Letters
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- Written by: Ryan Kasmier
Between the Middletown Area Town Hall, or MATH, candidates forum and his own posts, special election school board candidate Bryan Pullman has proved that he is as out of touch with the reality of our education system to a level that should leave one in slack jawed horror.
Pullman believes that critical race theory, or CRT, is “dogma” and an “excuse for minorities to fail.” Without doing any obvious research to grasp what CRT is or that it is presently only taught in a handful of colleges in the US, he has stoked fears and said that “CRT training” will be in our schools. Wrong atop wrong.
Ethnic studies are a wonderful thing, especially when districts like ours add curriculum about their local Indigenous tribe. This was obviously news to Pullman who has no idea what is being taught but told the crowd at MATH that “transgender is being taught” at our schools.
If that wasn’t sad enough, he went on to say he was “against burning books” but followed that up with questioning books for their “age appropriateness” (as if that didn’t already occur) and that books with “sexuality” were not going to make the cut either. A book about a man taking a wife and having a child would be off the list by this logic. Guess that rules out the New Testament.
Mr. Pullman clearly does not like sexuality being taught. He gets the “biology part” yet clearly doesn’t know what parents are signing permission slips for their age-appropriate-students to learn about.
The man clearly does not like to investigate what is currently happening or research how things work. His big gun issues are the potential mask and vaccine mandates that could return. He feels very strongly, as is recorded for the world to see, about the dangers of what he views as a government overreach. COVID woke him up, “I’d been asleep for years … started going to board meetings seven months ago.”
This issue getting him fired up to take on a local school board is the most telling of all his mind-boggling ignorance. He and too many others believe that a school board is where you tell the state to piss off. His justification was that “we aren’t a big city” and should have special rights essentially. Anyone who thinks that a school board is a policy battleground with their state is a fool or a political tool for some group or another.
To get his board seat Pullman has allowed his team to resort to mudslinging though none had come from his opponent, bold lies about his opponent’s agenda, disingenuous accusations about his yard signs being stolen when they were removed by Caltrans for illegal placement, and all the aforementioned misinformation that is simple fear mongering. His own fears of the boogeyman have spilled over into his warped reality. Make no mistake, he believes with all his heart that he is trying to help and that is what leaves yours truly so shaken.
Many thanks to his opponent, Charise Reynolds, for digging deep to combat the lies, misinformation and petty behavior from the Pullman campaign.
Even with all the distractions she has kept her eye on the ball and is ready to get to work for the betterment of her community.
She makes it clear that it’s not about her, a stark contrast to a man who is making his run all about himself.
Hers is a campaign of the teachers, admins, students and parents — nobody first, just on even keels.
Ryan Kasmier lives in Hidden Valley Lake, California.
- Details
- Written by: Roberta and Harry Lyons
His endorsers range from all five of the Lake County supervisors and several former supervisors, Lakeport and Clearlake Council members, two former county administrators, state elected officials, and voters throughout the county – many working in areas that represent important revenue streams to the county.
It’s interesting to note that many of the names you see in the newspaper commenting vociferously on different sides of the various campaigns have one thing that they can agree on — supporting Patrick Sullivan. They all know that his expertise will be of great value to the County moving forward. Or as former Supervisor Steele points out, “He has the perfect temperament for working with people and governments. We would be lucky to get him, and he definitely has my vote.'’
Patrick Sullivan, a licensed attorney, was hired almost four years ago to work in the County Administrator’s Office because of his specific rural experience gained from his career with the Mendocino County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office. Since his arrival, he has made great progress in putting the County on a more solid financial position and already has a list of important priorities to tackle once he moves into the official Treasurer-Tax Collector position.
You will see two names on the ballot when it’s time to vote. Paul Flores, who worked for the county more than 20 years ago when he decided to move to Long Beach, drove up to Lake County and filed to run for the position.
While I am sure that Mr. Flores believes he has the skills to be an effective office holder — in fact he promotes bringing what he has “learned while away in the big cities” to the county — it would be impossible to match the detailed expertise that Mr. Sullivan has built in rural government issues, the strong partnerships he has established, and the confidence he has gained from so many in the community.
Another important reason to vote for Patrick Sullivan is that there has been a lot of change in county leadership in the last few months with the resultant loss of institutional knowledge. Carol Huchingson, the county administrative officer, has retired after 29 years with the county; both Cathy Saderlund, auditor-controller/county clerk (40+ years of county employment) and Barbara Ringen, treasurer-tax collector (30+ years of county employment) have chosen not to run for re-election. Other county office holders are in contested races and there could possibly be more loss of seniority. It is so critical that Patrick who has a detailed overview of the financial details of the county be elected to ensure that his knowledge and expertise is retained and can be shared with department heads.
