Citizens of Lake County, are you enjoying the operation of your cable TV8 Public, Education, Government (PEG) station? The counties of Sacramento, Napa, Contra Costa, Alameda, Kern, San Diego, San Francisco, Irving, LA, and several others do enjoy what is happening with their community public access channels (available though cable TV or directly through Internet computer connections). But perhaps Lake County and city governments do not really want you to see and understand such operations? Perhaps they prefer the ignorance of We The People?

Over 10 years of TV8 PEG operation, with very little if any progressive development, one must ask why a PEG station cable franchise, in the hands of the city of Clearlake (as well as the cCounty beginning with the 2007 joint powers of authority contract), is still relatively dysfunctional. Previous station mangers have quit, and the last volunteer provisional manager, Allen Markowski, was terminated, perhaps for being, in part, a bit too successful in bringing the PEG station, particularly the public access part, into some viable presence after years of what appears to be political obstruction by a city government who also apparently thinks it controls the public access content of the peg entity to the extent of demonstrating a callous disregard of constitutionally mandated First Amendment rights.

If the current TV8 PEG Board says you can’t see something (it’s “too far out”) such as a documentary, labeled disparagingly by the board as “conspiracy theory,” or any nonlocal created video (“imported” video that originates from outside Lake County but produced by a local producer), you cannot see it broadcast unless after 10 p.m., or at all, apparently, if the currently installed provisional station manager (installed with questionable due process) does not approve after reviewing before broadcasting (a fundamental violation of PEG regulations and Supreme Court law).

And too bad for those volunteers who do not follow orders, orders conveyed by a dictatorial TV8 PEG Board and city having no apparent bylaws as a normal governing board might, making communication more transparent and regulated, rather than as a dictatorship with demonstrated and assumed arrogance and control over PEG personnel, related committees, and most importantly, the viewing public for which the PEG station serves.

Yes, the board claims the “provisional policy” (shown below) was only to be tested for a month. But the TV8 Board of Directors here tampers with public access programming by restricting, if not censoring it, and secondly, it was rushed and forced into play by a bully, dictatorial TV8 PEG Board (primarily by Ed Roby, Joyce Overton, and Jeff Smith) causing Shawn Swatoch, a board member, to resign from the board due to possible legal issues involving Mediacom which he represents. He resigned due to the board’s actions related to possible violations of constitutional public access law involving the programming proposed at the Dec. 9, 2009, TV8 PEG Board meeting he attended, apparently knowing nothing about what was to transpire at that meeting.

Below is the “provisional policy” created by the TV8 Board of Directors that began a chain of events, only one of which was the TV8 PEG station lockout by Dale Neiman, who as city administrator, is the apparent “legal” station manager who also knows nothing about running a PEG station but is very good at shutting it down:

“The Board decided to ask the station management to try out the following policy for one month and report back:

Prime time (5 p.m. – 10 p.m.) will be limited to locally produced programming. Imported programs will be scheduled to run only twice, regardless of how many different people submit the program. The Board encouraged the station management to replay local programming more, including the bulletin board (which they are working on currently.)” – from the minutes of the TV8 PEG Board of Directors meeting held Dec. 9th at 7 a.m. at the El Grande Hotel.

Perhaps this policy appears innocuous and simple enough to those uninformed about PEG public access and free speech, but such is not the case, and had there been more inclusive discussion and informed input with responsible leadership, the resulting chain of events might not have occurred. But here the TV8 PEG Board of Directors apparently demanded change in the programming of prime time content with ONLY locally originated programming, as well as extending the prime time hours by two additional hours beginning from 5 p.m., rather than from 7 p.m.

But why? They want to “encourage” more local programming (as stated). That of course does not compute in this case. Local programming does not grow by extending prime time viewing hours where practically no current locally produced material is available, which results then in a blank TV screen.

If the city had any real responsible interest in the public access TV8 PEG station, they would have offered far more real support in a variety of ways over the past 10 years of its neglect: public outreach enabling more local programming, obtaining more volunteers to run the PEG station and the means to train others to do so, obtaining financial support.

Instead, the present board demanded a reduction in the broadcast of the very videos that have stirred some support and interest. In addition, at the Dec. 9 TV8 Board meeting the board apparently demanded a change of programming, a new provisional policy created with threats of Lake County withdrawing funding (mentioned by Jeff Smith ) if certain videos were “too far out.”

