On Tuesday, January 17, 2011, the Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) of the Point Arena Schools District held its final meeting regarding the Measure E Bond which voters passed in November, 2003.

To update those of you who have not been following the bond issues:

The bond was for $3,758,980 in order to build a Pre-K-Grade 5 elementary school in Gualala. Voters from Stewart’s Point to Elk (the district encompasses both Mendocino County and part of Sonoma County) had been informed “the school site approval process was nearly complete” and local taxpayers had already benefited from a “$600,000 State Planning Grant.” When something sounds too good to be true, IT IS!

John Bowers Sr. donated the land to the Point Arena Schools District to build the school on. The school district now owns the land.

According to the bond the taxpayers’ money was to be “used solely for the purposes and projects” stated in the bond measure which were: A. Build a Pre-K—Grade 5 elementary school in Gualala. B. Convert existing classrooms at Arena Union Elementary School to age-appropriate instructional areas (middle school) for Science, Music, Art, Library/Media, etc.”

Those in attendance at the BOC Meeting were: Dr. Colleen Cross, the new superintendent of the Point Arena School District; Crissy Sundstrom (her children go to the elementary school); Rick O’Niel (his wife is employed at the high school); Jeff Watts. They are the members of the BOC along with Vern McNamee who was unable to attend – lucky him! Arlene Taeger, facilities consultant and James DeWilder, trustee of the school board were also in attendance. This is the first time DeWilder has ever been to a BOC meeting but Dr. Cross explained to the members that she needed DeWilder there because he was “more familiar with the history of the bond.” Of course, this is in spite of two members in attendance that have been on the BOC since 2004, before DeWilder was even a trustee but we will get to him later.

When Dr. Colleen Cross became the new superintendent of the district she easily slid right into the rather small shoes of retired superintendent Mark Iacuaniello and also (like Iacuaniello) became the chairman/secretary of the BOC. Of course, this is in direct violation of California Education Code 15282. Also, the same Education Code states the member shall serve for two years with the limit being two consecutive terms. This code was also violated with its members. Minor infractions, I’ve been told.

In March 2007, a board meeting was held in Gualala which was filled to capacity with community members. The main purpose of the meeting in Gualala was to discuss the building of the elementary school. At no time, did the superintendent, board member or a member of the BOC indicate to the community that, perhaps, we should scale down the plans for the school in Gualala because is was not feasible to possibly fund such a large project. It was a very upbeat meeting with the belief this project was heading in the right direction and Iacuaniello promised to meet with the community again in Gualala as things progress (or don’t progress which was the case), this never ever happened.

In June 2008, the State Department of General Services – Office of Public School Construction, requested $82,301.00 returned to them from the district because “…no substantial progress had been made for the projects listed on the Attachment.”

In January 2009, the BOC made the recommendation to the Board of Trustees to split the bond in half. Half to go towards the Gualala school project and the other half to work on projects at the Point Arena Elementary School. The board requested this to be done by Iacuaniello at their January 2009 school board meeting. However, Iacuaniello did not bring this resolution back to the school board meeting in February. What he brought back was that $1.8 million would stay in a Gualala account, $1.8 million would go into an Arena Elementary School Account to proceed with building (not converting as the bond clearly stipulated) a library/media room, science lab and dining/community hall. What was left ($158,980) went into a fund marked “undesignated reserve.” Although this was not what the board stipulated for Iacuaniello to do and what the BOC requested to be done, the board adopted this resolution without a second thought.

This pretty much takes us to Tuesday, January 18th to item #6 on the agenda: Discussion with Action: Final disposition of Measure E Bond Fund Expenditures: Of course, I was the first to express my concerns and told them I believed since the intent of the bond (to build the elementary school in Gualala) was never adhered to for various reasons taxpayers should have the monies refunded to them minus the expense in doing so. I also stated that I believed a lot of things had been done under the table (some examples of which are already stated above) and the public was not made aware of many of the things that transpired. After all Iacuaniello did promise the community further meetings in Gualala and even though I requested this several times at various board meetings, it was ignored.

Immediately, DeWilder took offense to my statement and informed the BOC that only I and Action Network continued to want to have the elementary school in Gualala because their decisions on what was happening with the bond funds have been in the local paper (the Independent Coast Observer) and no one has stepped forward to speak out against it. I am not sure were DeWilder thinks the 72% of the voters who voted for this bond disappeared to! Could it just be that there are quite a number of community members who just do not subscribe to the local paper!

DeWilder informed the BOC that the district has been operating with a deficit. Not only is this statement totally untrue, it truly doesn’t mean diddlysquat as far as what they have been operating on because the district can’t use bond funds to pay for anything other than what is stipulated for in the bond! However, for the sake of argument let’s say he is actually telling the truth. (I know it is a stretch but use your imagination). Our school district received OVER SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS last year to educate 416 students (Pre-K through 12th grade). If our district is operating from a deficit as DeWilder would indicate, I believe the fault would fall on the shoulders of the superintendent and the board of trustees because they are the ones who approve the expenditures! As a matter of fact, when I met with Dr. Cross (when she came to the district) she admitted to me she was quite surprised to see how much money our district does receive for the number of students we have! As this was not the case in the district in Southern California where she came from!

