For the Record

Dear Public,

The proponents of the Recall Effort are not in hiding, do not work for the City, are not comprised of council members, and have NO personal agenda!  Everything has been done with the utmost care and consideration for the law as well as respect for those involved.
Ms. Lucero at the direction of Mr. Falkner has now begun to slander innocent citizens in an attempt to falsely prove guilt.  Our country operates under the protection of the Constitution of The United States of America, where you are assumed innocent until proven guilty. However, proving one's innocence is not the way the process is supposed to work.
What is at stake here?  I can not speak on behalf of all the proponents or all the individuals who have already signed our petition.  I speak on my behalf.  I have spent countless hours researching and studying Ms. Lucero's history and her record with the City of Shasta Lake.  What I found disturbed and dismayed me.  Having made a choice to buy a home here and raise my children here, I also did some checking on the area.  I found out that the city of Shasta Lake has a lot of history.  Some of it good and some of it bad.  All of it very interesting.  What I found out was a mixed bag, that's true.  We also felt it was worth looking into.  To my husband and I, it was the perfect place to settle down.
Let's go back to 2001.  After our Nation suffered it's largest terrorist attack in it's young life, my focus dramatically shifted to protecting the future for my then 5 month old baby girl.  Living in Redding at the time, my husband and I craved a close, family-oriented community to 'put roots down'.  Shasta Lake has what our young family needed.  A small, rather quiet City.  Beautiful, living scenery and a 5 minute drive to the Lake.  Property in our price range, in a safe, happy neighborhood is just what we got.  However, communities don't just happen.  This requires people to get involved and stay involved.  Having young kids I immediately volunteered to serve on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission.  I served for over 5 years.  I also volunteered to serve on the Library Financing and Governance Task Force, and have served for 4 years.  I also volunteered to serve on the Citizen Volunteer Patrol, which requires a background check, fingerprinting done and several hours of training and community service.  Being a work from home mother has afforded me the ability to serve the community I am a part of.  This includes regular attendance at all city council meetings, workshops, and attending any Q&A meetings that the City has asked for citizens to offer input.
This is what being a good citizen means to me.  That we all work together to make this work.  No one is allowed to stand on the sidelines, yelling  to the participants.  "You untrustworthy fool!  You're doing it all wrong!"  Is pointing fingers, making baseless accusations, and slandering good people, at all helpful? NO!  It is demeaning, demoralizing, and reckless.  It serves no other point than the accuser having a bit of the spotlight on them.  Do the facts matter?  We say yes, but when the lie is told over and over... over time people tire of the 'bickering'.  The one who is pointing the accusatory finger looks like the hero, when in fact they have presided over the destruction of someone's integrity.  In this case, it is the integrity of the citizens, staff, volunteers, and respected members of this community who are involved for the better!  It is soulless, and shameful! 
I could no longer keep quiet.  I feel that the forward progress of my city is at stake here.  All that I and others have worked so hard to achieve, for our children and our elders, is precious.  Worth taking a stand for.  Beyond the shadow of a doubt.  We have nothing to hide.  We are proud of this city, what we have done here.  We will not let it suffer, but see it prosper and shine!
If that is the definition of a 'Good Old Boy', then fine.  I am neither old, nor a boy.  I am a citizen who cares and decided to be a part of the solution.