“Weather stories are as much a part of being a local news reporter as five-hour board meetings, pet stories and living near the poverty line.” - Anonymous Northern California print journalist, whom we will randomly describe as “Ryan Sabalow of the Redding Record Searchlight.”

In honor of the increasing temperatures that have come the Mid-Valley’s way, I break out what’s become one my favorite columns: A piece Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Tom Ferrick Jr. penned during a heat wave two years ago.
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Following the announcement of yesterday’s No on R committee formation, here is a response for the Yes on R camp:

CHARTER COUNTY PROPONENT CALLS OPPOSITION ARGUMENTS SCARE TACTICS

Measure R proponent Ron Southard calls the arguments by the newly formed committee opposing Measure R scare tactics and challenges the committee to come forward with facts.   “For instance, the opposition says Measure R is backed by special interest groups.  If that is true, the opposition needs to identify the special interest groups and state what the groups have to gain,” Southard said. 

“Saying that businesses will stay away during the two years the draft charter is being written is pure nonsense and totally unsubstantiated.  The Board of Supervisors will continue to have the executive and legislative power to run the county and I have never seen anything in any charter, be it a city or county, that would back up this ridiculous statement,” Southard said.  “Let’s look at the real reason  businesses will not locating in Sutter County during the next two years– excessive delays in getting our levees fixed.  That means that much of Sutter County will, more than likely, be in a flood zone for many years and businesses and residents will be subjected to not only the threat of flooding, but will be required to pay high flood insurance rates.”  

“Another of the opposition claims is that a charter will add more bureaucracy.  “That is simply not true.  Once the charter is drafted, the 15 Sutter Charter Commissioners who serve without pay, will go away.  There is no additional layer of bureaucracy,” Southard stated.  “Putting fiscal safeguards in the charter could save the county millions in the future.  Had a charter been in effect in 2004 and had there been a cap on the amount of indebtedness the county could incur without a vote of the people, the 35% excessive pension increase for county employees would have had to go before the voters of Sutter County who, more than likely, would have turned it down.  That excessive pension increase helped put the county $37 million in debt to the California Public Employees Retirement System and is costing the county an additional $3.6 million a year.  That is money that could have been used to fix our levees and our roads.”

“In the last six months, two vacant elected positions—the Clerk-Recorder and the Sheriff—have been filled by Board of Supervisors’ appointment.  Provisions can be placed in a charter to require the vote of the people on vacant elected positions and that the vote be required to take place at the next regularly scheduled election to avoid a costly special election,” Southard said. 

It is apparent that some opposition supporters have had, or will have, business before the board in the future or have close ties to some of the supervisors,” Southard said.  “Whose interest are they protecting?  Take a look at the chairperson,  Barbara LaVake.  LaVake runs a public relations firm and could possibly represent local business interests that will have business before the Sutter County Board of Supervisors now, or in the future.   Take a look at the treasurer, Holly Stout.  Holly is the wife of Deputy County Counsel Richard Stout.  She has publicly stated she is opposed to the charter and is actively supporting the opposition, yet is running for commissioner.  She is only one of about 10 commissioner candidates who are county employees, spouses of county employees, retired county employees or people with close connections to members of the current Board of Supervisors.   And, while I believe it is perfectly proper for county connected people to serve on the commission, they need to serve for the right reason:  to draft the best possible charter for Sutter County citizens. 

“It is apparent that the committee opposed to Measure R is pulling unsubstantiated arguments out of the air with no evidence to support their claims in an attempt to confuse the voters,” Southard concluded. 

Got this press release today. Since I’m tied up with the Marysville fire story, I’ll be working on this for (hopefully and likely) Wednesday’s paper:

Yuba City, CA – A grassroots group of farmers, business owners and concerned citizens officially filed with the Secretary of States’ office and formed a campaign committee to oppose Measure R. The group is called, “Sutter County Citizens for Good Government.”

Holly Stout, Treasure of the committee, said, “Measure R is wrong for Sutter County and our county needs to understand how this charter will hurt our economy and our quality of life.”

“Sutter County Citizens for Good Government” will work to send the message that moving from a general law to a charter county will produce unnecessary layers of government and require voting on issues that will result to costly elections, greater risks of lawsuits and a vehicle for special interest groups and people with hidden agendas.

Proponents of Measure R have outlined several elements that could be included in a county charter. Many of those elements relate specifically to areas in which Sutter County has already made decisions – decisions that have been opposed by some people in our community. It is many of these same people who now seek to change a system of government, general law, that has been in place since February 15, 1850. General law counties adhere to the provisions of the California Constitution and the California government code.

If Sutter County residents vote for a charter committee a two-year process will begin to draw up the charter. During that time, businesses will not know what system of government is to be expected and that will put a freeze on economic development in Sutter County.

In addition, charter counties require a vote any time a change is made and include specific provisions for holding elections on issues now decided by our elected representatives. At a cost of as much as $60,000 to $200,000 per election, the potential cost to taxpayers is far too high.

Don Covey, owner of Yuba City Florist and a member of the Sutter County Citizen Advisory Committee for  Flood Control said, “Measure R is wrong for public safety, wrong for business enterprise, wrong for flood control and wrong for Sutter County.”

