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Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter
COMMUNITY
PE KS P EC T IVE
Wednesday, Oct. 26, 201 i
11B
Pearson has it wrong about job's plan
WHERE I STAND Alpine, 16.5 percent; Colusa,
............................................................................................................ 15.0 percent; Tehama, 14.4
LORI SIMPSON
PLUMAS COUNTY SUPERVISOR
I would like to respond to
B.J. Pearson's criticism of
the Plumas County Board of
Supervisors' lack of a "jobs
plan."
First off, I would.like to
correct the stated misleading
facts by Pearson of the Cur-
tent unemployment in
Plumas County. I receive a
monthly update from the Cal-
iforniaEmployment Develop-
ment Department {EDD), and
contrary to Pearson's state-
ment that unemployment
currently in Plumas County
is 19.9 percent, the statistic I
was sent by EDD Oct. 21 was
that in September 2011,
Plumas County unemploy-
ment rate was 13 percent.
I checked surrounding
counties: Sierra, 13.2 percent;
Lassen, 12.1 percent; Butte,
12.7 percent -- it appears that
we are all in the same ball
park, which is no means a
low number, but shows that
Plumas County is not out of
line of what our neighboring
counties are experiencing in
unemployment figures. I
checked other northern rural
counties also: Trinity, 16.1
percent; Siskiyou, 15.3 per-
" cent; Glenn, 14.3 percent;
percent; and Yuba, 18.1 per-
cent.
I can assure you that the
Plumas County Board of Su-
pervisors takes these num-
bers in unemployment seri-
ously. Jobs and economic de-
velopment are at the fore-
front of our major issues, just
like they are for every other
supervisor in the state of Cal-
ifornia, and every county su-
pervisor/commissioner in
the United States.
In March 2009, the first
year I took office, Sierra Pa-
cific Industries announced it
was shutting down its small
log mill. In a flurry of events,
I flew to Washington, D.C.,
for the first time .in my life
that same month and navi-
gated my way around the
city to meet with Sen. Fein-
stein's staff and Congress-
man McClintock in person to
discuss the small log mill clo-
sure in Quincy and the loss
of 150 jobs and the effect that
would have on an already
struggling rural county.
While I was in D.C., I had
the opportunity to attend a
session on economic develop-
ment at the National Associa-
tion of Counties Legislative
Conference, and I was
shocked by the massive at-
tendance of people at the
session, and the desperate
pleas from supervisors and
commissioners from across
the nation looking for some
relief to the economy and its
woes. Attracting large busi,
nesses was under discussion
and it was stressed that most
large companies will look at
transportation corridors,
available workforce and
serving large populous re-
gions before they move their
company to another location.
I thought about Plumas
County and what kind of
large businesses we could
reasonably expect to relocate
here.
Since I have been in office
the last three years, I have
found that people have differ-
ent ideas about how econom-
ic development should be
done.
In my opinion, I believe
that since our county is 70
percent federal lands, most
of our jobs should come from
work in the national forest
in various capacities like
thinning/logging, biomass,
road maintenance, trail
building and maintenance, •
and of course all of our won-
derful recreational opportu-
nities. There are pote.ntial
_ jobs in these with contracts
that would help in the short-
fall of the inevitable shrink-
ing budgets of the federal
government and get people
to work.
Plumas County supported
(and still does) the Herger-Fe-
instein Quincy Library
Group Forest Act that was
enacted in law in 1998. It has
a jobs plan, but unfortunate-
ly the plan has been. stymied
in ongoing litigation.
Our forests desperately
need restoration work and
that includes best practices
logging and thinning efforts
to keep our watershed
healthy and protect us from
wildfire. Plenty of jobs are
waiting to happen if we could
expedite the processes that
would allow the work to be
done.
[3 Speaking of water, Plumas
County supervisors continu-
ally work with other rural,
mountain, origin-of-water
counties to educate urban
counties on the importance
of a healthy watershed in
downstream delivery of wa-
ter for the people in the state
of California. Again, there
are plenty ofjoos waiting to
be created in this arena as
we work toward the future of
rural economies.
