News
ENLARGE
In "The Simple Life," billionaire celebutant Paris Hilton and her sidekick Nicole Richie journey to rural America to partake in simple pleasures: milking cows, digging ditches and flipping burgers.
Though farcical, the TV reality show drew millions of viewers and wracked up some awards. The show was canceled last year when the two young women parted ways.
In real life, rural life doesn't seem so simple, either.
Witness this week's headlines:
• The two front-runners for the 4th District Congressional seat left vacant by John Doolittle don't reside here and don't have to. For all we know, Paris and Nicole could run for the seat.
• Arrests are up but fewer locals are in our jail because of "therapeutic" drug courts. So what do we do? Fill the vacant space with prisoners imported from the flatlands. The county gets paid for it, we're told (hooray). But the fed, also a tax collector, pays for it (boo). The three-year deal was struck with the U.S. Marshals Service.
• Our county decides to spend $9,645 per month, plus additional money in renovation expenses, so the D.A.'s office can relocate from the courthouse to new private digs. It's only "80 steps" to the courthouse, we're told (compared with zero previously and free rent). Sounds like a plot from an Alfred Hitchcock movie (but that was only 39 steps).
What is our world coming to?
In each case, we're offered an explanation from government policymakers.
When it comes to commuting congressmen, this is perfectly legal. Here are the qualifications:
"No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen," according to Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
No offense to the Founding Fathers, but I know some 24-year-olds who are just as qualified as 42-year-olds to run for Congress. I also know some well-qualified congressional candidates who have been here only six years, not seven. Sounds rather arbitrary to me.
Most congresspeople want to reside in their district, unless of course it's so solidly Republican that it doesn't matter, as Wayne Vance, assistant director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University reminded me this week.
The 4th Congressional District typically has been just that. So is the idea to choose the most qualified candidate from within our district, or to import one with the most political clout, money and special interest backing to hang onto a badly needed Republican seat in Congress? No wonder we feel like political pawns.
I'm glad to see the two front-runners, Thomas "Rico" Oller and Doug Ose, plan to locate here less than a year before the election. Perhaps we can get to know them a little better in a few short months.
I look forward to meeting Thomas and/or Rico. Rico Oller has a good ring to it: "Now batting for the Cincinnati Reds, at shortstop, number 13, Rico Oller!" Politicians are entertainers, too, you know.
Import engineers, not prisoners
Back at the ranch, we learned this week that our jails are empty enough that we're transporting prisoners from Sacra-tomato to keep them full. Arrests are up, in fact, but our jails are less full because of therapeutic drug courts - popular since the passage of Prop. 36.
The drug courts are a topic of hot debate. One side points to success (saving taxpayers money compared with overcrowded prisons), while the other points to failure (too many re-arrests and too few completing their treatment).
In the meantime, we're told that filling our jails with imported prisoners is OK, because the prisoners are "not violent types." I'd like to see some of their rap sheets. More of the prisoners are female, but I also remember a grand jury report last year that said more space was needed for female prisoners at the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility.
We also justified the deal by saying the county gets paid $70 per day per prisoner, plus $35 an hour for transporting the inmates. Oh no, more road traffic on Highway 49. I'm surprised we haven't heard from the global warming contingent. Why doesn't "be local, shop locally" apply to our jail population?
I'm glad we (as in the county) are getting paid to house prisoners from outside our area. But I also know we (as in the federal government) are paying for it. We pay taxes to both.
This reminds me of hearing how "double dipping" saves the county money. Maybe for the Rood Center, but it also costs other branches of government money by paying someone a salary and a retirement benefit at the same time.
Let's close all the loopholes and think more about government from the taxpayer's perspective, not the county administrator's. I also hope we get more serious about importing engineers, not prisoners.
Speaking about concerns of "'big is beautiful' government," the Republican board of supervisors approved a deal to relocate the DA's office from the courthouse to new private digs in the historic downtown.
We heard all the reasons (proximity to the courthouse, office space that wasn't fit for "animals," and the feds taking over our courthouse at some undecided future date). But we also heard the concerns (too costly, plenty of other options, signing a lease with an owner who also is a big GOP donor).
