Letter: Vote yes on Measure H
To the community,
As supervisor of Lake Valley’s wildfire prevention program for almost 10 years, I have witnessed a great change in our community’s awareness and understanding of our biggest hazard. However, I can honestly say that we have so much more work to do.
Martin Goldberg
For less than $10 a month, you can both safeguard our community and move our economy forward. Wildfire prevention is cheaper than suppression.
Residents will continue to receive free curbside chipping. Local tree and roofing contractors will continue to benefit through rebates.
With the creation of a fire adapted community, homeowners will see a reduction in their homeowner insurance. A yes on H provides my program and firefighters with sustainable funding.
I am proud of the program and firefighters I have created and I promise you will be proud of us in the future.
Vote yes and be part of Lake Valley’s family. I know so many of you personally. I have visited your home, I have given you what I know about wildfire and I have marked your trees. Now I am asking for your yes vote this Tuesday.
Thank you,
Martin Goldberg, Lake Valley Fire Protection District
No
No.
Sorry martin, your a good guy but find another way to get funds. Give me a million bucks in the private market and i can triple the amount of work you complete. Its govt gone wild these days. Like a forest service employee once said to me when budgets were tight, “you cant just fire people!” And oh yeah…GIVE ME BACK MY ILLEGAL CALFIRE TAX!!
No
I hope people have done their homework and vote NO on Measure H! It’s not going to be “just $10 a month”!
And I think it is sad that they are trying to buy votes by handing out candy at Liras all the time!
Sorry Martin But your egotistical, sociopathic Chief has not done you guys any favors in the construction community. Try to get the funds from Calfire and find a new Chief and maybe I’ll support you guys in the future. Vote NO
NO. Kay, It might wake others up to see our property tax statements. More “fees” than a phone bill.
Hey Martin, Don’t take this personal, but the biggest “Hazard” is the amount of money LVFD is asking for. For the most part, home owners are responsible hard working people and to raise the tax to this extreme amount is ludicrous.
Yup, Prevention is cheaper than suppression, but people need to take responsibility for their own property. I’m sorry, but to hear you say continue FREE chipping …Nothing is free.
Oh, If chipping is so free, you don’t need our $10.00…
First of all, while the program has been in place it’s not “yours” … It’s the tax payers, and you work for the tax payer. Government seems to have forgotten that. You work for us. Maybe it’s time to scale back.
What Insurance do you have? I have done all my defensible space and my insurance has never gone down. When I notified them, they commented I did a good job!
Vote NO! Lake Valley Fire Dept. Needs a little “Family Counseling”
Free roof on my tax dollars. What else can you give for free to buy votes.
NO on H
Lake Valley got accustomed to the grant dole and didn’t plan for its end. Built a dynasty, refused to cooperate with other Fire depts. and now the chicken came home to roost.
Most of the people for H are firemen…imagine that.
Save our jobs….. but the rest of us are working part time times 2 or 3 to keep our TAXES paid and the heat on.
I FEEL SORT OF SORRY FOR LVFPD. PEOPLE AROUND THEM OBVIOUSLY GAVE THEM REALLY BAD ADVICE FOR THIS MEASURE H. IT IS SO OUT OF TOUCH THAT ONLY THE PEOPLE PROTECTING THEIR JOBS AND THEIR FAMILIES SEEM TO BE SUPPORTING IT. NEXT TIME CHECK WITH PROPERTY OWNERS TO SEE WHAT WILL FLY. NO ON F.
They simply haven’t made the case that this fee is necessary. With the Tahoe Conservancy, Forest Service and now Liberty Power, we are cutting and thinning at an amazing rate. Sure, we are not done, but this fee is ill timed after the Cal Fire debacle. Insurance companies are actually starting to refuse to insure homes in this area. I recently found this out and I had to scramble to find coverage on a recent purchase; rates will not go down, that is a fantasy.
I’m afraid that this is another example of firefighters not understanding the real world.
I am already extorted into paying an ILLEGAL fire TAX thanks to Gov. Moonbutt. I suggest you hit him up for the money. He can be found in Sac. surrounded by illegals he has INVITED into our country.
I already voted NO on H.
Oops!! I meant “No” on H ….. and F, too.
LTBMU is the main forest fire jurisdiction in the Tahoe basin. As such federal fire hand crews should be availiable on a call up basis -they are called organized crews–OCs type2,type2IA. They are called up for fires and also often called up and put on standby during which time ‘chipping’ can be done by those folks. You work your job/life and when called you show up and get paid by the federal govt. It is wasteful to staff a hand crew as Lake Valley is doing when surrounded by federal land.
Yes on F, this town needs a strong college to offset the slime ball casinos and diversify the economy. Make it a 4 year school and get on with it.