Mr. Sullivan is a lifelong California native with strong ties to Lake County. Patrick, his wife, Andrea, a long-term Lakeport business owner and their children, own a home in Lakeport.
Your vote will ensure that Lake County elects a treasurer-tax collector who will continue to strengthen Lake County’s financial resources which will improve the quality of life for county residents. Let’s build a stronger future together.
Roberta and Harry Lyons live in Lower Lake, California.
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- Written by: Ashley Martin
For years, I struggled living in a domestic violence situation with my children and pets in Lake County. My job knew about it, my kids' school knew, my neighbors knew. It was a humiliating and lonely time for me. I didn’t stay in the situation because I wanted to, but because I had to stay at that time. Domestic violence is not only physical. In fact, it is physical after periods of financial, emotional & mental abuse. Coercive control plays a huge role in why many victims of domestic violence stay for as long as they do.
Eventually, I realized that I needed to get out of the situation and fast, that he wasn’t going to just change into this different person and I wasn't being a great parent by staying with an abusive partner regardless of the reasons why.
I started calling the police for help on a regular basis. Sometimes they would show up and other times they would not. Nothing good would ever come from calling the police for help, at least not for me. Dispatch was rude and the police didn’t have the ability to help even though they wanted to and encouraged me to keep contacting the DA’s Office. I felt helpless and even suicidal at times.
It was on me to find a way out of the situation I was in on my own. As such, I needed to hire an attorney to help me, and so I hired Anthony Farrington. He listened to me. He heard me and understood how difficult my situation was. He knew it wasn't as simple as just leaving.
I wasn’t fighting this battle alone anymore, I finally had someone who believed I could get out of this with my children. The court had let me down time and time again by allowing my abuser to contact me and violate the restraining order with no repercussions. I would report the violations, but once they got to the District Attorney’s office under Susan Krones nothing was ever done, so my abuser continued to contact me for years until I had finally escaped his grip.
Enough was enough. After obtaining a three-year permanent domestic violence restraining order, I had no choice but to let the protective order expire, and in doing so, I made a personal decision not to testify in a criminal matter that was filed years later.
I needed to get my peace back and this was a decision I had to make. The courts and the District Attorney’s Office were not helping anybody. They were unorganized and unprofessional at best.
It appeared to me that the District Attorney’s Office was treading water and about to drown. They allowed my abuser to repeatedly traumatize me even more through the court system.
In 2022, I finally had enough of the back and forth between the court and the District Attorney’s Office, and gave up trying to fight for my peace, or boundaries and/or any kind of “justice.” My abuser moved out of state and today continues to contact me on a weekly basis, but now I have the skills after many years of therapy to deal with it and my children are safe with me thanks to Anthony's persistence in working so hard for us.
During trial and throughout all the law enforcement calls and inaction by the District Attorney’s Office, Anthony never gave up. He was tenacious and always had myself and my children’s best interests at heart; and even though he fought an uphill battle for us, he made sure my children and I were as safe as we could be. He always took my calls and called me back.
He genuinely cares about the citizens of Lake County, our children and our well-being. He would make an excellent district attorney, one that we could trust to fight for victims of domestic violence by giving them a strong voice followed by action.
He will be a district attorney who will stand up to criminals and hold them accountable. He will help the police get the backup from the DA’s Office they desperately need to get things done in this county.
Ashley Martin lives in Clearlake, California.
- Details
- Written by: Pilar White
I am writing this letter to commend that choice and offer additional praise for her.
My son was a student in good standing at Kelseyville High School in 2020 when the pandemic closures began.
He had a difficult time navigating the murky waters of the COVID shutdown situation with the teachers and the administration at Kelseyville High School so much so that he was considering dropping out of high school completely. In fact, we pleaded with the school board to help us to no avail.
Luckily, we found Mrs. Roush at the Kelseyville Learning Academy and she was instrumental in helping my son complete the high school education that he deserved.
He enrolled as a dual enrollment student at Mendocino College and earned double credit toward high school and completed online courses that were equivalent to what he could have done in person. He graduated six months early and is poised to attend the college of his choice.
She taught with compassion and a keen perception of students' learning needs.
I commend the Lake County Office of Education for choosing Mrs. Roush as the teacher of the year because not only was she a beacon in the fog for our son, she renewed our trust in public education.
We are so thankful for her efforts in assisting our son to achieve a high school diploma and for her efforts in helping him learn that challenges can be overcome with perseverance and a positive attitude.
Thank you, Mrs. Roush, this is a well-deserved award. You will be a part of our family story forever. You have made a difference in our lives.
Pilar White lives in Kelseyville, California.
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