Letters
- Details
- Written by: Carolynn Jarrett
It seems a group called Citizens for Healing, C4H, has taken the suggestion of an unnamed retired lawyer to submit a proposal to the Board of Geographic Names, or BGN, to change the name of Kelseyville to “Konocti.”
The article states that the board has the authority to change names which are “determined to be derogatory or offensive.”
The local Board of Supervisors will be asked to comment on the name change and the decision by BGN might occur in August or at the latest, by the end of the year.
Although I live in Clearlake and have no pony in this race I have to admit I was gobsmacked by C4H making this end run around allowing the Kelseyville community to decide this issue.
I agree that the actions of Kelsey and Stone were egregious, but you can’t change history, you can only add more information, so that everyone can have all the pertinent facts. Add another plaque which describes their crimes to the monument already there.
And as for naming the town “Konocti” … we have enough Konoctis around the lake already.
I’m sure tribal historians could come up with something better. How about a Pomo word for “Place-where-people-made-an-end-run-around-the-community”?
Carolynn Jarrett lives in Clearlake, California.
- Details
- Written by: John Carlisi
Surprisingly, as a businessperson, he does not seem to understand the difference between spending and investing. He suggested the private sector should be responsible for providing the service.
Well, the private sector has been providing the internet for over 20 years and has yet to meet the needs of rural areas.
Mr. Bridges offered a solution — use Starlink, it works great, he has it at home.
He also suggests we use the money the county has been awarded for broadband to fix our roads.
Let me fill Mr. Bridges in on a few facts.
1. More than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no internet access with minimally acceptable speed. This is a particular problem in rural communities. The U.S. government is expanding broadband access with a nearly $50 billion investment in infrastructure, planning, digital inclusion, and workforce development and Lake County is on track to receive approximately $82 million of those funds which will mean many high-paying jobs for our residents, a big boost to our economy and reliable, affordable high-speed internet access.
2. There are many issues with Starlink such as the need for unobstructed views in our densely treed county, its installation expense (up to $1,000 in equipment and installation costs and a monthly charge of $120) putting it out of reach for most Lake County residents. But my major concern is that Starlink is another large corporation that we are putting in charge of our essential services. And one that has lost $885 million in public funds because its services were not affordable to working class people. Aren’t we all already sick and tired of dealing with corporations like PG&E and ATT? These corporations’ whole motivation is to make a profit, which makes them a very poor partner for rural areas such as ours.
3. The purpose of the “Broadband for All” program is to bring the entire nation into the 21st century in communications. Like it or not, each day the internet gets more integrated into our personal and business lives. How many of you are taking advantage of telehealth visits or working remotely, or even just a good family movie night?
4. Mr. Bridges does not have the most basic concept of how grant funding works. You cannot accept a grant for a specific purpose and then just spend it elsewhere. Trade broadband funding for fixing local roads? Politicians go to jail for less.
Many of the solutions Bridges puts forward are based on his personal experience, or by talking to a small group of his acquaintances, who have very similar backgrounds to his own. I am not convinced that he has the desire to expand his knowledge – especially now that his line in the sand of his dedication to the job of supervisor has been upped to “I’ll give it 40 hours, that’s full time.” Lake County deserves so much better.
Supervisor Pyska is just that. She has shown herself to be the leader we deserve. She works tirelessly to ensure she is representing all in this diverse community. She serves on local, state, and federal committees that focus on issues that are priorities for Lake County. She is bringing millions of our tax dollars back home to invest in areas such as broadband which will equip Lake County to bring prosperity to all and equip us to compete in the 21st century. And she is just getting started.
Re-elect Supervisor Jessica Pyska.
John Carlisi lives in Cobb, California. He is the chair and CEO of the Neighborhood Development Collaborative, a national nonprofit that owns and operates affordable housing for working class families and engages in local economic development. In Lake County, he serves on the board of Lake County Broadband Solutions, LLC a local wireless internet service provider, or WISP, with over 400 subscribers, both households and businesses.
- Details
- Written by: Brian Fisher
Looking down, it was hard for us to reconcile what we had just been told at an open house in Sonoma when the Realtor said, “They don’t like your kind in Lake County.”
Soon after the first visit we bought a ranch in Kelseyville which eventually became our full-time home. We found people open, accepting and willing to change long held stereotypes. We quickly became known as the “Guys on Gaddy.”
We started a business in downtown Kelseyville (www.suiteonmain.com) and joined the Kelseyville Business Association. We opened our ranch up to weddings, memorials, fundraisers and community gatherings. To say that we were welcomed by the Kelseyville community would be putting it mildly.
One didn't have to scratch too far below the surface to figure out who the town was named after. It has always been a conundrum for us. A town born at a time of so much anger and violence has healed itself and become a welcoming community, a town of festivals, strong family values, good neighbors, successful businesses, civic pride and acceptance.
Myself and others took on the project of building the town's visitor website www.visitkelseyville.com. We bought the URL and built a brand deck that provided a roadmap of economic prosperity to the community.
We invested countless hours into marketing Kelseyville as the friendly country town it has come to be known.
We looked at our demographics and realized that we were not speaking to all of Kelseyville’s 3,500 residents, principally the Latino community. We set about making changes and from that exploration the “Dia de La Independencia” festival was created which now rivals any of the largest festivals in Lake County. We pride ourselves on being a community for all.
Having spent many decades in marketing in the San Francisco Bay Area and also having worked on some of Lake County’s biggest brands — Steele Wines, Visit Kelseyville and now Visit Lake County — I can say from experience that a name change from Kelseyville to Konocti would set our town and the county back several decades. While it will vindicate some well-intended people, it would deliver a gut punch to the town.
Truthfully, given this decision will be made by individuals who have never been here, it really is more of a sucker punch to the people of Kelseyville.
I would argue that we are in a far stronger place today to demonstrate who we are and what we stand for as the united community we have become.
Our tiny little town sits in the long shadow of a far bigger reminder of those who inhabited this land well before us — Mount Konocti.
That landmark should not be diluted into one town’s name. It would be repeating the same mistake as when The Highlands was renamed after Clear Lake.
Kelseyville is not perfect but we strive to be a town that looks to building a future that is for everyone and in no way represents the beliefs and values of one of its abhorrent founders.
Brian Fisher lives in Kelseyville, California.
- Details
- Written by: Megan D. Lankford
I have worked with her for many years and she has the right combination of intelligence and common sense to make her a very effective judge for Lake County.
She has been endorsed by Congressman Mike Thompson, Assembly Member Cecelia Aguiar-Curry, Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones, and many members of the defense bar and local civil lawyers as well.
She started a mental health court in Lake County to help shift the burden from our police and jails to mental health specialists and she is about to help launch a Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment, or CARE, court here as well, which will play an important role in addressing homelessness in Lake County by getting people with mental health and substance use disorders the support and care they need by using early intervention techniques.
Judge Harry will continue to work tirelessly to make our community a better place and I believe that she is the most qualified person for the job.
Right now we need a judge with the experience and support of the legal community to make our court system the best it can be, and that person is Judge Harry.
Megan D. Lankford, Esq., lives in Kelseyville, California.
How to resolve AdBlock issue?