Editor:
As a senior living and spending my tax dollars in Douglas County for the last 20 years, I will be voting "no" on the Douglas County School District's continuation bond this coming November.
The school district has a maintenance and operations budget which the taxpayers already fund through property and sales tax and they have funding for salaries and benefits which is used to pay for building maintenance and grounds keeping crews for the upkeep of their facilities on a daily basis. I feel I have already paid for these schools once, and I should not have to make payments on another large debt - over $40 million, plus millions more in interest - for another 20 years.
The school district states the bond will "not likely" raise my taxes. That is not a comforting statement to me. The Douglas County School District bond uses up 10 cents of a very valuable tax rate, and as long as my 10 cents is not coming back to me, I would prefer to see my tax dollars go to the senior services for our ever growing senior population, social services for our needy families, youth services for our children and teens, or for keeping our parks and recreation areas beautiful for the enjoyment of all citizens of Douglas County.
Robert Thomas
Minden
Editor:
Greg Felton should be elected to the Douglas County School Board, Area 3, and as the parent of two school age children, and a life-long Douglas County resident, I will tell you why.
Since meeting Greg while testifying at a school board meeting in 2006, I have been impressed by his ability to quickly grasp the cause of a problem and offer solutions. He was part of a group of parents that requested the school board conduct a cost/benefit analysis (including radon testing) before deciding which Lake school to close due to declining numbers. He thought it was prudent to slow down and really look at the long term implications. The school board, including Greg's opponent, Ms. Trigg, ignored his advice and decided to close Kingsbury Middle School instead of Zephyr Cove Elementary.
When highly elevated levels of cancer causing radon were discovered at Zephyr Cove Elementary in 2007, Greg researched effective radon mitigation techniques and pressured the school board to move forward with proper mitigation. Greg attended and testified at every school board meeting. Finally, after several "quick fixes" were attempted by the district, the EPA was brought in and proper mitigation took place during the summer of 2008. Ms. Trigg asserted the board would have handled it, even without Greg's pressure. Oh really? How many other district schools have been tested for radon besides the Lake schools? What actions are being taken to protect all Douglas County students from the second leading cause of lung cancer?
Greg would bring a master's degree in business administration, a master's degree in engineering and 22 years of management experience to the board. In the tough economic times ahead, we need someone with "real world" business experience to keep the district moving forward. Because Greg has attended almost every board meeting in the last two years, and is a member of the KIDS bond committee, he could jump right in without missing a beat.
Greg does not have any political ties, and by running for this non-partisan office his only special interest group would be the parents and students of Douglas County schools. As quoted in the September, 2008 Tahoe Mountain News, ..."Trigg is an ardent Democrat who is spending much of her non-DCSD time campaigning for Jill Derby, who is running for Congress."
Greg has three children in Douglas County schools, and understands the concerns of parents. Ms. Trigg has lost touch with parents. As the Lake representative, she voted for closing KMS, when a boosters club poll showed that 95 percent of Lake parents wanted to close ZCES instead.
We need someone on the board that will look at the long-range implications of district decisions, fight for the health and safety of our students, bring real world business experience, and is in touch with the concerns of today's parents. We need Greg Felton on the Douglas County School Board. Find out more about Greg at his Web site: felton.vpweb.com
Kevin Kjer
Stateline
Editor:
Douglas County is fortunate to have Greg Felton running for a school board seat in the current election. Greg is strongly committed to helping the schools, both at the Lake and in the Valley and has the dedication to follow through with this commitment.
Greg has been a key parent in Boy Scout Troop No. 468. He was instrumental in combining both the California and Nevada troops at the Lake, resulting in a great group that has benefited from working together. Although he wasn't a scout himself, he's dedicated himself to learning all about scouting and supporting his three boys and all of our kids with their scouting activities. Through his leadership, all scouts in the combined troops are now working toward achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Four scouts have accomplished this goal in the last year and five more are currently working on their Eagle Projects. Our families really appreciate all he does with this organization and know he would be a tremendous asset to the Douglas County School Board. The school district needs the professionalism that he exhibits in everything he does. You can learn more about him and see his answers to questions people have asked at a Web site he has set up, felton.vpweb.com
Since we aren't Douglas County residents, we aren't able to vote for Greg, however, we hope you will.
