Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/421320
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Thisisthetimeoftheyearwhenwemake our lists of things we are thankful for. The year, itself has been one full of famous anni- versaries of things we remember: a century since the start of World War I, fi y years since the Beatles landed on our shores, twenty five years since the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan, sixty years since Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile, twen- ty five years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the list goes on. Sometimesitis easy to overlook local anniversa- ries. Locally we will soon be cel- ebrating the half century mark for a homemade re- source that has played a vital role in our community. The Family Service Agency, doing business as the Family Counseling Cen- ter will be fifty years old next year. I am sure that many join me in being thankful for this organization. There is a semi-Biblical phrase that "The Lord helps those who help themselves." The Family Counseling Cen- ter (FCC) is a homegrown, bootstrap attempt to meet the mental health needs of the underserved in our commu- nity. It is currently at capacity and has a waiting list of over twenty potential clients, and it is beginning to explore options to meet the growing needs for services, including finding an- other site. (It is currently lo- cated next door to the Hope Chest on north Main Street.) The FCC was founded by some far seeing citizens who recognized the need for af- fordable mental health in our community. The Hope Chest, located on the North end of town was founded to be a ma- jor funding source for the FCC, and it has been a strong loyal supporter of the FCC mission: to offer affordable professional counseling to help clients who live in Tehama County achieve life-long mental health by ad- dressing a variety of situations including marriage and fam- ily problems, addictive behav- iors, codependency, mood dis- orders, stress, grief/loss, and parenting. The Hope Chest owns the building FCC uses, and charges no rent. FCC serves clients seeking help with family, individual or relationship problems regard- less of race, religion, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. It provides high qual- ity counseling for children, adults, and families so that they will have an opportunity to lead a full and healthy life without the hardship of un- treated psychological, emo- tional or behavioral problems. The need has not decreased over the last fifty years. A re- cent county survey by St. Eliza- beth Hospital indicates a much higher incidence of depression than nationwide in our com- munity. In that study 34 per- cent of those surveyed county- wide reported experiencing symptoms of depression. Of those surveyed 48 percent re- ported an incident of inter- personal violence; this is three times the national average. The services FCC provides have grown over the last four years. The agency currently holds about 200 client sessions per month versus 125 four years ago. This is a major un- dertaking; it stresses the avail- able space in the old building it occupies rent free courtesy of the Hope Chest. Almost half those served by FCC live at or below the pov- erty level; sixty percent meet the federal criteria for low in- come. About forty percent are under the age of eighteen. Client surveys reveal satis- faction with the services the agency provides; 94 percent say they were treated well; 79 percent say they agree their mental health has improved; 75 percent agree their family relationships have improved. Because the agency's mission is to serve those who are under- served, it relies on donations, grants, and insurance payments in addition to client fees and the support of the Hope Chest in or- der to survive. As you consider what we have to be thankful for in our community, I encourage you to add the Family Counsel- ing Center to your list. JoeHarropisaretirededuca- tor with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHar- rop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop Thanksfor a Red Bluff institution Hughesesdeservingof honors Editor: The honors due Ben And Bo- bie Hughes, both as teachers in the finest sense, and their ef- forts that make the Discovery Center possible are long over due. They are the Grand Mar- shals of our community. Harold Lucas, Mineral Election results show why state should split Editor: After the results of the Nov. 4 election, do you still think northern California is in sync with the state of California? I don't think so, and a closer look at some of the results shows why so many of us in the north state are moving to separate from the rest of Cal- ifornia. Comparing the six counties that so far have passed State of Jefferson declarations, the outcome of this election would have been very different. These counties are Sutter, Yuba, Te- hama, Siskiyou, Glenn and Modoc. Our new governor would be Neel Kashkari, who received 60% of the six counties' votes, but only 41% statewide. The Attorney General would be Ronald Gold, who won in the State of Jefferson with 66% of the vote, whereas he only re- ceived 43% when looking at statewide figures. Superintendent of Schools would be Marshall Tuck, with 55% of support in the north state, but only 48% statewide. The other state offices show similar results. If you compare the state- wide propositions, the results are similar as well. As an ex- ample, Proposition 1, the Wa- ter Bond, was an even 50% split, but it passed statewide with 67%. Proposition 47 on Misdemeanor Sentencing, also referred to as AB109 on ste- roids, received a yes vote of only 45% in the northern six counties, but passed statewide with 59%. I have also compared the election results for sev- eral other northern Califor- nia counties that are still in the process of deciding if they want to join the State of Jef- ferson, and their results are comparable to the six counties listed above. Let's face it, the northern part of California is not in agreement with the rest of the state. We have different needs and values. And we don't have enough representation in Sac- ramento to