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Opinion
The attorney who is elected district attorney in the coming election this year, must have serious depth of experience in criminal law practice to successfully run the District Attorney's Office.
I speak from a career as an attorney of almost entirely criminal practice on both sides from 1972 until 2018.
The voters of Lake County need to understand the importance of having an elected district attorney with actual experience in the criminal justice system at a high level. The district attorney must know what they are doing!
The Lake County District Attorney’s Office is woefully underfunded and everyone is overworked, so the head of the office has to get their hands and elbows into the work!
As an uninvolved boss in title only, the district attorney cannot ask for all of the staff to go all out to represent the interests of the people who live in Lake County when it comes to the crimes committed against them as individuals and as members of the community.
How long do you expect these overworked people to sacrifice and give it their all if their boss exhibits no leadership, has no experience, is just along for the ride and does not pitch in to help with the load.
Also quite importantly, if the district attorney has no experience in coordinating with law enforcement agencies and personnel, no experience handling serious criminal cases, and no experience making decisions affecting the entire criminal justice system, how can this boss even intelligently participate in important decisions affecting the entire system and county population?
How could such a boss convince all of those others involved how important the district attorney’s view of the issues is with respect to success in dealing with criminal behavior.
The district attorney’s position is not a figurehead in the criminal justice system; it is an extremely important leadership position and critically impacts the ability to successfully deal with crime and protect the people who live in Lake County.
The importance of leadership and experience cannot be overemphasized when choosing a district attorney!
Jon E. Hopkins is a former Lake County district attorney. He lives in Lakeport, California.
I speak from a career as an attorney of almost entirely criminal practice on both sides from 1972 until 2018.
The voters of Lake County need to understand the importance of having an elected district attorney with actual experience in the criminal justice system at a high level. The district attorney must know what they are doing!
The Lake County District Attorney’s Office is woefully underfunded and everyone is overworked, so the head of the office has to get their hands and elbows into the work!
As an uninvolved boss in title only, the district attorney cannot ask for all of the staff to go all out to represent the interests of the people who live in Lake County when it comes to the crimes committed against them as individuals and as members of the community.
How long do you expect these overworked people to sacrifice and give it their all if their boss exhibits no leadership, has no experience, is just along for the ride and does not pitch in to help with the load.
Also quite importantly, if the district attorney has no experience in coordinating with law enforcement agencies and personnel, no experience handling serious criminal cases, and no experience making decisions affecting the entire criminal justice system, how can this boss even intelligently participate in important decisions affecting the entire system and county population?
How could such a boss convince all of those others involved how important the district attorney’s view of the issues is with respect to success in dealing with criminal behavior.
The district attorney’s position is not a figurehead in the criminal justice system; it is an extremely important leadership position and critically impacts the ability to successfully deal with crime and protect the people who live in Lake County.
The importance of leadership and experience cannot be overemphasized when choosing a district attorney!
Jon E. Hopkins is a former Lake County district attorney. He lives in Lakeport, California.
- Details
- Written by: Jon E. Hopkins
The Clear Lake Gleaners is a nonprofit organization established as a food bank in August 1981.
We have continuously strived to serve the elderly, low-income and homeless families with food to supplement their meals.
We are very fortunate to receive commodities from the USDA as well as from our local grocers, i.e., Safeway, Bruno’s Shop Smart and Grocery Outlet. All are providing a valuable contribution to our distribution process as we are supplying approximately 3,000 Lake County families with food each month.
Our volunteers are dedicated to serving the public and on distribution days some are on the site to load trucks as early as 3 a.m. The trucks leave the Finley site by 5:30 a.m., traveling to Lucerne and Spring Valley on the north, Clearlake and Middletown on the south. Cobb Mountain food is picked up by the site manager and her volunteers, which is greatly appreciated.
We have applied for a grant to purchase property with a large warehouse and have received numerous donations toward that goal. To all who have made monetary and food donations, we thank you. Without your support we would be unable to provide our elderly, low-income and homeless families with the support they need.
We appreciate all who have been so supportive of the Clear Lake Gleaners and invite you to visit our headquarters at 1896 Big Valley Road, Finley to observe our operations.
Bev Westphal is president of Clear Lake Gleaners Inc., based in Finley, California.
We have continuously strived to serve the elderly, low-income and homeless families with food to supplement their meals.
We are very fortunate to receive commodities from the USDA as well as from our local grocers, i.e., Safeway, Bruno’s Shop Smart and Grocery Outlet. All are providing a valuable contribution to our distribution process as we are supplying approximately 3,000 Lake County families with food each month.
Our volunteers are dedicated to serving the public and on distribution days some are on the site to load trucks as early as 3 a.m. The trucks leave the Finley site by 5:30 a.m., traveling to Lucerne and Spring Valley on the north, Clearlake and Middletown on the south. Cobb Mountain food is picked up by the site manager and her volunteers, which is greatly appreciated.
We have applied for a grant to purchase property with a large warehouse and have received numerous donations toward that goal. To all who have made monetary and food donations, we thank you. Without your support we would be unable to provide our elderly, low-income and homeless families with the support they need.
We appreciate all who have been so supportive of the Clear Lake Gleaners and invite you to visit our headquarters at 1896 Big Valley Road, Finley to observe our operations.
Bev Westphal is president of Clear Lake Gleaners Inc., based in Finley, California.
- Details
- Written by: Bev Westphal
Lake County schools are in the midst of a crisis due to the lack of qualified substitute teachers.
