Dam Road artery is clogged and dangerous
When I stand at Dam Road and Highway 53 during peak hours watching and praying for after-school traffic and after- work shoppers, it is obvious that the traffic artery is close to being clogged and is dangerous. How can patrol cars coming from the courthouse hurry to a call? Cars back up near gridlock at times all the way from the new highway to Ray”s/Wal-Mart. And, going the other way, it can back up to the middle school and 20 cars going the other way towards the proposed “Mobinsalia project.”
True, some of the people moving to those homes may not decide to use Dam Road after work, to do shopping, but if they are going to Yuba classes or to pick up children after school, they may have to wait for two stoplight changes to make a left turn from new Highway 53 onto the already clogged battle zone between Jack in the Box and Carl”s Jr.
Accidents are already happening. When I stand there, I see young girls screaming at drivers to let them cross at the crosswalks. The drivers are already checking for eight lanes of merging traffic. Are we willing to risk the lives of our children as they walk home from school for an increased tax base? Maybe the city wants to fork over another half a million or so for more stop lights at Dam Road? I thought we were broke. We don”t need another thousand people on our roads.
I”m saying this because I was at a meeting where a well-placed city administrator said Provinsalia people would not use Dam Road to go to work and that anyone who said otherwise was not telling the truth. I think some Provinsalians may use that road for other purposes. This isn”t just an environmental issue, but a public safety issue.
Ed Christwitz
Clearlake
Democracy lost at Provinsalia hearing
At the Thursday, Feb. 26, hearing on the proposed Provinsalia subdivision the democratic process ran head on into the mayor and councilors of the City of Clearlake, and democracy lost.
The specific events that occurred during this bizarre meeting have been thoroughly reported, but the issue — which now goes well beyond mere environmental havoc and fiscal improbability — can be summarized very quickly. By unreasonably restricting the public”s right to comment on a duly noticed agenda item, Mayor Chuck Leonard, with the implicit concurrence of Councilors Judy Thein and Curt Giambruno, prevented effective public participation in public affairs.
Besides being in contravention of the Brown Act and therefore subject to reversal by the courts, this behavior deprived the city of an important opportunity to benefit from the wisdom of its citizens, displayed a contempt for the electorate that cannot be tolerated in a democracy, and transgressed the fundamental principles of our system of government.
The public whose trust was profaned must, and shall, seek redress. Several courses of action are apparent, including a petition to recall the errant councilors, a complaint to the Grand Jury and Attorney General seeking invalidation of council votes tainted by Brown Act violations, and an appeal to the courts to reverse the certification of the palpably inadequate Provinsalia Environmental Impact Report. It is my understanding that the machinery has started to roll on all three.
Victoria Brandon
Lower Lake
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