Chatting with one business owner, he observed that during the pandemic he thought Oregon Gov. Kate Brown simply was copying what his highness, Gov. Gavin Newsom, was doing in California. There are some differences.
The redemption tax on bottles and cans is a dime in Oregon compared to a nickel here in California. When we took food home from restaurants, we were handed Styrofoam containers---they’re banned in the Golden State. Buy something in a store and you have your choice of paper or plastic bags at no charge—it’s a dime here. Perhaps California is just ahead of the curve and advocacy groups focus here to try to set a trend, or could it be just an over-reach.
We filled up our car in Klamath Falls nearing the California border at $4.99 per gallon. We’d paid 35 cents more than that in Central Oregon. As we neared the state border a truck stop proclaimed “fill up here and save on CA taxes.” It was $5.09 per gallon. About 10 miles down the road in California, a similar truck stop was priced at $6.59. That was a bit extreme, but when we got to Redding, the going rate at the truck stops was $5.59.
Oregonians pride themselves on their green ethic, but it seems like they either haven’t caught up with California or they’re figured out more important things than banning Styrofoam and plastic bags in stores.
Congratulations to Bev Lane of Danville who is concluding an impressive run of elected service when her term on the East Bay Regional Park District ends this year. She was elected to the Danville Town Council when the town incorporated in 1982 and served for 11 years.
Ben then was elected to the regional park board in 1994 and has served 28 years over seven terms. That’s a bunch, even for a board that tends to have long-serving members. She’s spent nearly 40 years as an elected official.
Speaking of long-serving members, her colleague, Ayn Wieskamp of Livermore, matches her. She’s served 23 years on the park district board, service that followed eight years on the Livermore City Council and eight years (if memory serves) on the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District. Her term is up this year.
Then there’s Danville Town Councilman Newell Arnerich who was elected in 1995 and has been re-elected every four years since that time. Danville, unlike other Tri-Valley cities, has no term limits for council members.
