How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Opinion
It’s very sad to see and hear people making statements that are misleading and, at times, outright lies about Measure S, the half-cent sales tax to benefit Clear Lake.
Please get the facts first!
There is absolutely no intention of closing down the lake. That is a purely ridiculous statement.
There are options that will be reviewed and considered by a citizens advisory committee and those proposals will be put to the Board of Supervisors. Any one of you could be a part of that
advisory committee.
The majority of people understand that a thriving economy brings jobs and money to a community.
There is nothing better than seeing the towns buzzing with people, shops, and restaurants and resorts
busy, and employing locals.
This all brings jobs, increased property values and money in the county coffers to improve public services like for instance, that nice new senior center in Middletown, a library, park improvements – all paid for by taxpayer money.
The people in Lucerne have been concerned about their enormous water bills for some time now. What do you think will happen if the quagga mussel gets into Clear Lake and clogg the intake pipes to your water systems?
The costs to everyone drawing water from the lake, whether through a public or private water system, will be astronomical.
Clear Lake is the greatest resource that Lake County has. It is incredibly beautiful, a wonderful tourist
attraction and a source of beauty and recreation for us all.
We are fortunate enough to have in our community the largest natural lake in California, loaded with history and one of the oldest lakes in North America, believed to be 2.5 million years old.
To get the true facts, you are invited to attend a public forum at Soper Reese Theater, 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport, from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Ask the experts and separate the facts from the fiction.
Refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing everyone there.
For more information visit www.savethelake.info .
Anita McKee lives in Kelseyville, Calif., and is a support of the Save the Lake effort.
- Details
- Written by: Anita McKee
Please don’t let Measure S fail because you believe a last-minute opposition rumor that just isn’t true. Do your research. This vote is critical to the future well being of Lake County.
There are numerous sources available where you can find out the facts.
Go to www.savethelake.info . Read the language of Measure S and the “frequently asked questions” section.
Stay up-to-date on rebuttal to last minute opposition by liking the Save the Lake Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/saveclearlake .
Attend the Measure S summit at the Soper-Reese Theatre on Wednesday, October 22, to hear from a panel of experts. Bring your questions. Voice your concerns.
You will find out, among other things, that:
– There are safeguards in place to stop the Board of Supervisors from diverting the funds from their intended purpose.
– There will be a citizens’ oversight committee and independent audits.
– The tax will not be levied on food, medicine, gas and utilities. That it is a half-cent tax – only five cents on a $10 t-shirt.
– There will be public hearings before the final plan is put in place where you can provide your input.
– You want more money spent on one option more than another? Have a project you believe would really help? Everyone will have an opportunity to speak up.
Let’s get this passed. Take local control of the clean up of our beloved lake by providing a reliable source of funding to undo years of abuse and neglect.
Years from now as Lake County is thriving, we will tell our grandchildren and great grandchildren that we proudly voted yes when the call was made to save Clear Lake.
Yes on Measure S.
Gillian Parrillo lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Gillian Parrillo
Measure P, The Freedom to Garden Human Rights Restoration Act, is about the responsibility to protect freedom and human rights here at home.
Unlike monarchy, communism, fascism or most other forms of government in existence, the primary stated purpose of the United States government, including county government, is to protect the naturally “endowed” “certain unalienable Rights” of “the People.”
What in the constitution protects your naturally endowed right to grow a carrot or tomato plant, etc., to feed and take care of yourself?
There are no specific protections guarding such rights. In the absence of specific language protecting your rights, and without a vote of the people, the corporately influenced government has assumed a God-like jurisdiction over the natural plants of earth and the result has been nothing short of disastrous.
Of course outlawing a natural plant inflates its value as illegal commerce, so where your fundamental human right to garden once existed, now there is prohibition-related crime, violence and environmental destruction.
While this erosion of your human rights has been the cornerstone of funding and profits for organized crime, it has also worked to deny all people of critically needed food, medicine, fiber and other problem-solving resources.
This act would substantially help stop crime and environmental destruction in our county by simply restoring your naturally endowed human right to grow and use the natural plants of earth for your own needs. This act would not protect anyone involved in commercial activities.
Denying your human rights has also laid the jurisdictional foundation for privately patenting genetically engineered plant life and has left all natural plant life legally unprotected from “GMO” cross pollination. Current law allows corporations to sue you for disparaging their rights if their patent protected pollen contaminates your garden.
This act creates standing to hold corporations legally liable if their genetically engineered patented organisms (GMOs) contaminate the natural heirloom plants in your garden through cross pollination.
This act specifically guards against individuals destroying the environment or creating a toxic public health risk.
This act is the only honest, reasonable and responsible solution being proposed anywhere in the United States concerning the ill-conceived, corporately influenced prohibitions on earth's natural plant life.
Our choices at the ballot box are almost always comparable to choosing between Budweiser or Coors or the lesser of two evils.
If you are a person who hasn't voted because you don't see how it makes any difference, then this measure is your chance to make a real difference and your vote counts not only here in Lake County, but your vote will be representing the many across this state, country and world who have felt or are feeling as you do.
This act appropriately engages the Ninth Amendment and the principal constitutional responsibility of “the People” to declare the “certain rights held by the people,” thereby seeking to bring current county law concerning gardening into consistency with the 14th Amendment and equal protection under the law for home gardeners in the unincorporated areas.
If you are currently serving or are a veteran, this fight for freedom at home needs your assistance. The already disparaged freedom to live and take care of yourself the best you can is part of what so many before us have sacrificed their all for. We continue to ask our young men and women to go fight and sacrifice to protect this thing we call freedom.
This act intends to honor our shared responsibility to all those who have answered the call and continue to sacrifice for freedom. Our children need us to secure these basic human rights for them and for all those who come after us.
Wholly restoring and protecting your naturally endowed right to garden would cripple organized crime and impose overdue accountability on corporations like Monsanto where current law provides none.
Please read Measure P, The Freedom to Garden Human Rights Restoration Act of 2014, and then please consider voting to restore and protect your human rights and responsibilities in November.
Ron Kiczenski lives in Lucerne, Calif., and is an author and proponent of Measure P, www.freedomtogardenact.org .
- Details
- Written by: Ron Kiczenski
I would like to use this forum to thank the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the deputies of the Narcotics Task Force for their most recent efforts to eradicate thousands of pot plants in several different sites in the Lower Lake area where I own property.
Recognizing that beyond the unpredictable reactions of the people responsible for these grows, law enforcement officers face numerous dangers when accessing these locations in order to eradicate unlawful marijuana grows, including the lack of direct support by the neighbors of these illegal grows who may fear retaliation should they help.
I offer my most sincere appreciation for the hard work of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and its task force in protecting our beautiful Lake County and stopping the pollution to the environment and restoring a sense of peace and safety in our communities.
I am pleased that Measure N is working. In the upcoming election on Nov. 4, I hope that the voters of Lake County will support the efforts of our local sheriff's department and keep Measure N in effect by voting no on measures O and P.
Ralph McComb lives in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Ralph McComb