Sunday, 24 November 2024

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On Tuesday, Oct. 2, the Lake County Board of Supervisors approved a new memorandum of understanding with the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

The DSA had been out of contract and attempting to negotiate better compensation since January of 2018 until this agreement. While the agreement provided two days of personal leave for each DSA member, the new contract did not provide an increase in wages or health care benefits.

Recently the Lake County Sheriff’s Office implemented a new online reporting system in an effort to maintain the ability to provide essential services to the citizens of Lake County, as the sheriff’s office is facing a critical staffing crisis.

The DSA fully supports Sheriff Martin and his efforts to maintain adequate service to the public, while attempting to balance officer safety. Members of the DSA feel that the magnitude of this staffing crisis is not fully understood by the public and is being underprioritized by the Board of Supervisors, despite the fact that Sheriff Martin and Undersheriff Macedo have frequently voiced the problem.

The sheriff’s office is currently operating at around a 30-percent vacancy rate. To put that in other terms, we are fielding a baseball team with no outfielders. Patrol staffing levels have fallen to three deputies or less on most shifts. That is half of the deputies that a shift has traditionally carried despite calls for service nearly doubling within the past ten years. The sheriff’s office is operating at similar staffing levels as did in the 1970s.

Some of the staffing issues in the patrol division of the sheriff’s office, which is staffed with DSA members, is caused by the fact that the sheriff’s office is mandated by law to perform certain functions. Those functions include staffing a correctional facility, a civil division, court security, and search and rescue to name a few.

Having a patrol division and handling calls for service is not one of the mandated functions of the sheriff’s office, but one that is imperative to provide protection to the public. As the ability to recruit and retain deputies, correctional staff and dispatchers is at an extreme low, the patrol division’s ability to respond to calls for service suffers, because of the lack of personnel.

To put it bluntly, citizens of this county will have extended response times, or in some cases no response at all, when they request a deputy for assistance.

The main reason the sheriff’s office is unable to recruit or retain employees is compensation, specifically, health care benefits. While the cost of health care has increased dramatically over the past 15 years, the county contribution towards health care has not increased at all.

The out-of-pocket cost of insurance for a DSA member, their spouse and a child is $1,417. With local law enforcement agencies offering a similar salary and much better health care contributions, allowing their officers to bring home almost $1,000 more a month in their paycheck, it makes it difficult for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to recruit and retain good employees.

The DSA has recently learned that the county of Lake is proposing a modest increase to their contribution towards health care costs, however that modest increase is inadequate to remedy the staffing crisis that we are facing.

The time is long past due for the county of Lake to address its ability to recruit and retain law enforcement professionals. The county of Lake’s Board of Supervisors need to make the staffing issues at the sheriff’s office a priority, as it is imperative to providing public safety services.

John Drewrey is president of the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association serving Lake County, Calif.
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A Texas judge’s recent decision to strike down the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, sets a dangerous precedent that unravels federal policy carefully designed to correct centuries of tragic injustices committed against Indian people.

It not only threatens the wellbeing of Native children and their families, but also tribal sovereignty. Further, the ruling could undo many of the collaborative relationships our tribes have forged with local governments and states that already acknowledge the benefits of preserving Native families.

Part of this country’s tragic past was forced assimilation that prevailed until the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Sadly, the federal government had a stated goal to destroy the culture, languages, and traditions of American Indians through official programs where Indian children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to the now infamous government-run boarding schools or outright adopted to non-native families. These policies wreaked havoc on the emotional well-being of generations of Indian children, contributing to high levels of suicide and substance abuse.

This practice of our country’s past is not unlike the more current narrative around the inhumane separation of immigrant children from their parents at the U.S. border. The social outcry that has ensued from these recent border events leaves me, as a parent and Tribal leader, crying for those poor parents and sickened that the First Nations of this country are given less consideration. Where is the outpouring for our Native babies?

Congress passed the ICWA in 1978 in an attempt to reverse the ravages that forced separation of Native children from their families wrought on Indian people. In Native cultures, families are the center of our communities, and children are sacred gifts from the Creator. Judge O’Connor’s ruling not only threatens our future – it outright discounts generations of historical anguish.

