Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/667633
I had received several inquiries from read- ers about the status of local judge John Garaventa, aka "Grudgeventa." Apparently he has been missing in action, not appearing in court for an extended period of time. Sinceheisanelectedoffi- cial, he has some discretion about whether or not he really has to actually do anything, but as a taxpayer and voter I wondered what account- ability there is for a man of the robe who is earning at least $130,000 annually at our expense and not bothering to fulfill his obligations to us. So I did what most inquiring people might do, I wrote a letter to the County Court Executive Officer, most of which is below: Caryn A. Downing, Court Ex- ecutive Officer Dear Ms. Downing: As a taxpayer, voter, and res- ident of Tehama County I am concerned that Superior Court Judge Garaventa has been re- portedly unable or unwilling to fulfill his obligations to the judi- cial system for at least 90 days. I am led to believe it is your re- sponsibility to file a report to the California Judicial Council when such circumstances occur. When asked about this the Pre- siding Judge indicated this was a personnel matter and he could not discuss it. Can you confirm your re- sponsibility? Have or will you file the required report? How can I follow up with the California Judicial Council? Thank you for your help in this matter. ••• You may recall that his honor Garaventa appointed Ms. Downing to her current position after unceremoni- ously dismissing her prede- cessor after he had publicly complained that the prede- cessor had not treated him with appropriate respect. A wrongful dismissal ac- tion has been filed; stay tuned. (I cannot make this stuff up.) According to Ms. Downing, my "letter appears to be re- ferring to a presiding judge's duty under California Rule of Court ("c") 10.603 9(c)(4) to provide oversight of other ju- dicial officers." (My letter did not refer to the duty of the presiding judge; it merely in- quired into her duty to per- form public service.) Ms. Downing would nei- ther confirm nor deny her precise duties in these mat- ters; she did mention person- nel matters cannot be dis- cussed, and she did give me an address for the California Commission on Judicial Per- formance. Some might think her response evasive, even in an election year. Perhaps it is her way to provide the re- spect that the missing judge allegedly did not receive from her predecessor. She assured me, however, "the Court complies with all of its obligations." "Unfortu- nately the court [sic] cannot comply with your request for specific information regard- ing the filing of any report…. as such disclosure is exempt pursuant to CRC 10.10.500(f) (3) …." I am not sure if Ms. Downing is referring to the obligation of our government to keep the public informed or to her bureaucratic obliga- tion to be keep us in the dark. It is hard to be an in- formed member of the pub- lic when those we trust have built a moat around them- selves, denied us access to important information about our own elected officials, and then simply brush us off. Sometimes I feel they treat us like we live in the proverbial mushroom farm. No wonder we are a rest- less and discontented elec- torate. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop Evasiveness in action at the courthouse It is hard to be an informed member of the public when those we trust have built a moat around themselves, denied us access to important information about our own elected officials, and then simply brush us off. Guncontrolnotthe answer to violence Editor: We live in a violent world and legislators in California think that infringing on the rights of citizens will solve the problem. Common sense tells you that criminals don't follow laws. The facts are; we have crazy people, strung out people, and people on mind altering drugs that commit horrific crimes, in- cluding murder. Strict gun laws will not change that, they will still get their hands on guns or other weapons. How many of the recent whacked out shooters had a background check and bought a legal gun? We have horrific attacks with knives and other weapons, including hammers. So what is the solution? We need to address the needs of the mentally ill without using mind altering drugs that have such wildly dangerous side effects. Dangerous mental patients need to be housed in secure fa- cilities. Murderers, rapists and other dangerous criminals need to stay locked behind bars. A demise of our gangs, some com- ing from foreign countries, would help immensely. — Patty Smith, Paskenta Right to bear arms is for protection from police Editor: Though we don't always agree, I do enjoy reading Stan Statham's thought-provoking "take" on issues in this paper every Thursday. Last week he inspired me to share my own views on open-carry firearms laws. I initially shudder at the idea of ordinary citizens carrying guns in my presence, especially in a bar — if I patronized them — where their judgement's com- promised by their rising blood- alcohol content. Just as drink- ing and driving is a dangerous combination, so is drinking and carrying a gun. Statham conveyed allowing participants to carry guns at po- litical conventions would be a bad idea. Although, I'm sure the Secret Service carries them to protect the candidates. Similarly, few likely would ad- vocate precluding police from carrying guns. Albeit, forbid- ding officers from firing their guns unless first fired upon would probably prevent a lot of needless deaths by paranoid, testosterone-charged, glory-and- comraderie-seeking and trigger- happy police. So would requir- ing they use tranquilizer guns, Tasers, and wireless long-range electroshock weapons instead. The risk of police getting shot themselves would be better reduced with bullet-proof cloth- ing and conflict de-escalation training. Consider the attitude and approach to law enforce- ment taken by '60s television Sheriff Andy Taylor — the "sher- iff without a gun." Consider also that most real-life police offi- cers work their entire careers without firing their guns on duty even once. My opinion is private citi- zens should be allowed to carry firearms in any public place — concealed from view so oppor- tunists aren't tempted to take them. However, like police, they should be required to complete and maintain training in fire- arms law, use, and safety and carry valid certification on their person that they've done so. Also, just as with operating a motor vehicle, they should be prohibited from consuming