Assemblyman LaMalfa meets with upset
Tulelake crowd that's taking one more hit

October 27, 2003, KBC News Story

Thursday evening over 60 Tulelake residents gathered at the Honker for a town hall meeting.  Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa came to tell about himself and our new governor, but the people had other things on their minds.

Last week Tulelake was informed that the State of California was going to close our DMV office!  Our community is made up of farmers, ranchers, and many many elderly people who won homesteads after their service in the World Wars.  They served their country, then they spent the rest of their lives growing food for America.

In 2001, our government took away the irrigation water from a storage project that the farmers paid for in full, leaving their crops and spirits dried up.  Last week they were told that the science was flawed that devastated these people and their entire community.  Then they were told that their DMV office will be closed, and the closest services will be 1 1/2 to 2 hours away.  Again, these people are old, and the roads are treacherous in the winter.  Many of them have restricted licenses to drive locally because of issues due to their age and health.  It was only 2 weeks ago that they were told that the senior center, where they went for lunch, was going to be closed because it isn't cost efficient.

Kathy Ackley, area rancher, told how she had called a DMV official when when she heard about our DMV closure.  She was told that it was only a rumor, and that the Tulelake office was not going to close.  So with no time to respond or make plans, our town just heard that it was no rumor, it was imminent.

This summer the Lava Beds National Monument built a brand new, several million dollar visitor center, a few miles from here.  Although the  Chiloquin Dam blocks 95% of the sucker habitat, the US Government spent $15 on a fish screen on the A Canal because sucker fish are endangered and they chose not to improve or take out the Dam, or count the fish.  But we are told that our veterans and farm community are not worth the expense to keep the DMV office open.

So these people came to tell LaMalfa what their needs and concerns are.  Sue, our DMV officer, shared her tearful plea with the Assemblyman, explaining how much this tragedy would hurt our town.  Tony Giacomelli, owner of Jocks Supermarket, explained the community impact and harm to our local businesses. 

LaMalfa, a central California rice farmer, was down-to-earth and compassionate with the crowd, asking each to write a letter that he would personally take to Sacramento. 

After the meeting, the Republican Women's organization invited the community to share dinner with LaMalfa.  With his pledge to do his best to represent us, and his information on the new governor, we were left with hope for a better future.

Added later:  (Assemblyman LaMalfa managed to get our DMV office re-opened. Thank you Doug LaMalfa for representing us in rural Tulelake!)