Letters
The landscape of Lake County is breathtaking. Something else that took my breath away was learning we are the most impoverished of all the counties in California as of last year.
The reasons for this level of poverty among its population are complex and there are no quick or easy remedies for this.
There is however movement within our State Legislature to bring about some positive change.
AB 10 California Minimum Wage bill was signed into law in September of 2013 by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The bill raised the hourly minimum wage in California to $9 per hour beginning on July 1, 2014, then will increase it to $10.00 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2016.
This will help shrink the gap between low wage and higher paid workers, lessening the effects of income inequality.
Raising the minimum wage is also thought to create more opportunity for job growth. This occurs when minimum wage employees begin spending more of their earned income. Thus sales increase and businesses need to hire additional workers to keep up with increased demand within the service industry.
However there will be an increase demand for goods across the board. That money will go right back into the economy and will most likely draw the attention of business to expand in Lake County as well as raise revenue to allow our impoverished county to raise up infrastructure that will develop county resources and schools.
AB10 restores some of the ground lost by low-paid workers in recent years, but it maintains the inflation adjusted minimum wage at about the same level as in 1988.
This is one of the reasons why we got to this level of poverty to begin with – the minimum wage doesn’t adjust to the cost of living.
The aim then should be to enact legislation that will adjust the minimum wage rate to the cost of living automatically – not simply giving those who work minimum wage jobs a raise but building in a safeguard that will keep those workers in a middle-class income.
Anthony Palma lives in Clearlake Oaks, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Anthony Palma
Time to start paying attention, Mr. Wink ( Wink: Time to start asking questions, Wednesday, April 22: http://goo.gl/DDTHWw ).
Yes, Hidden Valley Lake Association did hire a new general manager. She was hired by the previous board which was dominated by those who supported a massive Hartmann Event Center.
The people you say who are “quite upset and starting to speak up” are the very same people who hired her and supported her.
Now that she is making tough decisions related to the perennial losses of Golf and Food and Beverages, these same people want her fired.
The losses she is addressing were unsustainable and the entire community suffered because of them.
Those two public businesses (there is some question as to whether they are legally amenities) consumed more than half of the entire amenities budget. As a result, everything but the golf course has fallen in to disrepair.
If any of our member-only amenities (the lake, tennis courts, parks, trails, “teen center,” beaches and others) were kept as nice as even the worst hole on the golf course, none of this would have happened.
Members got sick of paying for people who do not pay assessments to use HVLA facilities and for roughly half of every round of golf played on the course.
There was no “coup d'état,” but the old “pro-Hartmann Event Center” board majority was reduced to a minority over the course of two and a half years, through two member elections and, most recently, a board-voted appointment.
Clearly the democratic process, slow as it may be, worked in this case and the residents have voted in directors who they feel will better represent their interests.
As for the personnel changes, some people quit and others were let go. Those are the facts. That’s all any of us knows for sure.
I have heard stories and rumors ranging from “people were unjustly and illegally fired without cause,” to, “employees were verbally abusive, insubordinate and used their positions in the administration for personal gain.”
But those are just rumors. There are two sides (at least) to every story, and the truth is somewhere in the middle, in my experience.
And since they are personnel issues, there is no censorship going on there – it’s human resources’ policy and laws being followed.
As for the reserves, that’s what they are there for – they are reserves. They sit there until they are needed for the repair and replacement of assets. If you had been attending board meetings and paying attention, you would know that HVLA is currently in the middle of an external reserve study.
In the past we had an internal reserve study that was inadequate at best, and intentionally misleading at worst. The external reserve study is supposed to be concluded in early May.
At that time, the board will have an accurate picture of our projected repair and replacement liabilities and make a determination as to how our reserves will be spent.
You are right, we are still in the U.S.A. – and at least we no longer have armed guards at meetings like we had with the old board.
That was when I started questioning where I live, and I am glad that ugly chapter is behind us.
I have lived in HVL for almost 11 years, and in my opinion, things are finally starting to get better for everyone rather than a select few.
Eric Soderstrom lives in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Eric Soderstrom
How to resolve AdBlock issue?