In this time of recession,
the discussion of economic
development is an interest-
ing and lively one for the
Board of Supervisors with
various groups forming and
agencies all stepping up to
the plate, offering help and
ideas to work on economic
development on various lev-
els, as well as those who have
years of experience in the
field. We have broadband go-
ing in that will help attract
businesses thanks to Plumas-
Sierra Rural Electric Cooper-
ative and partners, and
groups are working to get the
Johnsville Ski Hill running
again.
Tourism is another eco-
nomic driver in Plumas
County, and, yes, the Board
of Supervisors does know the
importance of it in our coun-
ty. Again, there has erupted
a larger discussion about
tourism, marketing, tran-
sient occupancy tax, lodging
providers, etc. -- about
where are we going with it
and who does what. I can
guarantee that tourism and
marketing efforts will be
here to stay and sufficiently
funded. We will not let it fail.
So what are the county su-
pervisors doing to provide
jobs and stimulate the econo-
my? Come to our meetings;
listen to our recorded board
minutes. In the last few
years, we have suspended
building impact fees to jump-
start construction in the
county. We have an almost
updated general plan with a
newly added economic devel-
opment element, we have
fought to keep federal stimu-
lus projects like the Nervino
Fire Station and Spanish
Creek Bridge projects to
• include local hiring. We con-
tinue to support efforts of
local economic development
providers to assist local busi-
nesses with their needs in
training and available funds.
We will work with Feather
River College to educate and
train for the future. We con-
tinue to work with our rural
supervisors, state officials
and federal representatives
to hear the needs of our rural
economies. We encourage
people to shop locally for
business vitality.
It is a tough time for every-
one, with the challenges we
are faced with on a daily ba-
sis, but there is an excite-
ment of the spouting of new
ideas and solutions coming
forth from the people of this
county. It is a time to listen,
to work with others, to move
onward. We have no choice
but to go forward with all the
resources and ideas we can
gather and implement them
in our county.
In the end nobody is going
to save us but ourselves, and
that is what people in rural
counties have done for gener-
ations.
Jobs responsibility,lies with people, not government
I STAND create new opportunities for
WHERE
............................................................................................................. economic growth that lead to
KEN DONNELL
ENTREPRENEUR AND
• SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
I agree with B.J. Pearson's
recent guest editorial that
much needs to be done about
job creation in Plumas Coun-
ty. But I disagree with Pear-
son's belief that it is the re-
sponsibility of Plumas Coun-
ty government to help create
such jobs:1 believe job cre-
ation is best accomplished by
small businesses and private
entrepreneurs. Every day, en-
trepreneurs take risks that
would be unthinkable for
most public agencies or
boards of directors. And
while entrepreneurs some-
times fail, enough succeed to
creation of local jobs.
I find it ironic that Pear- -
son, who professes to be "con-
servative," believes job cre-
ation is a responsibility of lo-
cal government, while I, a
supposed "liberal," sing the
praises of capitalism and free
enterprise. But such is the
twist of modern America.
The categories that once de-
fined and separated us are
rapidly blurring because we
are all concerned citizens
with a common goal: to res-
cue our government and
economy from forces that are
undermining American
democracy and freedom.
A huge step in this rescue
process is to face reality, and
accept the fact that the eco-
nomic bubble of post World
War II industrial America is
gone, forever. We will never
again be able to rely on cor-
porate or government benev-
olence to provide the wealth
and "cradle to grave" securi-
ty that many of us came to be-
lieve is our birthright. Yes,
many opportunities remain
to create a bright future for
ourselves and our children.
Such a future must be based
on frugality, smart work and
rebuilding the connections of
our local economies. But we
must first reclaim our indi-
vidual and collective confi-
dence to wisely use the re-
sources we do have available.
From my perspective there
are three primary areas of
new economic opportunity
available to Plumas County:
First, niche industries. The
Internet has made it possible
to market highly specialized
products fromanywhere in
the world to anywhere in the
whole world. Plus, many new
jobs can now be performed by
Internet workers living far
from the businesses and cus-
tomers served, creating the
potential for.niche services
industries in rural communi-
ties.
Second, products made of
wood. Like any "colonial
economy," we export our raw
material (wood) and import
our manufactured goods. We
could potentially have many
small artisan woodworking
industries, creating many
local jobs that add 4alue to
this raw material before it
leaves Plumas County. Sharp-
en your saw and chisels.
Three, local connections.
