Where Is The Truce Barrrrrrrrb?
I guess it is impossible for me to get away from HUSA. Here I am, a private citizen not attending the city council meeting and yet my name selectively appears out of nowhere in this week’s version of “how the news gets tweaked”.
I like Kathy Garnier and Richard Sorem as both are professionals. I was able to work with them while doing my duties as mayor. However, being able to work with these good people never changed my personal position regarding HUSA.
The Lassen Times included a comment at the end of the story that really isn’t germane to the story and is misleading. I would say that HUSA met the basic requirement of the city council as mentioned in 2009. However, that does not mean that HUSA’s continuance or assessments are to be taken for granted. It may bother a member of the council that this q & a comes up every year but that is the job of the council. Ask questions. Inquire about those who are paying the bills. For too long the council was told to simply go along as they had no role in this matter.
If I were voting today I would vote against the assessment. First, I don’t support the redistribution of money from those who earn it to the government and then on to a private entity. Second, the council stated a policy that I call the “Lincoln School” policy which states that people who are funding their projects with their own money and they don’t have a lot of it should not have undo hardships put upon them. That means that the uptown business community should not be encumbered by an additional tax.
Either policy will do to say NO to HUSA but I will stick with the first as I believe the second is wrought with an unforeseen downside.
As a side note. Being mayor sometimes means that you have to do things that you really don’t want to do. My preference was to end HUSA but the council made a decision and I implemented the policy and negotiated with HUSA to the benefit of the public. The actions that I took were reviewed and approved by the city council and were accepted by Ms. Garnier and Mr. Sorem. That is what the mayor is supposed to do.