DeWilder then informed the BOC that there was declining enrollment. Again, not true, I informed the BOC that for the past two years there had been two kindergarten classes. He argued with me regarding this! Here is a trustee who sits on a district board, was actually board president for two years and has no earthly idea of what he is talking about!

You see I don’t think Dr. Cross had DeWilder there because he knew the “history of the bond” as much as she wanted him there to put me in my place and get the proposal put through the BOC and sent to the school board to be voted.

Sorry, I digress.

The BOC members were presented a packet (a clear violation of 72 hour Brown Act Law) in which there was the following proposal: Gualala School would get $95,119 and Arena Elementary would get $95,110 from the Undesignated Reserve Fund which essentially means they are splitting the fund in half. From each of the funds they would both split the current banking/legal charges in half and this would give both the Gualala School and the Arena Elementary $92,619.

However, the cost of defeasance (retiring the bond) is $33,500 to be paid only out of the Gualala account. When I questioned this, Dr. Cross she informed me the reason for this is because, “IT IS FOR THE GUALALA BOND”! I wanted to say, “HUH” like my little two year old grandson does when it just doesn’t make sense and can’t comprehend what is being said to him. Only due to Gualala Bond Fund, the “Undesignated Reserve Fund” received $52,583 worth of interest but did any of these monies go toward just the Gualala Bond since “It is the Gualala Bond” – you guessed right! No way! I questioned this again at the board meeting on 20th of January and Dr. Cross informed the public that because this had nothing to do with the Arena Projects but only the Gualala Bond monies that is why they are charging the entire fee to Gualala.

I guess this would be another “huh” moment because the so-call Arena projects would have never even been on the ballot if it weren’t for the community wanting the Gualala school built!

The bottom line is instead of getting $1,993,619 returned to the taxpayers (which I suggested) they will only be receiving $1,848,250 from the Gualala School Bond and $82,619 will be “available for bond approved Arena (elementary school) Projects.”

Dr. Cross informed the BOC since they no longer have to meet the BOC was being dissolved and thanked them for their service. Not sure how this can be since there continues to be $82,619 of bond funds still to be accounted for by the BOC! She informed the BOC the rest of the monies in the fund were to be spent on building an overhang over the cafeteria building so the students would not have to stand in the element. Not one BOC member said anything in regards to seeing the contractor’s proposal, wanting to stay as the committee until all funds were gone — nada!

One final note DeWilder did inform the BOC members he believed within a couple of years when the economy begins to straighten out that they could consider putting another bond out to for an elementary school in Gualala. He was joking, right! There is an old saying, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” and I am no fool! I am waiting for that one person in Gualala to come up with an idea of a Charter School so people living in the Point Arena School District don’t have to take that long trek up from Gualala to Mendocino to send their children to school!

On Thursday the 20th of January and the board did pass this proposal again without a single discussion. I reiterated to the board what I stated at the BOC which was, “in good faith we should return all funds possible because the only reason the bond was put on the ballot November 3, 2003 was to build the school in Gualala.” Again, DeWilder told the board the Arena Projects were placed on the ballot because they were just as important as the school in Gualala! Huh!

Respectfully,

Susan Rush
Manchester

Bruce Anderson, plaintiff, versus

Kendall Smith et al, defendants.

Bruce Anderson brought a small claims action against County Supervisor Kendall Smith and County Auditor Meredith Ford alleging that Smith owed the County of Mendocino $3,087 for false travel claims that were submitted to the County and paid by County Auditor Ford. Anderson sought no funds for himself but rather sought an order that Smith repay the County. Anderson characterized this action as a “taxpayer” suit. Anderson claims that the amounts due were established by a series of grand jury determinations dating back to 2006.

The Small Claims Court provides a forum for resolving suits in an expeditious manner with relaxed rules of evidence but it does not abrogate the government code or provide a forum for a private individual to bring a representative action on behalf of “taxpayers” against a government official or agency for an alleged false claim without compliance with the False Claims Act set forth in Government Code sections 12652 et seq.

The false claims act allows a private citizen to bring a whistleblower type action under certain limited circumstances. A private citizen would be required to file the action under seal in Superior Court and give notice to the appropriate prosecutorial agencies to give those agencies an opportunity to proceed or decline to proceed with the action. The defendant in such a case must not be served until a 60 day period from the date of filing has passed.

Government Code section 12652(b)(1) requires the prosecutorial agency of a political subdivision like a County to vigorously investigate violations involving political subdivision funds. The County Counsel and or the District Attorney is specifically authorized to bring a criminal or civil action against the false claimant.