Steve and Ardel Garofalos, Pat and Rita Kelley, Jason Peterson, Gwen Rohrer, Mark Klover and Lynn Norton
Lake Tahoe
Editor:
Children ask "Where's Waldo?" Douglas voters ask "Where's James Settelmeyer?" Yet again James Settelmeyer ducks contact and conversation with the voters he's asking to elect him to the State Legislature. Instead, he goes to closed meetings with special interest groups. Why is that? Why won't he stand up and be counted in open forums? Why won't he meet with the voting public to discuss important community issues? How can we trust him to be diligent in State level public office when he ducks and avoids us here in his home town? He missed the non-partisan forum held at CVIC last night " yet again. Well, he's going to miss something else " my vote in November. I respect his family and knew his father. Arnold Settelmeyer would never disrespect his friends and community by avoiding them. He was a stand-up gentleman. I don't believe his son is. And I evaluate the man, not his inherited name. Ms Brown seems to be the attentive hard working reasonable person in this election. She seems to show up and do things for my community. That's who I want to represent me in the Legislature. Stay hidden Mr Settelmeyer; the Douglas voters will help you.
James Rose
North Douglas County
Editor:
Art Baer, candidate for trustee of Indian Hills General Improvement District, is a former member of the board of trustees. In the past three months he has volunteered his experience and help as interim general manager without wages or benefits, which has been a great savings to the taxpayers of Indian Hills.
Diane Humble-Fournier is also a candidate for the board and is a former trustee. Diane is a team player and believes in honesty and financial accountability in all areas of district management.
I, Bill Eisele, support Art Baer and Diane Humble-Fournier as candidates for trustees of the district.
Thank you, and remember to vote.
Bill Eisele, secretary/treasurer
Indian Hills General Improvement District
Editor:
The Sustainable Growth Committee recommends a vote in favor of Doug Johnson, Nancy Epstein and Greg Lynn to serve on the board of county commissioners. In doing so, we would like to suggest that the voters end interparty disunity and vote for the most qualified candidate regardless of political affiliation.
Doug Johnson is an incumbent commissioner having been first elected to the board in 2004, and is up for re-election. What we admire about Doug is his proven integrity, accessibility and openness. Doug firmly believes in accountable and transparent government.
During his first term Doug developed extensive knowledge about county issues, including those involving county budget and residential growth management. Doug was the major force in shepherding the new growth management ordinance into law. This new law " now on the ballot for advisory approval " will become an important tool to moderate future residential growth when the housing market again takes off with its normal excesses. Doug is committed to maintaining the rural character of our county.
Nancy Epstein is a fresh face on the political scene who has been a resident of Carson Valley for 14 years. She is a small business owner and is supportive of small businesses, the new growth management ordinance, and maintaining our quality of life. As such, she will look closely at county budget matters. We like Nancy because she doesn't have ties to any special interest nor does she take campaign contributions from political action committees. Nancy has the intellect and the energy to be a true servant of the people which she promised to be at the recent candidates forum. Nancy believes in open and transparent government.
Our support of Greg Lynn might seem to be an anomaly at this time since we supported his opponent in the primary election. However, some of us worked with Greg during the 16 months it took to develop the new growth management ordinance which he supports. We came to recognize that although Greg was not a Sustainable Growth Committee supporter, he was his own man with independent views, not aligned with big housing development interest. For example, we have now determined that Greg Lynn is not a supporter of the Park Cattle Company's proposed project to build 4,500 new dwelling units. Thus, SGC has changed its mind; Greg Lynn has gained our support. SGC recommends him for approval as one of our next county commissioners, even knowing that we may not agree with all of his votes in the future " and that is true of all of the candidates SGC has endorsed.
