small towns,
which have been exempted by the
Society of Professional Journalists, it
is frowned on to cover stories on
government entities where the reporter
has experience with or people he or she
knows on the boards, or in management,
and the same thing goes for editorial
writers.
Additionally both the California
Newspaper Publisher’s Association and
the National Newspaper Publisher’s
Association have annual contests
involving the use of the Freedom of
Information Act, the sunshine act (in
California it is the Ralph M. Brown Act)
and investigative reporting.
There are numerous highly coveted
journalism awards given out for pointing
out what is wrong with a government
entity or what they are doing.
I earned one in investigative reporting
from the CNPA. I wasn’t out to win it
when I did, nor do I go in to any story
gleefully trying to find something
wrong.
I don’t have to - if it is there it is
generally quite obvious or becomes quite
obvious. I simply do my job to the best
of my ability and let the chips fall
where they may.
Regarding my opinion about what’s going
on, I listened to Barbara Brigg’s
presentation on why they wanted to
include Day Road, Glenburn, Dana,
Pittville, Little Valley and either
portions of or the entire Cassel area
which they didn’t specifically define.
Google Maps shows the area they have
defined as a sphere of influence as
roughly 17.5 miles to Dana, 24.5 miles
to Little Valley, 17.5 miles to Day, and
if they are actually talking about
downtown Cassel 13 miles.
That’s an ambitious amount of territory.
Anyone who has been around the area more
than a couple of days understands that
each of the communities, in this case
Fall River Mills, Glenburn, Dana,
McArthur, Cassel, Day, Pittville and
Little Valley have their own unique
history, personalities,
idiosyncrasies, special districts and
problems. The area involves three
counties, each as different as
night and day.
The concept, if I understood Briggs
right is to carefully consider taking on
a wide spectrum of possible services,
not because they are qualified or
understand the ins and outs, but because
they can.
They have one part-time secretary, a
general manager, a field supervisor
versed in water and sewer, and a field
man, all of whom are currently kept
pretty busy.
I don’t see where the people of the
district, which is who they are supposed
to represent, are going to gain anything
from the plan.
Nor, do I see that there is any
guarantee that any of the other areas
will either.
The Fall River CSD has an extremely poor
history of management at Supervisorial
and board level over the past 20
years.
Briggs herself admitted in her “I quit”
letter that the district still has
financial problems which isn’t anything
new.
Yes, in the past couple of years, with
the current board, the district has made
great strides. In that period of time it
has also fired one manager for cause,
gone without a manager, hired and blew
out another manager and has a fairly new
manager at this time. What guarantee
does anyone have that the district is
stable enough to handle additional
territory, functions or whatever? What
will happen as people, money and
circumstances change?
To top it off, instead of analyzing the
editorial remarks or attempting to find
out where I’m coming from, they blow up,
one quits something, and the rest throw
out a bunch of cheap shots.
I may be somewhat abrasive, but my gut
generally doesn’t lead me too far
astray.
When I am wrong and I’m shown that I’m
wrong, I have a history of being man
enough to apologize publicly, correct
the situation and move on.
Comment
Clarifications
Editor: Walt Caldwell has the right
to his opinions, he does not have
the right to fabricate facts. A real
journalist would verify the facts.
It seems that this man from Burney
is more interested in creating a
division in the Fall River Valley,
than to inform the public.
Last week’s editorial was another
low point for the Mountain Echo.
The amnesty annexation of the Fall
River Valley CSD will not cost the
current rate payers anything.
Here are the facts: LAFCO fees
are PER APPLICATION, and are not
based on the size of the
annexation. Therefore an
annexation of 3000 acres costs the
same as an annexation of 2000 acres.
CSD costs do not go up by filling
out a LAFCO form listing more
properties in the annexation.
Since fees of annexations are paid
to LAFCO, and require CSD staff
time, combining annexations is more
efficient, at no detriment to the
rest of the rate payers.
So Mr. Caldwell has the facts wrong,
but what is more insidious is the
fact that he creates division within
the community. Instead of
creating a sense of community, like
Valerie Lakey, Walt fosters a “me
against them” attitude.
Residents of this valley have been
disrespected too long by those in
power. The CSD is trying to give the
whole valley a voice by creating the
Municipal Advisory Committee. A
united voice is stronger that
individual voices, which the county
merely sees as necessary
annoyances. The CSD is trying
to give this valley the tool for
more effective self governance.
All this is accomplished by a
volunteer board who, combined,
spends 40 to 80 hours per week on
CSD issues. All because they
sincerely care about our
community. There are no
conspiracies, no hidden agendas and
no closed doors.
