Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/776019
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@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS AboutthistimeeachJanu- ary I remember August 1963 when I was stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA, a short distance from Washing- ton, D.C. That was when Mar- tin Luther King, Jr. led the March on Washington and delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. We were pre- pared for the worst civil un- rest possible, and were hur- riedly given training in crowd control, including the use of bayonets, and dealing with tear gas. As it turned out the training and the tears in the gas chamber were not neces- sary because the march was peaceful. In some ways, it was a dream come true, although, it is clear it was a dream not yet fully realized. Most impor- tantly, it was not the night- mare some had predicted. Yesterday, if all went ac- cording to plan, we inaugu- rated the new President. There have been dire predictions, and I have some concerns about what might happen in the next four years; I am par- ticularly concerned about the Donald's statement that he has no doubt that he could run his businesses and the country at the same time. I am not sure that any President has ever "run the country." Our system is designed for Presidential leadership, not dictatorship. We have probably not ever had any perfect presidents. Each has been human and sub- ject to strengths and weak- nesses; the line of imperfect Presidents is unblemished from Washington through Obama, and that unblemished record of imperfection will continue for the next four years. One of the things I am con- cerned about is the fine line between having a dream and having unrealistic expecta- tions or even delusions of grandeur. Having a certain amount of self-confidence is important in a leader; conceit is a danger. That kind of confi- dence includes the willingness to listen, to understand the system, to understand differ- ences, and to negotiate. Martin Luther King, Jr. put pressure on the system to make changes; he planted seeds of change that ultimately led to some reforms that have made a difference in the lives of many. He did not wave a magic wand and command change; he mobilized many to work for change. The changes he sought could not occur overnight, and the many who have worked to bring those changes about have worked at that task for many years. As a nation we take pride in the American Dream, a set of beliefs best described as: "a na- tional ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity, and equality) in which freedom in- cludes the opportunity for pros- perity and success, and an up- ward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. In the defi- nition of the American Dream by James Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with oppor- tunity for each according to ability or achievement" regard- less of social class or circum- stances of birth." (Wikipedia) If we truly share this dream, we have a vision of a better fu- ture for all of us. My hope is that we can sup- port this American Dream, help the new President learn the role he assumes, and make sure that we pay attention to the various processes of government that influence us and our future. We need to help him learn that dreaming and fantasizing are not the same thing. If that is to happen, then we, the electorate, will need to get off our proverbial duffs, set down the smart phone, ignore the social media, and do our job as citizens. We need to live the American Dream, not some fan- tasy revolving around self-ab- sorption, fake news, and think- ing someone else can solve our problems for us, and looking for easy targets to blame for things we are unhappy about. There may be a tumultu- ous four years ahead, but if we hold true to our Dream, work together, and understand our differences, those four years may turn out to be far better than the naysayers would have us believe. I remember what Abraham Lincoln said in his first inau- gural address in 1861: "While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administra- tion, by any extreme of wick- edness or folly, can very seri- ously injure the government in the short space of four years." JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop Havinga dream We need to live the American Dream, not some fantasy revolving around self- absorption, fake news, and thinking someone else can solve our problems. Therealsewer project story Editor: This is a better synopsis than the article "City continues with sewer project" published on Jan. 19. This problem has been going on since January 2011. After we found out the smell was com- ing from the Rancheria subdivi- sion, Indian property, there was nothing we could do about the sewer smells. I was being told that as I was holding the con- tract the city had with Green- ville Rancheria over all the city codes and ordinances they had to abide by, including all in- spections by the city. The city didn't do their inspections very well if at all. We constantly requested to be on the agenda and were de- nied. Then we were told all smells were coming from my house so the city put my house on the list for all tests that could cause the sewer smell. After I spent $250 on a test I had a plumber do, the city said they would do the test them- selves because they didn't be- lieve the results. So I went after the city to pay me back. It took six months and threats from Crabtree claiming if I didn't stop he would make me pay all attorney fees and time spent on the issue. I got my money back shortly thereafter. The problem continued on and the city wasn't doing anything. In 2014 I sued the city. In April of 2015 we went to mediation and I won. All I wanted was to be paid back the money I spent and have the problem fixed. The judgement was signed and the City Council signed off on it in May. The sewer prob- lem was to be finished by the end of September 2015. Car- ollo Engineers ended their as- sessment before we went to me- diation; the conclusion of the cause of the problem was the Rancheria sewer line and the slow programed pump station, which we learned in 2014. At the City Council meeting Jan. 17, they voted to start the process of going out to bid for construction. I thanked them for letting us experience the smell of sewage one more time for the holidays. Then I asked why they didn't start the old city dump cleanup project until the second week of August 2015 instead of the start of summer like they were sup- posed to as they used that as their excuse why they were un- able to start the sewer project. Mayor Jones said because of the weather and that is the start of summer. Really? Haven't we been in a drought for the last four years? I looked in my encyclopedia what the meaning of the word drought meant, "A long period of dry weather," hum. He must have meant it was too hot be- fore August. I also told them after the last meeting I received some calls from retired