Dec. 9, 2021, Letters to the Editor

Save some money on library director

Editor:

I realize Douglas County has a nice little library. And according to the former head librarian, it respectfully welcomes all who want to enter its doors. Meanwhile, it seems that the library board has a champagne-level outlook on spending taxpayer money.

They wasted $30,000 investigating whether there was wrongdoing in the librarian-sheriff kerfuffle and came up with nothing. Now they want to hire a headhunter to find a replacement for that librarian. 

Their first search only produced one candidate who was responsible enough to show up for the interview. Maybe the second one who bowed out at the last minute heard about last summer’s brouhaha and had misgivings about the sanity of serving our community. 

But the board, whose absence led to the ill-advised action by the former librarian last summer, is uncomfortable with having only one interviewee. They feel the need for more candidates, and, of course, they blame the current staffing difficulties for that problem. Gee, nobody wants to apply for a job. It seems that workers’ expectations of employers have risen to an unattainable level. Meanwhile, they have one library staff member now working as interim head librarian and they plan to assess her performance in December. 

Here’s a suggestion to the library board. You have one candidate who has been interviewed and seems to fit the job. You also have an employee who has been filling the vacant job for a few months now and has probably demonstrated her abilities. So, you have two candidates for the job. Pick one and save the taxpayers a few bucks. Please.

Sue Cauhape

Minden

Moving to Gardnerville

Editor:

Recently it became so clear to my wife and I that moving to Gardnerville was the best decision we ever made. It was challenging at first, having moved here in January 2020 and then COVID hit. Not only feeling isolated, but not having our friends, family and neighbors near to lean on.

As the months progressed and we started to meet new people and our new neighbors, that uneasiness started to fade. Once COVID restrictions started to somewhat lift we finally got to experience our new little town. Sadly, many of the events we had heard so much about were canceled in 2020, but we did get to enjoy many wonderful hikes and walks with our dogs. 

Fast forward to 2021 and both of us started new jobs. I had the good fortune, thanks to my employment at JOIN Inc., to be a part of the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class of 2021.

I really can’t express how much being a part of Leadership has embedded me in this community. I have learned so much about this amazing county, not only how much it has to offer, but the amount of selfless, hardworking people in it is what stands out. The many organizations we visited that serve those in need were astounding to me. The sheer number of them in such a small county are incredible. And to be part of our Leadership project, “A Night Among the Stars,” prom event for our friends and neighbors with developmental disabilities, well that was one of the highlights of my life.

In closing, I couldn’t write this letter without talking about the fires that decimated so much and for so many that lost their homes. Often, we here the term “strong” used to describe a community that has been through a tragedy or disaster. We were on an evacuation alert at one time, and it was scary, but it was this community, the outpouring of support you could see everywhere we looked, that had its calming effect on us.

So, Douglas Strong, thank you for letting us into this wonderful community. We hope we can give back throughout the years all that we have already been blessed with since January 2020. 

Kate and Rachel Moroles-O’Neil

Gardnerville

Just say yes

Editor:

As a seasoned Realtor, I have been involved with Chambers of Commerce in other cities where I have lived. I am writing to say how thrilled I was to be invited by a neighbor last year to the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce, where the director went into detail about an upcoming class called Leadership Douglas County.

As a new community member, this sounded like something I would be interested in, a way to network and get my toes in the water of my new hometown. Our family had not fully relocated to Douglas County at the time, and when the director said,” It’s a year-long commitment,” the prospect seemed a bit overwhelming. We were in the middle of government shutdowns 2020 and transitioning our family from life in Southern California to be closer to family here in Genoa. Long story short, I just said “Yes!” and I cannot tell you how happy I am that I did! 

This wonderfully prepared program has been such a blessing to me in many ways. The class gave us behind-the-scenes access to our state and local government agencies, social services, public safety and our judicial system, economic development, the Lake Tahoe tourism industry, and so much more. We enjoyed guest speakers, field trips, and very hands-on learning together. 

What do I cherish most? The relationships and friendships made through this program. Class participants come from so many different viewpoints and walks in life, but we all came together united. I feel like I could call any of these classmates tomorrow and they would be there for me. No, we don’t all think alike, but it is clear that we all have admiration and respect for one another. And this makes me cherish the time I have spent with these amazing individuals. 

My advice to anyone new to the area, or even to someone who wants to know and understand more intimately who and what drives our county and how to be more involved at the local level, would be to participate in the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Douglas County program. I am sure you will come away, as I did, with an appreciation for the people of this county that we all call neighbors.

Lisa Ballard

Minden

On a mission from God

Editor:

If, like me, you don’t have any kids in school and are puzzled over the ongoing ruction about critical race theory indoctrination teaches school kids that children of color still suffer from the effects of racism from a century ago and that white children must accept unequal treatment based on what appears to be some sort of race-based debt for the sins of their Caucasian ancestors.

The CRT concept of racial guilt is the same source of motivation for soft-on-crime prosecutors who release smash-and-grab criminals from jail while unapologetically supporting defunding the police. For them, uncontrolled street violence seems to be the condign price society must pay to make up for past and current racial injustice. 

I attended the Douglas County School Board meeting a couple of weeks ago just to see for myself how this might be impacting local kids and families. Most of the board members and several teachers assured all interested parties that CRT was not being taught in the Douglas school system. However, I did get the impression that CRT is present in teacher reference or training material.

We as citizens, even non-parents, must defend against allowing any credibility to the concept of inherited guilt that would govern how kids would see themselves and their role in society. I marvel that anyone would be so high handed as to indoctrinate someone else’s children using propaganda from the now-discredited “1619 Project.” Boy, was I naïve. They’re like the Blues Brothers on a mission from God. CRT zealots know no bounds.

On guard.

Maureen Morris

Gardnerville