Opinion Piece By Samuel Strait – October 6, 2018 – After having spent numerous hours on the road over the past couple of months, I have come to the conclusion that Supervisor Cowan is clearly not acquainted with the sheer cost saving that come from not paying for gasoline in California. While I understand that not all of the savings can be attributed to the recent imposition of 12 cents per gallon, nor the spring time addition of slightly over $100.00 for each of my vehicle licensing fees and $47.00 for a third vehicle, it has certainly become a matter for concern. It was recently most disheartening to fill up in Grants Pass at $3.07 per gallon, only to be greeted by the sign at Joe's Chevron showing gas to be $4.01 per gallon in Crescent City. Kind of makes going to Brookings to fill up and shop almost a done deal for most of us in the County. I am thinking that Supervisors Cowan, Hemmingsen and Howard must not be too awfully inconvenienced by the increase and for some reason still think that the State will magically turn over a new leaf and notice us up here in the far North. I, for one, have not been overwhelmed by the promises of our State Senator, State Assemblyman, nor the local transportation representative when they talk about local projects being funded by Proposition One. Somehow, bike lanes, traffic circles, and the mysterious project where Highway 101 and Elk Valley Crossroads come together, just doesn't do it for me. Leaving all that aside, and dismissing the great leap of faith one must have that the State will ever do anything about Last Chance Grade other than maintain the existing right of way, what really hits home the hardest is that it wasn't all that long ago that another proposition was passed by California's voters claiming to be for the express purpose of fixing California's roads. So what happened to that money? It most certainly didn't find its way to fix many roads in Del Norte County, nor in the rest of California for that matter. Seems the State had a more urgent use for that money, like balancing the State's bloated budget. Now I understand that politicians make all kinds of promises that are not kept, but I have a great deal of difficulty paying twice for the same thing and likely will not end up with much of anything after giving the State yet again Billions of dollars for nothing, thank you very much. While the repeal of the gas tax through a "YES" vote on Proposition 6 will likely not fix any roads in Del Norte County, it will save most of the citizens of Del Norte County a substantial bit of money over a years time, and may encourage a few less trips to Brookings. It may even result in more money in the local economy rather than sending it to Sacramento hoping for them to pay for a big ticket item on Hwy 101. I hear the argument that we get more back in highway funds than the additional tax generates and is sent to Sacramento, but it is also possible that the already great disparity of gasoline tax between California and Oregon might just be the bigger elephant in the room? Perhaps, since Sacramento really isn't all that kind to us here in the North, it is time for us to return the favor and vote to repeal the gas tax. Vote "YES" on Proposition 6 this November.