Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/743319
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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Intheearly1980s,theNationalRifleAssocia- tion visited my office on the 4th floor of the capitol building in Sacramento to express their extreme disappointment at a surprise vote I cast. Theywerealsoupsetata speech I made a couple days earlier on the floor of the Cal- ifornia Assem- bly. A Democrat and good friend of mine, Assem- blyman Lloyd Connelly of Sac- ramento, had in- troduced a pro- posal that would require an online "criminal check" before allow- ing the purchase of a gun. To- day, at least three decades later, getting an online criminal check is easy and fast, but it has also become a bone of con- tention between Hillary Clin- ton and Donald Trump. At the time of Connelly's pro- posal I had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. I am a big supporter of America's 2nd Amendment, but I don't con- sider myself a gun nut. I still have a magnum 273 pistol that my son gave me as a birthday present. Now, Los Angeles and its City Council has approved an ordinance disallowing any weapon clip holding more than 10 bullets. Also, a California legislator has introduced a pro- posal that makes it against the law to take a gun of any kind onto the grounds of a grammar school. Both good proposals, but what good will they do? Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law the bulk of the gun control legislation that passed both houses and made it to his desk. Many citizens this year fear the 2nd Amendment protecting your right to have a gun could be badly eroded if Hillary Clin- ton becomes our 45th Presi- dent. She would then have the authority to appoint up to two or more liberals to the United States Supreme Court. There are already more guns in America than there are peo- ple. I don't believe the issue of gun control will ever be solved. When I rose to speak on Connelly's bill I can still re- member ending my presenta- tion by saying something like; "If you must have a gun imme- diately, maybe you are the per- son who should not be able to buy one. The next thing I sup- pose gun lovers will desire is to have a bazooka in every home. Please vote aye for this online criminal check." I had not told the NRA of my support in advance. Earlier in my legislative ca- reer I even found myself on a plane going to Washington, D.C. with former State Senator Bill Richardson. He was the man who founded the California's Gun Owners Association. The organization had contributed to my first election in 1976 to the California Assembly. Bill is a very nice guy, but pretty much what I and we in the legislature called a one is- sue man. Sometimes, just sometimes mind you, my col- leagues and I would even jok- ingly call Bill Senator Bang Bang. However, I would enjoy reading your opinion on man- datory online criminal checks before one can purchase the weapon of their choice. Bottom line: I think the is- sue of guns and gun control will never go away. It is that just kind of issue. Mytakeonthemovies I recommend Jason Statham and Jessica Alba in "Mechanic: Resurrection." This film is riveting and un- believable. Jason becomes even better than Bond, James Bond that is. If you dislike gun con- trol you will see lots of gun ac- tion in this film. It is a clever movie that is full of substance too. And, for- tunately does not always dis- solve into special effects. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. Stan Statham My take on gun control If you must have a gun immediately, maybe you are the person who should not be able to buy one. The next thing I suppose gun lovers will desire is to have a bazooka in every home. No vote urged on Measure M Editor: The Tehama County Demo- cratic Central Committee met on Oct. 20. During the meet- ing, the following motion was made on Tehama County's bal- lot Measure M. "The Tehama County Dem- ocratic Central Committee op- poses Measure M until rank and file county employees re- ceive fair salary increases and no county employee earns less than minimum wage." This motion was passed unanimously by the voting members attending the meet- ing. Submitted as chairwoman of the committee. — Judy Turner, Red Bluff Supervisors raise not tied to county employees' pay Editor: As a member of the Yes on Measure M Committee I feel compelled to address an issue that I've heard from some peo- ple regarding the increase in the Board of Supervisors salary. That issue is that the super- visors' increase would some- how mean that the county em- ployees and the sheriff's de- partment would not get raises. The two issues are totally sep- arate and one does not affect the other. County employees' associa- tion representatives are in dis- cussion with the board and the County Administrator in an effort to bring their sala- ries and benefits to a compa- rable wage with surrounding counties. We understand their con- cerns over loosing employees to neighboring counties and hope agreement can be made. However, I can guarantee that no county employee is cur- rently being paid a salary that was established three decades ago, as is the case with the su- pervisors. So why shouldn't our supervisors be paid a compara- ble salary to other counties as well? Also, keep in mind that any increase for county employees, which is a total of 850 employ- ees, will likely cost the county tax payers hundreds of thou- sands of dollars, or more. But with only five Supervisors, the monthly increase of $600 will amount to only $36,000 per year — a drop in the bucket. And the charter amendment will not allow any tax increase to pay these supervisors in- crease. With an increase in sal- ary, we expect to see more peo- ple being able to afford to run for the office, giving Tehama County voters more choices. And that's good for all of us. To examine more on this is- sue, read the Argument in the Voter's Pamphlet. — John Ward, Red Bluff Supervisors pay update long overdue Editor: I have lived in Corning for over 50 years and never once submitted a