kbc letter to the editor regarding vote 090904

I have been visiting your web-site almost from the day it has started, and I have enjoyed it very much. I have found it informative and educational on the many issues that your area has faced. Having done business in the area, and having developed many lasting realtionships over the years, I have enjoyed and appreciated the service and information that you provide. It has given me a greater understanding of the problems the area and the growers face. However, I was very disappointed to see your exhortation to vote(also a good idea) with a link regarding the Communist party. This just seems so out of place on your site, I'm sorry but I find it very disappointing on your part. It smacks of red-baiting and character assasination of the worst kind. I would hope that you could focus on the issues when you recomend who or who not to vote for.

Thank you for visiting our website. We do our best to give you the latest, most comprehensive news and information regarding the Klamath Basin water situation.

We did not mean to devalue the "red" party by insinuating that they are promoting John Kerry for President, and we are not "recommending" who to vote for. In fact, we did not insinuate or write an opinion...we just gave the links of groups supporting our Presidential candidates and are encouraging our readers to search for themselves. We are not assassinating anyone's or any group's character, as we did not write or contribute in any way the contents of the 2 websites you are referring to.

In the Klamath Basin, we are focusing on the issues, dozens of hours per week in our case, daily. And every single candidate that represents our community is critically important. They can make or break our community, and The President is the most important representative of all.

As you recall, the day before President Clinton left office he signed into law an order which would raise the mandatory lake level of Klamath Lake, our irrigation water storage, to a height elevated beyond any possible level before our irrigation project was built. The water shutoff was without justification according to the National Academy of Science. It devastated our community when 2001 irrigation water was shut off to our farms, ranches, cemeteries, parks and refuges. One man had that much power over our family farms and refuges

The President IS part of our solution or our demise. The Presidential election could be the life or death of our farms and refuges as it was in 2001. We hope you understand that it is so very essential for people to vote and to search for the facts about our candidates. Yes, the President currently IS our issue.