CLEARLAKE >> Leveraging the generous support of state and federal governments of recent years to obtain further grants and rebuild infrastructure while implementing missing key pieces of a high technology network can set a course to prosperity, so informed keynote speakers at the Masonic Lodge February 22.
The iconic Judge’s Breakfast served as a forum for a debate between District 5 supervisorial candidates that pitted, current District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska and challenger Daniel Bridges on a platform to convince District 5 residents why each of them are best qualified to serve.
Pyska explained a lot of her work on the board revolved around a high standard of disaster preparedness information, economic vitality, and maintaining a robust health and safety standards. She reminded the Lodge audience the county has had a lot of help from the federal government including the American Plan Rescue Act and the Inflation Reduction Act owing to the county’s wonderful state and federal representation. “We can be strategic the last couple of years so, we’re ready for broadband that’s coming and got middle and last mile, $80 million, that’s going to be coming into Lake County,” she said. It means jobs for business. But they’ll require adequate Internet to run those businesses. “All the things we really need for vital communities; housing and we just released our housing plan and we’re investing, which makes our community stronger so, have more property and sales taxes that helps with infrastructure, yet the investments do not come from our General Fund.”
For Bridges, who first went to work for his father’s construction business before graduating high school and then starting his own home construction firm. “Housing industry is a big focus for me, because if you do not have housing, you don’t have anything,” Bridges said. “Housing produces jobs, produces sales taxes.” Yet he noted state regulations in recent years places unfair burdens on construction and as the industry moves forward. He said he has ideas on how to free up builders to produce more housing. “When I look at all the proposals toward housing, I don’t think they’re doing it the correct way as I look at all the costs of building,” he added. “My goal is to bring back common sense to our government.” He went on to state that a big part of the supervisor job is to prompt residents and businesses to communicate with one another and then interface the information shared among individuals into the wider community.
Another critical issue raised by an audience questioner was how vital a role the broadband network has played and will continue to play in the immediate future. Pyska pointed out the county does not have adequate cell service or internet and it leaves a lot of residents without connectivity. In addition, PG&E is beginning to bury its wiring with goal of undergrounding all. So, the old telephone lines, known as POT, or Plain Old Telephone Service is a term that refers to the traditional landline phone system that many use to connect callers. The above ground telephone poles will become the responsibility of AT&T. And if a person does not have cell service or broadband that leaves just traditional landline. Meanwhile, AT&T wants to disinvest in that infrastructure so, it has become a significant issue with the California Public Utilities Commission.
“Last summer I testified with the CPUC and industry leaders, who said they were not going to invest in rural communities because it would not be financially viable,” she said. “I need everybody to get onboard and share with Rep. Mike Thompson (D-4th), we need that infrastructure to connect with the world. We don’t have enough customers to make it profitable for them to invest here.”
Bridges noted it was typical that government lagged behind private industry. He added that broadband is going to be obsolete before a better fix arrives. Bridges suggested Starlink as a practical alternative. “I switched to it a year and a half ago,” he said. “t is a low orbit satellite network,” he said. “An outside unit can be set up within 10 minutes. It has 150 megabytes. It replaces my phone and internet. It costs $100 a month and the best decision I ever made.”
In other business Rep. Mike Thompson (D-4th) addressed the audience on legislation accomplished in the 117th session of Congress. Thompson praised this session for making an effort to fund Lake County services. “The ARPA money provided funding for vaccinations for children to protect health and enabled children to return to in-class instruction again and provided incredible resources for Lake County to invest in their infrastructure,” Thompson said. “The infrastructure we passed, was the biggest investment in infrastructure since the Eisenhower Administration,” he added. In addition, they included funding to repair roads, highways, seaports and airports and bridges. Also, healthcare investment expanded a new era in Telemedicine that helped keep patients out of the hospital and avoid exposure to COVID. “And the Chips and Science Act provided a $260 billion fund that helped, create jobs along with the Safer Communities Act aimed to combat mass shootings as well as the Pack Act (veteran benefits and monitor toxic exposure) and the Inflation Reduction Act that assisted lowering drug costs. It also offered fixed research and development tax credit. It extended a legislative bill, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which offered a tax credit for indigent children which cut childhood poverty by half,” noted Thompson.