If you don’t like what the CSD does,
come to our board meetings (second
Wednesday of every month at 6 PM),
or go to our web site (frmcsd.com)
and read the agenda, minutes and
staff reports, or call us or the
general manager at 366-5263. We are
genuinely interested in your
opinions and questions. Don’t
just stew in your own thoughts, like
Mr. Caldwell, but have an open and
honest discussion about the issues.
Fall River valley CSD Board,
Barbara Briggs
Quincy Hatch
Sandy Jensen
Sharon Hanson
Editor’s note: The Fall River Mills
Community Services District’s board
says I’m all wet when it comes to
the district paying the annexation
fees and taxes. The manager wrote
the article which was published
unedited in last week’s paper and
which says they were going to waive
the $3,450 per lot, plus county and
state fees of about $2,000 to
$5,000. I apparently should not have
used those fees as being what the
district would have to pay. I’ll bow
to that, even though the manager,
the expert in the matter, did not
make it clear that the cost to the
district would be left. Instead he
left an impression that the district
would pay those fees. However,
my premise is still correct.
Even if it costs less, it still
costs something. That money has to
come from someplace and the only
logical place is the district’s
general funds which came from the
customers.
I did notice that they did not, in
the above letter, address the fact
that it was stated in the meeting
and again in his column, that the
people annexing into the district
would not see an increase in
property tax. My interpretation, and
as far as I can see, the only
reasonable interpretation, is that
the district won’t charge them
property tax. That means, if I
understand it correctly, that those
who are already in the district will
continue to pay their share of the
property taxes to help support the
district and those being annexed
will get a free ride (tax wise).
No, what the “amnesty annexation
will do is cost the district some
money and create an inequity between
existing residents of the district
and those being annexed in under the
plan.
And on the overall plan to include
parts of Lassen and Modoc County, as
well as parts of Cassel, Glenburn,
Dana, Pittville and Little Valley
into the sphere of influence, it is
my personal opinion that it is
simply empire building and stands
more of a chance of creating
problems rather than solving them.
My door is open and if the manager
or member of the board wishes to
drop by and give me proof that I’m
wrong I’ll be more than happy to
print their reasoning and I’ll
apologize and run a correction if
I’m wrong, as has always been my
policy.
The board’s selective memory also
failed to recognize the fact that it
was my coverage that helped spark
the uproar about the High
Density-Low income County Plan (The
County thought that one was fairly
divisive), and the coverage we have
given the Municipal Advisory
Commission, again thought to be
fairly divisive by the County. Both
supported the position of the CSD.
I’ll stand by my stories and
opinion pieces, both pro and con
until such time as they can show me
where I’m wrong at which point I
will either clarify my error as I
did on the amounts in this article
or I’ll admit I was wrong and make a
correction.
Comment
I Quit
Walt, please print without any
alterations
Barbara
Letter to Editor
August 5, 2011
It is said that no good deed goes
unpunished. And it has been my
experience, sitting on the Board of
the FRCSD, that punishment, mostly
from the local press, is a major
part of this position.
I was appointed to this Board in
December of ‘07, when the CSD was in
a death spiral, down to less than
$400 dollars in the bank, bouncing
checks, existing from week to week.
The system and infrastructure was in
dire need of maintenance and repair.
Back then we didn’t read a thing
about a shortage of funds,
violations of the Brown Act,
failures to comply with Grand Jury
recommendations, lax accounting
standards, abuses of District credit
cards or embezzlement.
We didn’t hear anything about audit
findings, because the District, in
violation of the law, hadn’t had an
audit for years.
We didn’t hear about these things
because the Fourth Estate was
sleeping at the wheel less than a
hundred feet from the most corrupt
operation in the Fall River Valley.
However, since 2007 we have turned
this District around. To regain
solvency, we had to cut expenses,
control costs, trim the expensive
health insurance program and have
the employees contribute a portion
of their own retirement. We
rebuilt a Policies and Procedures
Manual from scratch, because like
many other important
documents, it was missing.
We have retreated from the brink of
insolvency, began to rebuild our
bank accounts and reserves and been
able to look forward to growth and
projects that will make our
community a better place to
live. Things like a Parks and
Recreation Dept., expansion of
services and development of the
Stewardship Lands.
However, since being on the Board,
we have been subjected to whining,
sniveling, carping, rumor mongering
by people who can’t even be bothered
to get up off of their dead butts
and attend a meeting. We
are criticized for trying to grow.
When we see articles in the paper
they bear no resemblance to what has
been said in meetings have spent
countless hours at meetings,
reviewing legal documents and
budgets that are always too short to
cover expenses. Countless
hours of my own personal time and
taking time away from my business
with no compensation, no pay, not
any benefit to myself.
Yet the whining and the carping and
the rumors go on and on and on and
on.
