Opinion
Most people would agree that Lake County has had more than its share of challenges lately, which makes it even more aggravating when our own local governments add to the burden.
For decades we have been told the centerpiece to our economic salvation was the South Main Street project in Lakeport, but even though politicians repeat this mantra again and again no actual work has been done on it, and this sad fact is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.
The city of Lakeport was supposed to annex the area, and wants to extend its water lines that end adjacent to the project, but the county has its own plan that involves running a line from the Finley/Kelseyville system at an estimated cost of $5.5 million that they hope to fund with a USDA grant. The rest of the money for the project has been sitting in the bank for over a decade, over $10 million, much of which was paid by people who either didn’t or won’t live long enough to see the project started let alone finished.
The county has for years refused to meet with the Lakeport City Council to resolve this dilemma, and doesn’t seem to care that a lot of federal money is planned to be used to lay miles of transfer pipeline, instead of the city’s far simpler plan of simply extending Lakeport’s system.
Maybe the county thinks the USDA is so dumb they won’t see the absurd wastefulness of their plan, and District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott has boldly predicted that the project will be done in the summer of 2020 in spite of the fact that they have not even applied for the money let alone had it approved.
Another absurd aspect of this is the county’s negotiation team was supposed to do just that – negotiate with the city over the exact terms of the annexation, but has decided to ignore their stated purpose and has instead gone trolling for grant money to fund their own project, with the annexation goal now forgotten.
Meanwhile, the wretched pavement gets worse and the area looks like it is stuck in a time-warp circa 1967 with little sign of economic vitality, with serious visual blight and no long-promised wider/new pavement, underground phone and power lines, bike lanes, sidewalks, fire hydrants or streetlights.
While the city has done a number of things that could be considered unhelpful in this process, the bulk of the blame can be placed directly at the feet of the county Board of Supervisors, whose members are apparently unwilling to try to resolve the issues like property and sales tax revenue sharing that along with the water and sewer systems have kept the two sides apart.
In a bit of irony, negotiation team member Supervisor Tina Scott campaigned on the issue of economic development in the city of Lakeport, but signs of her assistance are hard if not impossible to find and she now seems to be more of an impediment to progress than a facilitator of it.
So we have two government entities working on the same project with two quite different plans for doing it and no sign of any willingness to compromise or cooperate, and the only thing clear at this point is it won’t be anytime soon before we see the improvements that have already long ago been paid for.
The economic dysfunction of Lake County begins right at the top, and the people we have turned to for leadership are taking us in the wrong direction – again.
Philip Murphy lives in Lakeport, Calif.
For decades we have been told the centerpiece to our economic salvation was the South Main Street project in Lakeport, but even though politicians repeat this mantra again and again no actual work has been done on it, and this sad fact is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.
The city of Lakeport was supposed to annex the area, and wants to extend its water lines that end adjacent to the project, but the county has its own plan that involves running a line from the Finley/Kelseyville system at an estimated cost of $5.5 million that they hope to fund with a USDA grant. The rest of the money for the project has been sitting in the bank for over a decade, over $10 million, much of which was paid by people who either didn’t or won’t live long enough to see the project started let alone finished.
The county has for years refused to meet with the Lakeport City Council to resolve this dilemma, and doesn’t seem to care that a lot of federal money is planned to be used to lay miles of transfer pipeline, instead of the city’s far simpler plan of simply extending Lakeport’s system.
Maybe the county thinks the USDA is so dumb they won’t see the absurd wastefulness of their plan, and District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott has boldly predicted that the project will be done in the summer of 2020 in spite of the fact that they have not even applied for the money let alone had it approved.
Another absurd aspect of this is the county’s negotiation team was supposed to do just that – negotiate with the city over the exact terms of the annexation, but has decided to ignore their stated purpose and has instead gone trolling for grant money to fund their own project, with the annexation goal now forgotten.
Meanwhile, the wretched pavement gets worse and the area looks like it is stuck in a time-warp circa 1967 with little sign of economic vitality, with serious visual blight and no long-promised wider/new pavement, underground phone and power lines, bike lanes, sidewalks, fire hydrants or streetlights.
