CLEARLAKE OAKS >> Jim Steele is looking to organize District 3 — the county district he represents — to better identify issues in the area and better serve those who live there.
“It’s the largest in the county, so there is a lot of space here, all the districts though have the same amount of people,” Steele said. “One of the things I noticed in my first year is I’ve lost a whole year trying to figure out what’s going on.”
One of the things he said he would be doing differently in the District is separating it into three parts for advisory purposes. He wants to set up continuous committees in the area so when there is a new supervisor for the district could visit each group and see what is being worked on.
“The local area can tell them, this is what we’re doing, this is what we are expecting you to do, Steele said. “It ain’t about me, it’s about you, and that’s the way it should be.”
Some issues he addressed in the District is the single road access in Spring Valley, trash issues and the pollution issues that have been around for the past two decades. Steele said they are looking at the issues and addressing them, but it does not mean they will get done overnight.
Steele is already in the process of setting up the committees for the area, starting with the “middle district” committee. This will be set up for a board of five people who are apart of various Property Owners Associations, Business Associations and two at large. This number does not have to be set at five, he added. Depending on the need for the area it could be more but five is the minimum number.
The middle committee, or MRTH, covers Lucerne community growth boundary. The other committees will be designated ERTH and WRTH. The latter covers Upper Lake, Blue Lakes, Nice and Lake Pillsbury. ERTH covers Clearlake Oaks, Spring Valley, Glenhaven and Paradise Cove. “It works very well, it was good coverage that way of the different issues,” Steele said. “We have people that represent people.”
Steele said if you really want to make a difference in the community and how things are changed, you need a Community Advisory Committee. These committees can list solutions and problems and takes them to the County to get changed and can get grants and applications for funds to make projects happen.
Being sure that projects in the area are completed and not forgotten, it is important to keep get these committees started and working functionally Steele said.