Life is too short and my time
too precious to continue to beat my
head against the wall and fight not
only the rumors and innuendo that
float around but also the press.
Frankly...I have had it. If
those of you, and you know who you
are, think you can do a better job
and keep this District from
bankruptcy and system
failure......be my guest. It
will require you do something
besides sit and criticize and listen
to rumors. It might require
you to get up and actually do
something.
I quit.
Barbara Briggs
Editor’s note: Mrs. Briggs
apparently only remembers that the
district has been in the paper when
their ox is gored.
You know that’s too bad because she
doesn’t remember that In the past
several years my coverage brought
about the resignation of a manager
that had run the district into the
ground and the board did nothing
publicly to get rid of him.
In the past I supported Briggs and
then Briggs and Jensen when the
other three members stonewalled
them. I may be giving myself too
much credit, but I’m pretty sure
that it was the public pressure
brought on at least in good part by
Mountain Echo that caused the other
three to resign. It was Mountain
Echo’s reporting that supported the
board’s decision to obey the law and
get a long-overdue outside audit.
That audit pointed out numerous
items which the manager poo-pooed
but which gave the board the
ammunition and support to get things
done.
Those people are good people and two
fine citizens stepped forward, again
partially because of my coverage,
and helped get it through a critical
time. But Mrs. Briggs doesn’t
remember that. I’m sure she
remembers the manager they hired
that stood up to her, the one who
was so far above and beyond anything
they had since the 80’s, the one who
finally threw up his hands and quit.
I supported him and for that matter
I support most of Mr. Van den Berghs
efforts. There is also the
Community Advisory Board, I was
fairly skeptical, but it appears to
be starting off well and serving a
good purpose. Readers didn’t see my
skepticism, because I kept it to
myself .
I agree with Mrs. Briggs frustration
that more people don’t attend
meetings, but I’ve covered meetings
for 30 plus years and it ain’t gonna
happen. People attend meetings when
their personal interests are
immediately at stake or once in
awhile when the press makes enough
fuss that their curiosity is peaked.
She should realize that the chairs
aren’t comfortable, that by
the very nature of meetings the
audience is primarily talked at or
the meetings ramble like the CSD’s
public hearing. Additionally
meetings, unless the chairperson
knows how to run it goes on forever.
It takes a person with a thick skin
and a strong desire to do something
or get something done to be a good
board member.
A review of past issues of Mountain
Echo will demonstrate that over the
years I have given Mrs. Briggs, Mrs.
Jensen and board member Quincy
Hatch, extremely good press on
a variety of issues both in the
context of the CSD and because they
have been active in a number of
areas. Just because I disagree with
them on the current issues, doesn’t
mean I’ve been ignoring them all
these years.
As far as verification, I will be
happy to let folks listen to the
tapes I have saved and go though the
back issues and read the back issues
of the paper for themselves.
Comment
Thank
You
Editor: I wish to thank 9-1-1 and
law enforcement personnel who were
involved in the arrest of a person
who ruined my day on July 27.
Thank you
Dale Mollenhauer
Little Valley
Editorial
The Fall River Valley Community Services
District is moving forward on a plan to
clean up its boundaries by giving
“Amnesty” annexations to the properties
it is servicing outside the district.
In addition, it is offering other
property owners outside the district the
same deal - see article on Annexations
A-6.
The board and management have announced
that they will waive the $3,450 per lot
fee and pay the $2,000 to $5,000 fees
charged by Lafco and other agencies for
each property.
What’s wrong with that picture? First,
the $3,450 they represents costs
involved in getting the property annexed
or costs anticipated in adding the
burden of another user to the system.
Second, the $2 - $5,000 in fees are
real, up-front, expenses the district
plans to absorb.Third, they admitted in
a meeting, and in the article,
that those folks won’t have to pay any
property tax to the district in the
future.
It is a sweet deal if you are one of
those being annexed, but what about the
poor sucker who is already in the
district, already paying taxes.Does that
mean that person will get all the free
bees?
No - they get to pay for them and to add
insult to injury, they’ll continue to
pay their
taxes while the other folks get away
without paying. The district has a lot
of grandiose plans and dreams, a office,
community center, park, the
stewardship grant, taking half the world
into their sphere of influence, and some
of it even has government promises of
money attached.
This one doesn’t - unless it is the
current customers’, and that is just
plain wrong.
Comment
Appreciate
good news
Editor: Your issue of July 12th’s front
page with the story and picture of the
farmer
saving the fawns made my whole year. It
was nice to know there are still
wonderful, caring people who respect the
creation of our maker. I appreciate
having good news and want those farmers
to know that I would like to thank them.
Chris Mocasgu
You
don’t understand
Editor: Shame, shame on you. You don’t
understand the genius of the government.
