Editor:
Donna Leveck, president of the Carson Valley Vanguard Coalition, writes in your June 18 edition that her testimony before the planning commission on June 10 was dismissed by one commissioner because the CVVC won't release its membership.
That commissioner is out of line. But unfortunately, his or her ad hominem behavior is all too common here.
Public debate should be about ideas and information, not people or their characteristics. And our leaders have an obligation to model principled debate and encourage the rest of us to follow their example.
The issue is not Ms. Leveck or who or how many people she represents.
Or whether and why CVVC protects its members' confidentiality.
The question is, did Ms. Leveck have valid information that should be considered by the commission? Even one person's valid input should be considered. At minimum, Ms. Leveck was that person.
A public hearing is not a plebiscite. It is a public forum intended to gather information and ideas before our representatives make a decision, so that their decision will be fully informed.
Furthermore, I'm not aware of any commission rule that requires speakers to identify the membership of organizations they represent.
Does a church seeking a permit need to identify its membership to be considered legitimate?
When an official dismisses an individual or group based on their characteristics instead of engaging the information they present it says to me that the official wishes the information suppressed because it calls into question the wisdom of the official's own thinking or position.
Information should not be feared or suppressed. It should be welcomed and used or not used based solely on its merits.
So my question is, what was it about CVVC's information that warranted an attempt to suppress it? Could it be that CVVC is on to something?
Terry Burnes
Gardnerville
Editor:
During the past 4 1/2 years, the residents of District 1 have been very fortunate to have had Jim Baushke serve as their representative on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Baushke has chosen not to run for re-election in the 2008 election. During his tenure as commissioner, Jim demonstrated a true passion for Douglas County and the residents who live here. He worked tirelessly to make the county a better place to live for all of us.
Certainly, Jim Baushke has set the bar high for the next District 1 Commissioner. As residents, we are concerned that the declared candidates for Jim's position bring the same level of commitment, passion, and integrity to the job that we received from Jim.
Accordingly, and with great concern, we wish to share with the citizens of Douglas County that there is a candidate running for District 1 Commissioner that does not "actively" live in our district which he seeks to represent. Like all candidates, Dave Nelson signed a statement when he filed for office certifying that he "actively" and not "constructively" resided in District I. (Constructive residency refers to a situation that is not obvious and explicit as in a rental agreement with no full-time occupancy.)
The certification requires that Mr. Nelson was "actively" living at 980 Wintergreen Drive, in Pleasantview, by April 5, 2008. Since that time, neighbors have observed that the window blinds are always drawn and that there is never a trash can out front on pick-up day. Neighbors have also noticed when driving by the house when the garage doors have been open, that no personal possessions are observed inside. When questioned, some of the immediate neighbors have stated "no one lives" in the house - which is owned by a California couple. Even more disturbing, Mr. Nelson's campaign helpers who meet at the house once a week or so, appear to be unaware that Mr. Nelson is not an "active" resident of our district.
The citizens of our district deserve and demand to be represented by one of our own. Certainly not by someone who bends the rules in order to qualify as a candidate. Mr. Nelson clearly cannot have a history of familiarity with the needs, values and issues for our district.
Mr. Nelson, have you been "actively" living at 980 Wintergreen Drive in Pleasantview since April 5, 2008?
Tim Murphy
Paul Fry
Roger Arthur
Millie Thompson
Pleasantview
Editor:
The letter to the editor recently published by Michael Hayes entitled "Park Cattle a nonstarter" is more notable for its errors and omissions than its substance. Mr. Hayes' letter represents a broad-based attack upon the re-election campaign of Commissioner Doug Johnson, who is running against a 24-year-old newcomer, Blaine Spires. Mr. Hayes' letter displays a lack of understanding of both the current master plan and the legislative process which detracts from the subject matter of his letter.
