Ron Largent

Fix 5...or Call It What You Want? Posted April 03, 2009 at 23:29 PM ronlargent Fix 5 or What? Our Choice. I seldom question Silas Lyon’s editorials, but this time I do. It has to do with his editorial on a recent Sunday concerning the issue surrounding the upcoming political decision to “Fix 5” (Interstate 5), or as it is now called, SCRIP (Shasta County Regional Improvement Program). The column did not fully explain the full impact of this proposed “fee” on the average citizen of our area. I appreciate the point that we should prepare now for future traffic; that our area will continue to grow; and that I5 will continue, as now, to be the major transportation artery through Redding and Shasta County. Where I differ greatly with the Regional Transportation Agency, headed up by a CALTRANS employee, which is the major government agency behind this proposal, is that this is an “unfair tax”, call it what you want. Technically, this “Fix 5” fee, which is what this project was initially called until it became too politically sensitive, could be called an “impact fee”, but in reality it is a charge, or tax, that will be passed on to every property owner in the County, whether you live in Redding, Anderson, Burney, or the unincorporated areas of the County. We will all be taxed, if you will, even rental apartment dwellers, to help “Fix 5”. The “unfair aspect” of this tax has a number of arguments: (1) I5 is not used only by Shasta County residents. In fact, depending on which study you read, as much as 65% of both north and southbound I5 traffic comes from outside our county. Just look at the trucks, from Wal-Mart to UPS to JB Hunt that travel from Sacramento and the Bay Area into Oregon and other points north and east; (2) The tax will be imposed on all new homes and new commercial buildings disproportionally. Homes will have one fee, depending on what area they are in, and a commercial building will a have a different fee schedule, depending on the nature of the business. Restaurant property, for example, will be taxed differently than office buildings. This “tax” is not equally fair to all property owners; (3) The tax is not imposed equally on users. A resident that lives in West Redding that works downtown that uses Highway 44 to get to the Mall may not even use I5 during a normal week. Yet a resident that lives in Cottonwood and works in Redding uses I5 daily. Both will be taxed the same. The only tax that is equally imposed on the use of all roads is the gas tax, and this tax is currently in place. And, (4) the gas tax can be used to “Fix 5”. Gas taxes were imposed for various purposes at the state and national level, including the maintenance of the Interstate road system, and for 50 plus years the tax has worked, through good and bad economic times, and it will continue to work, If you drive, you pay. If you use public transportation, it pays and you pay in the cost of the ticket. All users of our transportation systems are treated fairly, whether you like the cost of riding BART or not. We pay enough in gas taxes now, but this is still fairer than the proposed “Fix 5 Tax”. There are already fees in place to pay our fair share of highway maintenance. We do not need more taxes. End of story. In summary, there are still many, many unanswered questions that need to be asked by our elected officials and Council persons. On April 28, 2009, at 4 PM, at the Redding City Hall Chambers, this tax will be challenged, If you want to be heard to help regulate new and increased “taxes”, here is your chance. See you there. Ron Largent www.ronlargent.com ronlargent@kw.com

Turtle Bay in Redding, CA ... A Place to See Posted April 03, 2009 at 22:04 PM ronlargent Color logo horizontal Calling all Artists! Join us for: Ceramics class with Rosie Orwig Saturday, April 11 & 25 10 a.m. - Noon Enjoy learning about various ceramic artists while creating a ceramic creation using the coil or slab method. Rosie will guide you through the various techniques of texture, design and clay etching during the first class and glazing will take place during the second. Completed pieces will be available for pick up at the Visitor Center (April 30 - May 3). For Age 9-adult. $40 Members $55 Non-members JSS classroom in Visitor Center For reservations or more information call 242-3108