I will try to enlighten you.
You take away the visible vestige of the
vertex of elected officialdom, (judges
to those in Rio Linda), and close the
law enforcement offices that make it
rough on those who have no rules to live
by, thereby creating a vacuum to suck
all those living at society’s bottom
rung, better known as sociopaths, to
come here.
This makes it easier on big cities to
fight crime – because all of those who
have a desire to break the law move to
where there seems to be a lack of law
enforcement – that would be here. This
way you have all the bad eggs in one
basket, or rural area.
You then legalize the buying, selling,
growing and smoking of a certain hemp
plant as an added attraction for the
undesirable element. This keeps them
happy and slows down their ability to
outrun the K-9 dogs when someone
recognizes a person with a few warrants
outstanding – like six or eight.
This is pure genius.
Dale Mollenhaur
Comment
To bug
or not to bug
Editor: It would appear that those foul
foggin’ fiends of the forest have gone
too far in contributing to the current
black-scale epidemic now causing the
demise of thousands of pine trees in the
valley. Yep, the local mosquito
abatement terrorist squad needs to be
given a fair trial, then hanged in the
public square for their
transgressions. Don’t try to
confuse me with the facts, my mind’s
made up.
But wait --- other than the giant
sequoias that have been crown-burned
from the uptake of winter road salt, the
pine trees here in town (Fall River) +
those at the golf course + those at the
elementary school + all those in the
surrounding forest seem to be doin’ just
fine. Hmmm? Perhaps we best
keep an eye on those.
Let’s see --- if blackscale out-breaks
can be facilitated by an unusual
spring/summer weather pattern (why does
that seem familiar?), and/or mosquito
fogging (I’ve been fogged so much this
summer I’ve taken up singin’ Mel Torme
songs in the shower!), or lots of
blowing dust (tractor farming, etc.), or
agricultural spraying (particularly
insecticides), then why do these trees
in town look so much healthier than
those out of town? You know ---
out of town, like where they had an
unusual spring/summer weather pattern
(just like us) and fogged for mosquitoes
(just like us) and have blowing dust
from tractor farming (unlike us) and do
agricultural spraying, some insecticide
(unlike us)?
Perhaps I’ve been too rash?
Perhaps those foggin’ fools are in fact
just a couple of good guys tryin’ to do
their job and the fog is not to
blame?
Meanwhile, as for the black-scale, not
to worry --- help is on the way in the
form of
cutting & removal + “insecticide
drenching” + more cutting and removal +
“insecticide injections” (think of it as
a tree enema) + more cutting and removal
+ millions of lady bugs, followed by
more cutting and removal.
I’ve kinda got mixed emotions about the
lady bugs. They sound good (like
what could go wrong with a bug named
Lady?), but do we really know if they’ll
eat the scales and not us?
What if they start breeding the cattle
and produce offspring that looks really
different, but is in fact
unmarketable? Seriously, can any
of us honestly say that we like to eat
tiny little calves that have hard orange
shells and can fly? Certainly not
sober! Hmmm?
Yes, that’s it --- more research.
Besides, not many people know this, but
in the original naming contest for the
Lady Bug, the proposals for Hussy Bug
and Floozy Bug were both staunch
competitors for the title!
Rich Coakley
Comment
Fallen
Rumor Mills
Editor: When I moved here in the late
80’s I was told that there were two bits
of advice I needed to understand. One:
The town should have been named Fallen
Rumor Mills. And two: Bad news and
rumors travel across the valley at light
speed, while facts and accuracy move
slower than a two-headed hitchhiker. And
the recent Comments I’ve heard
about the Fall River CSD’s plans
to annex adjacent service properties and
expand its sphere of influence, as well
as a second movement to form a municipal
advisory council (MAC), hasn’t changed
that advice at all.
I would be remiss if I didn’t reveal
that the level of ignorance,
misinformation and
misrepresentation about what is being
attempted by the CSD and volunteers of
the proposed MAC, rates right up here
with ‘spending yourself into wealth’,
‘taxing yourself out of debt’ and
‘drinking yourself into sobriety’ – my
God man, where do these stories come
from?
In an attempt to connect with those
intellectually challenged by information
deprivation, I will use little bitty
words and type really, really slowly, so
they can follow along.
First, annexing adjacent recipients of
CSD services is being done to come into
compliance with California State law –
period. No mystery here.
Second the expansion of the sphere of
influence of the CSD is to provide an
‘opportunity’ for many existing or
future districts to form, join or expand
services for the benefit of their
customers, without having to take on the
bureaucracies of Shasta County or
Sacramento by themselves. It is a
v-o-l-u-n-t-a-r-y program that no one is
forced to join. We will have tee shirts,
baseball caps and coffee cups printed
for those not used to reading papers or
meeting notices.
