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Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter Wednesday, July 6, 2011 9B
COMMUNITY
PERSPE CTIVE
Californians celebrate fieedom from higher taxes
WHERE I STAND nearly doubling the state's al-
............................................................................................................. ready high vehicle license
STATE SENATOR TED GAINES fee, and lowering the depen-
As Californians celebrated
our nation's independence
and the freedom that we all
cherish, we also celebrated
another gift of freedom over
the holiday weekend -- taxes
went down. Gov. Brown at
least temporarily abandoned
his crusade for increased
taxes and agreed to a budget
that, while far from perfect,
respects the hard-working
families of our state.
Two years ago, despite my
loud objections, the Legisla-
ture crafted a budget deal
that attacked taxpayers from
every side, raising the sales
and personal income taxes,
dent credit allowed on state
income taxes. These increas-
es were to expire after two
years unless the voters
agreed to extend them in a
special election.
In May 2009, when voters
had the opportunity to weigh
in with their opinions, every
single county -- even the
vastly left-leaning Bay Area
counties -- said "no," send-
ing what should have been a
clear signal to every Califor-
nia politician and pundit.
With that overwhelming
electoral loss still close in the
rearview mirror and unem-
ployment running close to 12
percent, it's unfathomable
that anyone would think that
extending the higher taxes is
an acceptable answer to the
state's budget crisis. Unfortu-
nately, the governor and
legislative Democrats offered
the same unimaginative
solution they offer to every
challenge faced by the state
-- more taxes. In this case,
$58 billion more in taxes over
five years.
I did not support the initial
tax increase and I did not
support any budget proposal
that depended on tax exten-
sions. With the remaining
tax extensions that expired
July 1, we will start to undo
some of the damage done to
families and employers over
the past two years.
The dependent tax credit
returned to $309 per child, up
from the punitive $99 of the
past two years. The state sales
tax went down 1 percent. The
vehicle license fee dropped
from 1.15 percent of a car's
value to 0.65 percent. The
personal income tax increase
had already temporarily
expired after two tax cycles.
All told, this reduction in
tax rates will save California
taxpayers almost $6 billion a
year or approximately $1200
per family.
Lower taxes are expected to
stimulate consumer demand
for big-ticket items such as
automobiles, which, in turn,
,will help businesses profit
and expand in our state.
If California is ever to
escape the budget crisis
cycle, we will not do it
through higher taxes. We will
not do it by making it harder
to raise a family in our state
or by making it more difficult
to start and run a business.
We will only grow our way
out of our problems. And as
Winston Churchill once said,
trying to tax your way to
prosperity is like standing in
a bucket and trying to lift
yourself up by the handle. It
is self-defeating.
We should celebrate this
victory, but it's not a time to
rest. California's tax picture
began to improve a little July
1, but we are improving on
what is still the 49th worst
tax climate in the country.
We still have work to do if
we are going to provide the
incentives for entrepreneurs
to start their businesses here
and create private sector
jobs. I am going to continue
to push for lower taxes and
simpler, less burdensome
regulations to let employers
know that California is open
for business.
I hope you were able to
enjoy the Independence Day
weekend, and enjoy the fact
that for once, California taxes
are heading in the right
direction.
Senator Ted Gaines represents
the 1st Senate District, which in-
cludes all or parts of Alpine,
Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado,
Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada,
Placer, Plurnas, Sacramento
and Sierra counties.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Guidelines for Letters
All letters must contain an
address and a phone number.
We publish only one letter per
week, per person and only
one letter per person, per
month regarding the same
subject. We do not publish
third-party, anonymous, or
open letters. Letters must be
limited to a maximum of 300
words. The editor will cut any
letter in excess of 300 words.
The deadline is Friday at 3
p.m. (Deadlines may change
due to holidays.) Letters may
be taken to any of Feather
Publishing's offices, sent via
fax to 283-3952, or e-mailed to
mail@plumasnews.com.
Clarifications
We at FRC appreciate
your reporting on the cost
overruns of our library
construction project. Overall,
the reporting has been
thorough and fair. Given the
complexity, however, a few
misstatements were bound to
creep in. I offer a couple of
clarifications.
"Although the college
thought it would save money
by acting as its own general
contractor, the move left it
responsible for other costs."
