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June 22, 2011
 
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Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter Wednesday, June 221 2011 11B COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE County, "districts need better relationship WHERE I STAND LARRY WALKER PLUMAS COUNTY SPECIAL DISTRICTS ASSOCIATION Plumas County Board of Supervisors: We, the Plumas County Spe- cial Districts Association, .are writing to you to tell you of our reaction to the recent board agenda item of April 19. ! am speaking of our resolu- tion on a master tax sharing agreement. We feel lack of action in passing this resolution and not providing any suggestions as to how we might proceedin the future was a missed op- portunity. As we have previ- ously stated, it would have helped greatly to build a bet- ter relationship with your special districts. You had an opportunity to show support and give incentive for the spe- cial districts of the county to continue providing vital, ex- cellent services now and in the future. While failing to provide that incentive, you continue to ask the special districts to provide crucial services to your coun- ty residents. You want them to help with a countywide fire protection plan. You want them to annex properties that could be as much as 22 per- cent of the county that is presently not in a fire district. You want them to annex and consolidate as necessary to make the service provision more efficient and take the burden off the county. And you want them to join LAFCo, pay one-third of the LAFCo budget and take on mote of the burden for future develop- ment in the county.. Why should the special dis- tricts do all this with little co- operation or support from the county? At our quarterly member- ship meeting May 25, we had a lengthy discussion about the tax sharing agreement and about the benefits and liabilities of the special dis- tricts joining LAFCo. our feel- ing at this time is that we are unsure how a vote to join LAF- Co would go right now. What was clear in our meeting is that some kind of tax revenue sharing agreement or policy is crucial to that decision. We are unclear why the master tax sharing agreement resolution of April 19 wasn't passed. There were some non- specific comments from your board that the resolution was "too vague" and that a "one size fits all" solution was not acceptable. One board member stated that maybe an individual ne- gotiation on each annexation is a good thing. You also ap- parently didn't like sharing any future tax revenue ,ith enterprise districts because they "can assess" their resi- dents as necessary to cover their costs. We wonder why you would put the district, your staff and yourselves through that process when the recent nego- tiations have shown that the 7 percent we have asked for is generally in the area of what has been negotiated anyway. We're obviously not asking for anything that is out of the ordinary. In fact, it's well known that the 7 percent will not support any annexation. You have repeatedly demand- ed that the annexing district will further assess the resi- dents to finish covering the costs of services to be provid- ed. And our resolution pro- vides for that. As far as the enterprise dis- tricts are concerned, the coun- ty administrator asked at that meeting why we thought dis- tricts other than fire should share the tax increment. Our answer is that all districts provide vital services and should not be excluded from their tax money. The reason that enterprise districts should share is that they must presently assess to the full ex- tent they need to cover costs. That is the case even though the tax revenue that is at stake here is their con- stituents' tax money as well. What should also be kept in mind is that special districts other than those that provide fire protection will eldom have the opportunity or need to annex. Therefore, there would be very little of this tax revenue that would go to oth- er than fire districts. As we discuss this issue, we are all well aware that there is virtually no money to be shared at this time. We would not anticipate much revenue from this agreement for at least the next several years, maybe longer. During that pe- riod you will probably have occasion to ask the special dis- tricts to help with some situa- tion where you need their as- sistance. A good working rela- tionship will be very valuable at those times. We suggest that a good question you might ask of the county auditor is what this agreement might cost the county over the next several years. We believe it would be minimal. When and ffgrowth and development returns to Plumas County, we all would benefit at that time since we are only talking about new revenue to the county. That is when you will expect the