This kind of leadership and government manipulation is what We The People and the Lake County TV8 PEG station could do without. The attempt to reprogram prime time content, and restrict non-local videos, has nothing to do with encouraging more local programming but smacks of political subversive control over what you can see, and represents the kind of political control that has rendered the PEG station impoverished, retarded, and in the city’s dark closet for over 10 years.

Ed Robey, a TV PEG Board member, recently suggested on the local KPFZ radio station that the TV8 PEG station had lost credibility due to the lack of responsible volunteers and their unprofessional actions, pointing to the former operating PEG crew involving the then-acting manager, Allen Markowitz.

But if Ed Robey wants more responsible and professional operation of the PEG station perhaps he should take a closer look at his own actions and the action of the board, perhaps just even a glance at the lack of integrity, knowledge, trust, leadership and civic professionalism demonstrated by the city of Clearlake and the TV8 PEG Board. They are responsible for creating a questionable programming policy, and the board does not even have bylaws or reasonable transparency to protect those involved from arbitrary and questionable actions the board and city has demonstrated, such as replacing TV8 PEG personnel, and in shutting down the PEG station from public access.

Let’s (We The People) also consider the possibly that our freedom of speech may not be the same as TV8 PEG Board member Joyce Overton’s freedom of speech (as she apparently suggested in a recorded public meeting). Does this arrogant statement made by Joyce Overton in her position of elected power not capture something about the problem? Is there here a possible causative link behind the apparent illegal manipulation of programming by the TV8 PEG Board, the shutting down of the TV8 PEG station by the City, and the consequent displacement of former TV8 volunteers?

A new TV8 PEG crew (who apparently also knows little about running a PEG station) was rather quickly installed, as though waiting in the wings. But now, with a new provisional and “proper” manager in place, TV8 PEG prime time will not inform us, that our homes, our health, our education, our environment, our work, our money, and our constitutional freedoms, are systematically and politically being destroyed by corporate and government collusion (What? Oh well, that’s just more non-local conspiracy theory?).

The board’s leadership mentality is almost nicely symbolized in part, by broadcasting a blank screen on Your TV8 PEG channel. And, with just a bit more broadcasting skill, the current TV8 crew will be able to keep Lake County Citizens uninformed, diverted and dummied down with pabulum prime-time programming to maintain that good old-time family prime-time state of illusion while their freedoms burn from the top down, burned to the ground within economic flames of malignant authority in bed with corporate greed, robbing them blind to the point where they now can hardly distinguish between a blank tv screen and the mush fed them, to keep them quiet – rock-a-bye-bye baby until the bell tolls.

Do We The People of Lake County want a dictatorship running Our PEG station? Do We want a TV8 PEG Board assuming what’s good for us to see and a board that violates due process and legal governing regulations? Do we want a city administrator, such as Dale Neiman, who knows nothing about operating a PEG station but knows how to make it dysfunctional and shut it down via covert suggestion from an equally ignorant TV8 PEG Board?

Note here that the Clearlake City Council, influenced by Dale Neiman, recently passed a resolution where volunteers must now have a background check involving their physical, mental and credit worthiness. Are your papers in order? As if people are just clamoring to be volunteers for a PEG station, and that such a city council resolution will increase volunteer interest? Is this another method to make TV8 more dysfunctional now (the timing is exquisite)? Is this another subtle political method to restrict Your right to be heard?

If you want mush and a poverty of mind while your house is burning then support the current TV8 PEG Board of Directors of the city of Clearlake, which is composed in part, of elected county supervisor (Jeff Smith), Clearlake city official (Joyce Overton) and ex-county supervisor (Ed Robey). These public representatives on the TV8 PEG Board of Directors have apparently assumed the power to say, for our public access station, what our freedom of speech should be.

If you want to work as a TV8 PEG volunteer for the benefit of We The People of Lake County, promoting a greater understanding of governmental processes and community cohesion through education, information sharing and entertainment, You should know the work is unpaid by the city of Clearlake with programming dictated by a TV8 PEG Board operating in conjunction with a city that intrudes into your health status and financial affairs in order for you to qualify as a sycophant for forces having the appearance of government but run by Machiavellians. What a deal! But hey, it‘s just my personal opinion!

