Letters to the Editor: Dahle + Dahle = folly

Siskiyou County is represented in the California legislature by Brian Dahle in the State Senate and Megan Dahle in the State Assembly. How can one married couple from a farm in rural Lassen county (Bieber: population 178) represent the diverse interests of the 10 counties and hundreds of thousands of residents of our district? The Dahles have similar agendas and financial supporters, including corporations and special interests.

Brian Dahle has voted against many measures that were passed for environmental protections, fire safety and regulation of the oil and gas industries, while taking financial support from Chevron, Sempra energy and the vaping company, Juul. He has voted against bills to enhance gun safety laws.

Megan Dahle has voted against land and water protection measures and several gun safety measures. She takes support from Philip Morris and the CA Peace Officers. She has repeatedly skipped important votes, such as AB345 that would have kept oil and gas extraction facilities safely away from schools, playgrounds, residences and health care facilities.

When voters send you to Sacramento there is one job to do: vote on bills that improve the lives of your constituents. Neither Dahle has done a good job of that!

Pamela Swartz, running against Brian, has a degree in forestry management and worked in forestry before becoming a small business owner. Elizabeth Betancourt, running against Megan, is a water policy specialist experienced in natural resource management and skilled at bringing all stakeholders together to find common ground. She is also a farmer and business owner. Neither of these candidates takes money from corporations or special interest groups.

Let’s vote to send representatives to state government who actually work hard for all of us. Please join me in supporting Pamela Swartz for State Senate and Elizabeth Betancourt for State Assembly!

Anne Skadsen

Mount Shasta