Since Susan Masten was appointed to the Del Norte Supervisor's Board of Trustees last week by our illustrious governor Gavin "Hair Gel" Newsom, this has prompted a further investigation on just who it is that was appointed. There are the naturally glorified and magnified accounts of her credentials to represent the fifth district in Del Norte County, yet what really qualifies her to be the choice of her district. In a recent interview she seemed to be saying that the effort to get herself appointed predated Supervisor Berkowitz's demise, and then she elected to take the more conventional path to the position by filling the appropriate paperwork for candidacy in the June primary. Unless one of five candidates is successful with 50% plus one, a decision on who is entitled to that position will not be made until November. Was it necessary for the governor to weigh in? Was it necessary for two Yurok Council members and a "few" others to prompt the governor with this decision? Long defined as an activist for the Yurok Tribe, numerous tribal positions held under her watch, several "person of the year accolades", and reported "business" experience from the Steelhead Lodge, yet does this record equate to being elevated by a governor who knows little of the County to make this appointment? Should he have been aware of the candidate's past history with drug cultivation? Her history with Charles "Duke" Sheehan and fraudulent lending practices? Does she even have a majority of the support in the community of Klamath? Or, are a few well placed "cheerleaders" that have gotten the governor's attention for a moment being the replacement for the entire electorate? Being a Democrat? What exactly is it? Most of the folks when asked the question, "are you in favor of this appointment?" are tending to be reserved. Some think she is a "great choice", others are less than enthusiastic. While establishing herself as a "voice" for the Klamath River and its tribes, one of her pet projects has been the "healing of the river"and the removal of four of the six dams in the river. Further she claims, like all of the other small communities in the County, that they are made to feel like "orphans" when it comes to programs and services. I suppose she doesn't understand that normally government services and programs in small population centers are often meager, and funding them only reaches so far. Klamath itself, tends to be much more incorporated with those services due to its intimate connection to the Yurok Tribe. Other County communities do not have that luxury. Granted road closures are a unique problem for the Klamath community to have to deal with for the past year, but that was not always the case. Ms. Masten's appointment will be unlikely to change that dynamic. Also it should be noted that many of her constituents do not live in Klamath, and those issues she seems to focus on are not issues that concern most of her proposed district. Will she be able to set aside her activism in light of the fact that now her role is no longer leading but representing? Likely we will never know the answers to these and other questions of her suitability for this appointment. In the mean time we will be entertained by efforts to validate her current rise in stature to government when she has spent most of her earlier life objecting to it, then changing hats for the past twenty or so years to become a part of the government on tribal councils.