Now either enjoy your pabulum and blank screen imposed mentality or get more involved. They apparently need to be informed as well as you. Either enjoy the mess made by irresponsible government or get “mad as hell,” and then actively participate in the construction of a better neighborhood, government, city, county or world, for now your neighborhood is fast becoming the world, which is fast becoming as dysfunctional as the city of Clearlake and its ten year old abused and crippled TV8 PEG station.

Maurice Taylor lives in Clearlake.

The Lake County prosecutors support Hopkins because he is the most experienced and qualified candidate for the position. Not only does Hopkins have over 30 years' experience as a top notch prosecutor, he is the only candidate with any experience prosecuting criminals.

Lake County’s Deputy District Attorneys include many experienced prosecutors who have been with the District Attorney's Office for many years. Members of the association have worked with all three candidates and it is only after careful consideration of each candidate’s qualifications that we make this endorsement.

We believe the position of district attorney should be filled by someone who is willing to take on the tough cases, not just the easy or convenient ones. We believe that our system of justice, with the right to a jury trial, is the best system in the world and the district attorney is in a unique position to see that justice is served.

Unfortunately, anyone can be the victim of crime. And when one’s family is torn apart by crime, the family deserves to have a lead prosecutor who is concerned with truth and justice and who does not bow to statistical wins and losses.

Jon Hopkins has proven himself over and over to be a prosecutor who does not assign the toughest cases to his deputies, but takes them himself – no matter how unpopular or controversial the case.

Certainly, a district attorney should not be judged by one case to the exclusion of all others. To do so would be short-sighted and, frankly, if Jon Hopkins is not reelected, Lake County will lose one of the best skilled prosecutors in the state.

What is the main reason we support Jon Hopkins? Experience. Hopkins has the experience that the other candidates do not come close to matching. Even the most inexperienced misdemeanor prosecutor has more prosecutorial experience than either of the other two candidates.

Not only has Hopkins proven himself as a career prosecutor, he has years of experience managing and mentoring other attorneys and staff – experience neither of the other candidates possess. He has experience successfully managing a multimillion dollar budget both as district attorney and previously as the chief deputy district attorney in Lake County – experience neither of the other candidates possess. When the safety of the community is at stake, you do not want someone in this position of responsibility struggling to learn the job as they go.

Jon Hopkins has practiced criminal law for nearly 38 years. Thirty-one of those years have been as a prosecutor. He has tried over 30 homicide cases and also has significant experience prosecuting cases involving sexual assault, child molestation and major fraud.

To fully understand the breadth of experience Hopkins brings to this office, it is important to examine a few of the cases that highlight his abilities. Hopkins was loaned to Lake County in 1997 by the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office to prosecute a heinous murder that had occurred here. At the time, Hopkins was serving as chief deputy district attorney for Santa Cruz and was regarded as a highly experienced homicide prosecutor.

His task in coming to Lake County was to prosecute the three men responsible for the killing of a man who was the victim of a carjacking from a fast food restaurant in Clearlake. The three men forced the victim to drive them to a remote location where they knocked him out with beer bottles, loaded him in his truck bed, drove him to a very remote area, beat him to death with a bat, dragged him into a creek and tried to set his body on fire. They drove around in his truck until it ran out of gas and then set his truck on fire and walked home.

Hopkins skillfully brought each of the three defendants to justice in three separate jury trials, convicting each one of them. This is particularly impressive as there were no witnesses who could identify the three people who carjacked the victim and only the murderers witnessed the killing. Each defendant made a statement, but denied guilt. The cases hinged on circumstantial evidence and required expert trial skills to prevail.

Despite the difficulty inherent in cases such as these, Hopkins won all three trials and each killer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Bringing these murderers to justice is just one of many examples where Hopkins’ experience and expert trial skills came through for the people of Lake County.

After becoming chief deputy district attorney in Lake County, Hopkins tried an elder abuse homicide case where a former police officer from Southern California was charged with killing his elderly parents at their home in Nice. The only evidence connecting the killer to the murder scene was a small amount of blood on a towel found in a bathroom.

The defendant claimed a full alibi – that he was at work in Southern California at a large aircraft company and had signed in to confidential meetings on the day the killing took place. Hopkins defeated the alibi claim by showing the jury that the defendant had the opportunity to sign in after he returned to work and had rented a car and put close to 1,100 miles on it in two days. It was, once again, through hard work, experience and dedication to the truth that Hopkins brought the killer to justice in a case that hinged on circumstantial evidence.

