Paramedic Urges You to Support Measure O

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Letter to the EditorI have worked as a Paramedic for 28 years in the Willow Creek area.  Over the years I have seen many positive lifesaving outcomes due to Hoopa Ambulance being able to fund an Advance life support (ALS) Ambulance located in the willow Creek area.  Before we were located to the willow Creek area our response time was 25 minutes up to an hour.  Due to the measure Z funding our response time for Motor vehicle accident on the 299 corridor is about 11-14 minutes, we are about an hour and 15 minutes from a level 3 Hospital. Our average response for Medical calls is around 5 minutes, with an hour and 15 minute to a cardiac center. The measure Z funding that is provided to the Ambulance allow us to maintain ALS coverage 24/7, this saves lives.  Please support measure O.

Thank you

Rod Johnson –Paramedic

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22 Comments
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Lurker
Guest
Lurker
5 years ago

Vote No On O.General funds with no oversite

No more tax
Guest
No more tax
5 years ago

Measure z was good, but it did it’s job. Measure o is forever, last thing everyone needs is another permanent tax.Vote no on O!taxes should be there to fix a problem and then go away, not be permanent.Measure O is just another attempt at a permanent tax, we are all taxed way too much already

Taurusballzhoff
Guest
Taurusballzhoff
5 years ago

Short sighted people with no concept of what is necessary to deliver healthcare in remote areas? Humboldt County is full of them!

People who spend their careers delivering healthcare services? They run away from Humboldt, every day.

If you want no healthcare, keep refusing to fund it! If you want someone to clean up after MVA’s, transport you to care in emergencies, and you want people like Rod on call 24/7 in case you need them, vote to support them, and say thanks when it is you and yours who require services!

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
5 years ago

please re-write measure O

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

I second that.

On the way to economic failure.
Guest
On the way to economic failure.
5 years ago

I would vote yes if it was going to the paramedics/fire fighters.the sheriffs department and district attorneys office and planning and extortion are stonewalling most of it and they’re treasonous to the people!!!! Rewrite a new measure for paramedics and firefighters and you’ll have my vote!!!!!

Measure O saves lives
Guest
Measure O saves lives
5 years ago

You are in luck! It IS going to the paramedics ($312K for Hoopa ambulance in the North East, and $40k for STAR ambulance in the South East) and firefighters (roughly $1.2 million this year alone)! Let’s keep these services around. Yes on O!

Measure O saves lives
Guest
Measure O saves lives
5 years ago

Here’s a link that shows where the money is going.
https://humboldtgov.org/2333/Fiscal-Year-17-18

Working man
Guest
Working man
5 years ago

All you greedy growers living near the 299 should support Rod and measure O. You plead poverty despite having made a fortune and get your ambulance ride for free while the rest of us get gouged. Not to mention a lot of the motor accidents are caused by drunk growers in their enormous trucks.

Native hunboldt
Guest
Native hunboldt
5 years ago

Give us all a break, sounds like one of the greasy supervisors commenting. Once this one passes they’ll be on deck for a new measure f for next year. The government will always want more, more, more. I wish they could just run the government like my house budget. If you don’t have it don’t spend it ! And defentely don’t beg for it!!

On the way to economic failure.
Guest
On the way to economic failure.
5 years ago

Rewrite a new measure for ambulance services,and fire fighters!!!!!!one that isn’t permanent.every couple years they have new taxes on the ballot California is already by far way too expensive to live in give the people a little bit of there hard earned money to live with.what about taking care of our family’s???? Greedy government wants it all. New age undiscrimative SLAVERY

On the way to economic failure.
Guest
On the way to economic failure.
5 years ago

Thanks for the link now I’m DEFINITELY voting no. sheriffs and da cleaning out our wallets as they extort with environmental lies.steal our property with liens,. Some of it was spent nicely to good causes but too much of it wasn’t!!!!!! And it’s permanent!!!!!! Even if it passes they’ll be asking for more next election THEY WANT IT ALL

groba dude trustafarian osnt
Guest
groba dude trustafarian osnt
5 years ago

Because government is bad, and polluting, land-raping, greedy chowder-head growers are good and somehow beneficial in the scheme of things?

Good luck kids, pot will soon be free and healthcare will be available, in some other county.

Life is Good
Guest
Life is Good
5 years ago

No, no no. Use the money extorted from your dailey convoys. Enough of the taxing already.

Mike
Guest
Mike
5 years ago
Reply to  Life is Good

California never met a tax it didn’t like

THC
Guest
THC
5 years ago

So out of the 11.87 million dollars, they spent 40,000 on emergency medical,1.24 million on fire district And 4.68 million on the sheriff’s department? With the rest going to infrastructure improvements and Pet Project. It seems Hoopa’s Pet Project was Ambulance Service, with all of the money allocated to them going towards the ambulance service according to the post above. I hope the other cities allocated funds spent them as wisely.
Well at least the crime rate has gone down considerably and I see a lot less bums on the street these days urinating, smoking, drinking and fighting… also I noticed the roads are in much better condition lately, I know this because they put up signs telling me so;>)

DELLIB
Guest
DELLIB
5 years ago

O No. Government is the problem to begin with. More WASTE. Why doesn’t anybody ever vote to downsize the huge corrupt beast? Because it never makes it on the ballot…

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

https://humboldtgov.org/247/Budget

This is the link to Humboldt’s budget. It is a fun trip through where your money goes. And where it comes from. And what is mandated and what is discretionary. The largest share of the budget is mandated programs from the State or Feds- 66%. Things like Snap, AFDC, MediCal, etc. While some people complain roundly about how social needs are not met, 66% of the budget goes goes that already. Public works gets 21% and law/justice gets 19%. That should be an eye opener to some about the costs of human behavior on the budget. As has been so oft repeated, Porky Pine said “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Another interest link to Humboldt Co Profil section (full of interesting factoids on population, etc) , where the sources of income to the County is broken down. Seems like livestock and livestock products like milk, cheese and eggs account for more than double the value of nursery products. Seems like losing cows will be much more damaging to the County’s economy than losing marijuana would be.

Notbuyinit
Guest
Notbuyinit
5 years ago

Funny how the county can come around the hills shaking people down sometimes to the tune of multiple millions of dollars but if we want ambulance service or police protection if our houses are broken into we need new taxes to pay for it

Adam Hall
Guest
Adam Hall
5 years ago

The emergency services need to be funded. People like Rod don’t have time to hang out in Eureka and quibble over how the commissioners waste the rest of your tax dollars. Support the funding of these essential services and then go lobby the commissioners or better yet run for local offices yourself if you have a better idea of how things should be run.
Also, 299 is a major artery for the whole region. Out of dozens of Willow Creek area car accidents I am familiar with I can’t think of any involving drunk growers. Lord knows the county is now getting their money from what growers are left.

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago
Reply to  Adam Hall

I can assure you that it will be the first to be cut in a declining revenue scenario. a 35-50% decline is expected next year. this year is on coarse for a 35% decline. the last thing they will cut is the new hires. we have a major, not minor, economic disaster coming. poor planning as usually.

Big picture
Guest
Big picture
5 years ago

The passage of this Measure is not do or die. The sky will not fall.

Defeat of O will not reduce emergency services.
Defeat of O will not reduce emergency services.
Defeat of O will not reduce emergency services.

The current tax measure Z doesn’t expire until 2020.

If Measure O (with no sunset date) doesn’t get approval in this voting cycle, the County will just put it on the ballot again next year, for a fixed period of time.

If you agree with the tax forever, vote yes.

If you want the County to be more fiscally responsible and accountable, vote no and make them come back with a more palatable offer.