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4A Daily News – Monday, July 25, 2011 Opinion Stuck on stupid by closing libraries 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 The illogic of saving taxpay- 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 er’s money by closing libraries, cutting school and university funding and limiting access to health care must be confronted if the people of Tehama County and beyond expect to prosper. There should be no question that our public investments in lit- eracy, education and health care are the bedrocks of our abilities to compete in the global marketplace and profit by using our intellects in combination with our resources and labors. The proposed closure of the Los Molinos branch of the Tehama County Library, skyrock- eting tuition costs for California colleges and universities, and dra- conian reductions is health care for poor, disabled, and elderly Californians are travesties that should not be visited upon our great society. For those of you that may think I am only expressing a moral imperative that can be discounted as "the ruminations of a doe-eyed liberal," I entreat you to consider the real costs, that is the life-cycle impacts, of short-sighted savings goals on long term economic development and performance. Most Americans have come to realize that the principle reasons we have flourished as an econom- ic powerhouse is our public investments in education and health care. Children throughout this great nation were afforded primary and secondary schooling second to none until the 1970s, and Californian’s were provided with tuition-free state colleges and universities for qualified appli- cants. As a result the most prof- itable entrepreneurial region in the world continues to prosper in Palo Alto and satellite communities. The Tehama County Library system has seen many changes during its extensive history. The Vanderlip Library was started by the Los Molinos Women's Club in 1912, and became the first branch of the County Library system in 1917. The Carnegie Public Library opened in 1915 in Corn- ing and joined the Tehama Coun- ty Free Library in 1955 to become the Corning Branch Library. The Herbert Kraft Free Library was built in 1909 and served the City of Red Bluff autonomously for many years until it merged with the Tehama County Free Library in 1962. The closure of a small library in Los Molinos, a community of less than 2500 persons, may seem insignificant to many, but to me it is emblematic of wrong-headed public policy decisions that are supported by prosperous Tea Party conservatives that see public services as unnecessary govern- ment expense. Nothing could be further from the truth experienced by the largely under-educated, under-employed, and under- served residents of "Lost" Moli- nos lacking political clout and infrastructure to better them- selves. Removing the one local county asset that allows these disen- franchised members of our county to read, study, and gain access to the internet will not only deny them oppor- tunities to grow but leaves a lasting impres- sion that they and their community are not wor- thy of Tehama County’s attention. Richard Should this seeming- ly small loss manifest Los Molinos and the county will be left with one less place to help keep our children off the streets, divert their attentions from criminal activities, and accommodate the elderly and disabled among us with a com- fortable place to gather, study, and recreate. Residents will have less to appreciate about the county that their taxes support, vacancy rates will rise, and the area will become less desirable for those already here and those otherwise likely to come. The proposal to close the library branch is a prescription for failure, and now serves as a rally- ing cry for volunteers, businesses, and citizens to preserve this valu- able community asset. Mazzucchi Positive Point If the Los Molinos library doors close on Aug. 15 as cur- rently planned there is little hope of saving it. A pro- posed Tehama County bookmobile to serve in its stead will not address the need for public internet access, provide accommoda- tion to read in condi- tioned comfort, nor show an adequate level of county support for adult education and community develop- ment. If the future of libraries in Los Moli- nos, Tehama County, or for that matter any- where concerns you please attend the board meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 727 Oak St., in Red Bluff. To view the agenda item, go to www.co.tehama.ca.us, or ask your local librarian while you still have one. Don’t let us be stuck on stupid by closing libraries. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired research engineer specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. He has travelled extensively and now makes his home in Los Molinos, where he is striving to manifest a sustainable and spiritual lifestyle. He can be reached at living-green@att.net. 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. Maybe we should call it like it is Commentary I stayed out of the debate over the rezoning of the Breckenridge parcel to allow the building of a permanent homeless facility because, for one, I live outside Red Bluff and have no personal stake in the issue. I also didn’t want my views influencing the debate. The vote being cast, and seeing the arguments and castigations lev- eled, I have quite a bit to say based on my extensive experience. I was, in the broadest sense, homeless for a part of my young life, but not the way you think. Like many young people wishing to travel with a minimum of roots and responsibilities, and having taken some lessons from Henry David Thoreau’s "Walden," I took my savings and did some hitchhik- ing around the country. Before the money ran out, I found and bought a utility van/camper, and left the Midwest to see what all this talk of California was about. Heck, I would have lived in a teepee in the woods at one point, preferably by a pond, Walden or otherwise. However, the sheer impractical- ity of such a life, for more than the time it takes to go through savings, compels other arrangements. It was much like folks taking time out from college, etc, to travel through Europe until the check- book empties and the credit cards fill. You then figure out what you want (or don’t want) to do to earn a living, and acquire housing to suit your budget. For me, that meant finding a place to park my "recreational vehicle" for the least money possible, eventually renting a room or getting roommates to help with the expenses. It was nothing really remark- able except to illustrate that people can, without the burdens of family, or the debilitating habits of drug, drink or gambling, forge a tradi- tional path to fitting into society and associated responsibilities. One young man wrote a book about his experience of going into a randomly chosen city with only $25 and, exercising his smarts, hard work and good personal habits, parlaying that modest sum, over the course of one year, into an apartment, a used car and adequate groceries. And yet, that young man, or even myself, could have chosen to sleep in parks or doorways, pan- handle for money for booze or drugs, and have nothing to show for the precious time and energy that God gives each of us to use or abuse. The clock doesn’t move faster or slower to hinder or help any one individual apply their tal- ents and hard work and, if nothing else, simply provide for their own needs without the charity of oth- ers. When, after working my way up in the food service field, it came to managing restaurants, I had many experiences with bums, pan- handlers, and other wrecked shells of humanity, aka "homeless" peo- ple. In Santa Monica, where the Christopher Columbus freeway (Interstate 10 to the rest of Ameri- ca) disgorges such people to the waiting arms of programs, parks and facilities, one restaurant’s pol- icy of allowing them to hang out had to be reversed. In order to bring regular working people and families back – folks that understandably chose not to eat around the smell, the dirt and the belongings of home- less panhandlers – it was necessary to ask, then order, and finally physi- cally remove them from the place. I saw some show up in clean clothes and use their spare change for a cup of coffee, and then months later show up in the same clothes, now soiled, torn and smelly, and have to be refused service because the stench of urine was too much. It was a never-ending effort to keep them out, and keep the regular cus- tomers returning to a clean, tasty meal uninterrupted by the dregs of humanity. Meanwhile, my wife would take that hour-long, 17-mile drive to her job in downtown LA, where the panhandlers could be downright aggressive. The only way to navigate those sidewalks to lunch was to stare ahead and not even acknowledge their existence, as they demanded change for booze, I mean food. Don Polson The way I see it You could say those were sim- ply understandable inconve- niences of urban life, but some of the worst behavior I ever encoun- tered was right here in Northern California. One guy took a swing at my head as he left the restaurant in Red Bluff; another guy passed out in a Corning restaurant and, upon waking up, pro- ceeded to urinate in the dining room in front of a family; a woman in Red- ding actually hit me in the back as I walked away after asking her to leave an outside table. Before the soft-heart- ed, some would say soft- headed, among us casti- gate and attack those against a particular homeless facility, con- sider that people choose to live in a residential neighborhood to be around other owners and renters, and don’t deserve to be criticized for not wanting homeless people wander- ing around their property. It may not always have been fair, but there were often good reasons for police to escort vagrants to the outskirts of town, and tell them to keep moving. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988.He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.