Opinion

A “yes” vote on measure N will mean that thousands of local residents who legally grew a few plants outdoors for their own medicinal use last year will be forced to grow indoors, so they'll need a spare room and have to spend thousands on lights and ventilation systems the county now requires to meet code.

They will also have to spend thousands more on power, and deal with the mold and bug problems that always come with indoor grows.

To make matters worse, they'll have to post their prescription documents on the outside on the their home, making them an easy target for home invasion robbers.

Marijuana growing in residential areas wasn't a major problem until the board of supervisors closed the dispensaries and told people to grow at home, but in spite of an admission that was a mistake and a promise to reopen them this hasn't happened.

Even if they did reopen the dispensaries it wouldn't matter, because if people vote “yes” on Measure N there won't be enough marijuana legally grown here to supply them, since you'll need 20 acres of ag-zoned land with a house on it occupied by a legal caregiver to grow for dispensaries.

There aren't enough legal ag parcels available to meet the demand, plus they are very expensive, and with state legalization likely in the next two years why would anyone make such a large investment when future rules are so uncertain?.

Then there are the rules that constitute an unfair business practice, making the county ripe for legal action. Why do marijuana plants need to be twice as far from streams than any other crop? Why do only marijuana growers need large setbacks from property lines and homes?

Marijuana will only be legally grown for money on ag land, so by the county's own zoning regulations it must be considered an ag crop and therefore is subject to the right to farm ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors.

You can't have it both ways, if marijuana isn't an ag crop then it can't be on ag parcels, if it is an ag crop then there is no exemption for it in the right to farm ordinance so it cannot be discriminated against.

On top of these rules you need a very specific type of fencing, you are restricted to local outlets for your crop, and have special rules to follow for fertilizer and pesticides as marijuana growers will be held to much higher environmental standards than for any other crop for absolutely no logical reason.

A “yes” vote will help criminal growers, because for thousands of Lake County medicinal marijuana consumers the illegal growers will become the closest and cheapest source, and like closing the dispensaries the people who want marijuana to go away will have this backfire on them for the same reason: a fundamental lack of understanding of how the marijuana industry works.

The BOS was told loud and clear that closing the dispensaries would create more crime and more problems with backyard grows, and as one supervisor recently said “It's 10 times worse,” which shows even they now understand the cause-and-effect relationship from that failed experiment .

We need a better ordinance than what the county has given us, one that isn't so restrictive that it encourages illegality as the hopelessly impractical BOS version does. A far better ordinance has been drafted and will be on the November ballot, or the BOS could adopt it right after the election.

So in spite of what the “yes” side is saying, a “no” vote doesn't necessarily mean we will have no rules come July, as there is a perfectly reasonable alternative on the table.

This grower-sponsored ordinance would not allow any more plants on commercial grows than the county ordinance did, it mainly lets residential growers have a few (four on lots smaller than an acre) outdoor plants, and lets commercial grows operate on large parcels that are not zoned ag.

This growers' ordinance also collects fees from growers to fund a code enforcement officer to oversee marijuana plantings, so there will be constant oversight with clear, fair rules to follow.

This growers' ordinance was drastically revised during its drafting in response to the input of numerous citizens, unlike the ordinance passed by the BOS which did not incorporate any of the changes suggested by any of the 43 citizens who spoke out against it at the BOS meeting.

Without listening to the primary stake holders any ordinance is bound to fail in the real world, where rules need to respect reality if they are to work as intended.

Please vote no on Measure N, and demand that our BOS deal with this issue in a balanced and fair manner that does not shut major sectors of the public out of the process.

Philip Murphy lives in Finley, Calif.

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Written by: Philip Murphy

Published: 14 May 2014

McKay Florence, one of the owners of Fairgrounds Village Senior Mobile Homepark in Lakeport, has written a letter attacking me personally. Then, not content with accusing me of being the villain of the piece regarding rent control, he goes on to imply that he is an altruist, come to rescue the “widows.”

Let me start by explaining to McKay that an “ad hominem” argument is when you attack the person, rather than his ideas.

McKay claims that, a few years ago, evidently in the grip of some megalomaniacal urge, and apropos of nothing in particular, I began a quixotic journey to fill a need for rent control that did not exist.

McKay left out the part about the 10-percent rent increase I received. (My God, how he loves the elderly!).

I responded with a petition, signed by more than 40 residents of my park (an odd way to show contentment).

McKay implies that I have worked alone, with no support. It is true that I began alone, but that was not for long: I was joined by a handful of dedicated seniors, including a few in their 80s who worked with me collecting signatures for months on end. That group became Save Our Seniors. And by the way, over 1,700 voters in Lakeport signed the petition.

