CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Supervisor Rob Brown spoke to Lake County Republican Women, Federated at their luncheon meeting in Clearlake on Sept. 13.

He discussed in detail the county budget of $211 million approved in June and how it is allotted. It may sound like a lot of money, but to spread it over all of the functions it must cover is not an easy task.

Off the top is $78 million for salary and benefits. There is only $3.6 million in fixed assets but cost of operations uses $34 million. The remainder of the budget covers many other costs incurred each year.

He gave great praise to county employees, many of whom lost their homes during recent fires yet worked tirelessly for the people of the county. His words, “God bless our employees.”

He discussed the complexity of the work of the building inspectors and how those requesting inspections sometimes make their work more difficult by not having their project ready for inspection in the time frame they had requested their inspection.

With the aim of 12 inspections a day, and these spread all over the county, it was making the task more difficult.

He commented on the fact that we have many in the county not employed as they are not employable.

He explained the issue of people thinking that county government should do marketing of the area, whereas that is not the function of county government. Governing does include advertising.

Asked about the condition of the courthouse, it surprised many to find that it is not owned by the county but by the state and he indicated that improvements are needed.

On county growth issues, we should watch for more information on developments in south county.

The marijuana issue continues to be a complicated and costly issue for the county and there is no evidence that it will go away soon. The state will set the rules for the issue.

Supervisor Brown presented the facts with a voice of reason and also at times showed his warm sense of humor.

During open discussion members were introduced to a recommended reading including: “Rise of ISIS – A threat we can't ignore” by Jay Sekulow (Islamic State of Iraq & Syria), “Big Agenda” by David Horowitz, “Set Up and Sold Out – Find out what Green means,” Holly Swanson, and “Undemocratic – Rogue, Reckless & Renegade – How the government is stealing Democracy – one agency at a time” by Jay Sekulow.

Members were introduced to the fact that there are six qualified political parties in Lake County and there are seven additional political parties attempting of get on the ballot for the June 5, 2018 Primary Election.

The meeting closed with members showing great appreciation to Supervisor Brown for his answering their questions and many gathered with him for a photo op.

LCRWF will hold its next meeting on Oct. 11 at Howard's Grotto.