The ruling also ignores the rights of tribes as sovereign governments. The ICWA only applies to children from federally recognized tribes, and tribes – as sovereign governments – are the only legal authority to determine the membership of a tribe. Destroying a tribe’s ability to speak out for its future – our children – undermines the modern efforts of tribal government to overcome hundreds of years oppression because of the U.S. government’s aggressive control over every aspect of tribal citizens’ lives, including our relationships with our own children.

Several years ago, my tribe – the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake – as well as five other tribes in Lake County, worked with County Department of Social Services to form an ICWA Working Group. Together, we have recognized that the ICWA not only helps ensure a child stays within an Indian community, it also helps facilitate a team approach to improving outcomes for Native children and the agencies and tribes working with high-risk Indian families. Using ICWA as a basis for collaboration provides a child access to tribal resources, helping to improve emotional wellbeing, avoid generational post-traumatic stress disorder, and expand otherwise limited foster care placement prospects.

My tribe also helped found the California Tribal Families Coalition, or CTFC, with the explicit mission to protect the health, safety and welfare of tribal children and families, which are at the core of our sovereignty and governance.

CTFC Executive Director Delia Sharpe told me, “As we prepare for the next phase of this case, CTFC stands with tribes in defense of ICWA, as an essential protection to keep Indian children connected to their families, cultures and communities.”

This ruling goes well beyond the implications for Native families. It furthers a dangerous and very real, anti-Indian narrative and undermines the legal framework protecting Native American self-determination. This ruling is a slippery slope which could result in the further erosion of federal, state, and local policies meant to protect tribes.

As tribal leaders, we are confident in the constitutionality of the ICWA. The Habematolel Pomo Tribe of Upper Lake joins other tribal leaders in condemning Judge O'Connor's decision. Further erosion to the Indian Child Welfare Act is an affront to our culture, our families and our self-determination.

Sherry Treppa is chair of the Habematolel Pomo tribe of Upper Lake, Calif.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Since January, I have had the opportunity to connect with hundreds of Lake County residents, first through our five community visioning forums in January, then more than two dozen community visioning updates before business associations, service organizations and senior centers, and again in June, with roundtable discussions at our three economic development visioning forums.

On each occasion, I have been heartened by the resilience and ingenuity of Lake County’s people, and moved by the depth of our shared commitment to facing the deep-seated issues that hamper our distinct communities, and building a brighter future.

There is no doubting that Lake County has known hardship: nine disasters in a three-year span; cycles of poverty that are deep and systemic; outcomes in public health and education that have consistently placed us toward the bottom of state rankings.

However, in my more than two decades as a Lake County resident and leader in our county government, I have repeatedly seen individuals, families and organizations rise above the floodwaters of the challenges that come, break through the shackles of low expectations and achieve incredible things, for the betterment of us all.

I have seen wildfire and displacement bring generosity and a nurturing spirit to entire neighborhoods. I have seen financial hardship bring creativity, seen leaders stand up, and inspire those around them to unceasingly search for pathways to success, to recognize those resources that we have in abundance.

Vision 2028, passed by the Board of Supervisors in April, was an invitation to look beyond the immediate difficulties we face, and ask a basic question: What kind of community do we want to become?

Do we want to continue to struggle to do more with less, or do we want to expand ourselves and our opportunities? Enhancing public safety, fully recovering from disaster, improving our infrastructure, making Internet access for all a reality, caring for Clear Lake – these things require a stronger, more vibrant economy.

Next week, in Kelseyville and Nice, renowned North Bay Economist and Sonoma State Professor Robert Eyler will share a plan developed through June’s economic development forums. This truly exciting plan identifies specific opportunities for growth in our communities.

Realizing the plan will require that we all do our part, that we all shed some old views and collectively reimagine our economic future. Please join county and community leaders, Dr. Eyler, and the Lake County Economic Development Corp., and support our taking critical steps to move Lake County forward.

The forums will take place as follows:

– Wednesday, Oct. 24, from 6 to 8 p.m., Kelseyville High School Student Center, 5480 Main St.;
– Thursday, Oct. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m., Robinson Rancheria Ballroom, 1545 State Highway 20, Nice.

For more information, call the County Administrative Office at 707-263-2580 or the Lake County Economic Development Corp. at 707-279-1540, Extension 101.

