Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/17945
4A – Daily News – Saturday, October 16, 2010 Opinion CEO as governor Editor: 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 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 Can a CEO of a for-profit cor- poration manage a complex gov- ernmental entity like the State of California. No, absolutely not. The CEO of a for-profit corpora- tion manages through a board of directors. Both the CEO and the board have similar objectives — maximize the corporation’s prof- its and the CEO’s income. The Governor of California governs through the State Legis- lature. History demonstrates that the governor and the legislature often do not have similar objec- tives. Recent history demon- strates that the governor has little influence over the Legislature. Just as that Legislature has shown that it is not influenced by a movie star, it will not be influ- enced by a wealthy CEO who has bought the office of gover- nor. This election should not be about political party, political or social ideology, gender or money. The election should sim- ply be about who can work with the Legislature to get California moving again. That objective requires elect- ing a governor who understands the political workings of govern- ment at all levels. Someone who understands the influence of lob- byists, unions and special inter- est groups on the political process. Someone who under- stands that managing a complex governmental entity requires negotiation and compromise, not dictatorship. Like it, or not, the only candi- date with those qualifications is Jerry Brown. A vote for him is the only practical choice if we want California to again become a functional state. Robert Wilkinson, Cottonwood Response to I Say column Editor: With no surprise the Daily News resurrected The Minch, who destroyed Tehama County for another run of his “I Dictate” column. It makes sense seeing as both of them prefer telling fables, instead of facts. I am the woman in Antelope Minch wrote about who fought the good ole developers and real- tors, who didn’t want their plan- ning puppet Robson to be fired during the recall; who has fought since 1986 to protect Lake Red Bluff and has tried to protect our water from being stolen by our North State elected officials Congressman Wally Herger, Senate hopeful Doug LaMalfa and fraudulently elected to the Assembly Jim Nielsen, for their pet project, Sites Reservoir in Colusa County. Yes, I am the woman, who thought incorporating Antelope into its own city would be a way to give Antelope our own tax base to take care of our many county and city made problems. I am the woman, who wast- ed eight years of my life as a General Plan Committee member, who watched the same people behind the recall take over the process from the committee and eight years of hard work. I am the woman that still has a junk yard full of rats, feral cats and an ille- gal business, next door. I am the woman who will go away when the good ole boys do. Pat Johnston, Red Bluff Thank you, golf tournament Editor: A big thank you to all who sponsored and participated in the Pat Van Ornum Memorial Golf Tournament at the Oak Creek Golf Course on Saturday, Aug. 21. The tournament was a great success and the proceeds in the amount of $2,000 will benefit Your Turn the St. Elizabeth's Hospice. We are extending a special thank you to Oak Creek Golf Course for use of the golf course and to sur- rounding golf courses and clubs and businesses whose donations and contributions helped to make the event enjoyable and reward- ing. Your support to this tournament helped to make it such a fun and exciting event. We are already looking for- ward to seeing all of you in 2011. Elaine Russell, Red Bluff Thank you, ranch rodeo Editor: I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of of our friends and sponsors that helped out at the Cottonwood Ranch Rodeo - Curt Casey Benefit. You went out of your way to help a local cattle rancher, my husband, who is battling cancer, when times were tough. You even stayed to the end and every- one helped clean up garbage after the rodeo. This community is truly amazing and came together beyond words. Once again thank you for all of your support. Connie Casey, Cottonwood 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. My thoughts on City Council candidates Commentary I attended the City Council candidates’ night sponsored by the Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce Monday night. I was disappointed by the turnout, but I was glad to see the eight candidates running for the council. They all appeared to have a sincere interest in the future of our city, and none seemed to have the proverbial ax to grind. It was refreshing, and I found myself surprised by my own reaction to the candidates. I am glad I attended, and I thank the chamber for sponsoring the event. During the questioning peri- od, there was much discussion about the use of the Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT). Dur- ing the intermission and after the meeting I was told by more than one person that the original purpose for that specific tax was to provide some funding for the chamber and to cover the city’s costs of special events, such as those at the fairgrounds, includ- ing safety services. Earlier this year in the discussions with the City Council, Bill Moule had stated that the TOT had become buried in the general fund in spite of the fact that the original purpose for those funds was fair- ly specific. In education we had similar things happen with lottery funds; some school districts used them for specific, identifi- able onetime costs, others mere- ly put them into the general bud- get. When the fiscal situation became more difficult, districts who had mixed funds had more trouble in making cuts than those who could identify the use of each dollar by source. If what I was told last night is correct, the City has usurped TOT money for its own use. The TOT policy was appar- ently instituted by a handshake according to two people who said they knew about this issue. If this is true, the TOT is really being used as a fee; in this case, however the “fee” is paid by occupants of hotels, not those who benefit from the services provided. Fees are supposed to be connected to the docu- mentable costs of providing a service. There is apparently no docu- mentation about the creation of the TOT, only stories by those who were there at the origins of our TOT. Those I talked to indi- cated its purpose was clear to all at the time the TOT was imposed; unfortunately, if that is true, we only have the memories of people who were there at the time. If all this is true, then the city’s budget situation is even murkier than it has already appeared, and I have been criti- cizing the City Council and the fairgrounds for the wrong rea- sons. Early in the candidate’s night someone asked me if I was going to endorse any candidates; that was not my intention at the time, and I believe voters can make up their own minds, but I was surprised by my reactions to the various candidates. I thought I should share about who I will vote for and why. After weighing what all the candidates said last night, I came away with some new feelings about the election. It seems to me that the Council needs to be more assertive about its role in governing the city. Members of the audi- ence I talked to after- ward had the same feeling. I find myself deciding to vote for a combination of “old” and “new” because the council needs to be revitalized and the “new” needs some context to function well. Joe I was impressed by incum- bent Jim Byrne’s specific exam- ples of issues that need to be addressed; he has been the lone wolf on the council, and, as he said after the meeting, “it takes three to make something hap- pen.” I feel he will continue to work to make the city adminis- tration more accountable to the council and that with some new allies could help it progress along those lines. He has good analytical skills and is willing to speak his mind; he doesn’t waste words, and exhibits some obvi- ous frustration in trying to do his job. Danielle Jackson was well prepared for the evening. She had done her homework, and she has demonstrated she is not afraid of hard work and making difficult decisions. She has gone Harrop door to door in her effort to be elected and has gotten a lot of input from a cross section of voters. She has already been active in local issues with her support for sustaining the Mc Glynn Pool. She is young, bright, ener- getic, and willing to work hard for our city. I believe she will do a good job. Tim Morehouse is part of two groups try- ing to bring energy and new focus to our area; he views our problems as opportu- nities and says we can- not go back to the good old days. He appears to be a good listener, and he has a good perspective on our current problems and is already working to revitalize our community. He knows we have to build on what we have, and was positive but not overly opti- mistic. He will not succumb to business as usual. The other five candidates did a good job in presenting themselves, and they all seemed like good people, but I believe the combination of the three people above will work best for our city, giving us a well organized and working City Council. 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.