Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/584226
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD 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@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 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 InanAugust2014issue of the Daily News a front page headline stated: Drought emergency de- clared; the City Council had made that dec- laration. It was on August 30 last year that I wrote about what was in re- ality the City Council's half hearted actions to declare a water emergency and adopt some regulations. I called it a "sort of" emer- gency declaration. I wrote: "While by a three to two vote the [City] coun- cil decided to comply with state guidelines, proclaiming a drought emergency and es- tablishing new limitations on the use of water, the council and city leaders essentially said, "don't worry about it." As I continued:"The rea- son for the suggested mod- ifier "sort of" above is that city staff underscored the fact that the council was be- ing asked to go through the motions, to participate in a great charade, and make the state think that we are re- ally concerned about wast- ing water. I am not sure if they really pulled off the cha- rade, but it was laughable to hear what people said dur- ing the attempt. In the mean- time homeowners with pri- vate wells in Cottonwood are pumping sand with what wa- ter they have left." Then I cited remarks by city staff: "The Public Works Director told the council that new regulations were not onerous, and that a lot of them made common sense.... City Manager Rick Crabtree chimed in to say essentially the new regulations would not be enforced, and their purpose was to establish a mindset of conservation. The city cannot afford enforce- ment — a common problem we are all too familiar with these days, with the list of things the city cannot afford to do growing each day." A lot hasn't happened in the year since the declaration of that emergency and the adoption of only two water- ing days per week irrigation in town; there are a lot more dry lawns and more low wa- ter landscapes, but the city avoided the logical step put- ting a comparison of water our personal usage now ver- sus 2013 usage on our water bill so water customers could set goals and measure prog- ress; unless we had the fore- thought to save old water bills we would really have no clue about our usage. The wa- ter bills arrive on time, how- ever. There have been no reports from the city of any fines or other penalties for those not abiding by the new water pol- icies. Friends who have re- ported water wasters have noticed no differences on the part of the reported parties, and there is still water in the gutters from those who over water. Given an opportunity to work with the entire county in dealing with groundwater issues and with the oppor- tunity to come into further compliance with the Sustain- able Groundwater Manage- ment Act of 2014, the City Council has more openly balked. This time the council was asked to consider support- ing a proposed Joint Ground- water Sustainability Agency. Given the need for water con- servation, and the fact that water impacts all of us, it would seem logical that there be some kind of cooperation regarding groundwater is- sues within our county. The same councilman who voiced the most opposition to adopt- ing the August 2014 declara- tion and regulations, found reasons to avoid the county's proposed Groundwater Sus- tainability Agency (GSA). The county has proposed a countywide GSA. Un- der the county's proposal there would be a governing body composed of both vot- ing and non-voting mem- bers. The Board of Supervi- sors, who may or may not be compensated for this "extra duty," would be the only vot- ing members of the commis- sion which also includes ten other representatives from cities and irrigation districts plus appointees by the Super- visors. The city of Red Bluff, as an entity, would not have a vote. The city proposed an- other structure for the GSA in which it would have a vote, and in which its influ- ence would possibly be less diluted; its proposal would have only three supervisors, and representatives from the three cities in the county as voting members. In other words the small city of Te- hama would have an equal vote to Red Bluff. County Counsel Arthur Wylene pointed out that "The practical challenge is finding a way to integrate all of the water uses into one decision making framework. It is not just the city of Red Bluff that wants a voting voice." It is difficult to guess at motivation. Clearly the city of Red Bluff would have been represented by more than one of the Supervisors in the county's original proposal, if that person is doing his or her job. Nevertheless, led by the same councilman who protested against the August 2014 declaration, the Coun- cil started bickering over who would be in control of Red Bluff's water, as if it re- ally had a plan. Perhaps there is some distrust, or mistrust on the part of the city and the Board of Supervisors. Perhaps we are at the same point we were a year ago when the council and city ad- ministration clearly wanted to give water issues a wink and smile. Who knows? As I said a year ago: "While we are possibly in a more fortunate water condi- tion than much of the state, or even many of our neigh- bors, looking down our noses on reasonable regulation of water is not an answer to our collective water problems; it is not compassionate, nor productive of palatable solu- tions." We are all in this together, and provincialism on the part of our city will not help. