Who ensures our rights?
By Jim Henderson ?letters to the editor
I would like, from the onset, to pose a few questions for Record-Bee readers. Concerning yours and my rights – Is it really a right if I have to ask for it, and more, after having to ask for it, being denied? I don”t believe it is.
If one makes charges against government employees and their superiors that in turn becomes a conspiracy on their part to deny, delay and thereby abridge the right to petition this government under the First Amendment of our Constitution ? Is that justice? Who, then, ensures our rights, if not those who govern?
This local government presumes powers not granted under the Constitution or by the oath they took. To say that I”m upset would be an understatement. I have spent years to garner the ears of any who would listen and then be given only excuses that they are not responsible.
The charges I have laid at the courthouse door are that those in this government lied and then covered up the lies. Now, even after seven years, no true investigation has been done.
It all began when I had the misfortune of hiring a contractor who failed to work up to the established code. When he refused to respond to my phone calls I turned to the county department that had inspected and passed his work. What ensued was a county employee who, from the start, covered up for the inspector who passed the work and, likewise, that individual”s supervisor.
This would, as time progressed, involve many people within our county government. All of them used an assortment of excuses for why it was not their responsibility. I was told it was a personnel matter and that it did not conform to the rules, regulations or procedures of their department. Their oath was superseded by these excuses. With the help from the state, our home was made to conform to code. The contractor lost his license, but the county has yet to address my right for the petitioning of a grievance under the First Amendment of our Constitution.
Even if I was the town clown or the village idiot, serious charges against those in this government whose job it is to handle them, should have done so. Charge me with perjury if I am the liar, and if not, hold those that I accuse accountable.
If I might, the words of Abraham Lincoln come to mind. He said, “It is as much the duty of government to render prompt justice against itself, in favor of the citizen, as it is to administer the same between private individuals.” This is lost on most in that courthouse.
With your indulgence, as this comes to a close, please let me also recall the words of Benjamin Franklin. He stated, “Grievances cannot be redressed unless they are known and they cannot be known but through complaints and petitions. If they are deemed affronts and the messengers punished as offenders, who will henceforth send petitions?”
I am not a malcontent. I love my country. I believe in the rule of law and that justice should prevail. But, that”s not what has happened here in Lake County. It”s been a long, hard lesson to learn.
Jim Henderson is a retired longtime resident of Lakeport.
