Sorry to see that our “Save the Lake” measure did not pass. The voters of Lake County have an excellent memory. They remember over the years when measures were passed for any type of tax or additional money there was talk this way today and a different reality once they had the money in their hand. Lake County is just like Washington, D.C. and Sacramento – it is not really trusted by the voters when it comes to allowing money to be spent the way the voters voted. Everything becomes a county bureaucracy and money goes for another department, more department heads, more employees and in the end it is about more big government.
The lake belongs to the tax payers of Lake County, and everybody in Lake County has a benefit one way or the other, regardless of what kind of business you are in – whether you are a fisherman, a water company using water from the lake and selling to the public or recreation, the lake is a necessity to all of us.
I think I have a solution to the problem. We already have a water resources department, we have boats, plenty of employees, plenty of vehicles; I believe it should go like this: the county should develop some kind of an ordinance that per-se if you own a motel it is $5-$10 per room per year, if you own a trailer park $5-$10 per space per year; every lot in Lake County to pay an extra $10 in taxes and every winery and/or pear grower, walnut grower to pay maybe $10 per acre per year. If you own any other type of business you should pay some kind of a business tax whether it is a gas station, lumber yard, pump company, etc. People would not be against this if the money was spent wisely.
I feel that the county should create an ordinance, have hearings, and explain everything and have a limit with what they can do with this amount of money because if you have a business somehow you benefit from the lake from the fisherman, recreation, water company, etc. Try it for one year and see how it works out. If the County is honest and up front with the business people and tax payers regarding this whole problem and try to make the measure pass again with more transparency of exactly where the money will go instead putting the money in a big pot for everyone to stick their hand in. I believe this is very important to the tax payers as they have been snookered too many times in the past and they are right now on the defensive from previous bad taste or dishonesty.
Ron Rose, Lakeport