letter to the edi- tor to the Red Bluff Daily News. But, I have something impor- tant to say. It is my hope that the citizens of Tehama County will get out and vote on Nov. 8 and I would like to share some information regarding Measure M. Measure M is our chance to get the Tehama County Super- visors a long overdue raise. It's been over 30 years since their compensation has changed. They make about $1,054 a month. Thirty years ago that was a good wage for part-time work. But, the county has grown so much in 30 years that those po- sitions have become full-time jobs. I feel the benefits to passing Measure M are that it provides a gradual increase that will be easy on the county budget. No county taxes will be increased by the passing of Measure M. No future salary increases shall be granted except by the vote of the people. Additionally, Mea- sure M will help voters to have a larger pool of candidates. Our county has the low- est supervisor compensation of all of California's 58 coun- ties. Measure M proposes a $600 per month increase for the next four years to each su- pervisor. After 30 years without a raise, it's the right thing to do. — Deb Taylor, Corning Clinton a hypocrite; county spending out of hand Editor: In today's edition the I say column written by Robert Minch follows his usual rant of support for the Clintons. My question, is there a partic- ular reason it was next to the "What hypocrisy smells like" column? It sounds like fact finding. While on the subject of hy- pocrisy, I have wondered why a $6 million library? Why a $25 million courthouse? What is the percentage of residents in Tehama County using either one? It takes years to get a crimi- nal through the system. Having served on two grand juries and a few regular juries there is so much superfluous BS involved and allowed most jurists do not want to serve. Have any taxpayers of Te- hama County given any thought to the salaries paid to local city and county employees. Some are near or above what the Gov- ernor of California is paid. This disparity is asinine and totally unfair to those on lower wages in this county. It is my feeling the Board of Supervisors are low paid mainly due to decisions made by them that voters do not agree with, so maybe all wage raises need to be voted on by taxpayers. — William Hendrix, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take It's been almost three months since I retired. So far I haven't missed work a bit. Of course, the fact that I had only been work- ing half time for the past two years made it some- what anticlimac- tic. All I had to do was pretend Mon- day was Thursday and nothing had changed. And once Thursday ac- tually rolled around, it was defi- nitely business as usual. But I'm also the kind of per- son who acclimates quickly to change. Maybe it's because I live in the present. I don't worry about the future or waste time analyzing the past. There's plenty to do in the here and now, believe me. I had done some signifi- cant research on what kinds of things I could do before I pulled the plug. My wife had appar- ently hoped for unlimited days of painting, staining, fixing and other chores. When I was a teen- ager back East, the first thing a man did when he retired was to start paneling every interior wall of his house. When he fin- ished he was lost. I had some- thing more in mind. Besides, procrastination is the retiree's friend. There is always "tomor- row" to get the chores done. Having an opportunity to write a regular column again was a completely unexpected pleasure, and it certainly takes up a small bit of space every week. And if you have been reading my columns, you'll al- ready know that I do an hour walk almost every day. I had planned on resuming weight training three days a week but that has yet to materialize. I have been fortunate in find- ing some rewarding volunteer work. These activities have wid- ened the circle of people I know within the community. It's nice having these fine folks in my life, if only a few times a month or so. Being a volunteer means commitments to be kept, so ev- ery week there are always one or two things on my calendar. Hav- ing absolutely nothing to do but chores every day would become rather dull, even outside in such a beautiful area. I volunteered to assist at a new-student orientation at a local university. I spoke with a number of young men and women who were embarking upon their re- spective journeys into higher ed- ucation. I met dozens of students, siblings and parents and it was truly an uplifting experience for me. They were all so polite and friendly, and quite enthusiastic about starting college. I sensed a bit of anxiety in some about leav- ing home, which was refreshing as it demonstrated a vulnerabil- ity we don't often see in young people in the media. The cooler mornings and un- seasonably early rain have made me modify my porch time. I had gotten used to communing with nature as I gradually be- came caffeinated in my rocking chair in the mornings. It isn't as much fun springing out of bed at 6:30 when it still looks like 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. Of course, the end of daylight sav- ings time is just around the cor- ner, although the trade-off will be an earlier sunset. A good thing about not work- ing is that I have all day to en- joy the sunshine, and no longer bemoan the fact that it's dark when I get home from work. Since I don't work anymore, I don't have to leave. And since my wife gets off early, we can share a couple of hours of sun- shine every day. Retirement, like most things in life, is not exactly what I ex- pected. But so far the experience has been good, except for the growing old part — but we won't go there. At least not today. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He recently retired from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@ gmail.com. Corky Pickering Retirement — three months and counting; so far, so good Corky Pickering Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, October 27, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4