Anderson’s attempt to take the action in his own hands is explained to some extent by the District Attorney’s prior handling of this issue. The District Attorney apparently did consider the issue and the grand jury recommendation and therefore directed the Auditor to withhold funds from Supervisor Smith’s pay to reimburse the County. The Auditor, after getting legal advice, balked at withholding funds from Supervisor Smith without first having a judgment. Despite feeling strongly enough about the issue to direct the Auditor to withhold funds from Smith’s pay, after the auditor balked, the DA apparently let the matter drop without seeking a court judgment.

As stated by the court during this proceeding, the Auditor is not a proper defendant in his action. Meredith Ford is hereby dismissed from this action with prejudice. If a citizen could bring a damages action against a public official for acts occurring within the scope of her employment the government code would require the county to step in and defend and indemnify her. The legislature didn’t intend to embroil local government agencies in this type of action. See Dockstader v. Handy (2008) 162 Cal 4th 480.

There may be several insurmountable hurdles to Anderson’s ability to proceed with this action against Kendall Smith. It is likely that the statute of limitations has run on the claims which accrued before 2007. Additionally, Government Code section 12652(d)(1) provides that no court has jurisdiction over such an action brought by a private citizen if the action is brought against an elected official and the action is based on evidence or information available to the political subdivision when this action was brought. Given the public nature of this controversy, that element is unlikely to be met.

Because this court lacks jurisdiction to reach the merits of the claim, the action against Supervisor Smith is hereby dismissed. The claim as to Supervisor Smith is, however, dismissed without prejudice so as not to foreclose a procedurally compliant claim by a prosecutorial authority or a private citizen if one can be made.

Dated January 11, 2011

John A. Behnke, Judge of the Superior Court

I took a class from Hellman in 1961, a few years before Dashiell Hammett and then LH herself enjoyed a surge in public esteem and book sales. I was going on 20 when we met, she was 56, and I learned a lot from her in the years ahead. She provided real support -her Peugeot station wagon and some money- when friends and I started the first GI coffeehouse near Fort Jackson in ’67.

When I split with the classy left at the end of the ’60s, LH disapproved and we distanced politically. By 1971 she was the queen of the liberals in New York and I was leafleting in the San Francisco financial district like a Holy Roller.

Once she called when she was in town and I went to see her at the Huntington for a drink. Her glaucoma was really bad and I asked if she’d heard that marijuana reduces intraocular pressure. I wound up getting her some Mendocino sinsemilla. She wrote me a few times thereafter asking about my friends who made the green shirts, and I helped her out.

Nora Ephron’s book “I Remember Nothing” contains a chapter about Hellman in which she writes about Lillian’s cigarette smoking, “Because she could barely see, the question of whether the perilously ever-lengthening ash would ever make it to the ashtray without landing in her lap and setting her on fire provided added suspense to every minute spent with her.” That’s what made me remember our drink in the Huntington -the only time I ever saw Lillian frail and old.

When I knew her she looked like a diminutive Nina Totenberg under a very similar crown of lacquered brown hair.

At the end of the Carter era, 1978 or ’79, I heard about the federal government launching an “investigational new drug program” and notified Miss Hellman that enrolling might enable her to use marijuana legally. She was very interested, but before I could look into the details she wrote or called to say that if it was known that she smoked marijuana, it would be held against her, prevent her from being taken seriously as a political journalist. She’d been writing non-fiction pieces for Look and other magazines and didn’t want to get pot-baited by the looming antagonists.

Nora Ephron also had a falling out with Hellman but never stopped liking something about her. She was sharp, she saw beneath the surface of what was happening. To this day I find myself remembering things she said. And how many people do you meet in life whose insights and lines really stay with you? Here’s one: “People always have the fanciest reasons for what they do.”

The Autumn Garden

While we’re plugging websites and dropping left-celeb names… SeedsofChange.com  is offering “The Paul Robeson tomato. Heirloom 8-10 oz. (85-90 days). A rare ‘black’ slicer with red flesh. Rated ‘Best of Show’ at the Carmel TomatoFest, it has received rave reviews for its earthy flavor with the perfect acid/sweet balance. Pack of 50 @ $3.29.”

Calling All Thieves

“A map marking what are supposed to be secret locations of 60 warehouses and other buildings where medical marijuana is grown in Boulder has accidentally been made public by the city,” reports Heath Urie of the Daily Camera January 6. “Boulder officials say an oversight led them to publish the map on the city’s Web site, bouldercolorado.gov, on Dec. 29 as part of an agenda briefing sent to the Boulder City Council. The map shows the locations of the 60 cultivation centers, 45 dispensaries and 12 product manufacturing sites that have applied for a medical marijuana business license from the city.”

The incompetence epidemic is so virulent and widespread nowadays that you never know whether to attribute an episode like this to political hostility or viral incompetence.

