Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/317955
StateofJefferson Editor: I'm confused. Is it fear of the unknown that drives cer- tain people to take on "the sky is falling" mentality when talk- ing about the State of Jefferson movement? "No police department, no fire department, no road de- partment, no education depart- ment" Really? We're talking about autonomy, representation and restoration, not anarchy. The passing of Measure A on June 3 does not mean it hap- pens right away. Measure A's passage merely means that Te- hama County signs the non- binding declaration to proceed with the withdrawal process and join our fellow like-minded counties. This process of with- drawal will not happen over night, which allows time for re- searching the constitutions of other like-minded states and lis- tening to the input and sugges- tions from everyone who has something to contribute; Dem- ocrats, Republicans, Indepen- dents, or whatever. This is not a partisan issue. This is an issue of liberty, representation and opportunity. California is too big to be gov- erned efficiently and fairly. Even President Polk knew that before we became a state, and numer- ous attempts have been made ever since to remedy this. Vot- ing in California is skewed to- ward the larger urban areas, which leaves the north state with too little representation. Passage of Reynolds vs. Sims in 1964 changed our state sen- ate representation to "one man, one vote," which traditionally only applies to the Assembly. As it stands now, the north state has five representatives in Sac- ramento, while Los Angeles County alone has 34. If you like living under the bloated bureaucracy of Sacra- mento, where the large urban areas of the state control your lives and the future of your chil- dren and grandchildren, then vote no on Measure A. But, your Yes vote tells the Board of Supervisors that you support separating from Cali- fornia and forming a new state — name not yet decided — where we can determine what is best for us. Doesn't this idea sound fa- miliar? Where would we be to- day had our founding fathers decided that it was too hard to separate from England? I once read, what is right isn't al- ways popular, and what is pop- ular isn't always right. Well, the State of Jefferson movement is both right and popular in the north state. The time has come for 51. —GailEgbert,RedBluff Measure B Editor: My husband, George, was an admired and respected citizen of this community for decades and served this community with dedication. He was a school su- perintendent, then an elected member of the Board of Super- visors. I know from experience that his position on the Board of Supervisors was almost a full- time job many weeks, and more than a full-time job in some weeks. The supervisors have to at- tend many, many meetings with all the departments in the county: Social Services, Road Department, Water, Solid Waste — I could go on and on — and attend many state meet- ings to gain funding for pro- grams that benefit the residents of this county. Not only that, but they spend time in the office at- tending to the business of the more than 50,000 residents of this county. They leave early in the morn- ing and sometimes don't get home until late at night. They manage a huge budget and see that funds benefit us. They an- swer phone calls at home late at night. They spend hours of their personal time and money — and using their own car with no compensation — to attend fundraisers for many non-profit groups in this county. Yes, they do have health in- surance and do get a car allow- ance; so do many other govern- ment employees and these same employees are paid many times over what the supervisors are paid. They also have to be profi- cient in the many rules and reg- ulations, funding resources and personnel requirements that af- fect the residents of this county — all of us. They bring home a board packet each week, that is sometimes more than an inch high and they have to read it all. People talk about an "elite group" and "professional politi- cians." Well, it is an elite group because only someone who is re- tired from a career and has a comfortable income can afford to serve on the Board of Super- visors. We have been very blessed in this county to have compe- tent, capable, caring and ded- icated people willing to serve on the Board of Supervisors for such small compensation. Now, it is time to come into the 21st Century and pay those elected to serve a decent salary. Please vote yes on Measure B. — Sharon Russell, Red Bluff Vote to protect our resources Editor: Trucks haul logs north on I-5 and pass trucks hauling logs south on I-5. Trucks haul logs west on Hwy. 299 and pass trucks hauling logs east on Hwy. 299. The same crazy con- fusion occurs on Highways 36, 44, 89 and so on. We all have seen this from time to time and it seems like it's happening even more frequently these days. The drivers of the trucks are always hurrying to drop their loads so they can circle around and do it again, and again and again. There are so many logs being cut and delivered that the sawmills can't process them all even working three shifts. Readers, stop and think, how many building permits have been issued in Tehama, Shasta and Lassen counties in recent years? So few permits are being issued in our county that our building department found it necessary to lay off two county building inspectors. Just look around town or out in our rural areas, not much building is go- ing on, several housing projects have even been postponed or canceled, in fact. Kind of makes you wonder why and where our timber harvest is going? I think I stumbled on to the answer to the above question. Recently while passing through the Port of Oakland, and while waiting behind a line of log- ging trucks I noticed I was sur- rounded by mountains of dead trees. The trees were stacked in massive piles at least 25 feet high. The piles of cut trees were covering several acres of the port's lay down yard. There were lines of big rigs loaded with freshly cut timbers wait- ing their turns to get in to the port so they could dump their payloads and mostly likely re- turn to their sources to pick-up more timbers and repeat the cycle. I don't claim to be certain about the rest of the story, but I will bet those logs are des- tine to be loaded on gigantic cargo ships and sent to places in Asia. They