Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011 • Perspective by Lassen County Supervisor Larry Wosick

Dear friends
I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to communicate a message to you every five weeks through this column.

“Thank you” to the Lassen (County) Times, as well as former CAO Tom Stone, who implemented the weekly columns.

Your involvement is essential to help shape an improved Lassen County. Witnessing the growing public involvement on various county issues has been very encouraging. Most recently I’ve been flooded with emails and phone calls in support of Tom Hammond’s efforts with the deli he provides in Herlong. It’s great to see so many people involved, voicing their opinion in an effort to shape their community to meet their needs. I truly appreciate all the emails and phone calls I receive regarding your thoughts and desires regarding the future of Lassen County.

During my short time on the board, I have witnessed some great strides forward in recreational opportunities. Several miles of new mountain bike trails at the Susanville Ranch Park is one example, the new bridge at the Bizz Johnson trail is another. It’s crucial we continue to improve our “appeal” to attract new residents to our area. Over the past decade Lassen County experienced a negative growth rate. For our business community to thrive, we need to reverse this statistic. The more we improve our “appeal” the greater chance we have to attract investment and modest growth. We are surrounded by scenic beauty and great people, with strong leadership we can transform into a vibrant mountain community offering all the amenities needed to attract investment dollars to our county.

I eagerly await the day when we once again provide a swim center for our community. Unfortunately, the swim center momentum has stalled (with the departure of our former CAO) and it’s a project I can’t do alone. I’m hopeful that my wife and I can bring a much-needed gymnastics center to our community in the near future. Lise’ and I are in the process of splitting our bowling alley parcel with the intention of using the large unused portion of the parcel for a gymnastics center for our local youth. Over the past 10 years my wife has logged more than 120,000 miles travelling the 120-mile round trip to Reno (up to four days a week) to allow our daughters to compete as gymnasts. We’ve met many families in gymnastics that have expressed a desire to live in Lassen County but have declined as they have kids in gymnastics, and/or swimming programs. A gymnastics center will most definitely add to our “appeal” and we look forward to making this a reality.

With the arrival of 2012, I will be launching of a very informative website that will assist you to be better informed of board matters and will assist the public to be more engaged in county matters to help shape our future.