Urie’s a good reporter, one of a wave who’ve made marijuana their beat recently. He interviewed Dustin Shroyer, a dispensary owner who declined to express any negativity, let alone outrage, towards the city government that had just put him in real jeopardy. “It’s very important to let them work the bugs out of their system,” he said. “Hopefully, they’ll just grow from that and learn from it.” It’s pathetic how the potrepreneurs kiss bureaucratic butt -but understandable.

(Fred Gardner is the editor of O’Shaughnessy’s, the journal of cannabis in clinical practice. Email: Fred@plebesite.com .)

Supervisor Smith’s Fog Machine

Mark Scaramella on last week’s small claims hearing against Kendall Smith.

Bruce Anderson vs. Kendall Smith Explained

Reader David Gurney debates Bruce Anderson on the merits of the AVA’s suit. Former Supes candidate Wendy Roberts and others weigh in as well.

The Sisterhood Circles the Wagons

Mark Scaramella on the county’s refusal to hold Smith accountable.

Trying to Get YOUR Money Back

Mark Scaramella’s primer on the AVA’s small claims suit.

How to Steal $3,000

Mark Scaramella on the Grand Jury’s multiple investigations of Smith.

Yeah, lots of us do, but only because we know them and there might be social consequences if we don’t stop. But if you’re deep in the outback, somewhere south of Zenia, basic human solidarity will make you to stop for someone who appears to be in need, which is what Ollier’s nifty little novel is pegged to, a humanitarian impulse that nearly gets the humanitarian killed.

The author has clearly spent a lot of time around low-lifes because the low life he gives a lift to is perfectly portrayed right down to the creative grammar of his vocabulary of curses.

The book’s a page turner. I picked it up during the serial rounds of gluttony that mark the birth of Our Savior at my house and didn’t put it down until I was confident the narrator would survive. Ollier manages to capture both the more comfortable Mendo vibe reflected by the flesh pots of Mendocino Village and the ominous one you can get in the Northeast sector of the county even without a demented hitchhiker.

In this tale, which is definitely an essential addition to the Mendo ouevre, you not only get deftly drawn suspense but a nice set piece on fishing, funny encounters with a surly Klamath store clerk and a female Fox News zombie who picks up our hero on Highway 36 when he becomes the hitchhiker. Ollier’s a guy who knows his Mendo, from the Pacific to the Yolly Bollys. If your local bookstore doesn’t have it, pester them until they do.

She said she wanted its occupants to leave but they wouldn’t leave. The RV was unoccupied when Marie opened fire on it, a fact that obscured her demand since its recipients weren’t home when it was delivered.

Two deputies soon appeared.

Marie gave each of them a belligerent shove as they disarmed the old lady and drove her to the County Jail where she was booked on a hundred thousand dollars bail.

Marie, presumably without her .38, was soon back in her home where, just as presumably, the people Marie had been trying to get off her property had gotten her message and left. The only question now is, Will the NRA get her gun back?

An ally of Allman’s and ardent foe of the Cannabis plant, Rep. Wally Herger (R.-Chico), got to go into the woods with a contingent of camo buddies last summer. In the Chico Enterprise Dec. 10 he revealed the true meaning of such missions to those who take part: “Dangling from a nylon rope 100 feet below a helicopter, Rep. Wally Herger was flown several miles to a remote marijuana plantation in Shasta County’s forests… The flight was ‘eight echelons above a D ride at Disneyland,’ he said.”

It’s especially fun when two men in fatigues get to dangle together on the rope, jostling and rubbing against one other as they descend.

The listserves became controversial during the recent Fifth District election campaign when miscellaneous participants — the usual Mendo array of shut-ins, fake-name assassins, gutless wonders, heavily medicated outpatients, and random psychos — took unsupported (and always witless) pot shots at one or another of the candidates. The Hamburg-ites, save Dan himself, said the Roberts-ites represented an all-out fascist offensive against the cool people of the 5th District. The Roberts-ites characterized Hamburg and his supporters as cult-brained dope heads, and a good time was had by all.

MCN honcho Mitch Sprague announced last week that he had decided to shut down the listserves because people were coming to him and MCN “off-list” with complaints about “slanderous” remarks being made about them on the MCN-hosted listserves. “This is not like a private list which can be privately managed,” said Sprague. “Public [i.e., school district] ownership makes it questionable. Yes, it’s about free speech. But it concerns me when someone says they’re being harmed. Is it true? Is it harmful? Does it rise to stopping someone’s free speech access? We’re not in a position to do this.” Of course they’re not. Sprague said that since MCN was operated by the Mendocino School District complaints about his on-line psych ward might become a school liability.

This all sounds pretty paranoid to us since no sane person takes the listserve postings seriously anyway. On the other hand, Sprague might understandably be tired of offended persons whining at him privately about the on-line insults lobbed at them.

Predicatably, a torrent of listserve postings soon denounced Sprague himself as a major enemy of the people for his decision to terminate the listserves. (Coast liberals take themselves very, very seriously.) Sprague briefly countered with a stripped down “announcements-only” bulletin board for things like lost dogs, trailers for sale and dance lessons. And now he’s backed off altogether. The loons are again free to resume fire.