Or stated differently, these initiatives
will not cost land owners any more than
they are not paying now, to not have the
services they do not already have. Get
it?
On the other hand, maybe these efforts
should just stop so that those lacking
the
initiative to attend meetings and get
the facts can go right on bitching about
the
government taking away their rights and
shoving laws, regulations and programs
down their throats. That way they can
continue to convey their ignorance to
the uninformed at light speed.
Terry Briggs
Comment
Editorial
I have a couple of things this week.
State Assemblyman Jim Nielsen has
strongly opposed the $150 per
“habitable” structure tax that was
slipped into the budget, he says, in the
dark of night. It was then signed into
law by Governor Brown.
The Assemblyman is now asking for input
in the form of answering a survey about
that fee and the Department of
Motor Vehicles.
The 10 question survey has been posted
on his website and can be accessed at
http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/2/.
The answers you give will give him
ammunition as he works against it.
On a completely different subject...
Have you ever walked barefoot on the
pavement or sidewalks in the summer
time?
I can remember doing that as a kid when
my feet were summer toughened and I’ll
bet that even those of us who are a
touch older can remember the experience.
We didn’t stand around and we tried to
find a cooler path quickly so our feet
didn’t blister. We don’t sit in closed
cars, in the sun, in the summer nor do
we leave our children inside. My
question is - why do some of us take our
dog to the flea market, or tie them up
in front of a store where they are stuck
on hot pavement or concrete? Yeah, their
feet are somewhat tougher than ours, but
not that tough.
Why do some of us leave our pets in
pickup beds in the heat or inside the
vehicle?
Probably because we don’t even think
about it.
I don’t know about you, but I love my
dog and I can’t imagine what I’d do if I
caused her injury or death.
Comment
You don’t
understand
Editor: Shame, shame on you. You
don’t understand the genius of the
government. I will try to enlighten you.
You take away the visible vestige of the
vertex of elected officialdom, (judges
to those in Rio Linda), and close the
law enforcement offices that make it
rough on those who have no rules to live
by, thereby creating a vacuum to suck
all those living at society’s bottom
rung, better known as sociopaths, to
come here.
This makes it easier on big cities to
fight crime – because all of those who
have a desire to break the law move to
where there seems to be a lack of law
enforcement – that would be here. This
way you have all the bad eggs in one
basket, or rural area.
You then legalize the buying, selling,
growing and smoking of a certain hemp
plant as an added attraction for the
undesirable element. This keeps them
happy and slows down their ability to
outrun the K-9 dogs when someone
recognizes a person with a few warrants
outstanding – like six or eight.
This is pure genius.
Dale Mollenhaur
Comment
Thank you
Editor: We wish to express our
thanks for all the prayers, calls and
concern that was shown for Rick Colts.
He is recovering and has returned to his
base for further recovery.
Thank you hardly covers for all that was
done for him by this community.
Our sincere thanks and blessings to all
of you.
Sharon Colts,
Al Colts
And all of our extended family
Thank you
The family of Raymond W. “Doc” Nicholls
would like to thank everyone who
supported us through this difficult
time. We especially want to thank
the staff of Hospice and Cardiac
Rehab, as well as his doctors and the
whole Mayers Memorial Hospital staff.
With your support we were able to keep
him home and comfortable until his
passing.
A celebration of life is being planned
at Shasta Angler at a future date and we
will inform the community as soon as
final arrangements have been made.
Any donations or contributions should be
made to Intermountain Hospice, c/o
Mayers Memorial Hospital, Fall River
Mills.
The family thanks you
Lyn Nicholls,
Matthew and Rebekah Nicholls
Gary and Julie Nicholls
Ryan Nicholls,
Moriah, Ben, Cody, Paidlla, Zac Nicholls
Crystal, Adam and Lucas Mitchell
Thank you
Ryan Nicholls and his family would like
to thank everyone who donated their time
and money to help ensure his dream of
going to Australia with the “People to
People” student ambassador program.
Although there are too many people to
thank individually, a special thanks to
Judith and Gerome Moiso, Betsy and Dave
Skuce, Bob Cockcroft, Art Teeter, George
Durand Dr. Robert and Linda Adams, and
everyone else who donated to our raffle
drawing.
Ryan will share his experience with the
community when he returns.
Good
Democrats
Editor: Giving tax breaks does not add
to the National Debt – spending adds to
the national debt. It seems we have some
democrats in the local area…I love you
guys…well, maybe like… Okay, okay, I
tolerate your lack of logic and your
skill of the “spin.”