Are you among those who don’t know how you’re going to vote on Measure R in Sutter County? If so, what about the measure is causing you to have not made up your mind?

An explaination of why I’m curious follows the jump.
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Well, here’s Thursday’s re-broadcast schedule on Channel 19:

Morning:

• District 1: 9:30 a.m.
• District 4: 10:30 a.m.
• District 5: 11:15 a.m.

Evening (quick note here, this is supposed to be the time of the live Yuba County supervisor debates, so this could be on another channel. Sorry, I use rabbit ears):

• District 1: 6 p.m.
• District 4: 7 p.m.
• District 5: 8 p.m.

I’ll try to pin that one down when I can.

I’ve made up my mind on the embarrassing stunt I will do in exchange for Relay For Life donations.

If you all can manage to get me $1,000 in online donations by the 21st (that’s two weeks from now), I’ll shave my eyebrows.

Click here to donate.

Who doesn’t want to eat some spaghetti and raise funds for cancer research?

After the smashing success of a Cinco de Mayo taco special at Gary’s Place and an in-house chili dog special here at the Appeal, the A-D’s Relay for Life team is teaming up with Gary’s again for an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 18.

For 10 bucks, you can gorge on pasta, salad and bread. And the proceeds go toward Relay for Life courtesy of Team Appeal-Democrat.

I have five tickets for this little shindig waiting to get into your hands. If you have an interest, feel free to e-mail me and we can work out a way to get tickets to you.

If you blog something and a week goes by without a comment then you need to blog again unless you are sedated for surgery then you can wait one hour till after it wears off.

Your blog has been woefully neglected lately…. We want to hear your thoughts!

April 23 is the last day LaHue put up a blog. The world has been infinitely better since then. The air smells fresher, food tastes better and I scored a date with Carrie Underwood. May LaHue stay in whatever purgatory (or Arbuckle) he’s been in the last two weeks.

Okay, the last one wasn’t actually written to me. But the first two were.

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve put anything up here. If I had a good explination, I’d bore you with it. But I really don’t. I’ve just been sidetracked with personal stuff. And this blog is the only thing I’ve neglected writing for; ask these guys.

However, I will note the last day I posted is right around the time the decision was made to fast-track a Sunday package on Measure R. Check out the main story, a sidebar comparing charter and general law counties, a sidebar explaining the layout of the measure itself, and a 10-minute primer video which includes my ugly, stuttering face.

But, it’s time to get back in the groove. Back in the game. Especially since I’m figuring that at any point now, my brain is going to start blocking out everything going on right now and only comeback online around June 4.

So here’s a rundown of some upcoming Sutter County debates:

Wednesday night: The Comcast debates. The Boss will be one of the panelists asking question I may or may not have a hand in writing. The good news is if you have a question you think might be good to ask supervisor candidates, you can e-mail it to Bob Harlan at KUBA for consideration to be included.

Since this is going to be at Comcast’s studios, no room for a live audience except the cameraman and probably yours truly. But you can watch the events unfold on Channel 19, or listen to the events unfold on KUBA (1600 on the AM, 95.5 on the FM)

District 1 candidates square off at 6 p.m., District 4 starts at 7:15 p.m., and James Gallagher in District 5 will debate himself at 8:15 p.m.

Thursday: More District 1! There’s five of ‘em running for the seat, so why not? The day after duking it out in the Comcast studios, the District 1 supervisor candidates will hold another debate just for themselves up at the Live Oak Community Building. The debate starts at 7 p.m. and is sponsored by the Live Oak Chamber of Commerce.

Any other debates scheduled to happen? Please be sure to actually let us know about it.

I missed out on anything related to yesterday’s Earth Day.

But I will share with you a blast from the past.

Four years ago, when I was still a lowly journalism student at Chico State writing for the student newspaper, The Orion, my colleague Travis Souders (now a sports writer for the Chico Enterprise-Record) penned this satirical piece that mocked the stereotypes of Earth Day being a hippie holiday and Chico State being a party school.

OK, so at least one of those is as much fact as stereotype.

Probably my favorite line:

There was also a large piñata shaped like George W. Bush, constructed with recycled paper. The students went at it like Mickey Hart banging out a 15-minute drum solo at a Dead show.

It’s still a good line, T-Sou. Still a good line.

To be “part of the community” and all that jazz, I’m a member of the Appeal-Democrat’s team for the annual Relay For Life.

My usual sarcasm aside (for the moment), RFL is a big deal. Put on annually by the American Cancer Society, approximately 3.5 million folks participate in the Relay nationwide, raising millions of dollars for cancer research and programs.

And that brings us to our next topic…fundraising.

I can’t make a big donation to the Relay myself (have you seen what reporters make?) So I’m fundraising. That’s where you all, who probably make more than I do, come in.
And it’s fairly easy to do. In fact, you can go to this Web page to send your donation directly to the American Cancer Society and have it go toward my fund raising total.

The general goal is $100. But I’m kind of kooky. And I want to cook up something that will make people want to donate whether they love me or hate me (most likely hate).

I’m still trying to figure out what punishment or torture I could be willing to inflict on myself in order to get y’all to open your wallets. I’m thinking at a point of about $500 or $1,000 here.
Have an idea of what this ridiculous stunt could be? Send it to  rlahue at appealdemocrat.com.