Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/9870
6A – Daily News – Saturday, May 1, 2010 Opinion Funding key in D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Bend proposal Editor: Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 When the Tehama County Board of Supervisors is consid- ering whether to endorse Bar- bara Boxer's plan for the Bend District I do hope they will do a lot of research about the funding for the project. As we all know it does not take the Federal Gov- ernment very long to spend hun- dreds of thousands of dollars on projects. Roads thru that rough, rocky country is a very expen- sive proposition as is building campgrounds etc. Then, when the project is finished it is very expensive to maintain such areas. Last summer many National Parks were closed because of lack of funding. If we could ever elect some legislators with some "fiscal common sense I wonder where they would slow the big spending. Would it be the police and fire protection, education, military, or would they slow the big money spent on recreation? Suppose we get the National Recreation Area with all the thousands of people that a NRA is supposed to bring and the maintenance money is cut off. Then who pays? The State of California is billions in the red, we all know how much the Fed- eral Government owes. Would the taxpayers of Tehama County really want to fund the mainte- nance which would include fire and police protection, garbage clean up, replacing the signs that have been shot to pieces, clean- ing up the graffiti and vandalism that always follows lots of peo- ple, keeping restrooms clean and functioning. Fish and Wildlife patrolling to protect the wildlife and all of the many expenses that go along with a National Park? With the National debt in the trillions, I'm surprised that Bar- bara Boxer does not have more important things (such as slow- ing down government spending) to do than to come to our area to start a major project. We do wonder when our elected officials, including city, county, state and national repre- sentatives will start spending taxpayers dollars as wisely as they spend their own. Bob deBraga, Corning No empty building Editor: May I respond to Sam Collins’ letter Just say no to Supercenter on April 24. Mr. Collins, with all due respect, the city fathers have already responded. They said yes. The only reason the project is not being built is because of a lawsuit pending. When the Supercenter is built, and it will be built, employing over 350 job-seeking workers, adding millions to the Red Bluff economy, the existing store will be remodeled. There will be no empty building. With the cost of materials, labor and added revenue to our community, perhaps the city fathers won’t have to ration vital services needed. Please be informed. Paul Callahan, Red Bluff Social Security Editor: I guess I was asleep at the wheel. Like so many others in my generation, I thought Social Security was just that, secure. Only recently did I endeavor to follow the money and under- stand what has happened to our contributions over the years. Although the contributions of individuals and employers were to go into a locked box, the political elite obtained access to our money, and spent it on social engineering projects and worth- less pork projects in order to ensure themselves being voted into office. This was purely for their own benefit in the guise of helping their constituents. The next crime was the repayment of the confiscated funds with Government Bonds. Since the government produces no wealth, the bonds would be repaid by whom? You got it; the taxpayer will be obligated to repay these IOUs. So now you, or your off- spring, are repaying the money that was stolen from you. You are paying twice. In addition, the bonds could even fail. Moody’s already wants to downgrade the Government Bonds. So who’s to blame? It should be obvious that those with the power to make the laws are the culprits. They serve themselves yet claim to serve us. They set their own salaries, health bene- fits and retirement, which are totally separate and insulated from the general population. They are indeed the political elite society, and both major par- ties are to blame. And that’s all I have to say about that. Paul Moon, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Pollen, politics and polemics Commentary The pollen floating around this time of year seems to usher in the silly season. All the elec- tion campaigning adds to the silliness. “Politics” and “pollen” may appear as if they come from the same root word, but that is not the case. Politics, believe it or not, comes from the same root word as polite. Obviously things change. I noticed my favorite headline in the paper recently, “Odd.” It seems law enforcement officials received a phone report of a brother who was apparently missing. When asked how long he has been missing, the caller replied “since 1986”. The paper also reported that in these difficult fiscal times the Sherriff had convinced the Board of Supervisors to chip in $18,400 toward securing a $52,600 grant for creating our very own Tehama County Sher- riff’s Morgue. I wondered when we combined the Sherriff and Coroner into one position if something like that was going to happen. Apparently the current mor- tuary, which doesn’t charge the Sherriff the $55 per day it could, or anything for that matter, for storing corpses, has not seen enough CSI to handle evidence properly, according to a depart- ment spokesperson. No inci- dents were cited to support this statement; I do not recall any recent murder or homicide cases being lost because bodies were mishandled. Perhaps our “Odd” unnamed caller’s brother is lost somewhere in the vast confines of the mortuary, and the Sherriff is worried about being billed up to $20,700 per year for storage. I’ve always been suspicious of Digger Odell, but our local mor- ticians have seemed honorable, but maybe there is some terrible truth known only to the Sherriff. In the education business we were always leery of using one time income for ongoing expenses. We did not learn this lesson by the poor example of our State Legislature; we did it because it was just common sense. I do not know how much the cost of maintaining a deep freeze for the occasional body will cost the county in terms of personnel, operations, and upkeep, but even with the pro- posed Tehama County large array of solar panels to lower our electrical costs, it will prob- ably add some cost to the depart- ment’s operating budget. Given the times, that means cuts some- where else, most likely in ser- vice to the live warm bodies of the citizenry. There have been a few letters to the editor lately concerning the Sherriff’s Department and staffing matters and personnel practices; more will likely fol- low if past elections are any indication. Some of the letters have the hint of featherbedding and favoritism, with an aftertaste of sour grapes. Of course, portions of the let- ters were part of the silly season of electioneering we are current- ly experiencing. I have not taken a position for or against the incumbent or the challenger, but I thought it might be interesting to compare staffing in the Sher- riff’s office with the staffing standards the schools have to work with under the Education Code. First, a disclaimer: I do not know how to run the Sher- riff’s Department, and I do not want to tell him how to do his job. I merely want to com- pare some facts and figures. In the Education Code there are limita- tions on the number of school administrators a district can have. For elementary districts the limit is nine adminis- trators per 100 teach- ers; for secondary dis- tricts the limit is seven per 100 teachers. When you add in all of the non- teaching posi- tions from counselors to bus dri- vers, the ratio of administrators to staff is far smaller than either nine per 100 employees or seven per hundred employees; in the case of Red Bluff High School District, there are eight adminis- trators for a total of 200 employ- ees, or a ratio of one administra- tor to 25 employees, and, of course, there are over 1900 stu- dents under their care. The Sherriff Department website lists the following: One Sherriff, One Undersheriff, Three Captains, and Two Lieu- tenants. I believe these are the “equivalent” of seven school administrators. The balance of the department staff includes a total of 45 Sergeants, Detectives and Deputies, 26 Correctional Officers, and 41 support staff, for a total of 119 employees. The site does not provide an average count for inmates, but the 2008 Sherriff’s report stated the average daily jail population was 177 inmates. In other words, there are seven “administrator equiva- lents” for 71 law enforcement officers; this compares well with Education Code restrictions on school administrators of nine to 100 teachers in ele- mentary school dis- trict. Joe Harrop Of course there is a danger in comparing schools with law enforcement agencies. On the surface admin- istrative staffing may seem fairly plush to a school person, but law enforcement staff has to cover 24 hours per day, and those 177 inmates are not the same as 1900 relatively docile students who attend school for less than seven hours per day. Inmates must be transported here and there. Fur- thermore, there are mandated staffing ratios in the jail. It goes without saying, that safety and security are always a concern. It does seems to me that based on the available data and the lack of “issues” that were brought up before the election season, the references to feath- erbedding and favoritism do not make sense on the surface. There is still over a month until the election, however. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.