Opinion by Samuel Strait – January 12, 2022 One of the things I got out of the hour long discussion with CAO Neal Lopez and Supervisor Chris Howard on Thursday, February 10th is that we live in two very different world when it comes to solutions for Del Norte County's many problem. Granted we do live in a small rural county of 27,000 plus residents and we do not have much in the way of power to influence the decision makers in Sacramento. We were a rural county that forty years ago depended a lot on a resource based economy that has been transformed into an economy dominated by government services and a part time tourist industry. We all agree that going forward, this kind of economy is not sustainable. As government has grown exponentially over the last couple of decades, more and more money, tax dollars and insubstantial grant funding, has been required to keep us afloat. At some point the tax encumbrance in this small rural county will overwhelm the ability of the population to bear. Grant funding has its own inherent problems, in that it doesn't solve problems, but is more likely to add to them. The solution offered by Supervisor Howard was to restore some semblance of a resource based economy, pointing to some recent logging activities. He added that the County's efforts through the Chamber of Commerce had stimulated the tourist visits to the County. No mention of any of the obvious problems with both mechanisms for stimulating the local economy. Just to name a few, the Coastal Commission, local environmentalists and their allies, and State regulation. Howard to his credit did acknowledge that just those few items might not make his concepts of renewing the local economy viable. Hence, in Howard's world there remains government services and a part time tourist season where most employees are minimum wage earners and Crescent City continues to be a pass through town for visitors. In the other world where current political philosophy from Sacramento abhors change, the starting point for the improvement of our lot, is to strip down government services to the bare minimum and join with other rural county's to pressure Sacramento to ease regulation that is strangling Del Norte County and other rural Counties. Eliminate the multitude of Boards, Commissions and Authorities. A free enterprise zone to be able to compete with no sales tax Oregon. Open up more available land to development, fewer acres in conserved status. Allow the County to grow population wise and encourage the school district to commence education instead of indoctrination. Insure Del Norte County will be able to free themselves from the Coastal Commission's interference. Stream line environmental obstruction from improving road access into the County as well as to development. Encourage on-line employment and improve on-line infrastructure. Store and sell water to Southern California from our rivers. Produce electricity at the same time. Burn our trash rather than send it to Oregon. If we don't have enough, offer to burn trash from other localities. Then, just maybe, a resource based addition to our economy just might be possible, Most of the above would likely take a huge change in culture and attitude by residents, but in Howard's World the future is bleak. If we continue to fool ourselves that a part time tourist industry coupled with the government services we currently have, there is no successful future for Del Norte County. A dramatic change in direction from those that wish this town to remain small and insignificant is necessary for future success. The alternative is to drive the best and brightest of our youth to greener pastures, as well as those that wish to see a brighter future. I am sure that there are others that have ideas who live here that would make useful additions to this list. I would encourage those others to comment below with their ideas and energy for change. The current government structures in the County are bloated and wasteful and will fight to the death to remain isolated and irrelevant to the State. California, the current Board of Supervisors, the City Council, and the numerous other Boards, Commissions, and Authorities do nothing but hold this County back from being the place in California that is a pleasure to live within.