To the community,

I want to write a little note to my community about why my mom, Joy Curry, is a perfect candidate for City Council.

I was raised in a household where the morals were based on treating everyone with respect and never thinking you are better than anyone else, finishing anything you have already started, and always doing everything to you fullest. I come from a family with an immense amount of determination, strong will and big hearts. I write this to my community to tell you about my mother because it’s hard to portray your true self in forums and interviews.

My mom has an affixation of things needing to be done right and done well; it is her passion, it’s in her blood. She jokes sometimes that it’s almost a disease, but obviously it’s a wonderful trait she has that can be channeled into helping our city become a better place to live and work. An example of her character I will always remember is when I was in high school and my mom would frequently be cleaning the senior patio by picking weeds and trash in her free time. This was so embarrassing for me, but everyone else seemed to appreciate it. Or when I would want to quit AYSO soccer mid-season and she would say, “You committed to this so you need to finish; if you don’t want to play next year that is your option.” I always kept playing.

I was very lucky to grow up in a well to do home, but my parents always taught me to give back. We gave our time with a lot of charity, and my mom actually made sure I gave a certain amount of hours every school year. One of my favorites was when my mom and I made big homemade meals and delivered them to the Safe Houses in Laguna Beach. Eating and talking with the mothers and children who were abused at home changed who I was as a person.

I have several stories that give examples as to why my mom is fit for a job in which its sole concentration is based on making our city a better place. I write this letter to communicate this because she has the time to give, and she likes to fill her free time doing good and doing right.

Darcy Rodriguez, South Lake Tahoe

To the community,

I am writing to endorse Claire Fortier for City Council. It is my belief that a vote for Claire is a vote to bring prosperity and prestige back to our city of South Lake Tahoe. Claire has the strength of character, the honesty, integrity and work ethic it requires to pull our council together in a collaborative effort to move our city forward.

As a 21-year resident of South Lake Tahoe, I have owned a small business, and I have raised my children in this town. It is a good place to live, and I want to take back our town so that my friends, my children and my grandchildren will also have a good place to live: Claire Fortier is the person I trust to turn our town around and point it in the right direction again!

Please vote for Claire Fortier on Nov. 2, and show that you want to take back our town too.

Sincerely,

Maria A. Pielaet, South Lake Tahoe

To the publisher,

Those who hoped that the current crop of council candidates

would offer refreshing new ideas about the future of our town must surely be disappointed.

Angela Swanson, however, has the intelligence, experience and dedication to provide leadership on a path different from that in which our community has been mired for too long.

Among the others, I will cast my ballot for Adrian Gooch and Alice Jones in hopes that they will bring reality-based thinking to the council, something that has been missing for too long.

Jerome Evans, South Lake Tahoe

El Dorado County Supervisor Ray Nutting has been in the timber industry since 1980. He operates his own sawmill.

In 1998 he wrote an article for “California Forestry Association’s California Forests.” He has

Ray Nutting

passed it along to Lake Tahoe News for readers to see that what was true then, is still true more than a decade later.

Click on article to read the original piece.

To the publisher,

I support a “yes” vote on Douglas County Question 1-Airport Use Ordinance. This is an important issue for Douglas County residents.

I served on the Minden-Tahoe Airport Advisory Committee and participated in the more than 40 public meetings to craft the ordinance. We did this because the existing weight ordinance is “discriminatory” in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) opinion and unenforceable in the eyes of the district attorney. This is the case because the weights specified in the existing ordinance are arbitrary. The limits need to be based on objective engineering evaluation.

Residents need control to ensure the Minden-Tahoe Airport (in the Carson Valley) retains the area’s rural character. The goal of the use ordinance is to preclude expansion and pursue general aviation and sport recreational uses including soaring.

Most important, however, is that because FAA found the existing weight ordinance discriminatory there will be no further federal funding of maintenance or support of the airport unless the new ordinance is adopted. If Question 1 does not pass, approximately $1 million annual cost will reduce the already strapped Douglas County budget. The impact will be felt by parks and recreation, senior services and the library.

Please vote “yes” on Douglas County Question 1 to control and fund our airport.

Mike Bradford, Zephyr Cove

To the community,

Measure E has quietly sat at the end of the city ballots. I think it needs more attention.

When I was the South Lake Tahoe Chamber exec, the issue of fairness in the business license fees would come up from time to time. The reason is that there is an existing cap on how much the city can assess a high grossing business. In that sense a smaller business here pays a larger proportional fee on their gross sales than a large grossing business. As we looked at creating fairness the way the system is set up would end up really hurting mid-size businesses in the long run. Also, going from the current roughly $3,700 cap to $10,000 proposed would have been very hard on high grossing but low net businesses like hardware stores and gas stations and car dealers. Most people would still like to have larger grossing businesses pay more.