Actually, the cost overruns
had no direct connection
with the college acting as
general contractor. The multi-
prime arrangement simply
opened us up to greater
potential for inappropriate
bids -- which have indeed
increased costs.
"There was no separate
project accounting beyond
(Facilities Director Nick)
Boyd's updates." Actually,
the facilities department kept
a separate spreadsheet on the
project, and reconciled
figures monthly with what
was in the college's general
ledger. Moreover, the state
reimbursement requests re-
quired monthly comparisons
of ongoing costs with the
state allocation for each
portion of the project. What
did not occur was formal
monthly financial reports to
the trustees, as noted. We
have corrected this for the
future.
• "Delay in discovering the
overruns did not allow
trustees an opportunity to
find savings elsewhere in the
project." As the article noted,
we did forego nonessential
features, such as landscaping
(actually, we have stopped all
nonessentials). The state-
ment implies, however, that
if the overruns had been dis-
covered earlier, there would
have been other choices, and
this is not the case.
If we had been aware over
a year ago that the overruns
would be so large, the district
could have stopped the pro-
ject, leaving a foundation and
no building. That would have
been the only realistic
choice. Moreover, the state-
ment conflates the account-
ing error that obscured the
size of the overruns, with the
discovery of the overruns
generally. The accounting er-
ror only obscured a portion
of the overruns, not the fact
that there were overruns. We
knew much earlier that there
was going to be an overage,
and we were discussing this.
Ultimately, the accounting
error, and any lapses in com-
munication or understand-
ing, did not cause the cost
overruns. The costs were
what they were, and would
only have been avoided by
not finishing the building,
or by selecting different
contractors in the first place
and discovering different
soils conditions (and other,
similar details of construc-
tion as noted).
It is also worth pointing
out that the FRCCD trustees
and their administration
were responsible stewards
of the public's money on
this project. The fact that
there has been a significant
overage should not obscure
the fact that there have been
no inappropriate expenses,
and that every viable ingle to
keep costs down has been
pursued.
Again, I want to thank you
for your responsible coverage
of college issues.
Ron Taylor
SuperintendentPresident
Feather River College
'Civfllty'
Dirty, rotten, no good #@*!
Whatever happened to
civility? You remember-
when we read our history,
knew our subject and debated
the pros and cons with
confidence and actual facts.
When we had intelligent and
informed exchanges of ideas
and opinions.
Today's exchanges are like
an argument on the play-
ground -- did the runner
touch base? "Did, too! .... Did
not!" Did, too! .... Did not!"
Whoever shouts the loudest
wins. Really?
We've lost civility in our
discourse: being polite and
courteous, respectful and
considerate, gracious and
willing to discuss.
News is presented in sound
bites meant to incite discord.
TV moderators give three
guests 15 seconds to answer a
complicated question and
they end up talking over each
other, interrupting others to
make their point. Magazines
and users of the Internet use
vitriol and raw language
to instigate dissension and
hostility.
Name calling has become
an art. Add to that people
making assumptions because
they don't understand their
subject, and you've got the
recipe for more anger and
fear mongering.
Where does it end? Actually,
with each of us. My morn
always said, "If you can't
say something nice, don't
say anything at all."
Not that everything you
said had to please everyone.
She meant that whatever
you had to say could be said
with civility -- firmly and
passionately certainly, but
not destructive.
So. Do we continue to
yell hate-filled epithets, call
people names when we don't
even know them, shout
the loudest to prove we're
"right," use sarcasm to
berate others, try to goad
each other into uncivil
behavior?
Or do we learn the facts,
know our subject, form an in-
telligent opinion, and express
our views with good manners
and respect for others?
Which approach are you
teaching your children and
on what path will that lead
them?
Lynn Desjardin
Portola
Corrected
To my learned friends
Dr. Heaney, Andy Johnson,
I suggest that you both
continue your study of the
Constitution.
You are correct that I wrote
"or the pursuit of happiness."
I intended to write "or prop-
erty." I was thinking about
one item and writing about
another knowing they were
indeed terms used in our
Constitution and not in the
"Preamble to the Constitu-
tion." In my zeal to express a
point I used "The Preamble
to the Constitution." I did so
innocently.