dis- tricts to assist in that develop- ment. We are hopeful that the Board of Supervisors gives se- rious consideration to this is- sue. Some form of agreement or even some alternatives that can be discussed would be very helpful. Possibly some agreements that are drafted more specifically to different districts would be worthy of discussion. We would appreci- ate having this issue returned to the board agenda soon. We do not want this very impor- tant discussion to end before some agreement is reached. If you have questions, please feel free to contact any mem- ber of our board of directors. L E T T E R S I :l: H E E D I T 0 R Justice for Dallas On Sunday, June 12, I let my son's dog Dallas out to do his business. Dallas started run- ning off, in the direction of Bucks Lake Road from Silver Creek Road. About 45 minutes later my son Jason came out to our house. When I asked him if he had seen Dallas he replied he's right on the porch. I then went out to get him. t petted him and when I was done, I noticed I had blood on my hand. I looked on his side and noticed a hole in the front of his rear leg on the right side. I asked Jason to help me to see if we could find out what had happened. Realizing that he may have been shot, I called my other son, Glen (owner of Dallas). I told him what had happened. When Glen got home, he took the dog with him to Quin- cy to his girlfriend's house. Around 8:15 Dallas threw up. Glen got concerned and called Indian Valley Animal Hospi- tal. The vet said to keep a close watch on him and unless he got worse he would see him first thing Monday morning. After taking him to the vet he was in critical condition, losing a lot of blood. He was put on IVs to help him with surgery and 120 sutures. He was in the vet's office until Wednesday. He's doing better. I really have a hard time un- derstanding the heinous ac- tions of the individual who shot him. I have since put out the word to residents, even the Sheriff's Office, about keeping an eye on their dogs, because if we hadn't acted quickly Dallas would be gone. We now have a $1,500 vet bill thanks to someone without a conscience. Rayna Hermo Meadow Valley Someone's pet More and more reports are coming in about local dogs be- ing shot. These reports can be found in the Sheriff's Blotter in our newspaper, so it's noth- ing new. We've known about these shootings for over a year, when sweet Molly was shot and killed. The thing that the Sheriff's Blotter cannot report is about the effect of injuries and death of pets on their owners. If a dog lives through surgery, the owner is faced with a large vet bill. If the dog doesn't live through surgery or is killed immediately, it is devastating to the owner. This recently happened to a dog owner in Meadow Valley. His dog had been shot, and he brought it to the vet for surgery. The dog didn't sur- vive the surgery. I was an ob- server, hearing about all the events second-hand. I can't tell you how much grief the owner displayed; it was hard to watch. It is hard to understand why anyone would needlessly shoot a pet. Maybe the dog has been barking or been allowed to wander into others' yards. Maybe it's just an insensitive person out to target practice. Shots fired from pellet or real guns are deadly, not just a toy. Please remember that it's not just a dog being shot, it's someone's pet. If anyone has information about who is doing the shoot- ings, or why these shootings are occurring, please let the Sheriffs Office know. Linda McDermott Quincy Royal treatment Can we fix public service to be for the people? Another fi- asco took place in Portola's City Hall! City Council re- ceived a public outcry over rate increases and still don't get it. The county's supervi- sors are prepared to make cuts. Their employees are working to save money and taking on extra responsibili- ties. Plumas County residents are living through a financial crunch that threatens our communities' sustainability. The royal treatment of gov- ernment employees has be- come city policy. The public outcry resulted in the city manager taking paid medical leave for stress. City Council's termination of Mr. Murphy's option is giving him $108,189 in severance pay for the city to be "without Jim." His "without Jim" option has put an extra burden on the remaining staff. He led the public to believe that he was requesting early retirement to save two staff positions and balance the budget. He could have quit or worked to the end of his contract. These "with- out Jim" options would have been much cheaper or benefi- cial to a city in transition! We need to change city poli- cies to work for the public's benefit not just benefits for public servants. Jim is off for fun and frolic while others are working for their communi- ty's best interests. He has just put another one over on