But measure E has a Trojan Horse hidden in the language. The initial 10 percent reduction in fees for smaller businesses looks good until the fine print is read. There is a 3 percent increase built in from there forward that is also compounded. So in three years small businesses would be right back where they are now and from there on in perpetuity they would see 3 percent increases automatically.

In 10 years, small businesses would have a possible 30 percent increase or more. The 50 large businesses would collectively pay about $100,000 more to the city to administer their business license. In my opinion, that would result in either $100,000 worth of more jobs lost or $100,000 in increased prices to the customers.

I found it odd that some of the candidates for City Council touted lower taxes and encouraged business to create jobs, but weren’t opposed to Measure E. One former councilman, did say he was very much against it. I think most didn’t see the hidden job killer inside the measure.

In any case, this is not the right time to raise taxes on any businesses for any reason.

Duane Wallace, South Lake Tahoe

To the community,

Please support Dr. Scott Forvilly for Douglas County School board trustee. Dr. Forvilly is a lifelong resident of Douglas County and attended lake schools. Dr. Forvilly lives in the Carson Valley and has two children who attend valley schools. He also operates businesses at the lake and in the valley. It is critical that we elect someone who will represent the entire school district.

Unlike his opponent, Dr. Forvilly understands the needs and challenges of running small schools at the lake, while also dealing with the demands of operating large schools in the valley. He realizes that the policy set for a large school may be different then what is needed for a small school. He knows that one size does not fit all.

After dealing with the embarrassing circus that the current board created when trying to hire a new superintendent, it is clear that change is needed on the school board. Electing someone who has deep roots in the community, runs a successful small business, and has young children attending county schools would be a great start. Please vote for Scott Forvilly on Nov. 2.

Kristy Kjer, Stateline

Publisher’s note: The following editorial is from the Oct. 24, 2010, Reno Gazette-Journal.

By all rights, the most important decision facing Nevadans on Nov. 2 is who will be the state’s next governor.

The governor, after all, can have a direct impact on the daily lives of all residents of the state. He — the candidates all are men — will play a major role in determining the future direction of a state that has been hit harder than any other by the economic downturn, with the highest unemployment and the highest foreclosure rate.

Yet the gubernatorial contest has played second fiddle in recent months to the ugly campaign between Democratic Sen. Harry Reid and his Republican challenger, Sharron Angle, for the right to represent the state in Washington, D.C.

As the Democratic candidate for governor, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, says, the Senate race, featuring his father, has sucked most of the oxygen out of the gubernatorial campaign.

Read the whole story

To the publisher,

South Lake Tahoe is at a tipping point. I am running for City Council to help push us toward creating a first-class, eco-resort that embraces recreation as a major economic driver. From AYSO to the Olympics to families looking for an active vacation, the South Shore should be a place the world comes to play.

I want to see South Lake Tahoe as a vibrant community that thinks differently – a community focused on a stable and sustainable future. Well planned and well maintained, South Lake Tahoe should be a place we are proud to call home.

I am sure you have the same vision, only to look around at the dim reality of our city. The lack of cohesive strategic planning, the crumbling infrastructure and the inability to play well with others is crippling our town.

As a 17-year resident of the city, I am passionate about rebuilding a thriving community. I am an independent thinker who believes great things can be accomplished with the collective power of collaborative leadership.

Collaborative leadership helped us stop the decline in lake clarity. It also spurred the Prosperity Plan, a model of regional foresight and cooperation. While “doing battle” is invigorating rhetoric, I know from experience that working together is what gets results for our town.

I believe blue can be green: We can reach economic and environmental sustainability here in the Lake Tahoe Basin and with it, a new vitality for South Lake Tahoe. It will take hard work, compromise and a sincere belief in the outcome.

And it will require leaders with the knowledge, passion and courage to move us forward.

That’s what I offer to City Council.

Think clear. Think Claire. Please vote for Claire Fortier for City Council.

Thank you,

Claire Fortier, South Lake Tahoe

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Oct. 6, 2010, Sacramento Bee.

In the California Senate district that includes Fair Oaks, Roseville, Elk Grove and points east and north, voters have a rare opportunity to help quiet the bickering that drowns out reason in the Legislature.

Voters in the heavily Republican Senate District 1 have a choice of three serious Republicans, and a Democrat, seeking to replace Sen. Dave Cox, who died in July.

Of the GOP contenders, one, Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, has shown he can work with Democrats for the benefit of California. Voters would be doing themselves and the state a favor by voting for him on Nov. 2.

Read the whole story