This problem is not unique to us, but because our county population is low, and the percent of people with BAs is low, the pool of possible candidates is very shallow. Whereas the Lake County Office of Education, or LCOE, once had a sub list of over 130 people, it now has only 90.
At a recent meeting of the California Retired Teachers Association, Lake County Division #35, this issue was discussed in some detail.
Our feeling is that it is essential that the rate of pay for substitutes be increased. The current rate across the county varies, but averages $150 per day, with the recent exception Kelseyville, which now pays $170. The range is $125 to $160, with increases for long term assignments. Nearby Potter Valley pays retired teachers $243 for a full day.
Years ago, the rate of pay of substitutes was double the minimum wage. But the minimum wage has been increasing over the years while the rate of pay for subs has stayed flat.
How to pay for something is always a question for districts. Our belief is that if something is a priority, it will get funded. The new federal government dollars which have been given for COVID related relief, could be a source of funding. Districts could stipulate that the increase in substitute pay is on an emergency basis which warrants the use of federal COVID funds and will end when the federal monies run out in three years.
This much is fact: the current practices of splitting up a class to farm out kids to other teachers, having other school site personnel (who have jobs of their own) take the class for a day, having the class supervised by an aide, or having teachers give up their prep are all not educationally sound practices. Instead of solving the problem, they are just spreading around the misery.
In these scenarios, students are not learning, they are just being “housed” for the day. They deserve to have a qualified substitute teaching them when their teacher is absent.
One big issue for retired teachers returning to sub is that there is such a change in the reliance on technology in the classroom. This is true for anyone who wants to sub. Brock Falkenberg, superintendent of schools, has said the LCOE could put on workshops to train subs to use classroom technology.
So with a nice big raise and a hands-on training, perhaps we can make a positive impact on the number of highly qualified substitutes available for our students. They certainly deserve our best efforts on their behalf. Let’s not let them down.
Joyce Anderson is president and Judy Fletcher is president-elect of California Retired Teachers Association, Lake County Division No. 35.
This problem is not unique to us, but because our county population is low, and the percent of people with BAs is low, the pool of possible candidates is very shallow. Whereas the Lake County Office of Education, or LCOE, once had a sub list of over 130 people, it now has only 90.
At a recent meeting of the California Retired Teachers Association, Lake County Division #35, this issue was discussed in some detail.
Our feeling is that it is essential that the rate of pay for substitutes be increased. The current rate across the county varies, but averages $150 per day, with the recent exception Kelseyville, which now pays $170. The range is $125 to $160, with increases for long term assignments. Nearby Potter Valley pays retired teachers $243 for a full day.
Years ago, the rate of pay of substitutes was double the minimum wage. But the minimum wage has been increasing over the years while the rate of pay for subs has stayed flat.
How to pay for something is always a question for districts. Our belief is that if something is a priority, it will get funded. The new federal government dollars which have been given for COVID related relief, could be a source of funding. Districts could stipulate that the increase in substitute pay is on an emergency basis which warrants the use of federal COVID funds and will end when the federal monies run out in three years.
This much is fact: the current practices of splitting up a class to farm out kids to other teachers, having other school site personnel (who have jobs of their own) take the class for a day, having the class supervised by an aide, or having teachers give up their prep are all not educationally sound practices. Instead of solving the problem, they are just spreading around the misery.
In these scenarios, students are not learning, they are just being “housed” for the day. They deserve to have a qualified substitute teaching them when their teacher is absent.
One big issue for retired teachers returning to sub is that there is such a change in the reliance on technology in the classroom. This is true for anyone who wants to sub. Brock Falkenberg, superintendent of schools, has said the LCOE could put on workshops to train subs to use classroom technology.
So with a nice big raise and a hands-on training, perhaps we can make a positive impact on the number of highly qualified substitutes available for our students. They certainly deserve our best efforts on their behalf. Let’s not let them down.
Joyce Anderson is president and Judy Fletcher is president-elect of California Retired Teachers Association, Lake County Division No. 35.
- Details
- Written by: Joyce Anderson and Judy Fletcher
While I am neither a foreign policy student nor an expert, I do believe that war is never an effective answer to conflicts — personally or globally.
In particular, the United States would do well to avoid a catastrophic war by not supporting NATO in the Ukraine.
President Putin has warned NATO against expanding eastward. Indeed he is enraged by the prospect of NATO bases next to his borders and says Ukraine joining the US-led transatlantic alliance would mark the crossing of the red line.
The US could defuse the situation very simply by declaring that NATO will not move into Ukraine. Russia is not going to accept NATO weapons and missiles in Ukraine inches from its border.
The US should not sell weapons to either side of countries in conflict; instead we ought to promote peace, justice, diplomacy and kindness in every way possible.
Make your voice of reason heard.
Barbara Christwitz lives in Clearlake, California.
In particular, the United States would do well to avoid a catastrophic war by not supporting NATO in the Ukraine.
President Putin has warned NATO against expanding eastward. Indeed he is enraged by the prospect of NATO bases next to his borders and says Ukraine joining the US-led transatlantic alliance would mark the crossing of the red line.
The US could defuse the situation very simply by declaring that NATO will not move into Ukraine. Russia is not going to accept NATO weapons and missiles in Ukraine inches from its border.
The US should not sell weapons to either side of countries in conflict; instead we ought to promote peace, justice, diplomacy and kindness in every way possible.
Make your voice of reason heard.
Barbara Christwitz lives in Clearlake, California.
- Details
- Written by: Barbara Christwitz