All of these candidates keenly recognize that the issue of residential growth aside, the pervasive issue during these times is the state of our economy, both local and national. We imagine that each will spend a great deal of time seeking out ways of promoting business growth and employment in our community.
Please vote for Johnson, Epstein and Lynn for the three county commissioner seats.
John H Garvin, Co-chairman
Sustainable Growth Committee
Gardnerville
Editor:
What if we vote for none of the above?
What are we doing? Our government sucks. And we did it to ourselves. We are the people of the United States. We voted in our congressmen and women and our presidents.
Now we are in big trouble. But we've got to quit blaming "them." We fell for their lies and cheating, and let them get away with pork and earmark legislation. We let them fall prey to lobbyists who do not care about anything except their own greed.
Now we have a "fix-it now" government who only knows about solving problems by printing more money and going into outrageous debt. Even the TV media. How much money do they make with their TV commercials from the presidential wannabe's? Are any of these candidates arrogant enough to believe that they alone, followed by a do-nothing Congress, can get it together? Like cooperate and compromise without the pork and ear-tags? Come on guys, give us a break.
What if the media quit selling them time? What if the media only allotted X-amount of time for each candidate? What if the practice of lobbying was made a felony? What if congressmen and presidents cut their salaries? What if Congress and presidents pensions ended with their term of office? What if they had to use Medicare, Medicaid or HMOs for medical care?
Has anyone asked them if they ever feel guilty about getting us into war? Do they ever ask or hear what constituents really think about what they do?
We, the voters, have fallen into a mud puddle of apathy. We don't like listening to the news. It is too upsetting. We think we can't do anything about what is happening anyway. So press the mute button on the TV or change the station.
Yet who is really going to pay for all of this? We are. Can we fire congressmen who don't show up for work? Are we angry enough to kick ass, or too busy trying to survive? The whole system is rotten from the inside. Fraud is rampant. I even wondered if a class action suit against the American government would provoke real reform.
Anyone who talks to me about how angry they are, I suggest they vote for "none of the above," as far as the presidential candidates. Vote for "no" on all incumbent Congress folk. Enough of these votes could tilt the election.
Has anyone read Gibbons' "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"?
There's a store in Gardnerville named Fresh Ideas. We need fresh ideas so why not renew our faith and loyalty to our great country. This is a time for fresh ideas. Get smart! Vote for "none of the above." Maybe that will gain attention.
We have a wonderful country and culture, but we are in a mess. The "American Dream" can become a nightmare if we don't vote smart. Enough already.
Barbara Griffiths
Gardnerville
Editor:
Many have written opinions about the pending request before our county commissioners to amend the master plan for the benefit of Park Cattle Co. We all know that urgency driving the Park project is a desire to have their proposal decided upon by the current "pro development" commissioners before their terms expire. We also all know that by any measure of sanity this is not a good time to increase the potential build able space in the Valley by this magnitude. Park's proposal isn't an amendment, it is another whole plan. Hello! Commissioner Kite, Commissioner Baushke, and of course Commissioner McDermid, we already have a plan. Do something different, surprise us. Demonstrate fortitude in these tough times and stick to the course already laid out in the current master plan.
On the other hand if the board votes as it usually does, perhaps my golden goose has finally come home to roost. If it makes sense for the Park Cattle Co. to be awarded a 4,000-home increase in buildable lots in exchange for transferring their water rights in perpetuity to agriculture land in the scenic Highway 395 corridors why can't I do the same? I live on 10 acres in the scenic Mottsville agricultural area. I could transfer my water rights in perpetuity to the front 5 acres of my roadside home and build condos or put a trailer park on the back five. Wouldn't that be grand?
Donna Buddington
Minden
Editor:
Every adult pays $3 at the door to use the community pool. Then all the homeowners in Douglas County pay a second time when they pay their property tax. My house is currently assessed at $236,000.
