Posted by: thepinetree on 05/01/2010 11:33 AM
Updated by: thepinetree on 05/04/2010 03:36 PM
Expires: 01/01/2015 12:00 AM
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Letter to the Editor~by Darryl Rusk
Editor: "I am concerned about the future of Calaveras County. I believe, but am not certain, that Orange is the only County in California to declare bankruptcy. It may surprise some to learn that the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA) provided both guidance and financial support to survive that experience. Calaveras County doesn’t have an OCEA. Orange went under because the spending exceeded income and the economy tanked all at the same time. Sound familiar ? Recently, our economy has been in trouble..., no question ! That leaves the balance between revenue and expenses. It is likely that the costs for providing a decent sheriff’s office, road maintenance, communications, snow removal, etcetera, will be higher in the future. Costs tend to go up.....
Why do revenues increase for a county ? State and Federal funds are almost always dedicated to specific issues. So we rely on fees and taxes. Actually, most local revenues go toward fixed or mandated topics, and that leaves very little money that is under the control of the Board of Supervisors. But, why do those dollars increase ?
Stay tuned. County Revenues increase when there is an increase in human activities. With apologies to the Calaveras County Society for the Protection of all Non-Human Things, people are the only ones who bring in the big bucks. And yet with even more apologies to the Society for the Protection of All Humans Too Lazy to Get Off Their Rears and Get a Job, money is NOT generated by people who don’t do anything.
County revenues always go up when real live human beings build, create, work, study, drive, eat, play, etcetera....! If the cost of doing business keeps going up, we darn well better be laying the foundations for them to do it. However, proponents of the Community Action Plan/Calaveras Planning Coalition follow guidelines that include the following “Land Use and Development Principles” (paraphrased):
2, 7. Development should not go beyond existing infrastructure;
3. Projects should not alter physical features of the land;
4. Plans should retain all currently existing ag land, open spaces (meaning?), and wildlife habitat;
6. All projects should be in existing towns;
8. Communities should always be separated by green belts and “working landscapes” (meaning, and who pays for the upkeep?);
9. Development must include low income housing;
10. No project should compete with existing businesses;
These principles have been adopted (May 16, 2006 by the Calaveras Planning Coalition,
January, 2006 by the West Point, Wilseyville, Glencoe, Rail Road Flat Community Plan Committee, 2005 by the West Point Business Council, 2004 by the Amador Association of Realtors, August 2003 by the Foothill Conservancy).
If they sound familiar it may be because they seem to be the rules established by the current majority on the Board of Supervisors. There is nothing about property rights, nothing about free markets or enterprise, nothing about other people’s rights, what-so-ever.
With these socialist rules (my opinion), the future of this County looks bleak ! Your April 23 issue included a letter from Gene Quarton who seemed gleeful to report a small survey result (139 [out of 7,985]) showing opposition to having a local college campus. What ? Business and industry is attracted to places with a smart, educated young workforce. We don’t want any change. A static economy, rising costs of operation, and no revenue increases. Aaahhhh, the smell of bankruptcy in the morning....
I’m old, but even I can dream ! What about the dreams of our young people ? Is this the future you want ? If it isn’t, stand up and say so !!!!"
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