Letters for November 14, 2019

About that firestorm

Re “Camp Fire revisited” (Cover story, Nov. 7):

On Nov. 1, 2018, Dave Garcia and I had a meeting with Supervisor Doug Teeter in his office. This was not the first time I discussed with Doug the possibility of a wind-driven firestorm killing thousands in Paradise. If the winds had been even higher seven days later, thousands could have perished.

I made a few suggestions of things that should be done to help save lives in a firestorm. Doug was not interested and acted like he could not wait for us to leave. Doug failed to take action against the inevitable firestorm that would consume Paradise.

He does not deserve to be a Butte County supervisor. Doug has been fighting another supervisor for questioning a poorly written contract that could someday result in Paradise losing its water rights. Doug has also used union members to campaign for this poorly written contract when he does not support unions or the reality of climate change.

Please vote for Henry Schleiger for District 5 supervisor. Schleiger is a wildfire professional, Butte County native and lives in Magalia.

John Scott

Butte Valley

‘Nothing but NIMBY’

When Simplicity Village first came forward, Rob Berry objected, saying that forcing the elderly to use centrally located bathrooms was cruel, as if that was somehow worse than having no access to bathrooms, whilst sleeping outside every night. When that didn’t gain traction, he began casting about for zoning issues.

The owner of Payless Building Supply, Frank Solinsky, in the past has supported community initiatives but now he and Berry are bringing suit to stop this project.

The manager of Payless attended a recent City Council meeting. When it was her turn to speak, she talked about how Payless is open early and late, how the noise will bother people living nearby, etc. Nothing but NIMBY.

It’s time to get serious and vote with our dollars. No one should be able to make a profit in our community while actively contributing to the suffering of others. Boycott Payless.

Angela McLaughlin

Chico

Editor’s note: For more on this subject, see Downstroke, page 8.

Hear, hear, CN&R

Re “Stuntman Doug LaMalfa insults his constituents” (Editorial, Oct. 31):

Thank you to the person who wrote the editorial about the despicable behavior of Rep. Doug LaMalfa in Washington. Thanks to Lynn Elliott for taking the time to write in as well.

LaMalfa shamed not only everyone in District 1 with his juvenile and treasonous behavior, but he also made a spectacle of himself in front of the whole country and the rest of the world, which is watching us so closely now. We are not proud of him. He and all the other thugs should be charged with a crime for intimidating a witness (which amounts to a threat) and breaking into a secure location where they partied (really?!) for five hours.

Is this the way responsible elected officials should proudly act now? I can’t help but wonder what LaMalfa hopes to get from Trump for this behavior. A promotion to a cushy cabinet position? Let’s vote him out in 2020!

Mary Chaffee

Corning

Remembering Sandra

Sandra O’Neill died on Oct. 30, at 9:25 a.m., peacefully in her Chico, Ca., home.

She was the faithful life companion and wife to husband David O’Neill for 60 years.

Sandra was a server and protector of humankind in need. A teacher in special needs education, an advocate for justice for the homeless and the unfairly disenfranchised people of Palestine, active in the effort to increase true justice in the interaction of the police and all citizens, contributed at numerous activist and public meetings, and was active in peace and justice efforts for many long years.

She raised three sons who have become kind men in their continuing life interplay.

At her bedside as she departed were her loving family members. She will be sorely missed and never forgotten.

—Friends and supporters of Sandra

Lymphedema support

Re “Under pressure” (Healthlines, by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, Oct. 31):

As a lymphedema patient and advocate for health care and rare diseases, I thought that CN&R should know about the vibrant patient community and many resources available right here in Chico.

Enloe Medical Center has a full Lymphedema Clinic, including certified physical and occupational therapists. Anne Anderson, Enloe’s lead lymphedema therapist, holds certification by the Lymphology Association of North America and has been involved with the California State Team, Lymphedema Treatment Act.

Through community education, Enloe offers twice weekly Healthy Steps classes on Monday evenings and Wednesday afternoons. Healthy Steps is based on the Lebed Method to movement, exercise, and therapy for patients with cancer, lymphedema and other issues.

As constituents of California District 1 in the U.S. Congress, we may be grateful for the co-sponsorship of the Lymphedema Treatment Act by both Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris and Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Lymphedema is a disease, not a partisan issue. With more than 400 bipartisan, bicameral co-sponsors, this legislation is now the No. 1 co-sponsored health care bill before Congress.

Patricia Egan

Chico

On missing Santa

We are dismayed that, once again, the Downtown Chico Business Association is making the traditional downtown Chico tree lighting problematic.

Last year, it was hours earlier than customary. We arrived about 6 p.m. to find it was all over. Many other parents with small children were arriving around the same time, even more disappointed than we were to find no promised Santa or Christmas tree lighting for their kids. This year, it’s two hours later than customary, much too late for young children to stay up.

At this rate, they are in the process of ruining a longtime popular event that has brought shoppers downtown for the start of the holiday shopping season rather than just the pre-Thanksgiving preview.

I hope the DCBA will reconsider this ill-advised plan before it is too late to save a much loved community tradition.

Margo and Arthur Lemner

Chico

Corruption exposed

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

Most of us, by the time we reach Donald Trump’s age, have learned that life gets too complicated when we practice deception. With good parenting, we learn early that it’s not OK to shoplift a small item or to otherwise engage in dishonesty.

Apparently that lesson was never learned by our current president. From the beginning of his term in office, when caught in a lie, he has obfuscated or “doubled down” on his prevarication and gotten away with it. Fast-forward to the present, when former Ambassador William Taylor reveals Trump’s machinations regarding U.S. aid to the Ukraine hinging on a Biden investigation. Trump’s corruption is again exposed. Basic dishonesty ended Nixon’s presidency, and likely will end Trump’s.

Robert Woods

Forest Ranch

Oh, Democrats

The Democratic party never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recently warned the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates of “being on the wrong track,” citing Medicare for All and tax-the-wealthy policies that will fail to attract voters in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Those states that gave the current occupant of the Oval Office a majority of Electoral College votes.

What a nightmarish array of Democratic candidates that have tossed their hats in the 2020 Democratic primary race. In what should be a landslide eradication of the keystone-cop clown show—aka the Trump administration—the Democrats have managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Learning nothing from 2016, they yet again have an independent on the Democratic ticket: fours years older and unhealthy. Mix in another dozen candidates with their indifference and powerlessness, and it’s a recipe for yet another four years of the chaotic Trump.

I can’t help but be reminded of the 2016 Republican Party primaries with a similar incompetent group of candidates as this year’s Democratic lineup. Hopefully America will survive, and won’t become a complete party of Trump dictatorship. It’s already halfway there.

Ray Estes

Redding