Richard Kruse

I guess so. This poor woman has our sympathies. Been married to this guy for years, perhaps not knowing that his Lolita yearnings had overpowered him. Mrs. Kruse clearly believes her husband is innocent. Maybe he is, but from what I can gather the case against him is air-tight, that under the auspices of teaching little girls water skiing, he allegedly molested the unprotected ones.

Mrs. Kruse is certainly correct about newspaper comment lines, the reading of which is known among local newspaper reporters as akin to dumpster diving. Most of the on-line nuts writing in their views of Mr. Kruse not only assume he’s guilty, they want to kill him before he even gets to his first court appearance on Fri­day, December 3rd.

Interestingly, though, Kruse is also defended on these same comment lines by a young woman calling herself ‘Tanner,’ who then absorbs a ton of gratuitous abuse for herself, simply for saying that she thinks Kruse is innocent. Tanner writes on Tuesday, November 16, “I was on the water ski team since 3rd grade. I am now in 12th grade. Through ALL of my years with Mr. Kruse he has NEVER touched or done ANYTHING wrong with me or any of the other girls. He has helped us when we were in need, taught us how to do amazing activities on water, and brought us nothing but happiness. You guys do not know him. He has never touched me or anyone else inappropriately, he has never talked to us vulgarly or done any sort of lewd conduct. When we would camp at the lake he would feed us, talk with us, tell stories. We would sleep in our OWN tents. So before you start talk­ing smack about him, do your own research. You can’t always trust the media.” Tanner then adds, “I have had detectives come to my house too many times because of all these judgments, all these assumptions. It’s ridiculous. Looking from the outside in, I can see how strange and taboo it is to see an older man with a bunch of girls. I would be suspicious too. But since I am an insider, you all are bogus. This ‘rape’ is bogus. He would never do that. I’ve known him for almost 9 years. I was just a little girl. Now I am a young adult and he has made an impact on mine and the others girls lives, FOR THE BET­TER….. Try talking to all of the girls’ parents on the team. It’s not just us girls. Our families come camping with us as well. We even had a sponsor come camp with us. None of you know how MUCH he has done, LET ALONE what he HAS done for us.”

Vasquez was a Californio, that doomed race of Spanish-descended Californians who began arriving in the state when it was a northern frontier of Mexico, some of them conquista­dores who rode in to what became San Francisco with Junipero Serra while Serra himself, ever the ascetic, walked the whole way from Mexico City.

It’s always striking how fast our history is moving, especially when you consider that Father Serra staggered into the Bay Area a mere 224 years ago. Serra’s string of missions were California for the next seventy years or so until the missions were secularized, i.e. became the private prop­erty of connected Mexicans. California became the native home of several thousand rural aristocrats presid­ing over vast ranchos from San Diego to, of all places, Hopland here in Mendocino County, the whole of it casually administered out of Mexico. These brief gen­erations of “Californios,” whose ancestral home was Monterey, which is where Vasquez and, earlier, General Vallejo, were born.

The Californios, and their gracefully vigorous rancho lives were overwhelmed by the Gold Rush of 1850, the Californios dispossessed. By then, California had been formally annexed by the United States. Vasquez was one of many dispossessed Cali­fornios who spent the rest of his life dispossessing Yan­kee travelers of whatever valuables they had on them, right down to their watches and boots, if the boots were new and the watches were gold watches. His biggest heist occurred when he and his gang robbed a whole town near what is now Fresno.

In between forays holding up stage coaches, rural stores, bars, and the occasional Anglo whore house, and in between stays at San Quentin where he organized an all-time record four break-outs, Vasquez, revered by Californios and Mexicans, depended on remote settlements of his admirers to hide him from the law, what little law there was from 1850 to 1870 or so. (Lynch law was more prevalent than the courtroom type.)

Vasquez had flair. He read poetry and even wrote some. He also sang his way into the arms of many women, married and single. Bandito is a wonderful of picture of California as it was from the Gold Rush through the full establishment of a coherent state, which only really commenced about 1880.

Vasquez, inciden­tally, hid out for a while at the Feliz ranch based in Hopland, and there’s an account of him being chased into the hills above Anderson Valley in 1865 by the legen­dary Mendocino County lawman, Doc Standley.

I was pleased to see that Boessenecker’s fascinating biography of Vasquez is dedicated to the late Jack Reynolds, who died in Willits about ten years ago. Jack’s late wife, Rosalie, is also cited by the author for her help with his marvelous book. Rosalie is fondly remembered by many in the Anderson Valley where she lived for many years following the death of her husband. The author says the Reynolds, retired from the antiquarian book business, were of huge assistance to him in locating the source material for his project. Boessenecker is clearly a formi­dable researcher.

He has tracked down people, towns and even two-shack hamlets deep in the Coast Range that haven’t existed for a hundred and fifty years. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the true history of the Golden State.