Yes, you can tax the rich more, but that
is not going to increase jobs and
improve our economy – besides, the rich
will still be rich – and you will still
be envious.
We are headed down the same road as
Greece, and our president wants to bail
Greece out of their problems. Who is
going to bail the US out?
I must have patience with my highly
educated neighbors who, for all of their
education seem to lack common sense, and
have no logic in their arguments.
We must have a balanced budget to get
our finances under control. Tax and
spend is no different than “Stick your
hands up – this is a robbery!” Yet
we don’t call tax and spend a crime.
I invite my liberal leaning friends to
listen to Rush Limbaugh so they can
stand up straight.
Dale Mollenhaurer
Comment
July 5
Editorial
Our supervisor, Glenn Hawes was quoted
in the Record Searchlight as saying
something to the effect he couldn’t
understand why the people up here were
upset. The county had spent a lot of
money here and cited the airport and the
veterans halls as two examples.
Well, Glenn, maybe it is because you
have no idea what is going on.
Yes, we appreciate the airport, which,
by the way was donated by the Dunbars
years ago, not built by the county as
CAO Lees apparently believes.
Yes, we appreciate the modernization of
the Veterans Halls - They are Veterans
Halls not VFW Halls. While the VFW is a
vital and great organization, The
Burney/Fall River area also has two
posts of the American Legion, two
auxiliaries and a Sons of the Legion
post use the Veterans Halls.
You, nor your partner, Larry Lees, know,
understand or appear to give a damn
about what the citizens of the
Intermountain Area think. Nor do you
want to hear from us.
We seldom see you unless it is for a
glad-hand event such as the ribbon
cutting for the veterans’ hall where, by
the way, the buildings weren’t even
complete when the ribbon was cut.
Additionally you left the folks in the
Fall River Valley wondering why their
hall wasn’t important enough for you to
drive the extra 17 miles and make an
appearance there.
Then there was the Planning Commission
hearing into the windmill project where
you were later quoted in the Searchlight
as having said you felt it would be a
conflict of interest to hear what your
constituents had to say.
Then there was the million dollar
windmill windfall hearings where the
library folks openly say they were
blind-sided by Lees and only limited
public comment was allowed.
Then there was the high density - low
income hearings, again with little input
from the Burney/Fall River Area.
Now there is the issue of your not
recognizing the Municipal Advisory
Council because it might lead to other
communities faced with similar problems
forming similar groups.
You, Lees and your combined arrogance
led to the need for such councils. Stop
griping and start listening.
All we want is a chance to be heard and,
with the exception of the Public Works
Department which believes in open
communication, aren’t.
Thank
You
The family of Eugene W. Speakman would
like to thank everyone that attended his
celebration of life on the 17th of June
in McCloud. I wasn’t able to attend due
to hospitalization, but it was in very
capable hands of friends and family. He
is and will always be sorely missed. But
he got to buy that last drink for all!
He would have been very proud.
Thank you,
Jeanette Speakman and Family
June 26
We’ve been working on our website,
mountainecho.com and we’re happy to say
that we are now regularly carrying daily
updates of news, often moments after it
happens.
That way our readers can check
mountainecho.com at any time day or
night and have a feel for what is
happening.
We are still only putting up portions of
Page One and Sports news from the
current issue.
The readers have the option, which we
hope they’ll take advantage of,
subscribing to the complete internet
edition for $15 a year.
Check us out!
Comment
Thank
You!
Editor: The teachers and staff at Mt.
View High School would like to thank all
the businesses for their support and
donations contributed to our Sober Grad
night. Without all of the
thoughtful and much needed support, our
students would not be able to
participate in a Sober Grad event.
Thank you again to each and everyone.
The faculty and staff
of Mountain View-Soldier Mountain
Thank you
Editor: We would like to thank all the
wonderful volunteers and the wonderful
people who came from three states to
attend the Rex Club Car Show in Burney.
We especially want to thank of the
people from the local towns and three
other counties. Our event would not be
as successful every year without our
local community support and the folks
who help us so much.
Mountain Cruisers Car Club
Ron Conley, President
Editorial
June 14, 2011
I’ve been involved with Economic
Development and the Chambers of Commerce
for a number of years. I have also
watched as the County stifled area
development telling retail stores
who wanted to expand that the town
didn’t need them, and allowing only
development that gave them big dollars,
possibly to our detriment. They told us
tourism was our salvation and stole the
area’s Transient Occupancy Tax so we had
no way to advertise. I went to meetings
at the Redding Tourism and Convention
Center where they asked me if Burney and
Fall River Mills were in Shasta County -
all of which left me with the impression
that nobody there knew or cared
about us. Then I was invited to cover
the filming of a tourism commercial
featuring fly fishing on the Fall River
early Sunday morning. I came away quite
impressed.