While the city has done a number of things that could be considered unhelpful in this process, the bulk of the blame can be placed directly at the feet of the county Board of Supervisors, whose members are apparently unwilling to try to resolve the issues like property and sales tax revenue sharing that along with the water and sewer systems have kept the two sides apart.
In a bit of irony, negotiation team member Supervisor Tina Scott campaigned on the issue of economic development in the city of Lakeport, but signs of her assistance are hard if not impossible to find and she now seems to be more of an impediment to progress than a facilitator of it.
So we have two government entities working on the same project with two quite different plans for doing it and no sign of any willingness to compromise or cooperate, and the only thing clear at this point is it won’t be anytime soon before we see the improvements that have already long ago been paid for.
The economic dysfunction of Lake County begins right at the top, and the people we have turned to for leadership are taking us in the wrong direction – again.
Philip Murphy lives in Lakeport, Calif.
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- Written by: Philip Murphy
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – At Kelseyville Unified School District, we focus on more than just academics to help our students grow and develop.
The fact is, students often need social and emotional support to reach their potential. Our experts in this area are our school counselors and school psychologists who use Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS, to create a culture where students learn from mistakes rather than simply being punished for them.
As of this school year, we now offer counseling services for students of all ages, and it’s making a difference.
At the elementary school level, Casey Carlson has been teaching our youngest students the social skills they need to get along with their peers.
She supervises children on the playground and intervenes to help them learn how to stop disagreements from escalating.
She also works with small groups of students who are facing similar challenges, for example, to help them overcome grief or process strong emotions in a constructive way.
Teaching students how to cope with social and emotional challenges at such a young age allows them to use these skills for a whole lifetime.
At the middle school, Ellen Boettcher uses her considerable experience to help students through the awkward and sometimes difficult transition into adolescence.
Ms. Boettcher has been working with students for close to 30 years and she understands how to support them when their behavior makes others want to run out of the room.
“I love watching kids grow, watching them blossom,” she said. Ms. Boettcher not only works with students, she also works with parents and teachers, so everyone is aligned and attuned to a student’s needs.
She asks that parents who want to meet with her schedule appointments so she can be sure to give them the time they deserve. Recently, before the first bell rang, she had comforted a crying child, completed the check-in process with students who need a little extra attention each day, and been approached by a parent who wanted to discuss independent study for their child. That’s busy!
At the high school level, we have two new counselors: Elizabeth Pearce and Tammi Van Housen. They provide more academic counseling than social-emotional counseling. With a caseload of more than 250 students each, they are available to help students in crisis, but they refer long-term individual counseling to community providers.
Ms. Pearce said, “If a student is in crisis, we drop everything and attend to them to help them find their center.” She noted that students in crisis are often dealing with interpersonal relationship problems, either at home or at school.
Ms. Pearce and Ms. Van Housen often spend time monitoring student progress to keep kids on track for graduation, and they work with students to pursue various paths after high school (either college- or career-related).
They work on everything from helping families understand financial aid options for college to supporting students who are dual-enrolled at Mendocino College. Just like their counterparts at the elementary and middle school levels, our high school counselors are super busy.
In addition to counselors, Kelseyville Unified has two school psychologists who help support students of all ages: Julia Leonard and Michelle Sumares.
The psychologists focus primarily on our students in Special Education by completing assessments and helping students manage the complex social and emotional challenges of school while working through their classes.
Our Special Education Director John Leonard said, “Our psychologists help students with conflict resolution, crisis response, and behavior plans. We offer independent counseling as well as group work focused on problem-solving and social skills. We also have a licensed therapist through the county’s special education program, SELPA, to support students with ongoing unresolved needs – for example, issues related to being in foster care.”
Mr. Leonard is not only our Special Education director, he is also a credentialed school psychologist, so he really understands the challenges our students face.
It’s hard for students to learn if they’re on an emotional roller coaster. I’m really grateful to our counselors and psychologists for teaching students how to deal with some of life’s challenges in a more productive way.
Dave McQueen is superintendent of Kelseyville Unified School District.
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- Written by: Dave McQueen
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