Discrimination is motivated by social status, not race
Page Davis is new in town. So she may not realize that while her experience with Clearlake Police is typical, it is not racially motivated.
Clearlake is controlled by real estate interests. Those interests have waged war on the poor, their homes and their lifestyles (OPERATION: Clean Up Clearlake). Since the chief of police owns a real estate empire himself some officers may have deduced that is the side they should be on. But in all fairness, the sheriff”s department follows similar policies against income groups that make up a majority of Lake County.
It used to be common for the crowd that hangs around the chamber of commerce, service clubs and planning commissions to openly make comments about “getting rid of the poor” before this honesty became politically untenable.
In the short run, the poor are most vulnerable through their cars.
Anyone seen driving an older (what Ms. Davis might call “classic”) car puts the low-income response team on alert and subjects the car”s driver and occupants to the most draconian treatment for the most minor and sometimes fabricated infractions.
I personally know of and have heard many anguished stories while driving a cab from the victims of this class war. The individuals trying to put their shattered lives back together are almost always white. I”ve also noticed that the same officers” names keep popping up as perpetrators of the most egregious behaviors against our citizens.
Probably the most effective course of action toward reestablishing a professional police force in Clearlake would be to put the current candidates running for city council on notice that you expect the next chief of police to be a full time administrator that makes the training and auditing of officers a priority.
Dante DeAmicis
Clearlake
Pray for peace on Sept. 30
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi
If any dream could be real, most of us could agree that world peace would be at the center of that dream. My name is Bill Masters. I live in Long Beach, California, and I have this same dream. I also believe that when two or more people come together, in agreement, the power behind that dream grows, as a community, upon and within that dream.
Let peace begin with me.
30 Minutes For Peace is a movement of intention, connecting, collectively with one goal: to bring peace into our minds and hearts and in this world we”ve created. At 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Saturday, Sept. 30, I am asking that you join me in prayer, meditation or journaling for one sole purpose 9 peace.
Will you join me in prayer, meditation or journaling, on Sept. 30? Will you help me spread the word?
From all that I have within me I believe that peace is our greatest comfort within ourselves and our creator. As we watch a new agenda, for a global community, rise from the ashes of fear, we will embrace a new beginning for those that walk the path we have already paved, and know they will walk peacefully.
Bill Masters
Long Beach
Let”s form building co-ops to construct electric vehicles
There is much new technology coming along that will make electric vehicles a no-brainer, such as carrying your own fuel supply in a cartridge of zinc slurry to plug into a converter while the vehicle is running to constantly charge the battery. No heavy load of batteries are needed, the conversion process produces no pollution and the residue is 90 percent recyclable. Pick-up cartridges anywhere and exchange the spent ones for the new ones.
My dream for the Middletown area/Lake County is to start cooperatives that any county resident can own shares in and participate in if they so choose. This co-op could build asembly buildings near county high schools to assemble electric vehicles (all the parts are available in this country) and convert old and new autos from combustion engines to electric powered. Is there anyone out there with knowledge of forming a co-op who would like to take the lead on this or assist in getting one or more co-ops started? County land could be offered and made a partner to this venture, although some people are repulsed by the county getting involved.
People have stated they want more vocational training for our kids, for those who will or will not go to college when leaving high school. We do need kids who want to stay in our communities but don”t have the necessary training to perform the jobs that pay a living wage. After all, who will be our mechanics, our plumbers, our electricians, our handypersons, our entrepreneurs and those who assist and work for them? There are ROP funds available to schools for vocational training. Teachers could bring their students to the co-ops to learn about assembling electric autos to start. Whatever moneys the co-op can pay these high school kids could be given half as cash and half as owned shares in the co-op. Maybe a lot of our kids won”t have to leave town to get a job, also low cost starter homes could be built ($25,000 and up) to give further incentive for these young adults to remain in the town they”ve grown to like or love.
Are there any reasons why this dream can”t come about? Are there any devil”s advocates out there who are willing to respond to this letter? Any supporters? Maybe a group such as the Middletown Luncheon Club, which has the clout, could make some or all of this dream happen. Or is this just a bedroom community that is growing more so as the old-timers are transitioning to another space?
I read somewhere there is a company converting old and new cars from combustion engines to total electric with a guaranteed 100-mile charge for only $8,000. Any info on this?
Bob Brown
Middletown
Supervisor”s behavior was as unwise as discourteous
At its Tuesday, Sept. 5 meeting, the Lake County Board of Supervisors took some sensible temporary steps to address the looming water emergency in Spring Valley. In an area where capacity is commonly stretched to the limits throughout the summer, leaks are said to be rife, a few thirsty users consume up to a hundred times the water needed by an average household and new houses sprout up constantly, adopting an “Urgency Ordinance” might have been a wise course of action even without a power failure pumping crisis during July”s killer heat wave.
The ultimate decision to impose a moratorium on new hookups until reasonable plans for capacity expansion have been devised, ban the use of public water for filling swimming pools and hot tubs and dramatically increase the surcharge for water usage over a basic 600 cubic feet monthly allotment, seems fair and prudent.
Supervisors Farrington”s and Smith”s contributions to the outcome were both particularly valuable. On the other hand District 3 Supervisor Gary Lewis”s decision to wait until I had left the podium before taking issue with remarks made on behalf of the Sierra Club Lake Group resulted in a misrepresentation of our views while precluding the dialog that normally occurs during board meetings. For example, mention of the inadequacy of the Spring Valley access road did not refer to sharp curves or potholes, but to obvious landslides both above and below the highway, with boulders the size of boxcars poised to come hurtling down on the roadbed, and, more generally, to the folly of allowing dense residential development in an isolated valley with only one way in or out.
Given the audible enthusiasm with which a roomful of District 3 residents received Sierra Club comments, his behavior may prove to be as unwise as it was discourteous.
Victoria Brandon
Chair, Sierra Club Lake Group
Vote No on Proposition 90
You may be confused on how to vote on Proposition 90 as we near the November Ballot deadline. Please be sure to read it thoroughly, including the fine print. Fine print, by its very nature, has become a deterrent to most of us, since by the time we reach it, our attention span has been depleted.
As a homeowner in one of the many mobile home parks in Lake County, I strongly suggest you read the pros and cons with great care. Just as in most propositions put before the voters by the “politicians,” there are usually the hidden phrases and agendas to deceive the voter.
These propositions are written by experts who are practiced and educated in the art of the English language, and they know that most of us are taken in by words that seem to say what we would like them to say. Do not be deceived. This Proposition 90 is baited with references to Eminent Domain and the protection of the homeowner, which is what they would like you to think.
Actually, hidden in the fine print if one takes the time to read it 9 and most of us are too confused by the time we reach it 9 it does not refer to Eminent Domain and would have a huge impact on the California taxpayer. It would enable real estate investors and large corporations, many of which are out of state, to drain the state by claiming that the law harmed the value of their investment and the California taxpayer would be the scape goat.
Proposition 90 is written to “trap” the California taxpayer big time. Vote no, no, no!
Irma Lee Alexander
Lakeport
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