Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/53644
8A Daily News – Thursday, January 26, 2012 Opinion Misquoted 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 I feel that Andrea Wagner misquoted our conversation during the water board meeting. What I said was that during our Tuesday meeting we talked about how to respond to the pre- sentation that was going to be presented at the water board meeting. We emphasized staying on questions and not being diverted to other subjects. We stressed being polite but firm in our con- victions. The Tehama County Tea Party Patriots did not attend the meeting as a group. Those of us who attended were concerned private citizens who are proper- ty owners in Tehama County. The three or four citizens at the meeting who were disrup- tive are not members of the Tehama County Tea Party Patri- ots. I am embarrassed and ashamed of their conduct. The Delphi Technique sounds Orwellian in nature but is just a presentation format. To use another name for it would be Quality Circle. It is a prob- lem solving presentation tech- nique used in state government. The one humorous point to this is Wagner misspelled my name. A number of people in stores have come up to me and asked if that was me or a cousin? The Tehama County Tea Party Patriots have been posi- tively involved in the county and cities for over two years. We do not present our actions as the Tea Party Patriots but prefer to act as concerned citizens. Some of our actions have been: Veterans appreciation sign and flag waving on the main street corners; Voter regis- tration and support without regard to political affiliation; Support of ballot measures but not political candidates; Care packages for our troops; the flag retirement at Discovery Park; Hosting Meet the Candidates night for every person who is on the ballots with the public invit- ed to attend. We sponsored the Town Hall meeting with Congressman Herger last fall at the Elks Lodge and collect food for the Salvation Army throughout the year. Some members are bell ringers and others are members of numerous other community organizations. We have other projects in process to aid the community which we are not at liberty to discuss. You are always welcome to attend our meeting and see that we are not the loud disruptive radicals we are being portrayed as. Ron Sargent, Red Bluff Water meeting Editor, I recently attended a meeting whose purpose was to explain the Northern Sacremento Valley Inte- grated Water Plan. This water plan is unsettling to me because I have been following the horror stories coming from Siskiyou County and Klamath County, Oregon. In both Klamath County and Siskiyou Counties federal and state bureaucracies are taking away farmers and ranchers water by using water plans called KBRA — Klamath Basin Restoration Act. They have a way of naming these "plans" in a way that sounds so harmless and beni- ficial, being the exact opposite. Last week's meeting was the second I have attended both with the same agenda to placate us into thinking these "grants" are just money not our tax dollars. They were funded by a $900,000 grant — our part of a 1 billion dollar water bond, prop 84 voted on in 2006. major source of clean energy, countless jobs, and so many farms and ranches that we are very dependant on for food. At an estimated cost of 250 million dollars (which with the government involved it will go way higher). Your Turn These meetings are only held for the facilitators to justify their salaries. At both meetings it was obvi- ous they wanted a controlled one- sided forum that didn't include answering questions they are obviously trained to avoid. I was greatful for those in the audience for proding them into answering at least where the money came from. There was no threatened alter- cation. The other concern of mine is that this money is being wasted on "planning" and not used in a productive manner as in dams, or reseviors for storage. Seems to me like a water bond should be used for something to aid in food production not destroy it. The next threat is that it could be used to take out the four dams on the Klamath River, which would be the largest dam removal to date in the world. Destroying a The last dam removal destroyed a huge ecosystem killing who knows how many fish that were supposed to be "saved". Makes me wonder if Shasta Dam could be the next target of the radical environmental movent all done under the guise of a planning process? I say we defund the billion dollar bond and use any unspent "grant" money to pay down our debt. Dena Hendricks, Red Bluff Nielsen Editor: Right on Orval. I quite often detour through Gerber and just have a look see, to assess the changes over the years and haven't found Nielsen's trailer yet. Of course, I don't have his address and he's not listed in the phone book. Still, he could live there. Just put my name and Orval's too on the doubters list. Well, come the fall, we'll have a chance to vote against him as he seeks a new job in Sacra- mento. Maybe this time he'll have to put his address on his applica- tion. I sure intend to ask him for it when he speaks here. Fred Boest, Red bluff 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), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 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; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Awkward family photos: Mitt laundry Commentary Mitt Romney's hurdle in win- ning the love/respect/admira- tion/fear of his party can be summed up in one photo. It was taken by his son, Tagg (doesn't Sarah Palin have a kid with that name?) and put on Twitter this week. It's of Romney and his wife Ann, presumably in a hotel basement, side-by-side pouring detergent into washing machines. Mitt is of course, wearing a starched button up shirt and jeans, which is what people who never do laundry think people would wear when they do laundry. (Personally, if I have a clean starched shirt and jeans that's an indication I don't need to do laundry yet.) "Noth- ing like the glamorous life on the road," the intermittent front- runner's son tweeted with the pic. This photo comes in the same week as Romney's tax return where we learned Romney does- n't actually work. He is in fact, as he's claimed, unemployed. His money…makes his money. Millions and millions. He pays a tax rate of 13.9 percent – far lower than your average laun- dromat owner. Which leads me to ask: Why is Mitt being photographed doing his laundry? Were there no Dukakis tanks available? Apparently pleased with his Average Joe "real street" cred, Romney happily explained the image to NBC News, "We do our laundry at least once a week, because we'll be on the road for 30 straight days. Who else do you think is going to do our laundry?" When you are a multi-multi- millionaire, I can think of mil- lions of people who could do your laundry. Isn't Romney tak- ing away jobs by washing his own clothes? First he outsourced American jobs, destroyed com- panies while the CEO at Bain Capital – now his quirky down- homeness is denying a gig to a professional fluff and folder. When you don't actually think about the plight of work- ing people, you can assume you're connecting to their "kitchen table" concerns by say- ing you have to do laundry at least once a week. We all do our laundry that much. Mainly because if you're middle-class (or the former middle-class), you don't have weeks worth of clothes; therefore you wash clothes all the time. It's like say- ing you pay your bills at least once a month. Or you fill up your car with gas at least once a week. Or you worry about money at least once every other day. For normal people, this goes without saying, but for a candidate trying to appear normal, well, let's just say it doesn't wash. Speaking of which, does one really, as the GOP-dubbed "vulture capitalist" with hold- ings in the Cayman Islands and some Swiss bank accounts want to have oneself associated with the word "laundry"? If you're admittedly doing accounting tricks to pay as little U.S. taxes as possible, don't you want to avoid a word synony- mous with rich guy malfea- sance? "I pay all the taxes that are legally required, not a dollar more," said Romney at the NBC debate on Monday night in Florida. Mormon candidate, to open up a conversation about separating whites from colors?! Gah! The photo op was like answering a question no one asks: Who does your laundry? No one cares. A millionaire former-CEO insisting on doing his own cleaning is either lying or not a very good CEO. Tina Dupuy A great politician can be all things to all people: an Elite, an Everyman; a Soldier, a General; a Fighter, a Thinker. A bad one can just pander and grovel for everyone's approval. "You like that? Me too." Hey look guys, I'm doing my Right: Millionaire plus laun- dry equals accidental editorial cartoon. What's next for this guy? Dressing up as a pirate and walking through foreclosed neighborhoods? Also do you really want, as a super-normal-every-week laun- dry. As the 3,000th richest man in the country, who else is going to do my laundry, am I right? I mean, there's being clean cut and then there's just…oh never mind. Tina Dupuy is an award- winning writer and the managing editor of Crooks and Liars. Tina can be reached at tinadupuy@yahoo.com.