will no doubt be milled and probably a part of them will find their way back to The Home Depot or Lowes for us to pick through. Of course we will then have to pay outrageous prices to more than make up for their halfway around the world shipment and handling costs and naturally a bit of profit for the clever businessmen who planned the whole traitorous endeavor. The part of the logs that are not returned to the United States will most likely be used for new construction in fast growing places like India, Vietnam and China where they will bring those same clever businessmen even greater prof- its. Friends and neighbors if we are ever going to be able to change the above egregious process and prevent our pre- cious forests from being clear- cut and becoming homes and apartments for all those Asian minumum-wagers that took our manufacturing jobs we need to act. We need to vote in new leadership in Tehama County. In the June election we will have a chance rid ourselves of the old board of supervisors, and elect some new and fresh faces with fresh ideas. We need to turn Tehama County's lead- ership over to some average cit- izens and retire out those good old boys and their good old boy ways. I strongly urge you to talk to Pat Johnston about her ideas about what we can do to pre- vent forest destruction and harm to our beautiful environ- ment. I also urge you to vote for Pat Johnston on election day. — Cal Mahaney, Red Bluff Let's leave Afghanistan Editor: In September 2012, in Boul- der, Colorado Obama set a time- table for bringing our troops home from Afghanistan. He said, "We'll have them all out of there by 2014." We are now five months into 2014. Since Obama has become President in 2009, we have lost 1,652 Americans in Afghani- stan, according to TIME. We were told that our objective for going into Afghanistan was to get Osama bin Laden. That's been taken care of. We were then told that it was to get rid of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. We may have been somewhat suc- cessful there. But look at that area of the world. There are many coun- tries and millions of people. We will never get rid of Al-Qa- eda and the Taliban. The So- viet Union learned its lesson there and we should too. Let's not let Obama break another promise. I wonder what ever happened to the war protesters that stood out on the corner of Oak and Main every Saturday morn- ing. Did they really despise the wars, or were they just Bush haters. —Tom Robinson, Red Bluff Forest for the Trees Editor: I am writing this letter in re- gard to the flurry of activity and discussion that has taken place regarding the upcoming elec- tion of the Tehama County Su- perintendent of Schools. My concern lies primarily with the fact that the discussion has eroded so far from the actual is- sues that should be considered when electing this position. The position of County Su- perintendent of Schools should be held by someone that is knowledgeable about the issues, experienced in county level ad- ministration, and has a proven track record of helping mul- tiple districts within Tehama County. In the past five years, only one candidate has met these criteria. Charles Allen has served many districts in Tehama County as a District Superin- tendent, and has expanded his positive impact as the Deputy Superintendent of Schools. His experience is in working at that county and state level on be- half of the 11,000 students of Te- hama County is proof of his ded- ication. Having worked with Charles Allen for the past eight years, I have always found him to be honest and dedicated to the well-being of all Tehama County students. His work on behalf of all students, county-wide, should not be discounted or for- gotten. When I look for a candidate, I look at what he or she has ac- tually done over the past few years. In the case of voting for a candidate that has worked to raise the level of support and achievement for all Tehama County students, Charles Allen is the clear choice. I am hopeful that the discus- sion and debate regarding the critical position of County Su- perintendent of Schools will once again return to issues per- tinent to the students of Te- hama County. There are real issues at hand related to edu- cation, important issues, that need to be the topic of conver- sation in our homes, businesses, and community. —William McCoy, Red Bluff North for County Superintendant Editor: Having carefully evalu- ated the qualifications of both Charles Allen and Harley North through a process of indepen- dent background research, di- rect conversations with both gentlemen and what I hope has been a dispassionate analysis of their views on the issues critical to the education of all the K-12 students in Tehama County, I am confident that the best choice for the office of County Superintendent of Schools is Harley North. Perhaps the most significant factor that has led me to en- dorse Mr. North is his demon- strated commitment to a seam- less and fully articulated K-12 instructional program. Both his past and current criticisms of the weaknesses in the coor- dination between K-8 elemen- tary programs and those of high schools are, in my judge- ment, valid and demonstrably true. In particular, his concern over the transition from eighth grade to high school fresh- man and the need to make that transition seamlessly without having to subsume continu- ing academic advancement to a questionably assumed need to adapt and assimilate to the particular culture of a high school is an issue which must be addressed. Finally, Harley North has, in my opinion, demonstrated a deeper understanding of and commitment to the successful implementation of the types of programs local districts need to ensure that their students achieve at the level necessary for 21st Century academic and career success. As your County Superinten- dent Harley will bring the re- sources of the county office to the field to directly address and support local districts in their instructional programs. Please join me in voting for Harley North as our new Te- hama County Superintendent of Schools! — Marty Mathisen, Corning Saturdaysoapbox Cartoonist's take GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD 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 OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, May 24, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A10