Experience counts when prosecuting serious and violent felonies such as murder, rape and child molestation. Throughout his time here, Hopkins has successfully prosecuted over 10 murder cases, including a case where neither the victim’s body, the murder weapon nor the chainsaw allegedly used to dismember the body were ever recovered.

A less experienced prosecutor might not have prosecuted that case. Hopkins did not shy away from his responsibility to the people of Lake County. Instead he pressed forward, investigating every lead. In the end, Hopkins methodically walked the jury through the available evidence and convicted the killer.

A community deserves a tenacious prosecutor who is willing and able to fight for truth in the courtroom despite the odds. Victims and victims’ families deserve no less and Jon Hopkins has repeatedly proven himself as the right person for the job.

But being district attorney is not only about being a proven prosecutor. The job also requires a skill set to manage a large organization. In that regard, Jon Hopkins has been involved with prosecution office management since 1986 and is the only candidate with experience managing the District Attorney’s Office. After all, he was chief deputy in the Lake County District Attorney’s Office from April of 1999 until he was elected district attorney in 2006. As chief deputy district attorney and district attorney, he has demonstrated his proficiency in dealing with personnel matters and budget issues, while procuring valuable state and federal grants which provide much needed additional funding to combat crime in our community.

Hopkins also has been instrumental in organizing and coordinating special prosecution teams within the Lake County District Attorney’s Office with attorneys, investigators and victim witness advocates. Hopkins has engineered these teams to help combat domestic violence, child sexual and physical abuse, and elder abuse. Thanks to Hopkins’ dedication to victims of crime, those special prosecution teams have supported victims, punished criminals and no doubt prevented crimes.

We are proud of the reputation that Lake County has earned among criminals – that if you are going to commit crime, do it somewhere else, not Lake County – because if you prey on the people of Lake County, this District Attorney's Office, under the leadership of Jon Hopkins, will not shy away from tough cases and we will not promise probation to criminals in felony cases, as the other candidates urge.

In closing, if you believe, like we do, that a prosecutor’s office should be run by a seasoned prosecutor and that trial and management experience count, then you will join us in reelecting Jon Hopkins for district attorney.

Susan Krones is a member of the Lake County Deputy District Attorneys Association, and is writing on the group's behalf.

Congressman Mike Thompson urges everyone to be counted in the 2010 US Census. Courtesy photo.

In just a few days, you will start receiving information about the United States Census in your mailbox.

Please don’t throw this information away. It may look like junk mail, but completing the census form is one of the most important ways you can help our community this month.

The Census is an important part of our democracy. Every 10 years it takes a snapshot of our population.

This is not an optional exercise, but something that is mandated by our Constitution.

It’s really based on the principle of fairness: in order to determine how we allocate federal representation and federal funding, we need to know how our population is changing. And by ensuring that everyone is counted, it ensures that everyone can participate in our democracy in a fair and equitable way.

The Census was written into the Constitution in order to determine how Congressional representation would be allocated between states.

But over the years, it has taken on much more importance.

The Census plays a key role in determining state and local funding. Census data guide the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. These funds go toward programs such as Medicaid, education, childcare, transportation and public safety.

On a local level, Census data help guide planning decisions, such as the placement of schools, hospitals, roads and job training centers. Census data are also used to determine locations for retail stores, new housing developments and other community facilities.

It’s important that you are counted. In California, our communities will lose $3,000 in federal funds for each person who is not counted next year.

And those who don’t fill out their forms will cost taxpayers a lot of extra money. The Census Bureau will be forced to go door-to-door to follow up with households who don’t return their forms. For every 1 percent of people that mails back the forms, the Census Bureau will save about $85 million in operational costs.

So when you receive your form in the mail – fill it out. There are just 10 questions. Then put it back in the postage-paid envelope that’s provided and send it back.

If you use a P.O. box to get your mail, you’ll get counted too – but your form will be hand-delivered.

Don’t worry – any personal data you provide is protected under federal law. Any individually identifiable information is completely private, and will not be shared with anyone.

The Census Bureau needs to receive your response by April 20 to make sure they don’t have to come to your door.

While it may seem boring, a lot is riding on those 10 questions. It’s your chance to make sure that our democracy functions correctly, and that our community will receive its fair share of federal funding.

Congressman Mike Thompson represents California's First Congressional District, which includes Lake County, in the US House of Representatives.