Covelo is unique in its extreme isolation and poverty. There is one road into town and no other way out except via dirt roads into the National Forest. With 27% of residents reportedly living below the poverty line, an estimated 90% of the 1000 households living in the valley grow marijuana to survive.

For this reason, the people of Covelo are a vulnerable population with little access to the media or even the outside world; the nearest towns — Willits and Laytonville — are both over an hour away. They are sitting ducks.

Law enforcement conducts marijuana raids there every year, generally at harvest when they can do the most damage. It’s easy for sheriff’s deputies to slide in there with or without a warrant, ignore a doctor’s recommendation and seize a family’s plants, children, cash, bank accounts, all the trimmers in sight and call it a good day for public safety.

This year’s mass marijuana raids on Covelo and terrorizing of the townspeople lasted three days from Sept 28-30, while separate law enforcement teams fanned out into the National Forest with sheriff’s deputies, federal agents and imbedded media, side by side. National Geographic and Rolling Stone were media of choice, on hand for show-and-tell — an ideal situation for law enforcement! They can wreak havoc on the townspeople while simultaneously rounding up thousands of plants from public forestland at great expense to taxpayers, pointing fingers at mass commercial grows, while using the media to distract from the tornado that flattened the town.

The Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board (MMMAB) called a meeting there in concert with local activists to find out first hand what happened and to offer support. There were about 25 people who gathered at the Library Commons, most of whom were arrested or knew people who were arrested. All of them spoke of being terrorized by three days of fly-overs prior to the raids. They described their beleaguered home in war terms .

“They come every year but this time it was 100 times worse than anything Covelo has ever experienced. I’m speaking of the devastating impact on the town, the people who live here, and the people on the reservation. The reservation was hit hard. The town was too. We are already very poor and now what little we had has been taken.”

People described the three day raid as unprecedented in scope. Relentless fly-overs for days with four helicopters flying low over gardens, or just above tree tops, gathering pre-raid information, terrorizing people into submission with a show of force from the air before entering their homes.

Many expressed panic that the helicopters would land in their back yards and arrest them. Several people left their homes to escape potential arrest.

One couple had scratches on their arms from hiding in the blackberry bushes overnight.

Apparently the Reservation was hardest hit. Deputies wiped out a large portion of the gardens on Indian land.

Some homes surrounding the Reservation were apparently left alone because they owned land that was not on the Reservation.

Everyone expressed fear — fear for their children, fear for their future, and fury at law enforcement.

They also expressed bewilderment at their situation.

What can they do about the marijuana victimization this small isolated outpost faces every year? It’s comparable to mass arrests in Siberia. Who will know?

There is no way of knowing what’s happening there unless you are there.

Victimization of Native Americans has been going on for centuries, starting when Columbus invaded America.

These marijuana raids are the modern version of that age-old invasion, using unconstitutional marijuana laws as the tool to gain access into people’s homes and gardens and ruin their lives.

MMMAB was invited back for another meeting next month.

A 3 person committee was set up to assess the situation and begin outreach to the Native American population.

A resident offered her cell phone to gather information: 707-354-0176.

A local videoist has offered to make a film of our interviews.

Looking through the current issue of Mendocino Country Independent, you will find dozens of photos of the people who were raided and arrested, mostly people of color.

Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and some whites/hippies/other.

Who is responsible? Since it was apparently a multi-agency raid led by COMMET,

where deputies report to the state Attorney General, it is unclear how involved the local sheriff’s office was.

Sheriff Tom Allman reports there were no medical grows.

However, we met many medical patients who were stunned to be arrested, and stunned again to be charged and prosecuted.

They were confident they were in compliance with local and state guidelines.

They asked, “Do their doctor’s authorizations mean nothing?

Do the sheriff’s promises of protection if we follow the guidelines mean nothing?”

It is not uncommon for those of us who have lived for over half a century to nostalgicize a Mom’s-apple-pie-in-the-sky America of the late Fifties and early Six­ties that was kinder and gentler than it is today. Which just goes to show the truly corrosive effect of time on memory, or perhaps it’s just a cleansing of the psyche of an entire generation of children who spent a significant portion of their formative years crouched beneath their student desks with their heads between their knees, repeatedly reminded of the fact that the thousands of nuclear missiles pointed at those heads were controlled by a fat, balding, blubber-lipped, spittle-spewing Com­mie troll named Nikita who displayed the unsavory habit of driving home points of debate with the heel of his shoe.

According to Nicole Kench, EcoMotion event promoter and founder, city manager Linda Ruffing (who has not returned my call) blamed the fiasco on bureaucratic ineptitude, sighting sloppy accounting, lack of documentation proving claims, and faulty procedure.

After the cancellation, Ruffing was initially unwilling to give Kench her deposit money back, which, as Kench understood, would be used to fund police services during the event. Since the block party did not take place, Kench wanted her money back. But Ruffing said the city needed to keep the money for costs incurred—$4,431.41 worth of city police time in planning.

