Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/6708
6A – Daily News – Tuesday, February 9, 2010 A MediaNews Group newspaper 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. 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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 Opinion I'm only guessing, but a major problem with being president has to be people around you being more likely to stick their face in a cast iron oscillating fan than tell you the truth. Let's say you slip and fall and rip a hole in your pants down to your ankle while spilling hot coffee on a little blind girl in a wheelchair in front of a nationally televised audience. The worst you could expect to hear from a staffer is "Well, that could have gone better." Therefore, I consider it my patriotic duty to offer up a lit- tle unsolicited advice intended for the President's Eyes Only. Yo. Barack. Dude. You should totally chill. And listen up. Why? Cuz I can tell you the stuff that Mister Chaff of Staff Rahm Emanuel can't. And I won't go all ballistic on your butt or singe your recep- tionist's eardrums either. First thing. Don't worry so much about the Republicans. They're going to do what they're going to do. You don't even enter into the equation. Expect to be accused of every- thing. All the way from "done nothing at all" to "moved too quickly" and all permutations in between. At least you always know where these guys are coming from. From behind and in front and 16 different sides-throwing knives of neg- ativity. It's your so-called friends you need to watch out for. The ones who smile and nod and laugh at your jokes to cover the slip of a shiv between your third and fourth ribs on the left side. Trust me, with friends like these, you don't need Richard Shelby. Unfortunately, most of your buddies are Democrats. Which is a lot like saying most of a general's fighting force is terra cotta. The differ- ence being terra cotta soldiers don't cut and run so fast they leave little puffs of cartoon smoke. The second thing is, you need to develop an "or else." Work with you, or what? Or Joe Biden sits next to you in the Congressional dining room and cuts your meat every day for a week? Lyndon Johnson plucked at the horse- hair holding up the sword of Damocles for his "or else." Walk the line or find yourself whisked back to your home district as a clerk in Park and Rec's lost and found. His idea of compro- mise was letting you use his pen to sign your vow of alle- giance. Finally, your peo- ple have lost all sense of urgency. You got to fire some- body. You know — ax. Can. Dump. Sack. Pink slip. Ter- minate with extreme prejudice. Dis- charge. Unassign. 86. Downsize. Fur- lough. Ease out. Make redundant. Perform a bum's rush. Give the boot. Hand someone their marching orders. Assist in an accelerated career-develop- ment shift. Impose a synergy- related headcount restructur- ing. Heave a ho. It doesn't matter who. Are you telling me in more than a year, nobody in the adminis- tration has made a mistake bad enough to be let go? Because if they haven't, you have. If you can't come up with an obvious target, pick someone out at ran- dom. You really want to put the fear of god into Team Obama, get rid of Michelle. Or one of the kids. That's the best way of saying, "Don't any- body want to get too complacent." Any- how, that's my advice. No thanks necessary, I'm here to help. First one's free. Will Durst is a San F r a n c i s c o - b a s e d political comic who writes sometimes. Check out his new one-man show, "The Lieutenant Governor from the State of Confusion," appearing at the Rrazz Room every Monday in February: therrazzroom.com, 222 Mason St., San Francisco, 415 781-0306. E-mail Will at durst@caglecartoons.com. My two cents on Obama's first year Commentary N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY 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 Will Durst Raging Moderate STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), 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. Your officials Road condition Editor: Twenty five hundred prop- erty owners at Lake Califor- nia will be appealing to the Tehama County Transporta- tion Commission today to help get the planning done for the repair and improvement of 2.6 miles of substandard access road to their homes. Their primary concern is the safety of approximately 400 students transported daily over a road with lanes nar- rower than the school buses in some places. The road surface has fallen into disrepair and never prop- erly upgraded to handle more than 8,000 trips made each day along the short section of road. Property owners maintain more than 28 miles of interior roads to a safe and high stan- dard, but also pay taxes for the maintenance of the sub- standard county access road. Meeting location County Supervisors' chambers at 8:30 a.m. Steve Fitch, Cottonwood Tehama County knows best Editor: After attending last Wednesday's Bend School public hearing on the future of the Sacramento River National Recreation or Con- versation Area, it was clear our county officials are in agreement with BLM's plan of expanding the use of the existing 17,000+ acres of public land located north of Red Bluff. BLM's proposed secret plan for the area's use has evidently been welcomed by the county with little regard given to local property own- ers' rights or the impacts this new destination will bring. County Administrator Bill Goodwin, acting as the facili- tator for the meeting, gave everyone his own personal opinion of the BLM proposal, which was insulting to many of the local residents. Since when is a county official to pass on to the US Representatives the fact that this county is in favor of BLM's proposed scheme without acquiring input from Tehama County residents. Mr. Goodwin needs to find his place as a public servant and limit his recommenda- tions to the Board of Supervi- sors and present the facts independent of the board's or his personal opinions. The land is currently being used by the public to a point of causing problems for neighboring landowners, such as trespass, speeding and firearm discharges during night time hours. This proposed expansion of use will further increase the problem for neighboring landowners and will continue to deteriorate the pristine landscape we all enjoy. Further federal funding is a pie in the sky assumption with no consistent revenue being sent to the county for the increased services that are going to be required. It is clear this proposed expansion will contribute to further land devaluations in the immediate area, eliminate cattle graz- ing, kill existing wildlife, increase law enforcement cases, degrade our roads, increase fire suppression costs and add additional burdens to local property owners. Is this what we want with more usage? To me it will fur- ther deteriorate one of the county's prized assets. It is difficult to try to cre- ate a recreational destination area in the middle of existing agricultural operations with- out impacting the landowners to a major degree. Other BLM projects of this nature are in more remote areas, which have minimal impact on neighbors and are not so close to local residents. This whole proposal is being pushed by the BLM to expand and build its own bureaucracy with increased staffing, equipment, perma- nent facilities and, above all else, salaries and benefits. This is an easy decision; leave it alone. Joe Public can use the land any time in its present condition without being interfered with by com- peting visitors or the BLM. Bert Owens, Red Bluff Tehama County should try this Editor: From the Dec. 18, 2009 Cal-Taxletter. El Dorado County supervi- sors, in a unanimous vote Dec. 15, approved implemen- tation of the county- option program allowing qualified seniors and disabled homeowners to transfer Proposition 13 base-year val- ues from other counties — propositions 90 and 110. Effective Feb. 15, people who are older than 55 or disabled and who move to El Dorado County and purchase a home of comparable value to, or less than, their old home can bring their former base-year value as their assessed value on the new home. County officials see the program as an economic stim- ulus program. It should stimu- late the real estate market in the county, as no other rural county offers this incentive. Supervisor John Knight said, "I'm looking at moving unsold (housing) inventory and having people spend money in El Dorado County." Opposition to the plan came from public employee groups that said there will be a loss of revenue. The opposition claim is predicated on the notion seniors will move to the coun- ty even without the incentive. Bill Blunt, Red Bluff Your Turn