the council. Change in pension and health care plans need to be changed as well as con- tract.s. The city may be better off without his philosophy and his policies which have in- creased the public's cost of services. During his 14-year reign, we have had negative growth, jobs lost, numerous business closures and devel- opment delayed. We have had dynamic economic growth in the expense of government and its operation. Thanks go to Councilman Weaver who voted in the pub- lic's interest. He was the mi- nority. Larry F: Douglas Portola Pay as you go Response to letter June 15 "Calm Down": Social Security is a "pay as you go" fund. There is no sur- plus because this FICA money taken out of workers pay goes directly into the General Fund. Social Security and Medicare are paid out of spe- cial accounts in the govern- ment's General Fund. It's very complex and I went online to research the Social Security Fund. There are many, many sites with tons of information. I'm sure the library has as much information too. In 1977 Carter and Congress increased the HCA amount to be paid in because it was hav- ing problems then. When the economy is not doing well (as then and now) there are less workers to pay into SS. When Roosevelt started SS in 1935 there were about 40 workers contribu0ng for one person's benefit, today that ra- tio is 3 to 1. Early on there may have been a "surplus," but our government has bor- rowed this surplus for a long time and now can't pay it back because the country is too deep in debt. That's why SS payments have not had "cost of living" increases in the last two years and probably won't next year. If there was an "ex- pending surplus" we should have gotten our COL increase of 3 percent. Lyndon Johnson started Medicare in 1965. That $96 monthly ileduction is just SS - money going back to the gov- ernment. Believe me, I wish there was a speci.al fund set aside for just us retired folk that is nev: er touched and grows and grows, but in reality our gov- ernment "borrows" from it all the time. And the country can't even pay the interest on the debt. The latest figures show that if our economy doesn't grow substantially, SS will be de- pleted in 2042. And raising taxes isn't the answer. Cutting the government's waste is what is needed. Putting more money into a system that spends more than it takes in has never worked. The prob- lem is government spending. Gayle Higgins Quincy Case dismissed Your article last week about the East Quincy Services Dis- trict more properly should have appeared on the editorial page rather than on the front page of the paper, which is theoretically reserved for fac- tual news stories. To write an article about a subject where the "facts" only come from one partisan source is clearly not objective news reporting but opinion. It is as ifa person was on trial and that person's attorney said, My client is in- nocent, and everyone else said, Well so he it. Case dis- missed. Perhaps a follow-up story that involves more fact-find- ing from a variety of sources would merit front-page place- ment in another issue. Ruth Jackson Quincy Takes offer In reply to the letter from Dr. Trent Saxton in the June 8 edition: Though I'm not a socialist, my political and social views are somewhat left-of-center. I!li take your offer under con- sideration. I'll be happy to take any Subaru station wagon you can legally find for me; I'll be hap- py to trade you my Chevy pickup, but you can't have my Toyota SUV. However, I was also curious about what make of SUV, pickup or oversize luxury car you own and dri- ve? Likely from one of the American Big Three automak- ers? With a Ford you might be OK because I think they turned down, or recently paid back, federal loans. With Chrysler, they needed a large loan in the '80s, that was paid back, but in the last decade I think their finances are a bit shaky. Now with General Mo- tors, the size of the loan was enormous; in fact, the federal government owns a signifi- cant share of that company. Doesn't that fall under the def- inition of"socialism"? Please remember that even though portions of the bailout were completed after Jan. 20, 2009, the mortgage crisis that necessitated the bailout was in 2007. Can you go back in "your history" and tell us who was in the White House at that time? You might also want to check to see if the bank that fi- nanced your vehicle needed a little help during the Great Re- cession. While you are at it, you might want to investigate your insurance company also; any former CEOs that hap- pened to get a bonus in the month or two after their com- pany needed federal help to re- main solvent? Gene Nielsen Crescent Mills Diatribe Wow, I pushed some tough love buttons with the progres- sive "entitlement" crowd. This week at plumasnews.com The most read stories on our website for