Opinion
I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to the voters of Clearlake for electing me to a second term as city clerk.
I have worked for the city for almost five years, starting as office assistant and deputy city clerk, and was promoted to administrative assistant in 2006. I ran as a write-in candidate for city clerk that same year.
As city clerk, I am the elections official, the public records custodian, the political reform filing officer, and provide support for the city council. I make sure the democratic process is followed as compliance officer for the Brown Act, the Political Reform Act and the Public Records Act.
The city clerk also manages public inquiries and arranges ceremonial and official functions for the council and the city.
In 2008, I received the City Clerks Association of California’s Humanitarian Award and congressional recognition for my volunteer work in our community. I have been a member of the CCAC for four years, and a member of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks for three years.
In addition to my full-time position with the city, I am also a full-time student. In March, I will graduate with my bachelor of science degree in public administration.
My family has lived in Lake County since 1986. Three generations of my family live in Clearlake today. I attended Oak Hill Middle School and graduated from Lower Lake High School almost 20 years ago.
Like many of my generation, I moved away to attend college. I met my husband in college 16 years ago, and we raised our young family for a few years in the Sacramento Valley.
However, we wanted to raise our little boys in a better environment with the small town feeling that we were missing. When an opportunity came, we moved to Clearlake six years ago. We are raising our three children – ages 15, 12 and 3 – to have a sense of pride in their community and the beauty that surrounds them.
I look forward to serving the citizens of my hometown for another four years as city clerk.
Melissa Swanson lives in Clearlake, Calif.
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- Written by: Melissa Swanson
Today we will honor and celebrate the tremendous sacrifices our veterans made for our great country. I hope you will join me by taking some time today to think about the veterans in your community and thank them for their service.
As citizens, it is one of our most important responsibilities to ensure our veterans are welcomed home with the full benefits and services they earned.
As a combat Vietnam veteran and co-chair of the Congressional Veterans Caucus, I believe we must maintain our strong commitment to providing our service members access to quality health care and economic opportunities.
Since January 2007, Congress added over $23 billion for veterans’ health care and services. Just this year, Congress passed the largest veterans health care funding increase in the 77 year history of the Veterans Administration (VA).
This essential funding has helped improve health care treatment and access for hundreds of thousands of our nation’s veterans. It means more medical services, better care and shorter waiting times for doctors' appointments. It provides an additional 15,000 VA health care workers, including 1,705 new doctors and 6,468 new nurses.
Congress has also provided additional funding to increase the number of Community Based Outpatient Clinics for the more than 3.2 million veterans living in rural areas who do not have ready access to VA hospitals.
We can also do more to remember the stories and sacrifices of individual veterans in our lives.
This year, I am urging our local veterans and students to participate in the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center.
In this program, young people interview and record the stories of war veterans. Their stories will become part of our national archives and kept in the Library of Congress.
To date, the program comprises more than 68,000 individual collections, which include audio- and video-recorded interviews, original photographs, letters and other historical documents from veterans of every war and conflict since World War I.
Any interested students, teachers and veterans, and anyone who would like to serve may contact any of my district offices.
Again, I want to personally thank those men and women who have served or continue to serve in our armed services. Also, in acknowledgment of November as Military Families month, I also want to give my thanks to the families of those who serve. Our country deeply appreciates all that you do.
Congressman Mike Thompson represents California's First Congressional District – which includes Lake County – in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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- Written by: Congressman Mike Thompson
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