By Russell Cremer ? Letters to the editor
Herb Gura”s letter to the Record-Bee last week seems to be a continuation of his inaccurate comments of the previous week.
To begin with, prior to the Feb. 12 Clearlake City Council meeting the agenda was clearly posted and was in the newspaper. When the public comment period began, Mayor Leonard asked that anyone who wished to speak stand along the wall near the podium. A number of people did. When nobody remained standing, Mayor Leonard, seeing no one else waiting to speak, asked for a motion to close the public comments period, then closed it only after there were no other people standing up wishing to offer comments. Everyone who wished to speak had an opportunity to do so. If anyone missed that opportunity, it was there own failing, not the council”s. Mr. Gura, being a member of the KUSD board should understand how meeting procedures work.
To comment on some of Mr. Gura”s past statements, he has written about an adverse effect on our schools from the development. These include the purported need to construct another school campus due to the potential influx of 500 new students and the traffic on Lake Street near Lower Lake Elementary and high school. Heavy traffic during the periods when classes are beginning or letting out is a fact of life here in Lake County as it is in most other areas. To put this on a housing development is ludicrous. In recent days we have all been hearing about the closure of Oak Hill School as a cost saving measure due to the economic crisis. No doubt the economic crisis has had a devastating effect on our school funding. However, you don”t hear much about the declining enrollment in the Konocti Unified School District. It is my understanding enrollments are down more than 400 students. Given this fact, Mr. Gura should be welcoming Provinsalia and its potential 500 new students rather than complaining about a new $25,000,000 school campus that he states will be required. Mr. Gura”s argument is without merit.
Russell Cremer
Clearlake