That’s when Kench hired an attorney, Cliff Paulin, and appealed Fort Bragg City Council’s decision. They were supposed to argue their case Monday at the city council meeting. Instead, Kench received a phone call from Ruffing saying the city decided to settle.

Kench believes that now, “the city has been exposed.” She went on to say that “One first must be able to take responsibility for their participation in such circumstances rather than place blame on bureaucratic ineptitude.”

Kench is now searching for friendlier confines, and is “choosing the path of least resistance by moving EcoMotion to Venice Beach.”

The block party fundraiser, which was supposed to take place October 10th, was to include music, sustainable educational booths, craft vendors, and carnival games that taught children how to compost and recycle. The event would have raised money for local schools. Kench estimated up to 10,000 people may have attended.

The man seemed to be jacked up. He strutted and bounced as he stepped with determination, as if he were getting ready for a football game. The Castro was still buzzing with excitement from Gay Pride festivities, which had recently come to a conclusion Sunday. The streets were alive and colorful, the place was hopping, and the commotion was vibrant. Men sauntered down the sidewalks hand-in-hand, tourists snapped photos and looked at maps, and the motorists roared their engines.

Nobody at the bus stop wanted to give the impression they noticed the naked man across the street, as they focused attention on people walking by, traffic, or their cell phones. The bus pulled up and we all boarded, leaving the commotion and the naked man in the Castro behind.

The 33 line curled up Market Street through Twin Peaks and over to the Upper Haight, where Katie and I got off at Cole and walked a few blocks north across the Panhandle to Fell, where her car was stationed. By this time it was late afternoon. The sun was still shinning brilliantly in the Panhandle, and pleasant breezes carried Eucalyptus scents. We were tired, dirty, dusty, sore, sun-burnt, and dehydrated. It seemed uncharacteristically hot that weekend. Our getaway to San Francisco was complete. There were mixed feelings about coming back to the Coast—Mendocino. The excitement was over.

We maneuvered steadily through some thick evening rush hour traffic then crossed a fog cloaked Golden Gate Bridge. We shot north, out of San Francisco, and slowed just south of Santa Rosa. Pushing north past Cloverdale on the 101, the temperatures were hot, and the sun burst through the car windows, punctuating the dehydrated, sun-stroked symptoms. I was also tired of squinting.

We stopped into a grocery in Hopland, where we refueled with apple juice and where a boy and his little sister repeatedly opened and closed the storefront door—all the while the boy claiming, “My sister is really strong.”

Our car negotiated the turns of a desolate Highway 20 near sunset, orange glowing against the silhouetted pine trees and “This American Life” on the radio. The ease at which we traveled was stunning and free, almost poetic—no cars rearing behind me, none in front slowing me down.

Now I’m in Fort Bragg. It’s the early morning and I’m listening to some drug-fueled domestic disputing across the street. Next door, a man has left his parked truck running with county music blasting.

Maybe it is just as interesting here. Perhaps I will go stand, or maybe pace, naked on the sidewalk.

]]> http://theava.com/archives/7407/feed 1 http://theava.com/archives/7056 http://theava.com/archives/7056#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:12:19 +0000 Nicholas Heller http://theava.com/?p=7056 A blog I posted a few weeks ago, In Good Company?, generated a few comments and created quite a discussion on local musician Will Stenberg’s Facebook page.

I haven’t been back to the Company Bar since the grand opening, but I haven’t changed my opinion of the place. It is part of the new Fort Bragg. I have no problem with it. If you want to experience something a little closer to what Fort Bragg used to be, go somewhere else. The matter was covered quite extensively on Stenberg’s Facebook wall, and I only wish to address a few comments.

Meaghan Davis wrote, “Those ‘fake Roman pillars’ are from Indonesia, and they happen to be real.” She goes on to say, “My frustration lies in the fact that I think the writer may have prejudged us (and if I’m wrong, I apologize).”

I had no prejudgments, and was curious and excited to drop in on the Company Bar. I understand that the large crowd on opening night made it less laid-back and harder to provide service to everyone, which gave me ample time to survey the place and “judge” at that point. The pillars are made from Indonesian wood, but when I see pillars, I think of Rome for some reason. So they are, in my mind, fake Roman pillars. I did not intend to disrespect the efforts of the interior decorator, who obviously worked hard to try and put some class into the joint.

Sarah Hassell wrote that the blog was “factually inaccurate on more than one account,” and that a journalist needs no less than three confirmed sources.

I don’t know what I’ve got wrong. My fear is that perhaps I’ve described the colored beams of indoor light wrong. Feelings cannot be factual. I could have asked three confirmed guests about the pillars, for instance, and I’m sure none of them would have known they came from Indonesia. I wrote what I felt it was like in there.

I would enjoy going back to the Company Bar at some point. It is, as Davis wrote, a “different facet of Fort Bragg.” Of the two facets I touched upon in the blog—the old and the new Fort Bragg—the old trumps the new. However, I see positives to both sides, especially after a few drinks.