I guess rural life isn't so simple after all. One aspect remains simple, though: If you don't like it, you can go to the voting booth and express yourself. It's up to you.
ooo
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
Though farcical, the TV reality show drew millions of viewers and wracked up some awards. The show was canceled last year when the two young women parted ways.
In real life, rural life doesn't seem so simple, either.
Witness this week's headlines:
• The two front-runners for the 4th District Congressional seat left vacant by John Doolittle don't reside here and don't have to. For all we know, Paris and Nicole could run for the seat.
• Arrests are up but fewer locals are in our jail because of "therapeutic" drug courts. So what do we do? Fill the vacant space with prisoners imported from the flatlands. The county gets paid for it, we're told (hooray). But the fed, also a tax collector, pays for it (boo). The three-year deal was struck with the U.S. Marshals Service.
• Our county decides to spend $9,645 per month, plus additional money in renovation expenses, so the D.A.'s office can relocate from the courthouse to new private digs. It's only "80 steps" to the courthouse, we're told (compared with zero previously and free rent). Sounds like a plot from an Alfred Hitchcock movie (but that was only 39 steps).
What is our world coming to?
In each case, we're offered an explanation from government policymakers.
When it comes to commuting congressmen, this is perfectly legal. Here are the qualifications:
"No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen," according to Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
No offense to the Founding Fathers, but I know some 24-year-olds who are just as qualified as 42-year-olds to run for Congress. I also know some well-qualified congressional candidates who have been here only six years, not seven. Sounds rather arbitrary to me.
Most congresspeople want to reside in their district, unless of course it's so solidly Republican that it doesn't matter, as Wayne Vance, assistant director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University reminded me this week.
The 4th Congressional District typically has been just that. So is the idea to choose the most qualified candidate from within our district, or to import one with the most political clout, money and special interest backing to hang onto a badly needed Republican seat in Congress? No wonder we feel like political pawns.
I'm glad to see the two front-runners, Thomas "Rico" Oller and Doug Ose, plan to locate here less than a year before the election. Perhaps we can get to know them a little better in a few short months.
I look forward to meeting Thomas and/or Rico. Rico Oller has a good ring to it: "Now batting for the Cincinnati Reds, at shortstop, number 13, Rico Oller!" Politicians are entertainers, too, you know.
Import engineers, not prisoners
Back at the ranch, we learned this week that our jails are empty enough that we're transporting prisoners from Sacra-tomato to keep them full. Arrests are up, in fact, but our jails are less full because of therapeutic drug courts - popular since the passage of Prop. 36.
The drug courts are a topic of hot debate. One side points to success (saving taxpayers money compared with overcrowded prisons), while the other points to failure (too many re-arrests and too few completing their treatment).
In the meantime, we're told that filling our jails with imported prisoners is OK, because the prisoners are "not violent types." I'd like to see some of their rap sheets. More of the prisoners are female, but I also remember a grand jury report last year that said more space was needed for female prisoners at the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility.
We also justified the deal by saying the county gets paid $70 per day per prisoner, plus $35 an hour for transporting the inmates. Oh no, more road traffic on Highway 49. I'm surprised we haven't heard from the global warming contingent. Why doesn't "be local, shop locally" apply to our jail population?
I'm glad we (as in the county) are getting paid to house prisoners from outside our area. But I also know we (as in the federal government) are paying for it. We pay taxes to both.
This reminds me of hearing how "double dipping" saves the county money. Maybe for the Rood Center, but it also costs other branches of government money by paying someone a salary and a retirement benefit at the same time.
Let's close all the loopholes and think more about government from the taxpayer's perspective, not the county administrator's. I also hope we get more serious about importing engineers, not prisoners.
Speaking about concerns of "'big is beautiful' government," the Republican board of supervisors approved a deal to relocate the DA's office from the courthouse to new private digs in the historic downtown.
We heard all the reasons (proximity to the courthouse, office space that wasn't fit for "animals," and the feds taking over our courthouse at some undecided future date). But we also heard the concerns (too costly, plenty of other options, signing a lease with an owner who also is a big GOP donor).
I guess rural life isn't so simple after all. One aspect remains simple, though: If you don't like it, you can go to the voting booth and express yourself. It's up to you.
ooo
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
