Who works for whom?
What has happened to us? Have we forgotten who works for whom?
During last weeks LVEDA meeting Chris Carrillo, chief of staff for Supervisor Ramos stated that a regional MAC would be better for us and the residents of Johnson Valley rather than each community having their own MAC as we have done for over 26 years that I know of. The rationale behind the regional approach, as stated by Mr. Carrillo, is “there's a lot of big picture issues” that would effect both communities so it would be best to have one MAC.
Why can’t each community have their own MAC, as we have done very successfully for how many years? Can you imagine driving the distance to Johnson Valley for a regular MAC meeting? Or, for that matter, having a Johnson Valley resident driving to Lucerne Valley to attend a MAC meeting?
When one of these “big picture issues” comes up, both MACs could have a joint meeting.
Supervisor Lovingood’s field rep, who was also in attendance at last week's LVEDA meeting, was asked what Supervisor Lovingood was going to do about the Municipal Advisory Councils in the first district. His response was that they were in the process of selecting people to serve on the various MACs. They were going to activate each communities MAC. We need our MAC, it is important to our citizens to be able to attend meetings locally so they can voice their opinions and needs without having to drive a distance to do so.
I hope we still have the spirit to speak up for what we want and need instead of being told what is best for us. We need our community MAC.
Dan Schuler
Lucerne Valley