the past week were: "A Few Brews & A Banjo" "Crawdad festival in Quincy" "Fishing Report" "A view of one's own: Black Mountain Lookout open for rental" They just can't stand free speech coming from conserva- tives. Suddenly, I am un- American for expressing the truth. Want to really make a liberal uncomfortable, give them the facts. FYI, I write this diatribe be- cause I have (humbly) devel- oped a rather extensive, like - minded fan club. Supporters I have never met call or write with their accolades. My thanks to all of you ... even the "Subaru" car owners. I enjoy holding up a "mir- ror" to the face of a socialist. For liberals "facts" (lacking in their early childhood develop- ment) are an epiphany. Exam- ple: a known fact to real Americans, health care is not guaranteed in the Constitu- tion, nor will it ever be. Life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- piness is in the Preamble. This does not mean "We the People" must "pay" for a liber- al's "educationally chal- lenged" interpretation of the Constitution. Look socialists, here we are again -- same paper, same dis- cussion, going nowhere fast. Each of us are bound and de- termined to defeat the other's beliefs and you can't handle "rejection." So, face it, we have irreconcilable differ- ences, we need to go our sepa- rate ways. Hard facts: libs deny hating people, until you put them in a crowd of unionized libs and then you have "power haters." They also hate anyone that doesn't want "change"; yet I believe the '50s were the best years for this country. Known fact, socialists want to be cared for by their gov- ernment while constitutional conservatives do not wish to be "talked" to death on this moot point. Last fact: We will never see eye to eye, you can have the "blue" states, we'll keep our hard-earned money and move to red states. Conservatives don't share your dreams of a utopia; we will enjoy doing without you. Dr. Trent Saxton Lake Davis United we stand How pathetic that there is what appears to me to be bick- ering and apathy amongst us. This is just what the powers that be want! We must all unite as merely the people, no party differences, or we will never defeat this corruption and greed that runs rampant throughout the land. United we stand has more meaning now than ever be- fore. The same is true for We the People! This all struck me while reading letters to editor! Rick Masters Chester TALK, from page lOB indescribable and more powerful than man, mankind or any- thing we will ever invent or imagine. How do you talk about that? Plus, we like the feeling of divinity the way we've come to know it. We like being able to grasp in our mind or heart the all-powerful quality of the divine. It helps us make sense of our human frailty. So, it's understandable that being approached in conversa- tion with the god-topic, one likely feels, "Please don't talk about it too differently than I usually do, or I'U feel like you're not my people, and I really like you at this point, and I'd be sad to turn my emotions away from you." It is a fact, though, that we do each talk to ourselves about divinity with radically different sets of nouns and verbs, so different in some cases that there is no overlap. Some of us have an affinity for angels. Others dig Gala. Crystals satisfy some people. Long ago, Zeus was all the rage. How, then, do we talk to each other if we have such differ- ent ways of describing life? Do we even need to? I think, yes, definitely, yes. We need to talk. We need to talk because when we can't talk, we suffer those wretched, awkward silences, those imprisoning, self-imposed censorship regula- tions. Those perverse pauses ruin otherwise great conversa- tions. Besides, not talking keeps us from knowing each other. How, then, do we talk? By expanding our language and learning to translate. Hippies. Sufi seekers. Taoists. Christians. These are nouns. They are just names, just sounds that fleshy lingual organs emit. Religions all use different lexicons to converse about the almighty forces that rule the universe. But the divinity which we all seek to be close to is the same divinity which Job and Abraham grappled with. It's hard for us to switch back and forth between language sets and still feel the divinity we are trying to talk about. It's safer to censor the mind, lock tight the mouth and halt the disturbing words, "What do you mean? I'd like to understand what you mean." It may be we lack enough genuine interest to bother break- ing the silence. Admittedly, it feels, at first, like a betrayal to accept different words, somebody else's words, for things one holds dear. But they are just words. I'll take words over that awful silence any day. * I assume, in this essay, that the reader knows divinity. That's something about which to ask me, "What do you mean by that?"