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Written by: Nelson Strasser

Published: 09 November 2013

On Nov. 5th the Lake County Board of Supervisors considered the fate of our rent control initiative.

In the course of the meeting, Supervisor Brown made some valid points, and I would like to address them.

But first, a word of explanation: The federal government uses a consumer price index to determine increases in benefits. The index measures changes in the cost of living. That index, known as “CPI chained,” notoriously underestimates the real increases in the cost of living, which Brown pointed out.

So, Brown would like to see mobile home park owners be able to raise space rents without constraint while senior renters are shackled to “CPI chained.”

Coincidentally, I gave the supervisors a handout making that very point, but from the point of view of the tenants.

I used my own case as an example to demonstrate that each year my increase in rent had exceeded the increase in my Social Security benefits, thus insuring that I will continue to get poorer, sans intervention by our initiative.

The second point Brown made was that our initiative would create a “taking.” One definition of a “taking” is when government denies you the opportunity to make a “fair and reasonable” profit.

“Fair and reasonable” means that the return on an investment is equivalent to similar investments in similar areas. However, a “taking” is also defined as the government taking your property without just compensation.

Now, keep in mind that as space rents go up in a park, the value of an individual mobile home goes down. So space rent increases not only make seniors poorer, but also diminish the value of their mobile home.

There have been instances in which space rent has increased to the point that mobile homes had lost all of their value, could not be sold, and were simply abandoned (and forfeited to the owner of the park). Is this not a “taking” (by omission), should the county impede our initiative? So, the points Brown made cut both ways.

Worst case scenario for the park owners: Profits will increase, but they will be limited. Worst case scenario for the senior tenants: Increased poverty and eventual homelessness.

A famous jurist commented that “the law floats on a sea of ethics.” This means that the law reflects what people think is morally right. And, after speaking with literally thousands of Lake County voters in the course of gathering signatures, I can tell you that the voters of Lake County almost unanimously favor defending the aged.

Supervisors Farrington and Rushing voted to send the initiative to ballot and let the people decide. Brown, Smith and Comstock, did not. Supervisor Comstock said that he would vote to go to ballot, but wanted to hear the reports from staff.

On Dec. 3, after hearing reports from staff, the vote will be revisited. Please call your supervisor and demand that the initiative go to ballot.

Nelson Strasser is a member of the Save Our Seniors Committee, the initiative's proponent group. He lives in Lakeport, Calif.

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Written by: Gina Fortino Dickson

Published: 05 November 2013

Burns Valley seventh and eighth graders participated in presentations from Team DUI, a local organization tasked with getting the word out about the dangers of drinking and driving and the ongoing effects such choices can have.

The students witnessed a video that depicted the stories of one accident and the effect it had on the victims, the perpetrator, the victims family and the perpetrators family.

The interconnectedness of the loss experience was palpable as the in-person presenters followed the video with stories of loss experienced locally and the lasting effects it has had on our community. The speakers consisted of family members, first responders and law enforcement.

In this case, one of these stories rang personal to me, as I had been a member of the close knit community that suffered the loss of young people so many years ago.

As the stories were shared, students responded with grief, anger, disbelief and eventually gained an understanding that they held the power to make the choices that could effect, either positively or negatively, an entire community.

They were asked, “Would you want that to be your mom?” They were informed that “One bad decision, can often lead to another bad decision. Some bad decisions don’t get a do over.” Then they were encouraged to “take the time to make a plan to stay safe.”

They brainstormed together some of the ways to stay safe when faced with the decisions around drinking and driving.

I think the empowering discussion really struck a chord with the teachers and they assured students that there would be more time to talk about these options back in class.

Burns Valley students and staff would like to reiterate a big thank you to Team DUI for your continued efforts to keep the community safe and free from the detrimental effects of drinking and driving.

You can also look Team DUI up on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-Team-DUI/139543449427904 .

Gina Fortino Dickson lives in Clearlake, Calif.

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Written by: Nelson Strasser

Published: 04 November 2013

Barack and Michelle Obama invited Malala Yousafzai to the White House in February of this year.

Malala is the young girl who miraculously survived after she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban because she argued for education for girls in Pakistan.

It was something of an embarrassment for the first couple when Malala condemned the drone attacks in Pakistan, asserting that the attacks just created more militants.

Interestingly, Malala is joined in that conclusion by Gen. Barry McChrystal, who had been the leader of our armed forces in Afghanistan.

Recently I was watching part of a documentary about a young man, aged 16, who had been living under the drones, and went to a meeting in Pakistan which condemned the drone attacks. During his return from the meeting, ironically, he was killed by a drone attack.

The drone attacks are often “double tap” strikes. That is to say, when folks come out to help the wounded, it is assumed that they are also “threats” and send a second missile from a drone to kill the rescuers.

Amnesty International has confirmed the death of hundreds of civilians by these drone strikes and says that they may be “war crimes.”

These events have not gone totally unnoticed by our government, and Congress held a hearing recently in which two Pakistani children, who had been wounded in a drone attack, described how their grandmother was killed in the strike that injured them.

Out of 437 congressmen and women, and 100 senators, five of them attended the hearings and listened to the testimony of the children. Odd, that most Republican congresspersons rail against Obama for delivering health care, but, when he delivers death, they are mute.

I also saw a press conference on the net, and reporters were asking a tall, young, attractive woman, who represented the government about the hundreds of civilians killed by drone attacks. She said, “We question those figures.”

So, the reporter asked, “OK then, what are your figures?”

The woman said that the government could not reveal those figures without giving away the methodology used in collecting them, which was classified.

At this point, I wanted to ask a question to the young woman. My question would have been, “Does your mother know what you do for a living?”

I don’t recognize these people who represent the government and conduct themselves as if they are no longer bound by the old dispensations: The rule of law, a sense of decency.

Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.