What difference does it make?
The RNC after botching the 2008 and 2012 elections, did all they could do to take the candidate the people chose out of this primary election. They failed and the primary vote winner is now the candidate. The DNC has been in Hillary’s camp all along and basically threw the Bern under the bus. Wasserman Schultz, the DNC head booted out for picking a primary winner prior to getting the people’s vote is supposedly about to openly join the Hillary campaign.
After being a Democrat and then a Republican, my current view is it doesn’t make any difference. These two political machines are structured to give the voters the perception they have a choice. In reality there is no difference between the parties, the result regardless of party is a well-oiled machine that includes visible and hidden lobbyists, international banking connections, behind the scenes corporate manipulators and hundreds of career senators and representatives that no longer represent the people but have turned our government into a lucrative financial institution for themselves. Not for us or the country. These two parties probably draw straws to see who gets to elect a president every 8 years or so. Neither party cares which party wins as long as the candidate is part of the “screw the people” club.
Based on this reality of our “two-party system” one can understand why both parties and all career politicians have been so upset and literally panicked over Trump getting the nomination. A true outsider that is not owned by either party, they know their empire is about to crumble, about to be slowly strangled. Trump best hire excellent security as he is a marked man.
A real significant move in the effort to break up this government scam is to impose strict term limits on our senators and representatives. That is next to impossible with insiders running the government, but an independent candidate could make this holy-grail of reform also happen.
We need to elect Donald Trump and watch the fun while he really does clean up DC for both Democrats and Republicans.
Ed Calkins, Kelseyville
Open letter to the planning department
We are preparing to build a barn at Dry Creek Cut Off Rd., Middletown. This barn is being built to replace a structure in the exact site of a building that was burnt in the Valley Fire.
We were informed at the beginning that as the sq. footage of the barn and outbuildings was greater than the sq. footage of the house it required a “minor collectors use permit” and letters would have to be sent out to interested parties in proximity of the parcel before a building permit could be issued. This would take 21 days. We were also told that the plans for the barn would be reviewed during that 21 days so when the responses were received in regard to the use permit that the review would be complete and there would be no hold up in going forward with the building permit. This use permit cost $618. What the building department was not aware of and did not inquire about was that there was another structure, an old farm house built in the early 1900s, right next to the old garage that was also burned, and that the barn was taking the place of the two buildings.
We went to the planning department on July 13th to find out status of the use permit and were told that it had been approved but there were two conditions that had to be met, but the plans could be reviewed for approval for the building permit and this would take another week or so. Because we had been told that the review and approval of the building permit would have been completed by the completion date of the use permit we took issue and the planning assistant told us she would get it to a planner to be reviewed that afternoon and cleared by the following day. This building permit cost $576.45. The receipt indicated “building permit” and the break down for this was “plan check” and “plan clearance”. We were led to believe this would be our building permit cost.
One of the conditions on the use permit was an Indian site review as our property was “of cultural interest to the Indian tribe”. We cleared that with the docent on the morning of July 14th. The second condition was with Environmental Health in that our previously approved site plans (original and revised plan) were not to scale and that a new condition was also required that a separate window with another location for another leech line system be drawn in case the existing leech lines might fail. This was cleared with Environmental Health. We thought this condition a moot point as our original and previously revised site plan had been approved without issue of scale, an inspector from Environmental Health had done a site visit for the building permit for the house and the septic system had been approved, and the barn was far away from the septic system and leech lines to be a non-issue.
Meanwhile, we returned to the planning department to get our building permit, as we were called the night before that the plans had been approved. When we got to the department we were told we had to pay an additional $810.27, the receipt indicating “building permit”.
We are taking issue with these excessive fees. The review of building permits by the planners should be included in the original fee for the building permit. There should not be a separate fee for “plan check” and Plan clearance”. The plan check and clearance should be in the body of a single building permit fee. We also feel that the requirement for the use permit and its cost were unnecessary as the barn is being built over the old foundation of a previously existing garage that was burnt in the Valley Fire. Because there was already a building in place there should have been no need for a use permit to go out to interested parties in close proximity as they were not against the original building that stood before the fire.
We hope that the department is not excessively charging others trying to rebuild after the fires that ravaged Lake County last year.
Dave Shope, Middletown