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop Water do-over overdue? Cartoonist's take Endingdomesticviolence one step at a time Editor: The Candlelight Walk is an annual event to raise aware- ness of domestic violence and abuse in our community, to re- member those who have lost their lives to domestic vio- lence and encourage our com- munity to work together to end domestic violence. Tehama County has almost twice as many 911 calls for domestic violence per 1,000 adults than the state of Cal- ifornia — we are sixth in the state. It is a serious problem in our community. Over 300 people came out to walk in memory of Kim and Keith Thomas, who were killed in July at the Little Country Store in Lake Califor- nia. The Thomas family and friends were touched to see so many people come out to sup- port them and the cause. I was pleased to see so many of our community lead- ers at the event, including Su- pervisor Dennis Garton, Su- pervisor Candy Carlson, Mayor Clay Parker, Chief of Police Kyle Sanders, District Attorney Gregg Cohen and Lt. Dave Greer from the Sheriff's Office. It was wonderful to see peo- ple of all ages at the event: young mothers with their ba- bies, children, teens, adults and mature citizens — every- one came together to help end the silence around domestic violence. The article in the Daily News was prominently fea- tured, with lovely photos from the event. Julie Zeeb re- ported key information from Sen. Nielsen and Whitney Kof- ford, keynote speakers for the event, to make the article in- formative and educational for those who were not able to at- tend. Together, we can make a difference. — Jeanne Spurr, Red Bluff Points to consider about columnist Editor: After reading Robert Minch's column Oct. 9, I felt compelled to point out a few things to the Daily News' read- ers. Although Minch takes pot shots at Don Polson, have you ever noticed that Mr. Polson never takes pot shots back at Minch? This would lead one to believe that Mr. Polson takes a higher road than Minch. I usually just skim over Minch's column. It is hard for me to get into reading a col- umn where the columnist has a dialogue with a dog. Here are some other rather irritating positions from Minch: He spouts off his anti- religious beliefs and belittles Jim Wilson, another colum- nist. He tells us readers what is in Time magazine as if we cannot read for ourselves. He portrays a very condescend- ing attitude and believed a Walmart clerk should have rec- ognized him. He admits to talking a fellow serviceman into a more dangerous job so he could take the cushy job in Alaska. Let us not forget his relentless weekly diatribe con- cerning the placement of our library. Today he went after Pat Gleason, indicating Mr. Glea- son's former students lack good sentence construction as if Mr. Gleason taught all of Red Bluff's students. He seemed to enjoy tearing up Ben Carson. Just remem- ber that Mr. Carson discussed good parenting skills with the black community, along with the need to be good role mod- els. When asked when does life begin, Ben Carson said, "The second you hear a heart beat." Due to Minch's anti-reli- gious beliefs, I have a feel- ing where he will go when he meets his demise, one of his big bad favorite words. I am sure that I will be part of one of his future columns. Minch cannot stand any criticism. — Tom Robinson, Red Bluff Everyone has a right to express opinions Editor: Robert Minch's column Oct. 2 started out with his rant, "However, writers whose rants need editing, rather than con- fessing their own lack of ed- ucation and sophistication, should begin with 'Look, I may appear ignorant, but I am sin- cere when I write' and then vent their emotions. I'm cer- tain the editor would accept such letters and print them, warts and all, in the spirit of free expression." It seems the self-ordained literary genius of Red Bluff be- lieves only people like him, with a vast vocabulary and lit- erary experience, should be able to express an opinion. It appears the editor printed a letter from someone on the bottom rung of Robert's Red Bluff's socially elite ladder, warts and all and one of the warts wound up on the end of Robert's nose. It is obvious Robert is an- gry because he is back-sliding to days gone by using "pissed off," and a person with such a vast vocabulary. I seriously doubt Robert can convince anyone that if he be- lieved taking helicopter train- ing would have been safer than going to Alaska he would have convinced his fellow offi- cer to take the assignment in Alaska. The very thought that by questioning his character for his actions to stay safe that the questioner is unsatisfied with his life lacks merit. On the other hand, by ques- tioning the motive of the ques- tioner leads me to believe the questionee's mental health may be in question by what appears to be boasting about having a long life to live by fi- nagling his way to Alaska. Pat Gleason's letter with the headline "Speaking up for let- ter writers" was published on Oct. 3. "I will begin by stating I am college educated and some- what intelligent." Add to Mr. Gleason's credits common sense. Great letter that needed to be written. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Treat cause, not the symptoms Editor: Gun control, people con- trol, responsible persons re- spect the consequences of us- ing weapons — guns, knives and chemicals. Some doctors treat symp- toms, others treat cause. Per- haps mental health programs need to be improved. Adult example may help next generation to resolve sit- uation of weapon use and mis- use. — Steve Kelsey, Corning Letters to the editor As I said a year ago: "While we are possibly in a more fortunate water condition than much of the state, or even many of our neighbors, looking down our noses on reasonable regulation of water is not an answer to our collective water problems; it is not compassionate, nor productive of palatable solutions." Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. More death penalty equals less crowded jails. Simple. Matt Calkins : On the planned expansion of the Tehama County Jail Why not give up part of the expansion and make a detour around the back of current library? Sheryl Turner: On alternatives to closing Madison Street for jail expansion Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, October 10, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A8