Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/712491
I am writing this in the shelter of my son's Pennsylvania home while I listen to the thunder, watch lightning, and see the rain on Friday, July 29. Thehumidityisalmostun- bearable for this long time Red Bluff resident; when we encountered rain on our way to the store this morning, we could have used an exterior de- froster to keep the windshield clear between wiper sweeps. The Daily News app has al- lowed me to keep up with what is going on at home, and has given me some things to think about besides the Phil- adelphia follies, or the Demo- cratic Convention. When we left town the Board of Supervisors was con- sidering a compensation in- crease to put before us voters. We all know that our Board is the lowest compensated in the state, and the proposi- tion being kicked around be- fore I left was that their sal- ary be increased by $750 per month and that the salary be adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) thereafter for a specific period of time. That $750 would represent an increase of a little more than 70 percent over the $1045 they receive now. That $750 plus inflation would have been tacked on for four years, mak- ing the total package at least a 287 percent increase; appar- ently it would have applied to all incumbents. The vote was 3 to 2 to make this proposal an official ballot measure. Some pointed out that such an increase, although pos- sibly justified, might be dif- ficult to sell in light of the county's perpetual budgetary problems. This may have ei- ther embarrassed the Board or made them rethink their likelihood of passing any bal- lot measure involving money in Tehama County. According to the July 28 Daily News I read on line Thursday, July 28, that the Supervisors now were consid- ering revising that proposi- tion, I mean proposal, to an increase of just 230 percent between now and 2020. This was Bob Williams' brain- storm. The vote was unani- mous, which surprised me, and it would be reconsidered at their August 2 meeting. The Daily News headline indicated the Board was con- sidering a reduction in com- pensation: "Supes vote to lower compensation." The headline is misleading at best. Based on the DN report on this latest guffaw, the su- pervisors would only be in- creasing their compensation by $600 per month, or 20 percent less than originally proposed; however, that $600 would be tacked on each year until 2020, making the total increase $2,400 per month. The voters will likely not ap- prove this. The increase would put them in the same ballpark as several other rural counties. Unfortunately, I will be in the Philadelphia airport on August 2 when the supervi- sors will be discussing this some more. I read that Suran Patel, a City Council member was de- tained as he was either go- ing on vacation or fleeing the country, depending on whom you believe. Patel was ap- pointed to the Red Bluff City Council in late 2104 by a vote of 3 to 1. Patel faces a variety of charges. He allegedly stiffed the City on a lot of the Tran- sient Occupancy Taxes he col- lected while running Ameri- ca's Best Value Inn; he is also accused of violating Worker's Compensation Insurance rules and erroneously charging an elderly guest $6,000 while she stayed at his establishment. A best value for him? I wonder if Council mem- ber, former County Sheriff, and now Mayor Clay Parker had an inkling about Patel when he cast the lone "nay" vote in accepting Patel onto the Council? City Manager and Attor- ney Rick Crabtree, never one for exaggeration or overstate- ment, thought the City might have to improve its audit- ing procedures. You think? He might also have said the vetting process for candi- dates applying for vacancies could be improved; perhaps the current Mayor, with his law enforcement background, could help train the rest of the Council. Patel allegedly moved away from town some time ago, and with the change in res- idence is no longer eligible to serve on City Council. It would be interesting to know when the move was made, when Crabtree was aware of it, and why no vacancy on he Council was posted. Local intrigue is always the best. I had planned to write about the DNC in Philadelphia, but even before the convention started events got in the way. I am reminded of the 1966 movie, The Russians are Com- ing, The Russians Are Coming. The movie was a comedic ad- venture with Alan Arkin and Carl Reiner; it involved a Rus- sian submarine grounded off a small New England town. In trying to avoid a world class incident the crew of the sub- marine pretends to be Norwe- gian, much as Russia now pre- tends its athletes are really drug free. If you are into conspiracy theories, and enjoy making up fantasies, current events have provided all the ingre- dients for a great story. Con- sider these items: Edward Snowden is in Russian; he has publicly stated he doesn't like Hillary Clinton; Vladi- mir Putin, the one with the large hands and small hair, has praised Donald Trump; Trump, the one with the small hands and big hair has praised Putin; Freudians might say he expressed Pu- tin envy. Trump has also said he might allow for the Rus- sian theft of the Crimea from Ukraine. Although we haven't seen his taxes, he has admit- ted significant business deal- ings in Russia, and heavy Russian investments in his enterprises. None of those Russians have admitted any connection to Trump Univer- sity. Let your imagination go from there. Next week I will talk about the Fantasies in Philly. I look forward to the rela- tively sane humidity of home. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop Intrigue, local and beyond Cartoonist's take Thankstowriterofcolumn Editor: I would like to thank you for printing Jim Wilson's God Talk column in the Satur- day, July 30 issue of the Daily News and a big hooray to Jim Wilson for having written the column. Very straight forward, very informative and our commu- nity would be well served if all our schools would have all stu- dents of an appropriate grade level read this column. — Robert Meurer, Red Bluff Khan family's grief misplaced Editor: Obama and Hillary caused the death of many families like the Khans' son by arm- ing ISIS in Iraq. A new re- port from a prominent hu- man rights group has found that ISIS has built a substan- tial arsenal, including U.S. made weapons obtained from the Iraqi army and Syrian op- position groups armed by the Obama administration. Amnesty International's 44- page report, released July 25, found that much of ISIS' equip- ment and munitions comes from stockpiles captured from the U.S. allied Iraqi military and Syrian rebels. Hillary has stooped to lower depths now using the Khan family to attack Trump. Trump wants to stop the in- sanity in Washington that caused American weapons to fall into the hands of ISIS in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Nige- ria — Boko Haram has killed more than ISIS in North Af- rica alone. Many like the Khans' son have been killed by ISIS armed with American weap- ons supplied by Obama and Hillary Clinton for Christ's sake. Also, Trump had noth- ing to do with the Iraq and Syrian wars — Hillary is up to her eyeballs in it. — Laurence D'Alberti, Red Bluff Media needs to focus on issues Editor: How do we get the media, including newspapers, to just cover the issues. Whether Mi- chelle Obama and Melania Trump used the same words to say the same thing doesn't mean a damn thing to me. It doesn't surprise me either. "Work hard for what you want in life; your word is your bond so do what you say your go- ing to do; treat others with re- spect." My mother would have plagiarized the Bible with the phrase, "Do onto others as you would have them do unto you." Quite honestly, if I were asked to write down my own values the aforementioned words would surely have ended up on the page. The media is doing us a dis- service. The head of the FBI says, Hillary did nothing il- legal with e-mails; but being a Republican he just had to add that she was "sloppy." And that becomes the whole story. We are in 2016 faced with the most fouled up presiden- tial race I have ever seen. To be perfectly honest I don't like either of these can- didates, but I know that one of them is going to be president of the United States. Can we just stick to the is- sues and see if we can make that person the one that will do the least harm. Then when we see the damage we've done to our country, we can start looking for someone we can elect in 2020 who will be hon- est with us and straighten out the mess we will have created. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Democratic National Convention Editor: I watched the opening of the Democratic National Con- vention. I liked Michelle Obama's comment about the White House being built with slave labor, yet there's now a black President living in it. Senator Elizabeth Warren's Trump attack was so slanted I found it incredible. Bernie Sanders' speech would have been extremely re- spectable and convincing were it not so unrealistic. He went on and on about all the great things government was going to do for the people, but didn't indicate how it was going to be paid for. Democrats in general seem to be all about doing all kinds of wonderful things for every and any person that reaches out for it, including illegal im- migrants, but never offer a plan for how it will be paid for. I did appreciate Sanders stating the injustice of 1/10 of 1% of Americans owning as much wealth as the bottom 90%, and the gap being worse now than since 1928. Sanders is good at identifying prob- lems. He just alarms me at his solutions: spend more money — go into more debt. Trump I think has a bet- ter grasp of practical reality, and his enormous wealth is proof he knows how to use it to achieve goals. Albeit, much of his wealth has been accrued through manipulating artifi- cial, governmental systems. I also don't like his "new" view on abortion, but the sig- nificance of that issue is small potatoes compared to immi- gration. Whether his resolutions to build a wall between Mex- ico and the U.S. and to de- port millions of Mexicans are realistic or not, I appreciate his acknowledgement that il- legal immigration is a prob- lem and his resolve to stop it — that's the important thing. One thing's for sure, immi- gration and crime and debt and inflation and cultural ero- sion and overpopulation and all the other social problems that accompany immigration aren't going to be slowed by a President that states in his or her campaign that he or she will welcome immigrants with open arms. What that indicates to me is they're either oblivious to real- ity or willing to sell their soul to get elected. Either way, they shouldn't be President. — Nathan Esplanade, Rancho Tehama Control and freedom Editor: Control, guns, weapons, water, illegal immigration, healthcare, electronic devices, cell and smart phones, seat belts, drones and more require personal responsibility for compliance. What about freedom and liberty? How well do you cope with psychological warfare? Who controls what, when, where and how? — Steve Kelsey, Corning Letters to the editor This may have either embarrassed the Board or made them rethink their likelihood of passing any ballot measure involving money in Tehama County. Sounding off Alookatwhatreadersaresayingincommentsonourwebsiteandonsocialmedia. Volcanicsulferpools.Greatvisit,notas many tourists. Jeanie Kowatsch: On the centennial celebration set for today at Lassen Park There were lots more dropped off this week at the preschool. Also a bunch of school supplies to fill them. Tehama County kids are going to be so happy. Way to go Matilyn. Michele Richey Harbaugh: On a donation of kids backpacks to the Back to School Project Greg Stevens, 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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, August 6, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5