The first item on that tax bill was $389.27 for the East Fork Swimming Pool. Why is that?
While Douglas County Park & Recreation is short on funds and the community college at Bently has cutback on the number of courses it offers and the Minden library has reduced their operating hours " we're all sending hundreds of dollars to the pool? Shouldn't the stub from our property tax bill suffice? How about if the county commissioners take this tax burden off of our shoulders " and then everyone that actually uses the pool could just pay $3 at the door.
Autum Resney
Gardnerville
Editor:
The so-called "Committee to Save Douglas' Schools" is a bogus front for pro-development interests trying to block voter approval of the growth management ordinance. They are funded by the developer-backed Coalition for Smart Growth. Their required registration with the secretary of state was faxed from (and uses the phone number for) the Kit Carson Development, managed by Peter Coates, president of the Douglas County Building Industry Association, and a vocal opponent of the growth management ordinance.
If their actual purpose was to support the school continuation bond (Question 2), they should have worked with Douglas KIDS. It is clear that their real intention is to confuse voters, and defeat Question 1, the Growth Management Ordinance. Such sleazy, underhanded tactics have no place in Douglas County politics. The growth management ordinance was passed by the county commissioners 4-1 (Kite opposed), and took effect in July 2007. At last week's voter forum, none of the six candidates running for commissioner opposed the ordinance. Question 1 deserves a "yes" vote.
The growth management ordinance has been in effect for 16 months so far, and has had no effect whatsoever on growth, due to the state of the economy, both locally and nationally. For the so-called Committee to Save Douglas' Schools to suggest that inadequate school funding for capital improvements is because of the growth management ordinance is ludicrous and insulting. One of the purposes of the ordinance is to create predictable growth, not the uncontrolled boom followed by the disastrous bust that we have seen here in recent years.
The master plan states that "the county should control the rate at which growth occurs. Unmanaged growth makes it difficult to keep up with expanded needs for roads, water, sewer, and other facilities. Unpredictable growth also makes it difficult to plan for, protect, and make the best use of our natural resources, such as land, air and water." It goes on to say: "In order to protect both financial and natural resources, the county should adopt a building permit allocation system covering residential uses." This is exactly what this ordinance proposes to do. What could be more important and more appropriate?
In 2002, when the county had failed to manage growth, as mandated by the master plan, the citizens of Douglas County passed the Sustainable Growth Initiative, a more restrictive method for controlling growth. After years in court, it was decided to try to work out some sort of compromise ordinance. The county sought input from many sources, including, but not limited to: county commissioners, community development staff, the district attorney's office, developers, and SGI supporters. No one was excluded. This ordinance is, in part, the result of those efforts.
It is time to deal with this all-important issue. This ordinance is the most balanced solution that has been offered to date, and is the work product of thousands of hours. It would be folly, and overtly counterproductive, to start all over again. There are too many other important issues that currently face our county to again get bogged down in the divisiveness of this issue. It is time to move on.
The ordinance states: "Management of population growth as provided in this ordinance is necessary and desirable to preserve and enhance the quality of life for the communities and inhabitants of Douglas County."
Vote "yes" on Douglas County Advisory Question No. 1.
Jim Slade
Gardnerville
Editor:
In Ron Landmann's letter of Oct. 17, he states the sky will fall if Democrats control the White House and Congress.
He states we will lose our system of checks and balances forgetting we have had eight years of an imperial president and vice president who have created an environment where our phone conversations can be tapped at any time.
Mr. Landmann states, "The difference between the Congress and president spending like a drunken sailor is a drunken sailor spends his own money."
Can Mr. Landman tell us which president has taken our tax money and led us into the greatest debt this country has ever known? At the same time, Mr. L. also indicates we need money to fight ideologies that intend us harm. Does this mean we need to keep a large standing army and we will send our children into countries that have never attacked us? A bumper sticker I saw the other day stated, "Send our children to college not Iraq."
