Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/30814
6A – Daily News – Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Opinion 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 Fees inhibit area prosperity Editor: I remember the days when Tehama County was prosper- ous. 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 The days when the mills were running and there were good paying jobs. The days when the Minch Slaughter House was running, supplying good paying jobs. The days when a band of sheep were driven through Red Bluff and Corning. The days when you might see a horse tied to a tie ring around the court house. The days when government realized that the private sector was the backbone of this great country. The days when the Board of Supervisors were independent thinkers and there wasn’t a County Administrative Officer. The days when rural county roads were routinely graded. In 1983 we had a little more than 40,000 residents in Tehama County and a few more than 400 county employees. In 2010 we have a little more than 60,000 residents in Tehama County and a few more than 800 county employees. The exponential growth of government is the problem locally and nationally. We now have a County Administrative Officer whose only vested interest in Tehama County is his job. We have two full-time attor- neys when we use to contract with law firms that specialized in fields of law. Now government at every level is more worried about self preservation than supporting the private sector that produces the revenue to support the gov- ernment. The private sector continues to shrink as the governmental sector continues to grow expo- nentially. Committees, meetings, Nexus Studies, review commit- tees, facility needs, technology needs, comparisons studies, environmental studies and so on with zero resolution. If this was the process in the private sector we would have been upside down a century ago. We paid $60,000 for the PMC Study and another $5,000 for the Wildan Study for what? Then the county developed another county review commit- tee to further research our county facility and technology needs into the future until the time Hell is suppose to freeze over. Building, be it residential or commercial touches many lives through employment and the purchase of goods and services locally. This helps stimulate the local economy, producing tax revenue to pay for governmen- tal needs, in fact the leading indicator for the whole national economy is new housing and commercials starts. Government is of the men- tality at every level in thinking that increasing fees will increase governmental revenue. It simply doesn’t work that way. When nothing is happen- ing under the present fee struc- ture why in the hell would one think it will get better by increasing or adopting new fees? Nothing is presently happen- ing in Tehama County. Jurisdic- tions throughout the state have put their Development Impact Fees on moratorium. We are so far behind the curve we are wast- ing our time trying to adopt fees. Red Bluff was at least smart enough to put their adopted fees on hold for a year to try to stimulate something. Th new county building is a Your Turn fine example of facility needs. Since this building was con- structed I see no correlation to how Tehama County is func- tioning any better. My suggestion to the board is to table any further discus- sion on the adoption of any Development Impact Fees until the economic times become substantially better. Let’s focus on working with what we have and develop the impression that Tehama Coun- ty is an inviting place and pro- mote growth and employment. Larry Lalaguna, Red Bluff Running scared Editor: Why are we always running so scared here in America. And this especially applies to the conservative Republicans. They seem to think there's a terrorist hiding under every bed and an illegal alien cowering in every closet. And yet, we are the most feared and the most hated coun- try on this earth - and for thou- sands of good reasons. Look at our highly bloated defense budget: The total mili- tary budget for 2009 was $948.7 billion. We have the Behemoth Pentagon budget plus: CIA, NSA, FBI, TSA, DEA, Home- land Security, Border Patrol, Secret Service, Trea- sury Dept., and the list goes on. Thrown in there is a "Secret Budget" of $30 bil- lion that even Con- gress knows nothing. Our military is spread around the world with 700 bases in 130 countries. We spend more on our military than all of the rest of the world combined. For con- trast: China spent $91 billion for 2009 - less than 10 percent of what we spent. All the while, we are wide open here on the home front. Drive by any of our National Guard Armories — empty. When, not if, we have a massive catastrophe here on American soil, we are totally unprepared. None of the other countries have any foreign bases. Perhaps we ought to invite these foreign countries to locate their military in our dozens of closed bases. We could use the protection - and all the money they would be spending. Yet, the Republicans will not even consider reducing the mili- tary budget. But, they can't wait to cut: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all of our educational and social pro- grams. They certainly don't have a kind heart for us every- day Americans. Why then, do Republicans so hate us common hard working Americans? Give us your answer. Donald L. Ward, Corning Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, 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. American Spirit now from abroad Commentary I know a fellow from Lebanon who is more American than most Americans. In 1977, when I was 14, I rode my bike, played ball with my friends and enjoyed a safe and happy American existence. During that same year at the same age, the Lebanese fellow I now know was dragging dead bod- ies into the street and setting them on fire. As civil war raged in his coun- try -- as Beirut was bombed every night -- many dead bodies lay in the streets. The stench was so great, he and his neighbors dragged the bodies into a pile and burned them. He was a Catholic with five sib- lings and two parents. For three years, his family lived in a bombed-out apartment. They were finally forced to flee. At the airport, they were stripped of their money and belongings. They settled in Cyprus for a few years, working odd jobs to make money. Eventually, his family got per- mission to come to America and settled in Washington, D.C. Though his father had had two successful retail businesses before the war, the family had to start at the bottom in America. The fellow and his younger sib- lings had no time to finish high school or think about college. He took a job in a shop. His sib- lings worked in a restaurant. They gave all their earnings to their father. After three years, their father had saved $20,000 -- enough for the family to start a business. The family saw an opportunity to open a bakery that specialized in Middle Eastern fare. For seven gru- eling years, the fellow and his sib- lings worked round-the-clock, sleeping on flour sacks and putting all profits back into the business. In 1993, the business began to see a profit and the family finally began to enjoy the fruits of its labor. But then the business lost two big accounts in the same year. The family hunkered down again and worked round-the-clock to save the business. Today, some 30 years after the family fled war-torn Lebanon, the business is solid and the family is prospering. The business employs nearly 100 people, many of them earning good salaries. The story of this fellow from Lebanon has got me thinking. As a boy I was taught that free- dom, opportunity and hard work -- not government largess -- were the keys to a better life in America. I believed that fierce individualism and entre- preneurial drive were the primary reasons for my country's incredible growth and success. Yet, in 2011, so many native-born Americans no longer see it that way. USA Today reports that more than 18 percent of the income Americans enjoy is coming not from labor but from govern- ment programs -- Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, unemploy- ment benefits, etc. unsustainable deficits, many peo- ple want no cuts in the government dough they receive. Which makes me wonder: Whatever hap- pened to the American spirit? While so many sub- urban-bred Americans are happy to take from others, many legal immigrants ask for nothing but the opportu- nity to work. Sure, some quickly Tom Purcell While some of that spending surely benefits the needy, or retired people who paid into Social Secu- rity, some of it clearly does not. Many college kids appear "poor" on paper. They're now receiving food stamps in record numbers -- one reason our food stamp costs are twice what they were in 2008. Despite our country's massive, figure out how to cash in on government generos- ity, but most cook our food, clean our clothes and fix our cars without complaint. Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. Like the fellow I know from Lebanon, many are more Ameri- can than most of us. ———