or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs while carry- ing a firearm. We mustn't forget, dissuad- ing and defending against gov- ernmental oppression was the reason our forefathers gave us the Second Amendment. As ever-swelling population, cor- ruption, and use of technol- ogy, deception and violence en- ables government to be increas- ingly abusive and dismissive of citizens' civil rights, defending our right to keep and bear arms could be more important today than ever. — Nathan Esplanade, Rancho Tehama Wind, solar projects do not reduce power costs Editor: Frequent news articles claim that schools or public office wind turbine or solar projects will re- duce taxpayers' costs for district electricity. That will occur only if the district fully repays the tax- payers for the Federal and State subsidies to build the projects, which of course never happens. The almost half of the cost subsidized by Federal and State taxpayers is never free, but must either be paid for in higher taxes or higher inflation from the Feds printing low interest bonds to force interest rates for savers to near zero, as they have done since President Obama came to power. News articles claiming that wind or solar power is taking a bite out of the school district or homeowner power bill, should always include that portion of the project paid for by taxpayers through a Federal or State sub- sidy. The fact is, during my life- time, solar and wind projects will never have an economic pay- off for taxpayers. The 18.3 per- cent inflation increase in PG&E power to our home 2014 versus 2015 is a good example of the poor value of subsidizing solar and wind power. We converted our lighting to fluorescence in 2013, always shut off lights when we leave a room, and for years keep our HVAC at minimum power levels, but power costs continue to increase at double digit levels. It would be a poor economic decision to remove our home shade trees, that reduce the HVAC bill, to install taxpayer subsidized solar panels. Sixty years of owning fuel economical cars fully funds our carbon foot- print, if carbon is indeed a factor in the 10,000 year cycle of global warming, since the last ice age. There needs to be honesty in reporting the full costs to tax- payers of wind or solar projects, and not just the savings ignor- ing taxpayer mandated Federal and State subsidies. — Joseph Neff, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take A major silver lining in this cruelest month of April is a lull between show business awards galas. The lack of gold plated statuettes be- ing flung about mercifully al- lows many Amer- icans to stand up- right for the first time in months. It won't be long, however, before we once again are forced to wrap ourselves in industrial strength Saran wrap to avoid drowning in the leak- age of enough weepy insincer- ity to fill Olympic sized swim- ming pools with an unending torrent of ego-splooey. Alas, the political realm re- mains bereft of a similar love fest, except the ultimate ex- travaganza scheduled for Jan- uary 21st on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. So let's give our hard working politicians the credit they so richly do or don't deserve with some made up silliness also known as Will Durst's 21st Annual Political Animal Awards. BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Hillary Clinton, for her con- vincing portrayal of a 69-year- old grandma befuddled by her email. "Where do I put the stamp?" THE POT, THE KETTLE AND THE COLOR BLACK AWARD Glenn Beck, for calling Donald Trump unstable. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MUZZLE ISN'T WORKING, BRING OUT THE DUCT TAPE AWARD Former president and prospective First Lady, Bill Clinton. THE TED CRUZ MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD >> For an unprec- edented 45th year in a row, Ted Cruz. THE OSCAR PISTORIUS MARKS- MANSHIP AWARD Carly Fiorina, for running on her record as CEO of Hewlett- Packard. THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTH- ING AWARD Former Republi- can nominee Mitt Romney, for a speech exhorting party agitators to fall in line. THE SHEEP IN WOLVES' CLOTHING AWARD Utah Senator Mike Lee. THE UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT OF PAYBACK AWARD Mitch Mc- Connell, for his unilateral deci- sion that a presidential term lasts only three years. THE WHY WON'T ANYONE RETURN MY CALLS AWARD — DEMOCRATIC DIVISION Anthony Weiner, John Edwards and Elliot Spitzer. THE WHY WON'T ANYONE RETURN MY CALLS AWARD — REPUBLICAN DIVISION Mark Sanford, David Vitter and the entire Bush Family. THE KIBITZING AWARD Pope Francis. THE AL GORE CHARISMA IMPLANT AWARD Ohio Governor John Kasich. BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN TECH- NICOLOR Donald Trump, edging out John Boehner with a darker hue of orangitude. THE YOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES WERE UP THIRTY MINUTES AGO AWARD Donald Trump. THE METHINKS THE LADY DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH AWARD Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, for his insistence he is not a can- didate. THE WHATEVER HAPPENED TO... AWARD Obamacare. THE LAUREL AND HARDY AWARD The comedy team of Trump and Sarah Palin. THE OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES AWARD Former Louisiana Gov- ernor Bobby Jindal, for urging the GOP to "stop being the stu- pid party." THE LEAD BALLOON ENDORSE- MENT AWARD A tie between Rick Santorum trying to help Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie as Donald Trump's bouncer. THE SO LOW ENERGY IT WAS AN EFFORT TO KEEP HIS RIGHT EYE OPEN AWARD Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. BEST COMING ATTRACTIONS Marco Rubio and Martin O'Malley. THE EVERYBODY NEEDS A PONY AWARD Vermont Senator Ber- nie Sanders. THE BEAT A DEAD HORSE UNTIL YOU'RE COVERED IN A FINE RED MIST AWARD Trey Gowdy and the House Benghazi Committee. BEST BET TO BE SHORT SHEETED BY A MEXICAN MAID AT THE RE- PUBLICAN CONVENTION AWARD Another tie — Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed columnist and comedian. Go to willdurst. com for info about his new one- man show "BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG," and the documentary "3 Still Standing." Will Durst Will Durst's 21st annual Political Animal Awards 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@ 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 Joe Harrop Will Durst OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, April 16, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5