Do gooders of Lake County
My husband and I are among the recipients of the efforts and time spent by these “do gooders.” My husband Weldon attends the Elder Day Care program in Clearlake and Middletown. The program serves Alzheimers, dementia and stroke victims who need full time care. He enjoys socializing, games, exercise and eating with his group of friends.
I have time to shop, doctor appointments and do errands while he is at day care. These “do gooders” also hold support group meetings for us. Caregiving is a full time job and we all appreciate their service.
“Hats Off” to the “do gooders” Jenny, Kristy, Elsie, Kay, and Pete in Middletown and Clearlake. And to Caroline and her volunteers in Lucerne.
A fundraiser to benefit for Clearlake Elder Day Care Scholarships will be held May 11th at DJ’s Pizza in Lower Lake from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Come and help the “do gooders” do more good for our elders in need of this important and necessary fun program.
Information on Clearlake and Middletown programs: call Jenny 707-350-3030 Lucerne call Caroline 707-263-9481
Dee Parker, Clearlake
Lakeport’s Spendapalooza
While you and I are busy dodging potholes in the Lakeport roads, the City Council’s spendapalooza is reaching new heights. With the advice of out of county consultants, the Lakeport City Council has spent millions, of our hard earned dollars on out of county contractors (try Fresno, Eureka, and Santa Rosa) and has been draining funds of out our local economy.
The City Council recently demonstrated its lack of understanding of the economics of poor Lake County when it not only adopted the highest garbage rates in the county, but also adopted a cost of living adjustment tied to the San Francisco Bay cost of living index, the second highest in the USA, only behind New York City! Is it any wonder that the local garbage company is endorsing the supervisor candidacy who voted for his sky high rates?
As you will recall, the City Council passes a 100 percent increase with no sunset on our water and sewer rates based on a defective and misleading notice. We were told that the higher rates were necessary to avoid catastrophic failures and fines by the state. Then the first thing they did was spend a million dollars on new water meters, which was clearly not required to provide water service. Further, Proposition 218, approved by the voters in 1996, requires that the revenues derived from a fee or charge not exceed the funds required to provide the related service.
The City Council is now moving forward to spend almost $3 million on a new solar system to be paid for by our water and sewer rates. By the way, the city’s plan requires offering up some of the city’s real estate assets as collateral, which is “government speak” for mortgaging the city and tying the hands of future city councils.
In contrast, the Lakeport Unified School District recently acquired its solar system with no out of pocket money by choosing a thriftier approach which the city rejected. This just documents how the city unnecessarily is again draining money out of our local economy. You don’t need a degree in economics to understand that the city’s continued expenditure of millions of dollars to out of county contractors is contributing to the dozens of vacant store fronts turning Lakeport into a virtual ghost town.
If the Council has millions to spend on unnecessary projects, they should reduce our water and sewer rates and restore these funds to be spent by citizens at local businesses and not out of county contractors and consultants. A good faith reduction in these excessive rates would offset the city’s new proposal to pass new taxes and provide more support to the repair of our local roads and understaffed police department.
More importantly, a City Council election is coming up this fall and we need a couple of candidates that will represent the ordinary citizens of Lakeport and curtail the ongoing spendapalooza.
Bob Bridges, Lakeport
Rights
Regarding “Opposed to Scheel” — Freedom of the press. You gotta love it!
Karin Armstrong, Kelseyville
Subliminal perception
While reading, I read the word “follows” where it was not written.
It happened as follows. I read to the end of a line, then, shifting my vision to the beginning of the next line, I mistakenly read the word “follows.” I then found the word “follows” was the last word at the end of the line below the one I was reading — at the end of the line I was reading now. I was not aware that I had seen “follows” before I mistakenly read it.
I take this as strong evidence of the factuality of subliminal perception.
Dean Sparks, Lucerne
Big bombs
Frankly, I could not care less whether Iran or North Korea have nuclear weapons. I think the world is far too concerned than it needs to be. Myself, I am much in favor of big, fat, horribly destructive nuclear weapons that scare the world’s nations into some manner of relatively decent behavior. The key, I feel, is not “possession,” but “use,” and the way to maintain control is to make the use of one’s bombs too expensive to consider its use. It was this attitude that got us through four plus decades of “Cold War.”
I don’t think Iran is so stupid to decide to sacrifice Tehran and the oil areas in order to eliminate Tel Aviv, or an India/Pakistan interchange. On the other hand, the globe now has some seven billion people, many of whom are starving. Might not the world be “better off” with fewer? The solution is for those nations with nuclear weaponry to join together in an agreement that, if some country fires a weapon — no matter toward whom — some other country will simply reduce the guilty country to chaos. Whether one agrees or not, world trade has become so large an influence as a mitigating factor that the major countries probably cannot exist should they “eliminate” their markets.
When it comes to “defense,” the three major forces in the world are (realistically) going to challenge one another is outright combat, there would be nothing to gain and they are too far away from each for logistic success. With the exception of China and Russia. If I were Russia, I would worry!
Guff Worth, Lakeport