protect our way of life. In fact, most of the issues that we voted on in this elec- tion wouldn't even have been on the ballot in the State of Jefferson. What more evidence do you need to see the value of sepa- rating from California? Gail Egbert, Red Bluff Union workers pay their own way Editor: In response to Joseph Neff's views on the postal union workers, postal workers, building trades, teachers, pub- lic workers and grocery clerks get paid every penny they de- serve. As Neff mentioned the re- ality of life is that these peo- ple's health care and pensions are funded by the wage pack- age that they are paid by the employer. The non-union private sec- tor peers' health and pen- sion plans are paid for by the taxpayers and or the under- paid worker so that their em- ployers can maximize profits, hire based on nepotism and treat employees any way they choose. The benevolent employer with sincere interest in his workers' well being, health- care for his family and retire- ment is pure fantasy. And that is the reality of life. Terry van Dyke, Red Bluff Regarding Election Day being made a holiday Editor: As many are no doubt aware, this year's election voter turn out has been the lowest this nation has seen in a long time; since well before my life time. There has been much spec- ulation as to why so few cit- izens exercised their consti- tutional right to speak their minds on issues, and declare the leaders of the nation for the next few years. I have heard about citizens being too busy to vote on election day; to that I ask, why not vote by mail? The option to vote absen- tee obviously is not getting enough advertising if so many citizens still are not using the option when needed, perhaps we should work on that? I have heard another solu- tion, making Election Day a holiday, but I believe I have a better solution. Why not make the election last a week? Yes make the first Tuesday of No- vember a national holiday, but have voting last a full five days. Of course it will be expen- sive, but to balance the cost why not hold only one election in November; giving candi- dates more time to campaign, and voters more time to re- search. As well as why not do away with the constricting rules the two major parties have on elections, and allow elections to be run by primary rules — unlimited possible number of candidates and the option for write in voting for all offices. This will allow for more cit- izens to feel like their vote re- ally matters, and might get those voter turnouts on the better side of 50 percent. Mitchell Drury, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take At least once in a lifetime ev- ery American should lay eyes on the Grand Canyon, whose brilliant colors and dazzling ero- sional landscape inspire a kind of planetary patri- otism. Stretch- ing 277 miles long and a mile deep, it is perhaps our nation's greatest natural treasure. If it were part of a credit card commercial, the Grand Canyon would, indeed, be "priceless." In real life, how- ever, the price is posted on a sign at the gate, and in typical American style it's misguided: $25 per car. Americans pay an ever-ex- panding roster, varying by re- gion, of flat fees for such things as highway tolls, library cards, school bus rides — and, yes, a chance to glimpse the Grand Canyon. These charges make up what could be called our a la carte cost of living. Unlike progressive income taxes and scaled property taxes that take into account a person's ability to pay, flat fees are regressive. The more we impose such fees and the higher they climb, the more punitive they are to the na- tion's poor. A few days after my visit, the National Park Service an- nounced plans to raise the fee at the Grand Canyon to $30. The NPS also seeks to imple- ment price hikes early next year at 114 other national parks, including Yellowstone and Yosemite. Under a formula established by Congress, each national park retains 80 percent of its admission fees, and shares the balance with other parks that do not charge fees. But accord- ing to the NPS, the sole reason for charging fees in the first place is that Congress won't al- locate funds needed to main- tain roads and essential in- frastructure at the largest na- tional parks. How much are we talking about? At Yellowstone, the na- tion's oldest national park, visitor fees contribute about $4 million annually to repairs and maintenance. That's ex- actly how much taxpayers paid last year for President Obama's round-trip Christmas flight to Hawaii on Air Force One — in other words, rela- tively little. In fact, the total NPS oper- ating budget — covering 401 national parks and preserved spaces — is only about $3 bil- lion. Of that, roughly $180 mil- lion comes from visitor fees. So, rather than raise the ad- mission price at Yellowstone and Yosemite by 50 percent and at the Grand Canyon by 20 per- cent, as planned, here's what Congress should do. Raise the NPS's government allocation by a lousy 6 percent and eliminate entrance fees entirely. Make a trip to the Grand Canyon as reasonable for all Americans as a visit to, say, the Lincoln Me- morial. Of course the federal gov- ernment is so dysfunctional in these matters that just this month a senate committee had to draft legislation to repay states the cost of keeping na- tional parks open during all- too-frequent government shut- downs. Arizona stepped up to keep the Grand Canyon accessi- ble during the last shutdown. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and environmentalist Wallace Stegner called our na- tional parks "the best idea we ever had" — a quote borrowed for the title of the recent PBS series celebrating the park sys- tem. The second best idea would now be for the NPS to cancel proposed fee increases and for Congress to make our sacred public spaces free and equally accessible to all Americans. Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, "Cautiously Optimistic," is available at Am- azon.com and CandidCamera. com. Peter Funt Regressive fees are penny wise and parks foolish Joe Harrop Peter Funt OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, November 22, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4