I think you all have hit it the nail on the head. Lets lay off all the firefighters and go back to an all volunteer fire department, and then we can save big on our taxes. So Littleone, GaspenAspen, Atomic, Granky Gerald, No on H, Old Fat Skies, Tahoe Mom, and Bill Swim. Are ready to signup to protect our community, to be ready to fight a raging wildfire with 100′ flames coming towards your home and your neighbors homes, and to help fight a commercial building fire. We did it in 1947 so why not now.
Ok Volunteer,maybe a little too much coffee this morning? Where on this forum do you see anybody saying to disband the fire departments? Classic overreaction, not particularly compelling……
IF YOU WANT TO MORE THAN QUADRUPLE THE FIRE FEE ON OUR PROPERTY TAXES YOU BETTER MAKE A GOOD CASE. NOONE HAS. ANY QUESTIONS?
i am all for upgrades to this community such as reinventing ltcc as a four-year school with real degrees, that opportunity being a driver for reinventing south lake tahoe as well. however, it certainly looks like the existing facilities are dramatically under utilized and i have doubts that this will change without some fundamental administrative house cleaning. i cannot get behind the more $$ move as a solution until i see some refinement of the current format, a change likely only brought through a leadership revamp.
This measure is nothing more than protecting their people. If the Angora Fire crew had never existed and Lake Valley had received all of the grant funding and spent it on their project work using private contractors we would be way ahead in cleaning the forest. When the grant money runs out you don’t have to get rid of anybody. I have talked to a few former Angora Crew members regarding their work in our area. What I have heard doesn’t really help Lake Valley to sell a huge tax hike. Seems they do a fare amount of work a long way from home like Alpine county and Plumas county. I have a real hard time believing that the work they do miles away from their district benefits the tax payers here much. Of coarse you will not here or read this information from them. Lake Valley Board of Directors and the Chief of the district should be ashamed of the way they threw this poorly planned Measure H fiasco together. This measure is going to fail and the burden should be on their shoulders.
This measure is nothing more than protecting their people. If the Angora Fire crew had never existed and Lake Valley had received all of the grant funding and spent it on their project work using private contractors we would be way ahead in cleaning the forest. Then when the grant money runs out you don’t have to get rid of anybody. I have talked to a few former crew members regarding their work in our area. What I have heard doesn’t really help Lake Valley to sell a huge tax hike. Seems they do a fare amount of work a long way from home like Alpine county and Plumas county. I have a real hard time believing that the work they do miles away from their district benefits the tax payers here much. Of coarse you will not here or read this information from them. Lake Valley Board of Directors and the Chief of the district should be ashamed of the way they threw this poorly planned Measure H fiasco together. This measure is going to fail and the burden should be on their shoulders.
Volunteer, Fur down, my response was one word and two letters. I have a large respect for Lake Valley Fire as well as all Firefighters. I’ve been involved with the Fire service for 16 years. The economy has still not recovered to the point where people give freely including accepting more taxes, me included. A Fire academy is a fine educational resource. But it’s hard to get those jobs. There simply are not thousands of openings. If you are going this direction I suggest a Paramedic ticket. It would open more doors.
Coming for a spouse of a firefighter, I know all too well their importance, that has NOTHING to do with this particular measure and the reason we should all vote NO!
Thank you, Tahoe Mom. It’s gotten so that you can’t be against a tax without everybody accusing you of hating the people that it would fund. And nothing could be further from the truth. We appreciate our fire departments and firemen. We appreciate the college and those who work there. It doesn’t mean we think throwing more money down the black hole is a good idea.
It isn’t personal!
Oh H E DOUBLE HOCKY STICKS NO! Firefighters are over paid under worked hacks.
Tahoebluewire – you are SADLY mistaken! That still doesn’t mean this measure is a good idea.
I replaced my wood shingle roof, and let my insurance agent know about the better classification of fire department response (?) He said together they would save me $75 this year. And next, my policy will probably increase $150 ! A $12,000 roof replacement to save $75 and now the fire department wants $125 plus the Cal Fire $150 ? What a joke, you can’t win.
Absolutely NO !
Tahoe bluewire, next time a firefighter saves your home or sorry life, well they just shouldnt….
Face it, most firefighters are cool! Just because their tax is asinine does not mean we don’t like them. Well, their chief is a piece of work…. That’s beside the point. Their measure is not going to pass and if they want us tax payers to feel connected as a community they need to inform the community sooner with truthful facts. This tax was throne out to the public at the eleventh hour and they expected us to fund their wants. Their continuous letters and begging and bribing people with candy is pathetic. Where is your chief and what does he have to say about this tax? Have not heard a single word from him?
If these firefighters have the time to sit in front of Liras all day to promote this measure – they should be doing something constructive for the community while off duty from fire fighting !
toxic warrior – who are you to say what people should/shouldn’t do on their time off? That has NOTHING to do with this measure and why it shouldn’t pass!