How About Foothill High School..Wow! Posted March 20, 2009 at 09:08 AM ronlargent Our own Foothill High School in Palo Cedro is off to the Nationals...this was in the local paper, the Record Searchlight today...read on, please... Science bowl competitors work on team chemistry By Rob Rogers (Contact) Friday, March 20, 2009 PALO CEDRO - The Foothill High School students traveling to Washington, D.C., for the National Science Bowl have one goal. "Do better than Chico did last year," said senior Nick Rossow. The same Foothill team competing this year lost in regional competition to the Chico High School team last year. The Foothill students watched Chico's progress at the nationals last year, where they finished second to last, the Foothill team said. They all hope to do better than that when they compete at the nation's capital next month. Foothill beat 10 schools and 24 teams to win the Regional Science Bowl in Redding on March 7 and will travel next to Washington, D.C., on April 30 to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl. They'll compete against 66 other teams; the top 16 finishers will win $1,000 each, to be given to their high schools' science departments. Foothill's win at regionals was hard fought. "We answered ... roughly 125 questions," said Zane Silver, a senior. The competition is set up like a game show. Two teams sit across from each other at a table and are given questions by a moderator. Questions cover everything from physics to chemistry to trigonometry. Team members quickly work out the solution, and the first to ring the buzzer with the correct answer wins the round. Looking back, the members of the team admitted they may have gone into the competition a little overconfident. "We went in totally unprepared last year and came out third," Rossow said. "We went into this year pretty cocky." "Maybe a little too cocky," said teammate Nick Cerami, a senior. They lost one of their first rounds during the morning competition but still had a good enough record to advance to the afternoon playoffs. There, they narrowly beat the Chico High School team in the semifinals - a match that went into triple overtime. Then they moved on to face Shasta High for the championship. "That team had already lost one round in playoffs and had to beat us twice to win the title," said Matt Fowler, the team's coach and a science teacher at Foothill. As the finals began, Shasta High won the first round, making it anyone's game. "The final round was a nail-biter, with our team winning the title by just one question," Fowler said. The five team members, Rossow, Cerami, Silver, Brett Hodge and Coulter Knapp - the team's lone junior - plan to continue studying science after high school, each hoping to make a career of it. Most of them hope to become engineers. "I think everyone here plans on pursuing science of some kind," Silver said. Rob Rogers can be reached at 225-8217 or at rrogers@redding.com.

Redding Traffic Cameras Posted March 20, 2009 at 00:27 AM ronlargent Grand jury: Redding should add more red lightcameras... .a good reason to live in Redding, CA By Ryan Sabalow Originally published 11:59 a.m., March 19, 2009 Updated 11:59 a.m., March 19, 2009 Redding's traffic cameras • Cypress Avenue and Churn Creek Road • Cypress Avenue and Bechelli Lane • Lake Boulevard and Market Street • Pine and Tehama streets • Shasta and Market street In spite of national reports casting doubt about the effectiveness of red-light cameras, the Shasta County Grand Jury recommends that the city of Redding add them to intersections “at every opportunity.” In its latest report released today, the grand jury touted the use of the cameras as a “phenomenal law enforcement tool” that reduced collisions by 48 percent in the first half of 2008 at the intersections at which they were installed. Wrecks citywide were down by 21 percent over the same period, the jurors wrote. “Redding Police Department traffic experts postulate that a primary cause of the dramatic improvements of traffic safety is the presence of red light cameras,” the jurors wrote. In spite of concerns to the contrary, there’s also been no evidence the cameras increased rear-end collisions at camera-equipped intersections, the jurors wrote. But the jurors also noted that the cameras didn’t seem to reduce collisions citywide during 2007, the camera’s first year of operation. The jury also found that costs to taxpayers are negligible, but the cameras so far have generated no revenue for the city. Taxpayers pay less than $30,000 each year to pay for part-time officers who review the cameras’ videos and photos, shot when a motorist triggers the camera’s in-ground motion sensors. The $325 fine generated each time a motorist is caught running a light pays for the rest of the program. In 2007 and 2008, all of the $116,000 the city collected in fines went to Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Redflex Traffic Systems, the company that operates and installs the cameras, the jury found. Under the city’s contract with Redflex, the company will pay Redflex up to $200,516 in fees before the city can collect any cash. In recent months, the cameras have drawn national attention as studies have cast doubt on the cameras’ effectiveness while the companies that operate them rake in cash. Although national studies show fewer T-bone crashes at lights with cameras and fewer drivers running red lights, the number of rear-end crashes increased. Meanwhile, companies like Redflex expect increased revenue for years to come, while cities around the nation install them them to bolster their revenue streams. Redflex alone saw after-tax profits of $10.6 million in fiscal year 2008, up from $7.3 million the year before. Aaron Quinn, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association, said that there are cheaper safety alternatives to red-light cameras, including lengthening yellow-light times. “We say, the red-light camera wouldn’t have stopped anyone from getting hit,” Quinn told The Associated Press. “Once (a city) sees one city getting it miles away, and that first city makes a bunch of money, they want to do it, too. It’s like a virus.” Reporter Ryan Sabalow can be reached at 225-8344 or rsabalow@redding.com...the Redding Record Searchlight

You are invited to our grand opening January 22, 2009! 2165 Larkspur Lane in Redding, CA

This will be a big event, as we are celebrating the success we have had in this "slow" market.

The events will start at 3 PM...so join us for fun, food, and fellowship.

www.ronlargent.com ronlargent@kw.com