We need to make personal
investments of time and
money into our local commu-
nities, including staying ' "
home on weekends, eating
in local restaurants, attend-
ing local entertainments,
shopping more ith local ,
businesses, beco'ing in- " :
volved in local organizations
and creating a wider circle
of local friendships. Fortu-
nately, there are many local
people already doing this,
but we need many more
Plumas County citizens to
participate.
Most of all, we need faith
in our ability to succeed as
individuals, and as a commu-
nity. This is where the Board
of Supervisors could be a
great help -- setting a good
example of keeping a positive
attitude, spending our pre-
cious dollars carefully, prac-
ticing respectful cooperation,
encouraging local entrepre-
neurs and, whenever possi-
ble, helping local businesses
deal with regulat0y i s,s£r
But may we please stop
blaming the government
for all of our problems, and
look to ourselves for the solu-
tions. The more responsibili-
ty that we accept as individ-
ual citizens, the more free-
dom and economic security
we will someday collectively
achieve.
L E T T E R S T(.} ]..:i E D I TO R
Magician?
This letter is in reply to Mr,
Pearson's comments about
jobs for Plumas County. He
says the supervisors aren't do-
ing enough to "attract jobs."
With a nationwide unemploy-
ment rate of 16 percent (his
figure) the whole country is
trying to attract jobs.
Plumas County's unemploy-
ment rate has been rising
since 2006. It rose while he
was supervisor. From 2000 to
2009 the number of jobs fell by
16.6 percent. They fell while
he was supervisor.
When he ran for supervisor
he said he was forming a non-
profit corporation to attract
jobs. I wonder how it's doing.
I also wonder how many jobs
he attracted while supervisor
-- not enough apparently.
Mr. Pearson declines to
share his job attraction
scheme so we can't tell if it is
realistic.
Are the supervisors sup-
posed to pull jobs out of thin
air? These jobs won't come
from the state or federal gov-
ernments -- they're broke.
They won't come from the
railroad -- they eliminated
dozens of jobs. No jobs are to
be found in the timber indus-
try, sawmills, local hospitals
or schools, and they won't
come from the developers. In
2010 Plumas County issued 35
building permits.
It's unrealistic to expect
jobs to flock to a county that is
remote (gas is $4 a gallon), has
a five-month winter, a high
cost of Iiving and lacks a
skilled labor pool. We won't
mention a nationwide tight
credit market.
If Mr. Pearson is a magician
perhaps he can pull jobs out of
fantasyland, but the supervi-
sors are just hardworking
people trying to do the best
they can in a lousy situation
that is hurting the whole
country.
Mrs. Rose Pettit
Portola
Vital work
Thank you for the timely
editorial on the Plumas Coun-
ty Visitors Bureau ("Visitors
bureau proves its worth," Oct.
12) and the excellent example
of the vital work that only
they do.. Only the visitors bu-
reau has the stature and cred-
ibility to have feature articles
on visiting Plumas County
placed in major newspapers
in adjacent target markets in
California and Nevada. And
the visitors bureau is the only
institution in the county dedi-
cated to driving tourism to the
entire county and which con-
ducts useful market,research.
to produce an actionable and
effective marketing plan..Re-
tail sales, along with leisure
and hospitality, are the sec-
ond and third largest employ-
ers in the county (after local
government) so it is safe to
say that the bureau's work af-
fects the prosperity of nearly
every resident of Plumas
County.
I say "timely" because it is
clear from Feather Publish-
ing's recent coverage of
budget cuts to the bureau,
amounting to more than an
88 percent cut from its 2008
budget ("Strapped county to
spend.S78,000 on tourism,"
Sept. 21), that even some
of our county supervisors are
unable to appreciate and
differentiate the visitors
bureau's work from the
important but completely dif-
ferent missions and methods
of local arts organizations and
chambers of commerce. Un-
fortunately, it is their con-
stituents who lose the benefits
of the bureau's critical work
to foster tourism and econom-
ic development across the
county, who will suffer for it.
Drastically cutting funding
for the work of the Plumas
County V%itors Bureau, dur-
ing these perilous economic
times in particular, will mean
even fewer jobs and less mon-
ey in the future for already
hard-pressed Pluma.s County
workers.