Yes, the City of Redding and the County
of Shasta may not care, wanting only to
use and abuse us, but the California
Travel and Tourism Commission, headed by
Caroline Beteta, spent big bucks to film
our area along with other areas in the
state that are great, if not known,
tourist destinations, and plan to give
us world wide coverage on the internet
along with television coverage across
the United States, Canada, England and
Australia.
Thank you Caroline and thank you CTTC.
Editorial
5/31
I had the good fortune to hear
William Shadish, a retired Redding
dentist talk about his experiences
as a POW for 33 months in Korea a
few years ago.
He died last month. Since he spoke
I’ve heard a speech by
another gentleman who was a POW in
the Hanoi Hilton with John
McCain and a Navy Admiral who is
haunted with the memories of
comrads who were lost in Viet Nam.
The point? These folks and
hundreds if not thousands like
them have suffered more than any
human should have to suffer and
yet their suffering is nothing in
comparison to the loved ones of
those who never came back.
Carrying it further, Moore’s
Marauders, the force behind the
“Bring them home,” group that
tracks and advocates for those
missing in action, say that 3,350
are still missing in action from
World War I, 78,750 from World War
II, 8,215 from Korea, 124 from the
Cold War and 2,005 from Viet Nam.
No one knows if they died quickly,
died slowly, or have even died.
Can you imagine their pain or the
pain of the loved ones?
They were just folks like you and
me - like a lot of us, they either
went voluntarily or got called.
Because they got called they went.
A lot of us were fortunate enough
not to have seen action - a lot
weren’t that fortunate. A lot of
those were physically wounded. A
lot suffer horribly because of
what they witnessed or went
through both in theater and when
they came home.
In the overall scheme of things
we, as individuals have no real
say in what our politicians do or
cause to be done. In many cases,
they don’t have a lot of choice.
What we all do have, however, is
the ability to pause for a few
minutes on Memorial Day and
remember how fortunate we are
simply to be home, alive, and the
sacrifice of those who came home
in a box and those who never came
home.
We thank and remember them all.
Letters to the Editor
Thank You
Editor: The family of Gwendolyn
Lojo would like to say thank you
to all of our Mom’s friends and
caregivers in the Burney and
Fall River community for the
love, help and support you gave
her the many years she lived
here.
We appreciate it so very much
and we know our mom did.
With much gratitude,
The Lojo family
Comment
Thank You
Editor: To our friends and
customers, Michelle and I would
like to extend our
appreciation for your
patience with us during her
hospital stay we hope to have
her back answering the
phone soon.
Claude C Morris pump
Comment
Thank You
Editor: thank you everyone for
all the food, flowers, phone
calls and thoughtfulness in my
time of need.
Sarah Pemberton
Comment
Editor: I’m as concerned as
any American over the increasing
national debt. But my concern is
that the national debt went from
less than $1 trillion in 1980 to
over $10 trillion by 2008. It’s
still increasing as we try to pull
ourselves out of the recession.
The House of Representatives has
done nothing to create one job or
to balance the budget. Here are
the facts. They insist on
extending the tax cuts to those
making over $250,000. This ads $70
billion a year to the debt. They
voted to increase defense spending
by $40 billion which adds over
$111 billion to the 2012 budget.
Now they insist on cutting $60
billion to balance the
budget. And what is it they want
to cut. It’s programs that affect
90% of all Americans.
Anyone who can subtract can see
that if you increase the debt by
$111 billion and cut $60 billion
in programs for all of us, they’ve
still increased the deficit by $50
billion. So we lose important
programs that help the poor and
middle class while increasing the
deficit by $50 billion. It doesn’t
make sense.
In addition, when you cut budgets,
you cut jobs. Since 2/3 of the
economy consists of consumer
spending, we’ll have more and more
people out of work with no money
to spend. This would be disastrous
for the economy.
Dewey Pasquini
Unrecognizable
Editor: I too did not think
the county would recognize a
municipal advisory board. Why
recognize an area that is
unrecognizable - not incorporated?
Mammoth Lakes had the same
problems until it became a town
with its own town council, police,
planning department, code
enforcement, etc.
If everyone paddles in different
directions the boat goes nowhere.
Worse are the individual boats
going everywhere except toward a
common goal.
Get together and incorporate or
keep whining and opining about the
county not caring about your area
- it seems they don’t care.
Is there one of you that can get
the rest to row in the right
direction? Careful...Anyone brave
enough to raise their head above
the crowd must be willing to duck
the rocks.
When Mammoth Lakes became a town
it got control of the tax monies.
Hello, anyone home? Did you hear
what I just said...control of tax
monies! They also got control of
the politics that reflect the
local wishes.