On March 2, the Board of Supervisors will be meeting to decide whether or not to change Lake County’s General Plan to allow the Cristallago subdivision to move forward. I thought I would take some time to voice a few of my concerns about this project. I do want you to know that I’m not against development in Lake County, but as this subdivision is now designed it makes no sense to me at all.

Matt Boeger, when this whole subdivision came on board, made many references to the lake as being a “core amenity” which at the time it most certainly was. Since that time they have dropped the marina and fishing village from it completely. Are their heads screwed on right?

The NUMBER ONE ASSET WE HAVE is the Lake and now it’s out of the picture. This could have attracted many fishermen and fishing tournaments. They then could have used this as a selling point. This development must include the marina. Without it, it is destined for failure. They missed the boat here and should have tried to make these homes available to the common man, not golfers.

They continue to hold fast on the golf course and I truly believe this is because they have already given over $1 million dollars to Jack Nicklaus and another $1 million is committed to Jack Nicklaus Design Group. That’s $2 million dollars for a golf course. Wouldn’t that money have been better used to get the marina out of bankruptcy?

I believe this decision comes from not knowing what folks would want in a lake type resort development. None of the consultants they have used are from here or know what assets the county truly has. They must like golf better than fishing and think most people have the $125 to $ 200 to pay for a round of golf. The majority of Lake County residents will not even be allowed to play golf on this course. But wait, they will offer the residents of our county 20 Golf Club memberships. What nice guys!

They said this development would be geared to the retiring baby boomers. This was before they realized the extent of the asbestos in the soil. In talking with many of my friends in the Bay Area, they all were against purchasing any home that would be on asbestos-laden soil. Whether you cover it with 12 inches or 24 inches of soil, I truly believe that these men will not fully disclose to the new home buyers in detail what will happen to a child or adult if they disturb the soil.

Any way you look at it, this site for the most part is toxic. If there is one chance in 100,000 that a child could get cancer, it is not worth the risk. Lake County does not even have the staff to keep someone onsite at all times to try and monitor the situation. This looks to be clear cut case of the fox in the chicken coop.

This part of the development should be dropped completely. We are playing with fire here. No baby boomer will buy a house on this land. It just won’t happen. Can you imagine the negative publicity this subdivision will get throughout the years as they try and sell these homes? It makes no sense at all. Just look at the ongoing mess in El Dorado County where they built on asbestos-laden soil. Lawyers are making tons of money on all the law suits flying around. We are headed down the same path here.

They have continued to disregard the comments made by Doug Gearhart, the county's pollution control officer, even to the point of calling him “misguided.” If we let this go though, along with Provinsalia and the Valley Oaks developments, we will all have to get smog checks for our cars and trucks. This will also adversely affect every farmer that is left in the county. They don’t care about that, only the money for their pockets.

They have fought him tooth and nail on the solar panel issue and have tried to convince us that these homes will be “green.” Give me break! With the state and whole country going down the road of conserving energy, these homes will be obsolete before they are ever built. We have an opportunity as a county to prove to the rest of the state that we are one of the greenest counties in the country. Going “green“ is where our country is headed but I’m afraid these men just don’t get the point.

This is exactly what happens when you get developers from out of the county who only care about money. They are so far behind the times and this subdivision will take about 15 to 20 years to build out. Green homes will be the norm by then. But these men continue to stick their heads in the sand in an attempt to build outdated homes. They still think that by installing low flush toilets and florescent light bulbs makes the house top of the line. Requiring each of these homes to have solar panels and hook-ups for electric cars would be an excellent selling point.

Many long hours were put in by so many citizens and staff to develop a general plan that we all could live with. These men now want to change that for all of us. They have taken care not to let us see what this subdivision would look like during the day from Highway 29. This will be tract housing at its worst. This is not what we need in our county and they continue to try and tell us that this will be good for all of us. This is not country style living and I seriously doubt that this type of subdivision is what we want in our county. If you have ever been to Tuscany, you will clearly see that the homes they are proposing are not even close to Tuscany. Five homes per acre is just ridiculous. Country style living is not tract housing.

This whole project needs to go back to the drawing board. Limit the homes to around 100 and keep them off the serpentine soil, timeshares homes to 50. Make the golf course nine holes and most importantly get the marina and fishing village built. The marina and fishing village will create jobs and attract far more fisherman than golfers.

I hope all of you will join me at the meeting and hope that the Board of Supervisors will have the courage and integrity to SEND IT BACK to the drawing board

Norm Ihle lives in north Lakeport.