Carol Huchingson is the county administrative officer for the county of Lake.
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Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Such is the case in our courts today, and such was the case in the days of Luther as he demanded that the church tell the truth to those who needed to hear it, those who were literally being ripped off of the little they had in hopes that what they gave would assure they would go to Heaven when they died.

What a tragedy and in the case of Luther and other reformists, what bravery to stand up against the church and say you are not going to get away with this, for what you are doing is immoral, illegal, and against everything in Scripture.

The lesson for Sunday is about truth, absolute truth (John 8:31-36) and there are many similarities between the culture in which our Lord spoke and our own.

Today we, as Christians, want desperately to speak the truth of God to our generation. Sadly, we are in a minority in our relativistic age. In our day, political correctness is more valued than truth.

We gather this Sunday to remember and celebrate who we are, by God's grace. We are Christians.

It might surprise people to find that Luther himself hated the term Lutheran. In 1522, Luther wrote in his own colorful way, “I ask that men make no reference to my name and call themselves not Lutherans but Christians. What is Luther? St. Paul would not allow Christians to call themselves Pauline or Petrine. How then should I, a poor evil-smelling maggot-sack have men give to the children of Christ my worthless name?”

And yet, despite his conviction, this was one teaching his followers would not keep, because, as time went on, Luther's name became so associated with the truth of the Scriptures that to reject one gave the appearance of rejecting the other.

The reformation became official on Oct. 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany.

He knew that most people in the surrounding area would see it because this was the Eve of All Hallows’ Day, which was the day to celebrate the Christians who had passed away in the previous year.

Almost the entire community would attend church that evening and it was the perfect time to “Tell the Truth” and the truth is, we are saved by God’s grace alone, not by works!

The basis of the reformation was indulgences; simply put, pay your way into Heaven.

In Luther’s home town of Wittenberg, a man named Johann Tetzel, an indulgence seller, wandered the streets offering forgiveness of sins to the people for money.

Historians of the day recorded his sales pitch, “Once the coin into the coffer clings, a soul from purgatory heavenward springs!”

Luther was outraged! You can’t buy your way into heaven and Luther knew that based on Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Luther was certain that if the pope knew of this practice, he would stop it immediately. The pope was not only aware of the practice – the whole matter of indulgence selling was the pope's idea in the first place to pay for the construction of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome!

In the end, it finally resolved down to this issue: Who has the final say in doctrinal matters – the church? An individual like the pope? Or the word of God?

Join us on Sunday to find the answer. We celebrate the reformation this Sunday and invite all to our service which begins at 11 a.m. followed by lunch.

All are welcome so please come as you are!

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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"Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

Two weeks on one passage (Mark 10:17-31) … tell me it is not so! This is an important passage for teaching in today’s society so let’s look at it more closely.

The statement above comes from a slightly breathless man who obviously has it all together. He is young and wealthy, so the text tells us.

The fact that he's concerned about his salvation tells us he's wise. The fact that he's come running to Jesus to ask the question tells us that this is a zealous man who wants to follow the Lord.

To the disciples and others gathered around, this is an excellent prospect for a follower. He's the kind of guy who would volunteer to serve on committees and get a lot of work done. He's the kind of guy who would be an asset for whatever sort of plan or strategy needs to be launched by Jesus.

But the conversation doesn't go the way it's supposed to. At least, it doesn't go the way the disciples think it's supposed to … who would ever imagine that this slam-dunk disciple would walk away sorrowful a few minutes later? What happened?

Let's examine the exchange: "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" The problem has already begun, because the question he asks is flawed.

Listen again: "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" The question tells us that man assumes that he can work his way into heaven by the things he does.

What he is asking Jesus is this: "How much more of God's Law do I have to keep in order to earn my way into eternal life? What do I have to do?"

Although the man is sincere, he is far from faith. He doesn't want Jesus to save him from sin, but to approve of who he is and the good that he has done.

"Teacher, all these things (the commandments) I have kept from my youth!" Then, Jesus, who loves this man, preaches one more bit of Law: "One thing you lack," says the Lord. "Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."

This time, the man sees how the Law accuses him, and it crushes him. Jesus has just pointed out to him his sin. But what sin is that, exactly?

