The Board of Supervisors is considering a request made by the board of KPFZ, our local radio station, to either eliminate or greatly reduce their rental for broadcasting from the Mount Konocti tower to help them with their tight budget. The supervisors need to know how much this radio station means to us.

KPFZ provides an invaluable service to the community of Lake County. In good times, they provide a forum to educate our people of current issues in a fair and open manner and in times of crisis have always interrupted their regular programming to provide access to local, state and federal fire agencies, county and city law enforcement, as well as other public officials upon request.

They also consistently provide free airtime to local candidates running for office. An informed electorate is essential to the survival of a democracy.

At a time when media is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, it is important to provide support for independent media, especially one which operates as an all-volunteer, non-commercial, nonprofit organization.

Although they don’t reach Middletown through the airways, they are available by live streaming over the internet and during disasters, when cell towers and land lines go down, they have provided a very valuable service to emergency services and all the people of our county.

We cannot afford to lose such a valuable resource!

Greta Zeit lives in Middletown, Calif.