Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 • Republicans hear from Hanson, Hammond

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 edition of the Lassen County Times.

Several dozen Lassen County residents — a standing room only crowd — packed into Susanville’s Pizza Factory banquet room as the Lassen County Republican Central Committee hosted District 5 Supervisor Jack Hanson and recall challenger Tom Hammond at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12.

The event was not a debate, and Hanson and Hammond both addressed those in attendance and answered questions from the audience.

Tim Holabird, field representative for First District Congressman Doug LaMalfa, chaired the event. He said the meeting had the best attendance of any in the last nine years. At the end of the meeting, Holabird reminded residents regardless of the result of the recall election, it’s important for residents to move forward and support the winner.

Hanson
Hanson, the incumbent, won a coin toss and first addressed the gathered county residents and answered their questions.

Hanson said he didn’t come with a prepared statement, and he was happy to answer questions, but, “Needless to say, I’d like very much to continue to serve as district 5 supervisor.”

John Everett, former commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Herlong, said he had decided to support Hammond because Hanson voted no on a motion before the board of supervisors to repay the VFW $8,000 in utility bills the veteran’s organization had paid before the county transferred the ownership of the facility to the VFW.

According to Everett, Hanson told him he would support the motion, but when the time came, he did not.

Hanson later gave the VFW $1,000 from his discretionary funds, but Everett said he felt that was an effort to buy the group off, and he said Herlong residents have “not been blessed out there too well,” during Hanson’s tenure as a supervisor.

He also complained about how the area has missed opportunities that were available from housing grants.

“We didn’t get a fair shake when there was an opportunity for a fair shake,” Everett said.

Hanson acknowledged the VFW should have gotten title to its building “on day one” when the county took possession of the property from the U.S. Army. He called the process the county followed “atrocious.”

But Hanson said the proposed Homes by Towne project in the Herlong area was hampered by the lack of sewer and water infrastructure that was not in place at the time, and without that infrastructure, new construction would not be economically viable. At the time, the proposed prices in Herlong were higher than prices in Nevada.

Susanville accountant Stephen Pezzullo, who said he is part of a group that is currently the highest bidder for Lassen Reuse Authority property in Herlong, asked Hanson what he will do to support economic development in Herlong.

Hanson said he had the same vision for the Herlong area as he had when he was first elected in 2002. He said the area has “great potential” and he would do “anything I can do to help.”

He noted in recent years $20.8 million has been spent on infrastructure improvements in the area — more than has been spent in any other part of Lassen County. He also pointed the success of the mission at Sierra Army Depot.

Responding to a question about who will be responsible for the roads in the Herlong area should the county sell the LRA properties, Hanson said the county has a policy of not taking any more roads in the county’s system. He also said there are legal issues regarding the ownership of the roads in the area.

Herlong resident Larry Johnson, who said he also has placed a bid on the Herlong LRA properties, expressed his concern about the tax assessments a purchaser of the property might have to assume that could kill any potential project. He added the county pays no taxes on the property. Hanson said the county assessor is responsible for determining property values.

Jared Alena said one of the biggest pluses in the area was the runway at Amedee Field. He suggested the county should build a relationship with Sierra Army Depot.

Hanson said if the county were to use the airfield, it would have to pay a portion of the maintenance costs. He also said it’s difficult to find businesses that want to relocate to California, especially when nearby Nevada is more business friendly.

He also pointed out the current trend is a migration from rural areas to the city, except for agricultural regions.

Hammond
Hammond, the challenger, said it’s time for a change.

He said district 5 has the four largest employers in the county, but despite that, Hanson hasn’t supported economic growth in the area.

“It’s time for a different vision,” Hammond said.

“Lassen County has the good fortune of millions of dollars in payroll being generated each month by government jobs,” Hammond said, reading a prepared statement. “The county leadership has shown for the past decade its unwillingness to invest in the community to attract new residents and grow our tax base … the reality of the stagnant growth is a budget shortfall. This year, negative growth and budget deficient — simply unacceptable. And without a change in county leadership, there’s no reason to expect anything will change. (The county) lost millions in Herlong, ignoring the problem and keeping staff on payroll for too long (and) ignoring the reality of the LRA failure was a death knell for Herlong. Not capitalizing on the potential for economic growth in Herlong, the county has put its faith in the federal prison, and has done zero to improve the area.”

According to Hammond, the Herlong area is the one portion of the county with the potential to become an economic base for the county.

“We haven’t done anything,” Hammond said. “We haven’t supported the growth there. It’s a disaster. That’s why I got interested in this … There’s been an obvious lack of economic growth in district 5, either by design or not. These facts remain and are unacceptable and tragic.”

South County resident Paul Herman said Hammond favored building the federal prison in Herlong, and critics at the time said many of those employees will chose to live in Reno.

“I think the new vision we have, maybe we shouldn’t try to base our economy on the prison industry because it’s a total, abject failure for Herlong,” Herman said. “It drove down property values, it did not raise them.”

Hammond said he tried to build houses in the area, but because there was no fire department, he couldn’t even split a lot.

“We knew for five years they were coming,” Hammond said. “Why couldn’t we have streamlined the process? We could have built a nice community there, but it was impossible. You couldn’t split any lots. You couldn’t develop anything.”

According to Hammond, the prison employees expect better schools for their children than those in Herlong, but Herman said the employees didn’t want to live near a prison.

Alena said the water and sewer improvements in the area would not have been realized if it weren’t for the federal prison.

He said the county accepted land from the federal government that it couldn’t use, and, “the only people who were so happy to see that happen were the federal government. I think they’re still giving high fives down through the Pentagon that we gave away this contaminated dirt to Lassen County.”

He asked Hammond and Hanson if they would vote to accept any more property from the federal government today. They both said no.

Hammond said district 5 is the only district in the county that does not represent Susanville, and it has the four largest employers in the county. He said the county’s economic plans don’t include Herlong even though the tax base and the payrolls are generated in district 5.

“When are we going utilize, when are we going to take advantage of these guys?” Hammond asked. “We’re stagnant. We’re just stagnant.”

He said, “It’s time to come up with some new ideas.”

According to Hammond, the county should improve its relationship with Sierra Army Depot and create commercial development around Amedee Field.

“We need to really build a relationship with Sierra Army Depot,” Hammond said. “There’s an incredible amount of commerce going in and out of there. We need to really reinforce that relationship. Build it, run with those guys, and I don’t see that effort being done. And I will make that effort if elected.”

Hammond, who serves on the Lassen Community College Board of Trustees and the Plumas Sierra Rural Electric board of directors, said he would resign his position on the college board if he were elected to the board of supervisors.