Dale Mollenhauer
Correction needed
Editor: I believe in an
informed public. Therefore
it was disappointing to read in
last week’s paper an inaccurate
statement about the board’s
handling of Mr Pena’s unemployment
claims. I put the $4500 bill from
EDD for Mr. Pena unemployment
benefits on the “Communications”
section of the May 11 Board
meeting as information for the
Board. Because it was in the
“Communications” section of the
agenda, no action could be taken.
Hence, no committee was created
and Sharon Hanson nor I were
assigned any responsibilities
related to this matter.
However, the Mountain Echo was
correct in stating that each rate
payer contributes about $3 per
month for Mr. Pena’s continuing
unemployment claims.
John Van Den Bergh
General Manager
Editor’s note: Mountain Echo
notes the clarification. However
the inaccuracy was on their
part.
Mr. Van Den Bergh was notified
that while I normally cover the
CSD meetings, I had a prior
commitment to sit on an oral
board for the Fall River High
School senior projects that
night. I asked to be able to
meet with him the Friday of that
week.
There was a note on my desk when
I came in Friday saying he would
be unavailable and asking me to
contact CSD board member Quincy
Hatch which I did.
My notes of that meeting reflect
that my story accurately
presented the facts I was given
by Mr Hatch.
Comments
Our hearts ache
To the family of Preston
Dennis and especially his sweet
wife Heather:
We watched as you disembarked from
the plane in Redding into the
loving arms of your wonderful
family; and wished that we could
envelope you with all the love our
hearts can hold; to help in take
away the fresh sting of loss of a
precious loved one. Not a
loved one, but the love of your
life, your treasure, your soul
mate.
Our hearts ache for your loss and
we cover you with prayer in hopes
of easing some of your pain.
When we think of Preston giving so
freely of himself to keep us free;
and serving a 2nd tour to help
preserve democracy for people he
didn’t even know; but dearly
wanted them to taste what we live!
We are immensely proud of
Preston! But not only
Preston, we are proud of you and
your family!
We know that thinking about your
future without Preston must seem
so totally and completely
impossible right now; but there
will be a time when you will smile
again when you will see Preston
repeatedly in someone else with a
gesture of kindness that you know
that he would have done, a smile
in a loved one, a hat that you saw
him wear that you know he loved.
Those moments will take you off
guard and hurt a little at first
until you realize that they will
always be little reminders from
Preston that he is with you and
never ever far away from your
heart as long as you remember his
sweet smile. May God lift
you and hold you in the hollow of
His hands and keep you and those
you love safe; and may He ease
your sorrow with sweet, sweet
memories of all your treasured
moments together Thank you for
your sacrifice! We will be
forever grateful to Preston for
giving all of us better reasons to
sleep easy at night knowing that
he was a part of an elite group of
men and women that love and loved
us enough to give their ultimate
sacrifice.
Gary and Natalie Cox
Comments
Time for change
Editor: Buried on the fifth
page of the Tribal Housing
newsletter is an announcement of
the annual Tribal Membership
meeting. Is this the new
form of notifying the Pit River
people or a way that the council
let the people know, but in a way
that would benefit them in a low
turnout of members?
The Pit River Tribal Councils
decisions these past few years
have been troubling. Either
they don’t see the effects of
their decisions or don’t really
care. There are members of
the council that have been seated
for more than fifteen and some
even twenty years. It’s our
duty to stand up and ask, “What
are you really doing for us, The
Pit River People”? Have they
lost sight of the Pit River
People? Have they forgotten
that they represent us and not
their own interests? It’s a
sad fact, but a few of the council
have not planned for the
future. They see the council
seat as a job, a paycheck, instead
of what it really is. The
council seat is the voice of the
people, it is a calling. Not
everyone will hear it but the few
that do will hear our voice.
When a person only hears their own
dreams and struggles, we the
people are the ones left out in
the cold.
June 25, 2011. Is the date, the
moment for real change, were we
all can stand together and tell
the council that we will not be
ignored any longer. Our
wishes, our dreams for our Nation
are real and that if they don’t
hear the voice of the people; they
should step down and let the right
person answer our calls.
In the end, The Pit River People
are the strength of this
Tribe. If we stand all
together we will no longer be
broken. If we set aside all
our differences and let old wounds
heal our children’s future will be
as bright as we dream them.
Rosa Martinez
“Silent No More”
Comment
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Editor's Note:
To
"Response to Editorial" author.
Everyone has a right to their
opinion and I'll be happy to run
your letter, providing (as stated
weekly in the preface to our letters
to editor column, you sign it and
provide me with a phone number so
that I can verify the authorship and
authenticity of the piece.
Addition-ally, we do not withhold
names. Thank you |
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