So that you understand,
I must correct your error,
gentlemen. You both men-
tioned that "Life .... Liberty"
do not appear in the Pre-
amble (true) or the Constitu-
tion 'anywhere." The Fifth
Amendment and 14th Amend-
ment to the United States
Constitution declare that
governments cannot deprive
any person of "life, liberty,
or property" without due
process of law. Those terms
are indeed in our Constitu-
tion.
Thanks for being aware,
getting it corrected and
teaching others.
Dr. Trent Saxton
Lake Davis
Lead by example
In his recent "diatribe" Dr.
Trent Saxton seems to call for
the division of the United
States into red and blue
states. Even a moment's
thought shows just how
ridiculous his ideas are.
Imagine upwards of 100 mil-
lion Americans on the move
from red to blue and blue to
red. Perhaps the good doctor
envisions a gigantic govern-
ment database that would
match reds in blue states
with blues in red states so
they could just swap their
homes and jobs and call it
even. How many people does
he think would go for that? I
blieve a better alternative
would be to learn to live
together civilly and to re-
solve our differences without
resorting to diatribes, innu-
endo, half truths and name
calling.
If he believes what he says
and practices what he
preaches, perhaps Dr. Saxton
will tell those of us staying
behind when he's going to
pack up his "hard earned"
belongings and lead his
"rather extensive, like-
minded fan club" out of the
wilderness of true blue
California and into the
promised land of a red state
like Alabama or Arkansas.
After all, real leaders lead by
examPle. My own guess is
that The Rapture will have
come and gone long before
Dr. Saxton and his band of
disciples ever get to Border-
town. But then, one can
always hope.
Bob Kimberling
Portola
Alumni give back
First of all congratulations
to the two Chester High
School seniors who received
the $400 scholarships, Claire
Bryant and Kalynn Sherod. I
wish we could have given all
graduates a $400 scholarship.
I am somewhat saddened
that it was never mentioned
that D0nnie Miller (class of
'57) gave back $250 of his $500
winnings to the scholarship
fund. Furthermore, Lorena
Lowe (Freemyers) (class of
'56) did an awful lot of work
behind the scenes. Lorena,
being the wonderful person
that she is and always has
been, does not consider it
work.
Last, but not least, while
everybody was enjoying a
refreshment of their choice,
the wonderful and capable
secretary of Chester High
School, Cheryl Henry, whom
I recruited to help me, she
had no choice, worked hard
to make up more tickets
for the scholarship fund
drawing.
It's a shame how quickly
we forget when we get old.
The good Lord willing, see
you in 2013.
Semper Fi.
Guenther Griebau
Class of '56
San Bernardino
Eliminate CAO
I agree with last week's
editorial. It would be a shame
to cut all furtding for Plumas
Arts and the Plumas County
Visitors Bureau. It may save
money in the near future, but
in the long run, will hurt our
county coffers.
It was not so long ago,
just a few years actually, that
the Board af Supervisors
managed Plumas County
business by relying on the
department heads, both
appointed and elected. There
was no need for a county
administrative officer (CAO).
If the BOS wished to save
$279,000 a year, they should
consider eliminating this
office/position, and return to
managing the county as be-
fore. Too many county offices
are understaffed and our
services are suffering. The
CAO's duties could be done
by the Board of Supervisors.
That's why we elected our
supervisors, to manage the
county's business. This
action should be seriously
considered.
Michael Beatley
Meadow Valley
For the love of a town
I was fortunate to have
grown up in Quincy. My
childhood was glorious. Like
many, I left soon after gradu-
ating from high school.
Twenty-five years later I
was homesick and started
making more regular visits
to Quincy. For a few days at a
time I could forget that I had
ever left.
Lately it has been increas-
ingly painful for me to visit. I
see the changes that have
taken place. There are so
many empty storefronts, few
people and children on the
streets, or at the creek.
Where are the children of
Quincy?
I began to wonder about
the children of Quincy. I
thought of all of the children
and families I grew up with
and the many who have
moved on. I wojadered what
they would think, if they
could see what I was seeing.
Would their hearts break as
mine was breaking? Would
they care?
Hoping to inspire folks
to return to Quincy to enjoy
its beauty and support the
struggling economy, I started
a Facebook group of former
and current Quincy people.
The response of the group
has been an outpouring of
positive energy and willing-
ness to help. People have set
aside their differences and
united on a solid common
ground -- their love of a
town.