Under current 19 acre zoning, the Park sisters project is allowed to build 237 homes on the subject 4,500 acres. Also, under the current master plan, if the project chooses to cluster outside the flood zone, they are entitled to build an additional 355 homes, making a total of 592 homes. The Park sisters are requesting a master plan amendment to build over 5,000 homes. This is the largest and most intrusive variance project request Douglas County has received. Doug Johnson spoke about allowing the Park sisters project only the approximately 600 homes they are entitled to, not 600 more than Blaine Spires would support. So, Commissioner Johnson is supporting what the current master plan already allows. Surely, Mr. Spires is not going to attempt to amend the master plan and take away the current 19 acre zoning?
Contrary to Mr. Hayes belief, Doug Johnson resigned the chairmanship of the Board of County Commissioners in support of Commissioner Dave Brady when Dave was not re-elected as vice-chairman because of his critical review of the county manager.
Mr. Hayes claims that Doug Johnson hasn't accomplished one positive thing as a commissioner; yet Commissioner Johnson was the moving force behind the passage of the new building permit allocation and growth management ordinance which became effective on July 1, 2007 and is on the November 2008 ballot for advisory approval. Mr. Hayes states that Blaine Spires absolutely supports this growth management ordinance - whose passage is a testament of Commissioner Johnson's leadership. Doug Johnson's accomplishments can be found on his Web site www.vote4doug.net.
Mr. Hayes further states "that Mr. Spires has excellent advice on the plan, the Park project, economic development, the growth ordinance..." Who are these advisors? Who is financially supporting his candidacy? Maybe they should step forward and run for county commissioner. What experiences and qualifications are brought to the table by Mr. Spires? No doubt Mr. Spires is a fine young man, but perhaps working in a lesser position than county commissioner to start one's political career would be beneficial. I would not want to entrust the duties and responsibilities of a county commissioner to one fresh out of college and with no qualifying background experience.
And by the way, Michael Hayes is Blaine Spires future father-in-law (wedding date June 27) and that, my fellow readers, says it all.
Gary Pyle
Gardnerville
Sustainable Growth Committee
Editor:
Recently the city of Reno conducted a ground-breaking ceremony for the new Neil Road Senior Center. This will add to a multitude of existing senior centers in Reno. In addition, neighboring Lyon County now has four viable senior centers. Lyon County and Reno are no better off financially than Douglas County yet they have managed to find ways to support their seniors. In contrast, Douglas County recently made considerable cuts to its senior service budget. Our commissioners claimed that they need these funds to help run the rest of the county services and increase the reserve funds. I must reiterate that our seniors demographically encompass more than 30 percent of the Douglas County population and they pay more than 50 percent of the residential real estate tax, yet they are completely overlooked by our county management.
There are currently eight candidates running for county commissioner. I have already talked to some of them and they all say that they will support our seniors, but since that commitment has been made many times before with no action taken once the campaign and election are over, we can only hope that once these new commissioners take office, there will be real support and activity as promised. The need for a new and larger senior center is essential and a new center would also enhance the image of Douglas County as a very desirable place in which to live and spend retirement years.
Many of our Douglas County seniors don't yet take advantage of the county senior services but they all have at least one friend or relative who does. These seniors grew up during the Great Depression and World War II so they were taught early in life how to get through tough times by sticking together and supporting each other. It's time that our seniors unify and demand that our local political candidates include plans in their campaigns for providing Douglas County with a minimum of one adequate senior center and to restore the senior services funds which were significantly slashed by our current county commissioners.
Paul Lockwood
Minden
Editor:
The Douglas County Animal Shelter is filling up fast these days. The members of the Douglas Animal Welfare Group pray each day that owners will claim their pets, and no new dogs will be picked up by the animal control officers. We hope that the perfect adopter will walk in the door. We wait, but some dogs may not be able to wait long enough.
As the shelter fills up there is just so much available space, and then someone must go. The dogs do not have fancy pedigrees and are not cute puppies, they are mostly mixed breeds, ranging in age from 1-9 years. They were abandoned because no one cared enough to train them, give them exercise and affection that could make them wonderful companions.
We have Maui, a golden/pit mix, she is a beautiful young girl who loves to play with the basketball. Dixie, a Queensland healer, a sweet older lady who would love to sit and watch television with you.
Jack, an Aussie mix, who has been attending obedience classes and will soon graduate. And about 20 other wonderful dogs all waiting for their forever home.
