LAKEPORT >> If elected, District 4 Supervisorial candidate Ron Rose, 81, said he intends to take on the state government about the costs associated with the Valley Fire.
In his opinion, the devastating event was a “direct cause” of an alleged CalFire failure to stay on top of controlled burns in the southern part of the county. Because of this, he wants to sue the state in federal court to get them to pay for every cost associated with it.
“They never had any controlled burns here like they used to have in the olden days,” Rose said.
The candidate mounted an unsuccessful bid for the same seat more than years ago.
His success obviously isn’t certain, but one thing is for sure: he doesn’t want taxpayers to give more money to the government, especially those that are rebuilding from the destruction. He’s critical of policies like the county’s recent decision to raise fees for departments like Community Development because he believes it will hurt survivors more.
“How in the hell do we expect people to rebuild when they are right on the verge of not being able to do it?” he said. “We keep putting the cart ahead of the horse.”
Instead, Rose wants to be the people’s champion — reflective of his campaign slogan “one of us.”
When asked to explain the tagline, Rose said he was “for the person” and that places like Lake County have made “stupid decisions” to hinder development in areas like business.
“There used to be a lot more jobs here,” he said. “I think a lot of rules we have in the county are detrimental to businesses around here.”
The Issues
Along with the lawsuit, the candidate wants to focus on issues like bringing in more business and keeping the City of Lakeport from annexing the South Main Street/Soda Bay Road Corridor.
“I would do the same thing Farrington’s doing,” he said. “The residents don’t want it.”
The issue has been discussed for about a decade and has left business owners and residents caught in the crossfire. As for immediate solutions to relieve them, Rose didn’t offer any.
“There ain’t nobody caught in the middle of it; that’s city propaganda,” the retired engineering contractor said. “I’m against annexation, unless we can come up with a money deal that would benefit the people of the county instead of the city.”
However, he does have some plans to help the economy and bring jobs.
One of those is to engage in a joint venture with Lake County’s vineyards, wineries and local breweries to do more promotion outside the county.
Furthermore, he wants to expand to Lampson field and increase more traffic to the airport.
“A lot of people don’t know Lake County is here,” he said.
The candidate doesn’t have any reported experience in government. Yet, he said he does claim to have “common sense.”
“I want to be ‘one of us’ versus ‘one of them’ because they haven’t been good for the voter,” he said. Our county has turned on the voters like a mad dog in a lot of ways and that won’t happen with me.
If the voters choose him, he said he wants to have an office on North Main Street where all citizens can talk about their issues with the county.
Another way to help, especially his district, is to have the county take care of Lakeside Heights and relieve the homeowners of any costs, although it was unclear where this money would come from.
“We have no respect for the taxpayers,” he said. “I stand for [those] that always pay, have to pay more and keep getting ripped off.”