employees, some whom left their job for another and a few who still work at the city, stating they were willing to be a witness for me if I wanted to take the city on over the non- compliance of our mediation agreement. It will be close to two years since the mediation before this project is finished. So know I wasn't all jolly and excited that the city says they're starting the bidding process for this project. Who knows they may never finish or even start it. I did thank them for doing the complete job of replacing the sidewalk for Mr. Newland, including cutting the tree roots out, they did a great job. — Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff New president scares writer Editor: By the time this goes to print, assuming it will, we will have a baboon as the commander and chief of the most powerful armed force this world has ever known. That scares the crap out of me. On second thought, compar- ing him to baboons is an unjus- tifiable insult to the baboons. They have empathy for the plight of other baboons and even other creatures. Trump, on the other hand lacks that capacity. He al- ways tells the truth. However, ac- cording to him, whatever comes out of his mouth is the truth no matter if it is just the opposite of what he just said a moment ago. His reputation is that of a con- man and a bully. Most successful people ob- tained success by hard work. Trump's success came from a huge inheritance and having good friends in the mob. He is the only businessman I've ever heard of that brags about going bankrupt. By doing so he was able to avoid having to actu- ally make good his promises to backers and employees. Just how many intellectu- als have you heard bragging to their audiences that they know words? In most cases that is obvious. The book Mr. Trump likes to brag about was writ- ten in spite of his efforts not be- cause of them. Being ignorant of certain facts is not a problem, however refusing to learn about them is, especially if your in a worldwide leadership position. I have been in many locker rooms, and I've served my coun- try with real men who put their lives on the line for this coun- try. Some of them could tell some funny off color jokes. But I've never heard such disgrace- ful and repugnant language as spewed out by that candi- date when he thought the mic was off. And the real disgusting thing about it was that it didn't come out as a dirty joke, it came out as a brag. Also, he has never uttered one syllable of regret for this outrageous boast. To say he is coming into of- fice with no conflicts of inter- est is an understatement of the highest degree. Given the choice of sacrificing some pos- sessions for the good of the country or enriching himself how do you think this egotisti- cal maniac would choose? Even his so-called charities were set up exclusively for his personal benefit. His supporters claim that he isn't a politician, news flash, if you run for office you're a politician. I misjudged this last election, not because I underrated his abilities, but that I underrated the public's gullibility. — Orval Strong, Gerber Your opinions Cartoonist's take Kyle Sanders It has been said the only thing that is constant is change. Benja- min Disraeli puts this very sim- ply, stating, "Change is inevita- ble. Change is constant." Lastly, Jack Welch tells us to, "Change before you have to." As we begin our new year, the police depart- ment will continue to evolve and you guessed it…change. As many of our community members have noticed, Red Bluff is no longer a place where we can keep our homes unlocked or keys in our cars. Rather, we are plagued with far more crime than any of us would like. The members of the police depart- ment want to combat criminal activity to the fullest extent and are always contemplating ideas that will lead to improved capa- bilities toward that effort. With limited resources, we must make choices to focus our efforts more in some areas than in others in order to impact those things that affect our community the most. One of those choices during 2016 came in the form of turn- ing two unfilled police officer po- sitions into three non-sworn Com- munity Service Officer (CSO) po- sitions. These employees are now being utilized to perform lower level patrol related duties such as handling minor theft, vandalism or other reports not requiring a police officer. They have taken on numerous responsibilities with the idea of relieving police officers of a certain amount of workload in or- der to create unallocated time for officers to patrol the streets and handle those things that only a police officer can or should. Now, in 2017, we have imple- mented another change our com- munity may come to notice in sub- tle ways. For non-injury collisions, documentation procedures have been modified, eliminating the traditional method of documenta- tion in favor of one that essentially assists the involved parties in ex- changing information on a form that each driver will get a copy of. This change was made after care- ful consideration regarding ser- vice to the community and after consultation with the insurance industry as well as the Chief's Citi- zens Advisory Committee. The overall purpose of these changes is to improve organiza- tional efficiency, ultimately al- lowing resources to be focused on areas deemed more substan- tial. It is anticipated this one ad- justment alone will result in hundreds of "saved" hours, pri- marily from the elimination of report writing time traditionally associated with collision inves- tigations. This "saved time" will allow officers to focus on other higher priority tasks such as crime prevention, traffic enforce- ment, or other important tasks that can too easily be neglected. We will continue to work on ad- ditional organizational changes throughout 2017. One transforma- tion we are in the midst of now is working toward an intelligence led policing model; a form of po- licing that utilizes data and infor- mation to identify problems or is- sues with specificity, and then to direct resources to address those issues. Toward this effort, the po- lice department has dedicated a Records Clerk to spend up to half their work hours researching and analyzing information to identify crime trends, locations and even who may be committing them. Our hope is that these modifi- cations, in combination with other small organizational improve- ments, will prove to create unallo- cated time for officers to be more responsive to community needs. It is our desire to serve in the most effective, efficient and produc- tive manner with the resources available to us. In conclusion, as George Lichtenberg stated, "I can- not say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better." Kyle Sanders is the chief of the Red Bluff Police Department, which may be reached at 527- 3131. Kyle Sanders Change coming to Red Bluff Police Department Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, January 21, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4