Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/7921
4A – Daily News – Monday, March 15, 2010 It was a week of dabbling in local and state politics through can- didate appearances at various events. An odd way to spend time in March, but it's an election year and candidates are happy to show up anywhere. Fire up a grill from now until election day and see who appears. Barbara Alby, candidate for Board of Equalization, District 2, gave quite a talk to the Redding Tea Party Patriots. It was informa- tive, biographical and even inspira- tional at times. On a personal level, she overcame numerous chal- lenges and obstacles as a child and young adult, some self-imposed like most of us. One interesting vignette: she was a single mother on welfare when then-Gov. Ronald Reagan was instrumental in making cuts to the program. It was a hardship, which she resented. After pulling her life together, starting a business and getting married to someone that didn't abuse her, she eventual- ly realized that losing welfare ben- efits was the best thing that could have happened to her. As an elected Assembly repre- sentative, she once gave a debate- stopping testimonial about it over some bill before the body. The lib- eral, dependency-promoting Democrats had nothing to say to top that. We owe Megan's Law to her, as well as other measures to help protect women and girls in school, according to her campaign material. The Board of Equalization, by the way, is not some obscure, innocuous panel, but wields more power than the legislature over your tax burden. She explained that lawmakers authorize taxes, but the Board formulates the actual lan- guage implementing the fees and penalties. If you get audited and are assessed back taxes, you must plead for relief or mercy from the Board of Equalization. The current make-up of the five-member Board is three Democrats to two Republicans, so the 2nd District seat (the eastern part of California from Oregon to Mexico) carries a responsibility to those of us in Republican territory. I'll let readers know if other candi- dates make any local appearances. Tehama County Tea Party Patri- ots hosted folks running for Trea- surer and Tax Collector, Supervi- sor for District 3 and Governor. It was much to Treasurer Dana Hollmer's credit to show up and speak to us as she is running unop- posed and the office doesn't readi- ly lend itself to probing or insight- ful questions. She's a very gracious woman to have given us her time. Mr. Melvin Freimuth is running for the District 3 Supervisor seat being vacated by retiring Charles Willard. He read, from a prepared statement, his goals for the posi- tion; I'm sure we'll hear more about those but he emphasized bet- ter law enforcement for the area. His personal history and accom- plishments were very impressive and I'm sure he'll be sharing those with voters also. While a representative for gubernatorial candidate Meg Whit- man was a no-show, another Republican candidate, Mr. Ken Miller — not the Ken Miller run- ning for Tehama County District Attorney — did make an appear- ance, staying for almost an hour and a half. He came across, in his presentation and respons- es to questions, as an uncomplicated and hon- est conservative. Whether the issue was illegal aliens, producing the energy California needs from offshore drilling and nuclear power, reducing spend- ing to balance the budget or providing water for farmers – his positions struck this observer as just the fresh air of lead- ership needed in Sacra- mento. If elected, I think he would be a political 9.5 on the Richter scale in that town. All he needs to compete with his well- heeled competitors is for every Republican to contribute $10 or $20 to his campaign. Capping the candidate-palooza last week was an appearance by former Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa (now running for a Cali- fornia Senate seat) before the Tehama County Republican Women Federated. While it did not make the news pages, it was refreshing to once again have our voice-in-Sacramento sharing his values, perspective and accom- plishments, in his warm and under- stated way. His wife and little twin girls completed the family tableau and reinforced why he does what he does: to leave a better California for the next generation. Departing briefly from local themes, I must dispute an Ipsos- McClatchy (I-M) health care poll in last Tuesday's paper. It pur- ported to show, by cleverly combining those in favor with those "who don't think the proposals go far enough," that 59 per- cent of Americans "favor" the health care bills in Congress. That is a disingenuous manipulation of data since polls asking about single-payer type health care show little support. Go online to Pollster.com and you'll find every poll ever done. Those like the I-M poll that survey "adults," con- sistently show higher support than those, like the highly accurate Rasmussen polls, that survey only "likely vot- ers," and find solid majorities opposing the bills. Others, like the Associated Press-GfK poll, achieve results slanted more favorably toward the bills by "over sampling" Democ- rats, polling more than what party identification warrants. Such are examples of news media advanc- ing an agenda rather than provid- ing unbiased information. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com. Putting the local in elective politics Commentary 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. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. 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 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 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 Don Polson The way I see it Tehama County District Attor- ney Gregg Cohen announced last week that he will not be filing any charges against former Juvenile Justice Center employees accused of allowing inmate abuses. These allegations were made by former employee Barry Clausen and backed by former Interim Chief Probation Officer Renny Noll, who told the Daily News he would have sought criminal charges for unspecified actions. A district attorney investigation of Clausen's allegations began in March 2009 at the request of Chief Probation Officer Dan Emry, after which Probation Officer Alicia Allen, Counselor Melissa Lynn Jones and Emry himself all resigned. After publishing his con- cerns about the lack of action on his claims and discussing them with Jones, Clausen was allegedly attacked by her at gun point last May. This case is presently await- ing trial. Sheriff Clay Parker's office handled the investigation up until potential evidence was turned over to the Department of Justice. He confirmed an object had been sent for testing but would not reveal any details. It is thought the item might back the allegations of an unnamed former probation officer who was accused by another for- mer probation officer of "inappro- priate conduct" with a female ward. The sheriff recently told the Daily News that, "We followed up any and all leads that we received, we contacted and interviewed all suspects and witnesses, we col- lected and analyzed any and all evidence, and put it all together in an investigative report." The contents of this report remain unknown as so far the DA has only provided the public with his opinion that nothing in the investigations suggest probation employees were responsible for criminal activity, save for that unnamed piece of "potential evi- dence" sent to the Department of Justice. On March 2, the depart- ment returned its test results, which did not substantiate those allegations, Cohen said. Conse- quently the DA decided that his office will not be filing on this matter and will now close the year-long investigation. Chief Probation Officer Richard Muench said he sees the results of the investigation as a chance to start with a clean slate and rebuild his office's public image. "I'm glad to hear that there's no evidence of wrongdoing by current employees," he said. "It is time to reestablish community trust, and at the same time to honor the probation employees that con- tinue to provide public service." It would seem to those with objective minds that there may be a conflict of interest here, with both the DA and the sheriff seek- ing re-election. The allegations were made against a sister county depart- ment and evidence of wrongdoing might adversely affect their chances at the polls. This entire investiga- tion should have been conducted by an exter- nal agency such as the State Patrol or another county to set aside any question of bias in the investigation or deter- mination of whether to file charges. While I appreciate the present chief proba- tion officer's desire to start with a clean slate, the employees alleged to be associated with these charges have already resigned to permit him to start anew. What remains now are concerns about the actions or lack of actions by the district attorney and sheriff's offices responsible for credibly investigat- ing and enforcing possible wrong- doing by his department that pre- ceded his tenure. Mr. Cohen's and Sheriff Park- er's opinions on this matter are specious unless buttressed with facts pertaining to the basis for their conclusions. If secrecy is nec- essary to protect the confidence of their sources or sensitive informa- tion, then the investiga- tive report should be reviewed by indepen- dent authorities to insure its sufficiency and objectivity. Any- thing less will leave the public with lingering doubt whether the find- ings are an attempt by the DA and sheriff to wash their hands of this dirty episode to improve their chances of re-elec- tion. In the absence of supporting facts or an independent assessment of their findings it would be wise for the voters of Tehama Coun- ty to seriously ponder whether to support their candida- cies. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired research engineer specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. He has travelled extensively and now makes his home in Los Molinos, where he is striving to manifest a sustainable and spiritual lifestyle. He can be reached at living-green@att.net. Concern about justice center conduct Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point