The sin our Lord condemns here is not wealth; Jesus is not preaching a sermon against being rich. We must make this clear so that we can understand the true sin and the marvelous Gospel of this text.

Bible stories like this one have been used to declare that wealth is innately sinful; that is not true. In Luther's time it was considered a great work to sell all and make a vow of poverty, for poverty was considered to be more pleasing to God.

But this is not what the Lord is saying. So, is the sin greed? There is greed here, yes, but the greed is not the big problem here: There is a far more dangerous sin at work.

The greater sin is this: The man thinks that he can save himself by how well he works at keeping God's commands. He believes that he can work his way into heaven by being good enough.

For greed alone, the man can be forgiven as he trusts in Jesus, the Savior. But as long as the man believes that he can save himself, he does not trust in Jesus to save him; thus, there is no forgiveness.

In other words, Jesus says to the man: "You can't save yourself. But I can save you. I will save you by going to the cross and dying for your sin. Do not trust in your own efforts, but in mine.”

Here at First Lutheran Church, we are trying our best to prayerfully respond to putting it all in Jesus’ hands as this passage commands us.

If you need help to recover from the fires of this summer, we do have some financial and food supply assistance available.

Please join us Sunday, Oct. 21, and approach one of the leaders for a form to fill out.

Worship is at 11 a.m., lunch following the service, and then our monthly food cupboard for those in need of food and personal hygiene products.

All are welcome so please come as you are!

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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One of the challenges I have when I do confirmation classes is the need for the youth to understand the Ten Commandments.

The reasoning behind that is not to overwhelm them with law, but instead to make them aware of what God’s law means for society today.

There are three ways Martin Luther wanted us to understand the use of the law.

First, how it convicts us (pedagogical use), second, how it guides us (normative use), and third, how it keeps our society safe (civil use). The Ten Commandments are not something that is foreign to our hearts, minds, and souls … the Ten Commandments are how our brains should “Naturally” respond to the challenges of life. That is how creation works!

And so, when I teach the Ten Commandments, I break it down to simple math which is where I get the equation 1 + 1 = 10. And if you look at how the commandments are bundled or tiered, there are basically two sections.

When Moses was given the Commandments by God on Mt. Sinai, they were pretty specific, and it was the rule of the law that if the people broke it, they were to offer sacrifices for atonement for breaking the law.

They couldn’t keep the law, only one person in history ever was able to do so, and so Jewish folks celebrated on days like the Day of Atonement and daily sacrifices were offered as a way for them to be forgiven for breaking the law.

Then came Jesus … and he turned the whole idea of the law upside down. No longer were there 10 commandments, there were two. Love God, love your neighbor. That was it!

What we do not realize is Jesus changed nothing about the Ten Commandments and that is where the math works. 1 + 1 = 10. Love God plus love neighbor = Ten Commandments. Two tiers, 10 commands.

Which brings us smack dab into the middle of the Gospel of Mark 10:17-22 stating, “17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 And Jesus said to him … 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 20 And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth." 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Did you ever notice when reading this passage what Jesus is asking this man? He is asking him about one of the two tiers of the Ten Commandments and that is, “Do you love your neighbor?” And the man responds, “I have kept this law all of my life.”

So, for the most part this man has kept one tier of the law by doing things for his neighbor. And now Jesus drops the bomb on him. When Jesus says to this man, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

The question He is asking this man is simply this, “Do you love God, do you love what I came here to do for your salvation … is that worth more than your money And the answer … no … money was more important.

And that takes us 2,000 years into the future and nothing has changed. Every time we put anything ahead of God we are violating the love that Jesus asked us to have for both Him and for our neighbor. And society today tells us that we are #1 and we deserve whatever we can get.

The top priority to many is the almighty dollar, not Almighty God. What a shame that is.

Please join us for worship this Sunday, Oct. 14, at 11 a.m. as we discuss this in more detail. This is a special service in that we will be baptizing several people so please join us for this time of worship.

If you have not already been baptized and you want to join us in this sacrament, please call the church at 707-274-5572 and I’ll provide the details.

All are welcome so please, come as you are, grab your family and friends, and join us for a time of worship, fellowship and food!

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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