To alleviate the overcrowded conditions DAWG is sponsoring an adoption event this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the animal shelter at 921 Pinenut Road, Gardnerville.
We are offering free spay or neuter, free training classes, free microchiping, and free pizza coupons for the family.
If you are considering adopting a dog, now is the perfect time. The animals need your help.
Laura Winking
President Douglas Animal Welfare Group
Editor:
Gas has just climbed over the $4 mark here in Carson Valley. People are looking for leadership from our elected officials and those who would like to be president to get us out of this situation. Instead of leadership, I hear calls for taxing "the windfall profits" of the oil corporations. One thing is for sure, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama and many others in Congress don't know the definition of "windfall profits."
A commonly accepted definition of windfall profits is, "An unexpected profit arising from causes not controlled by the recipient." Since oil companies are in the business of selling oil and oil related products, any profit they make is not unexpected. In fact, stock holders want them to make profits so that the dividends go up. Also, since most oil companies are publicly traded, if you think that gas and oil are going to continue to go up, wouldn't it be prudent to invest some of your money into their ventures?
I remember in high school being lectured on America's "free-market society." The lecture addressed things like "risk versus reward" and spoke about the steel barons and car barons of 50 years previous (from the time I was in school) and that those who risked the most, often made the most in profit. Do we no longer believe in the free market place?
Ron Landmann
Minden
Editor:
What a season! What a tournament! What a year!
Who would have thought a first-year team " a team that could have stayed in A league, but rather chose to go up to AA " would gel together into one cohesive, head in the game, focused team? No stars, just a team that believed they could do anything and took it one game at a time.
A team that had fun, learned techniques, plays, strategies...but most of all learned good sportsmanship. The Twins not only salute their coaches...but respect them and looked to them for leadership. Never were they let down...the time they took for the games was over shadowed by the time they spent with practice which in turn was minimal to the time spent going over each player's strengths and weakness when the day was done.
The coaches spent hours upon hours going over the rosters and rules being careful to adhere to the highest standards. They truly coached each member and brought them all up to to the team's level of accomplishments. The skill level ranged from first-year rookies, to seasoned players that have played since "T" ball...but never was there disparity in the coaches' eyes, mouths, or attitudes ... only encouragement, yes they could be tough when they knew a player was not playing to his fullest ability but that was all they asked of the players to do their best...to stretch, grow and reach from within to achieve each teammates personal success.
They cared and wanted to see that each player was able to play up to their individual ability to be an asset to the team and be proud of their accomplishments. Yes each game saw its errors, but they were able to shake it off and move on to winning the game.
And winning the game was what they did, undefeated until the last game.
Then came the tournament. Again they rallied as each team member left one by one for various reasons " key players too. But the team pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and rose to the occasion winning it one game at a time, never taking for granted the strengths of their opposition but only looking from within just as the coaches had taught them so well.
And now it's time to acknowledge each one you personally and your mentoring coaches individually.
Team members were Troy Collins, Alex Dolan, Kendrick Frank, Joseph Harris, Kindell Isham, Kory Johnson, Blake Murray, Jake Nagy, Braden Odem, Conor Preston, Matt Rowden, Zach Rowden, Alex Sparks. Coaches were Keith Isham, Jon Murray and Chris Rowden.
And not to be remiss, a very special expression of gratitude to the scorekeepers for doing an outstanding performance on keeping the books, changes in rosters, runs, errors, etc., game after game...never complaining sitting in the cold, windy snowstorms keeping an ever-watchful eye on the game and comparing pitches, runs and changes.
And not to forget the many hours spent at the concession stands game after game. Truly, this was a team not only on the field, by participation in league duties, but in the hearts of every person in the stands rooting the Twins on to victory.
Yes, boys you excelled and pulled the triple crown of baseball. You were No. 1 in the tournament, No. 1 in the league and not only No. 1 in your coaches' eyes, but in your rooting section as well. Our hats are off to each one of you, the members of the Twins, AA League and Tournament Champions.
Carol Bennis
Gardnerville