Mr. Landmann also seems irritated by the idea that a Democratic Congress will increase spending on health care and education. I guess this means that creeping socialism comes back with Democratic control. Isn't it funny how some people use the label of socialism if government emphasis is on helping the middle class with education and health care. They seem to want less government involvement, yet when jobs are lost, houses are foreclosed, or banks and financial institutions go under, they all turn to their government for socialistic assistance.
And, no, Mr. Landmann, low-income housing loans did not completely lead to this financial crisis. It was hands-off by this Republican administration that allowed an unregulated market to greedily go haywire. Mr. Bush has never seen a corporation he didn't love.
An eight-year Republican Congress never reigned in a dysfunctional Wall Street. Oversight of the financial system was never considered. Mr Landmann states, "The free market place outperforms government programs." If this is so, why are our free market moguls now pushing for a $700 billion (or more) socialistic bailout from a Republican administration?
Mr. Landmann ends his letter against Democratic control by sarcastically stating, "I love being told what's good for me by people that don't like me or represent me."
Mr. Landmann, I don't believe you ever lived like or were represented by the fat cats at AIG, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, Washington Mutual bank, George W. Bush, or Dick Cheney.
And finally, lets make Mr L. happy and end all taxes along with police, fire, education, health, infrastructure, and society in general. Under Democratic control the only thing Mr. Landmann has to fear, "is fear itself."
Harold Zaroff
Minden
Editor:
Last week I had two children, ages 10 and 12, knock on my door and ask if they could put an "Obama for President" sign in my front yard. I told them, "absolutely not." They were shocked. The 12-year-[old asked me why not. I told them that Obama is qualified to be president " not of the United States but of a small college somewhere.
The 12-year-old, obviously brainwashed by his parents said, "what about the checks he's going to send us?" Not responding, I said "goodnight" and closed the door.
Here's what the Constitution guarantees us all, we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The Constitution does not guarantee that we will all have health care coverage " just that we can work towards that personal goal. It does not guarantee us we will live long prosperous lives, only that the government will not take our lives without cause. It does not guarantee we will be happy, but we have the right to pursue our own personal happiness. It doesn't state that we will achieve happiness, only that we can pursue happiness.
These kids were under the impression that a vote for Obama translates into a check coming into their house. Since 45 percent of wage earners don't pay income tax and since Obama has promised them a tax break, the promised check from Obama's government is two things: 1) welfare; 2) redistribution of wealth. Well, we all like receiving checks in the mail, but more importantly, we should all take personal responsibility for our lives, our conduct, our careers, our families. The government's primary role is to provide the common defense, not to decide who is to remain wealthy and who is to personally gain from others' hard work. Let's try and keep the republic a republic of the people, not of the government.
Ron Landmann
Minden
Editor:
A few questions, if I may, for those who seem enchanted by Sen. McCain's choice of running mate: If you needed emergency open heart surgery, would you feel comfortable with her as the assisting surgeon? No? Understandable.
Would you feel comfortable with her as the co-pilot on your polar flight to Paris? No? Again, understandable; but then, how in the world can you be comfortable with the prospect of Sarah "May I call you Vladimir? Wink, wink" Palin going toe-to-toe with the former head of Russia's KGB?
John O'Neill
Minden
Editor:
I spent a large part of my career working for defense companies, designing systems to counter the communist threat.
We were concerned at the time that the Soviet Union would take over the United States, turning us into a system of a strong, controlling central government with few rights for the citizens.
The Soviet threat is now gone, but the growth of the federal government that we all feared is happening nonetheless.
Soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, I heard a person who had lived under communist rule state that "I feel I have come from your future."
Those were frightening words at the time, and even more so now when we see so many Americans willing to give up so many rights by granting the federal government even more power to tax and control us.
Be wary of whom you vote for in this election. Our freedoms and liberties depend on it.
David Thomas
Gardnerville