Steve Shepherd
Clio
Appreciation
The Sierra Valley Grange
would like to express our ap-
)reciation for the great cover-
age of our Cowboy Poetry
show, which is our major
fundraiser for the Grange.
The Sierra Valley Grange was
established in 1931 and the
current building was con-
structed in 1934. The' Grange
is a national (1867) and state
agricultural institution and
community service organiza-
tion and everyone is eligible
to join. For contact informa-
tion: svcpoetry@yahoo.com.
Rich Moore
Master
Vinton
Pat on back
Students and participants of
the Portola High School home-
coming parade, give your-
selves a pat on the back.
It was so great to watch and
enjoy the beauty, service and
humor and all the cars.
Thanks to Beckwourth Fire
Department and the Forest
Service; sure did miss Portola
Fire Department.
The icing on the cake was
the band played for us in front
of our house.
And really got a kick out of
the marshmallow golfer!
Looking forward to next
year's clever ideas.
• Mrs. Carrie Vance
Portola
Slackers
Started to read your article
on the 99 percent "occupiers."
One thingI know, I am not
part of them! Neither are any
of the hardworking citizens of
the US of A! These slackers
need to get a job and join the
91 percent of Americans who
do work for a living. That
number is not 100 percent be-
cause these slackers' presi-
dent has done everything he
can to destroy our economy.
The so-calied 99 percent is re-
ally the 1 percent that has no
clue how to get a job or
thought they could get a job
that actually did not require
work, but paid top dollar. Af-
ter all, didn't they go to col-
lege?
David Lory
Quincy
Circular file
If the residents of Plumas
County want to save our hos-
pitals they will need to vote
for a Democratic candidate in
the November 2012 election.
At the recent public meet-
ing in Portola with Congress-
man McClintock's aide, Rocky
'Deal, he was given a message
to take back to McClintock
that he should not vote for the
proposed drastic cuts in
Medicare funding. We all
know where this request will
end up, in the circular file.
Republicans have done lit-
tle in the past to help the peo-
ple. They would love to cut or
eliminate Social Security and
Medicare. Their unfunded
prescription drug bill was a
benefit to seniors, but benefit-
ed the drug companies even
more. Their entire focus is on
millionaires and large corpo-
rations. If you can't make it
on your own, tough.
Norman Holmes
Portola
Infiltration
It was my intention to write
a letter warning the bank pro-
testors that they might be in-
filtrated by provocateurs
whenl lo and behold, I read
about Rome's peaceful demon-
strations having been taken
over by just such a group with
hoods and black clothing.
During the '60s, they infil-
trated a UCLA peaceful
demonstration plus many oth-
er peaceful student demon-
strations at other colleges.
They threw rocks, smashed
windows and created other
damage. A concerned citizens'
group, organized to help ghet-
to blacks after the violent
Watts riots, was infiltrated by
inciters twice that I know of
and soundly rebuffed both
times.
During the great Women's
lib march, some women un-
dermined their movement by
taking off their bras and
flaunting them. Out of the
tens of thousands of
marchers, those women-were
the ones featured on the
evening news.
America's present peaceful
protests have merit. I hope
they can be kept peaceful.
Protesters should be careful
not to let anyone be violent.
Violence only begets violence
and gives the police an excuse
to make arrests.
Salvatore Catalano
Taylorsville
Jobs, jobs, jobs
While multitudes are
protesting Wall Street eco-
nomics we should be focusing
on job creation and job reten-
tion in Plumas County. B.J.
Pearson was volunteering to
create a jobs plan. It is an in-
novative idea for the people of
Plumas County!
A jobs plan should be incor-
porated in the county's re-
vised general plan as part of
ongoing plans for economic
development. With our high
unemployment and our busi-
ness failures one would think
that any plan or desire to cre-
ate jobs would be welcome.
This is not true.
We are victims of Plumas
County politics and its status
quo. Its direction has led us
not only to job losses in the
private sector but losses in
the public sector. We have
pessimistic leaders that be-
lieve that jobs cannot be at-
tracted to Plumas County at
this time. We will never know
if we don't try.
Nonprofits were working
for economic development.
They were nearly completely
cut from the budget until a
last moment reprieve. Some
county employees consider
their benefits more important
than the jobs of their fellow
employees and neighbors.
See Letters, page 12B