I have been inspired to
make every purchase I can
in Quincy, and I pledge to
organize future town reunion
events and volunteer work-
days. I can only begin to
imagine what might be
possible if everyone got in-
volved and did just a little
to help. Remember that
generosity is measured not
by how much you give, but
by how much of what you
have you choose to give. No
gesture is too small to be in-
significant or unappreciated.
Together we can make a
difference.
Deb Hopkins
San Francisco
Handout or helping hand?
Local investment is the
best way to sustain our local
businesses and rebuild our
local economy. Businesses
are closing to cut their losses,
or relocating for greener pas-
tures. The state of California,
its counties and cities need
reformation.
The city of Portola has the
potential to provide a greener
pasture for businesses if
its city council would get
its head out of the manure
and take the first steps to
think like entrepreneurs.
They need to cut the cost of
operations and work on
the community's vision.
They need to reform their
municipal code.
Eastern Plumas Health
Care is essential for commu-
nity and economic develop-
ment. Their CEO asked the
city for help by asking
the city to consider buying
property for less than half of
what they paid. It is a golden
opportunity for a win-win
deal for both our hospital and
our city. The 35-acre parcel
was zoned light industrial.
The first overall land
use goal in the city's general
plan is the following: "Pro-
vide land uses that expand
employment, education,
recreation and cultural
opportunities for residents.
Reinforce Portola as the com-
mercial and service center
for eastern Plumas County."
The city has expanded
recreation and cultural
opportunities for residents
but has failed miserably in
its other goals for community
and economic development.
EPHC is asking for reinforce-
ment as our medical service
center and a major employer
in eastern Plumas County.
They are not looking .for a
handout, just a helping hand.
Community and economic
development within the city
limits must become the
primary goal of our elected
officials. Community devel-
opment grant funds should be
sought for more than just our
streetscape project. It is a
good first step for economic
recovery. Community leaders
and citizens are getting
involved in the operations
and management of water
and sewer services on the ad
hoc committee. It is another
good first step.
Larry F. Douglas
Portola
Contact your elected officials...
PLUMAS COUNTY SUPERVISORS - 520 Main Street, Room 309, Quinc;
!CA 95971; (530) 283-6170; FAX: (530) 283-6288; E-Mail:
pcbs@countyofplumas.com. Individual supervisors can also be
e-mailed from links on the county website, countyofplumas.com
PRESIDENT - Barack Obama, the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW Washington, D.C. 20500. (202) 456-1414. Fax: 202456-2461.
E-maih whitehouse.gov/contact/
U.S. SENATOR - Dianne Feinstein (D), 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg.,
Washington, D.C. 20510. (202) 224-3841; FAX: 202-228-3954; TFY/TDD: (202)
224-2501. District Office: One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104;
Phone: (415) 393-0707; Fax: (415) 393-0710 Website: feinstein.senate.gov.
U.S. SENATOR - Barbara Boxer D). District Office: 501 I St., Suite 7-600,
Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 448-2787; FAX (916) 448-2563; OR 112 Hart
Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510. (202) 224-3553. FAX (202) 228-0454.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 4TH DIST. - Tom McClintock. 508 CannonHOB,
Washington, D.C. 20515. (202) 225-2511; FAX (202) 225-5444.
mcclintock.house.gov. DISTRICT OFFICE: 8700 Auburn Folson Rd., Suite
#100, Granite Bay, CA 95746; (916) 786-5560, FAX: (916) 786-6364.
STATE SENATOR, 1st DIST. - Ted Gaines. State Capitol, Room 3056,
Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 651-4001, FAX: (916) 324-2680. Roseville office:
2140 Professional Dr., #140, Roseville, CA, 95661. (916) 783-8232, FAX (916)
783-5487; Jackson office: 33 C Broadwa) Jackson, CA 95642, (209) 22,3-9140.
STATE ASSEMBLYMAN, 3RD DIST. - Dan Logue, State Capitol,
Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 319-2003; FAX (916) 319-2103.
District Office, 1550 Humboldt Rd., Ste. #4, Chico, CA 95928; (530) 895-4217,
FAX (530) 895-4219.
GOVERNOR Jerry Brown, office of the Governor,
Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814. Website: gov.ca.gov/
(916) 445-2841. FAX: (916) 558-3160.
State