McKay points out that few tenants came to the city council meeting. (Here is another word for him to learn: chutzpah. The definition of chutzpah is when a guy kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court on the basis of the fact that he is an orphan).

The reason that elderly folks did not come to the council meeting is because they are elderly. He has a lot of chutzpah to claim that they did not come because they had no interest in rent control.

McKay did not come up with this cockamamie lease because he suddenly got compassion for his tenants. Rather, the lease is a strategy to head off rent control efforts: Once you sign a lease in California longer than 12 months, you are not covered by rent control laws.

McKay is coercing people to sign his 10-year lease. I state again, as I did the last time I wrote in, his letter to the tenants threatened “large rent increases” to those who don’t sign his lease.

I have talked to several of the tenants. They are scared and confused. This abuse of the elderly by the owners is unconscionable.

McKay Florence is the most eloquent argument for rent control that I could imagine: A man who uses coercive tactics to intimidate the elderly.

There is more: Rent control has proven costly, asserts McKay.

I invite you to call the city of Santa Rosa and the city of Ukiah, as I did. They both have rent control laws. While the laws in both cities provide for a rent control board and arbitration, they are never utilized. The city of Santa Rosa has not had an issue since 2007, and it never got to arbitration, but rather was settled by “meet and confer.” Rent control is working happily in both these communities.

Let’s talk about his lease terms: a minimum of 3 percent per year. In the last several years there were two years with no CPI increase, which means no increase in Social Security. Who would knowingly sign his lease and condemn themselves to becoming poorer?

Moreover, McKay criticizes me for defending our initiative in court myself. He leaves out the part that the city and county attorneys (which was their right) declined to defend the initiative. Sadly, I was the best we could afford.

So, what really is happening?

The owners, who were making a reasonable profit, decided they could get a lot more. They went for too much, too soon, and there was “push-back.” (Who thought these old folks had so much fight in them?)

Now we have begun the process of getting a rent control law, similar to the one in Santa Rosa, through the Lakeport City Council, and the owners are panicked and committing acts of desperation.

I tabled for hundreds of hours and I can say that the people of Lakeport, like the people of over a hundred communities in California, overwhelmingly support rent control for mobile home parks. And, in the end, the will of the people shall prevail.

Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.

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Written by: Nelson Strasser

Published: 13 May 2014

The Lake County Milers Running Club would like to thank our sponsors and raffle prize donors and news agencies for having a huge impact on the success of our 12th annual Spring Has Sprung Run, held on Mother’s Day in Hidden Valley Lake.

Our event was an extremely popular Mother’s Day event with memories made for a lifetime!

First and foremost we would like to thank our Star Sponsor, Calpine Corp., for not only giving us a very generous donation, but also encouraging and paying for their employees' registration into our event.

Next up we would like to thank our Gold Sponsor, Twin Pine Casino and Resort, for donating four one-night stays and two $50 dining gift certificates for our overall winners in the event. Their donation amped up the excitement factor and made it a race to win!

The remainder of our sponsors were as follows:

Silver Sponsors: Clearlake Dental-Dr. Kinsel, Dignity Memorial (Jones Mortuary FD 311 in Lakeport, Jones & Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel), Happy Smiles Dental Practice, Hardester’s Markets, Hidden Valley Realty-Faylen McMurray, Mountain High Coffee & Books, The Big Chill Yogurt Shop, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake and Zoe Organics.

Bronze Sponsors: Anytime Fitness Health Club-HVL, Dr. Ralph at Fiedler Chiropractic, Eagle Eye Termite Control, Heart and Sole Sports (Santa Rosa), Hidden Valley Lake Auto Body, Lake County Jazzercise-Beth Rudiger, Tri-County Certified Inspections Inc. West America Bank provided our water and the race bags. The Soap Shack Baby supplied travel size “Cool Down Baby” all natural soap.

A big thank you to the businesses and families who contributed raffle prizes: The Bazzano Family, Brassfield Winery and Estates, Clearlake Grocery Outlet, Clearlake Walmart, Langtry Estate and Vineyard and The Gym in Clearlake.

We also would like to thank the news agencies that promoted our event to their readership including Lake County News, Lake County Record-Bee, HVL Views and Middletown Area Press, and the Ukiah Daily Journal.

Last but not least, the Lake County Milers would like to thank the individuals and families that chose to support our event by attending on Mother’s Day.

A large portion of the net proceeds from this event will benefit Upper Lake High School and Middletown High School Cross Country teams.

For information on future events of the Milers and contact information regarding future event sponsorship, please visit www.lakecountymilers.com .

Jeanine Burnett is president and race director for the Lake County Milers. She lives in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif.

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Written by: Jeanine Burnett

Published: 13 May 2014