Middle aged men, free-wheeling about the Fort Bragg drinking scene, have few reservations about making their feelings known to potential sweethearts.

As I sat atop the only vacant seat in the house, I surveyed the packed grand opening of Fort Bragg’s newest drinking establishment, the Company Bar, where the quarters were so close I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the potential for romance amongst the elder patrons positioned at the table nearest me, lightly intoxicated.

The alcohol was flowing at a steady pace, compliments of yet another addition to the ballooning bar scene here, located inside the Company Store on Main Street. The place, dubbed a wine bar, had more swank than what I had grown accustomed to in other Fort Bragg lounges, which caused me to hesitate upon entry and to re-consider mingling with the local business owners, who seemed to be out in droves to celebrate (and who, as it turned out, didn’t want to mingle with me anyway).

Fake Roman pillars lined the corners of the parameter and newish-looking art adorned the walls of a little cubby section furnished with bookshelves, a coffee table, and leather sofas. Folks sipped wine and cocktails. They conversed loudly over the collective din produced by an excited crowd. Red, green, blue, and pink spotlights illuminated the inside of each exterior wall—a prerequisite of any classy joint. Roving waiters and waitresses took drink orders and offered flashy sample plates of free hors d’oeuvres. According to Mike, who took my order, the top-shelf liquor prices were “ridiculous” (in a good way). The cast of employees was familiar—friends, good people often seen serving customers in other watering holes—who piece together an existence here on the coast.

Once a place selling hardware and groceries to mill workers and their families, the Company Store is currently an example of the Fort Bragg make-over, containing art, raw food cuisine, a café, a bistro, and now a wine bar, all within the confines of the central-downtown establishment’s walls . The Company Bar is part of what’s been described by Freda Moon­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ as the New Fort Bragg, shedding the lumber-town reputation with new, tourist-oriented industry.

I embrace the New Fort Bragg, and often take advantage of what it has to offer—great food, places you can take out-of-towners or in-laws, and opportunity. But if you want to find the grit—the Fort Bragg I have come to accept and love, with juke-boxes, pool tables, and blathering glassy-eyed drunks hunched over the bar in dim-lit spaces drinking themselves into oblivion—where the only appetizers available crumble out of a Doritos bag and the guy sitting next to you may spit a few choice words in your direction or become your best friend, it isn’t going to be found at the Company Bar. Keep stumbling down the side-walk, where there are whispers and shreds of an older, golden Fort Bragg, clumsily revealed at the right time of night.

]]> http://theava.com/archives/6706/feed 0 http://theava.com/archives/6212 http://theava.com/archives/6212#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 21:07:49 +0000 Nicholas Heller http://theava.com/?p=6212 What side of town are you on? Fort Bragg in photos.

Normal price is $7, but don’t bother. It’s probably at your local grow shop free of charge.

The mag is mostly how to’s for the knuckle-draggers–how to clone, how to “pamper” your plants, how to care for your mothers.

But Rosebud is striving for greatness. On the cover of the May issue? Brad Pitt. He’s here to provide the interested grower some deep thoughts on how his $5 million donation is raising New Orleans from post-Katrina wretchedness, and how his $3.5 million, 6-bedroom home in the French Quarter is just soo fabulous. A photo series and centerfold spread of a Barbie-type whose family owns a hydro business in Gilroy is next. She’ll soon be penning a column, Hot for Hydro, “offering tips and insider secrets” on how to make sure you get a super crop.

In addition to loving hydroponics, we’re told, she loves dirt bikes, fishing and “getting dirty and playing in the mud.”

Spoken like a true expert.

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Even though Colombi Jr. had already cut a deal with the DA’s office, even though he’d already agreed to plead guilty to stealing nearly half a mil in lumber from a fisherman’s Fort Bragg log yard four years ago, Colombi Jr. was in Ten Mile Court Monday morning to ask if he could withdraw the plea and hire an expert—someone who could vouch for the value of all that vanished timber.

The fisherman, David McCutcheon, had driven from Oregon—where he now lives—to witness what he thought was a sentencing. Instead, Judge Jonathan Lehan allowed Colombi Jr.’s attorney, Richard Petersen, to file a motion to withdraw the guilty plea. It would be an “abuse of discretion” if he didn’t, Lehan said.

Deputy DA Tim Stoen, visibly irritated, shrugged his shoulders and left the courtroom. “That’s the best I could do,” he said.

McCutcheon had leased an acre of land on Odom Lane north of Fort Bragg from Ed Columbi Sr. in 1998, and was able to store his doug fir and redwood timber there—preserved timber dredged from the bottom of local rivers worth lots of money. McCutcheon salvaged 80 sinker logs, and was able to mill an estimated $70,000 worth of lumber, which was stored on the lot, along with a measly $300,000 worth of un-milled lumber.

When Colombi Sr. passed away in 2004, the lot on Odom Lane transferred to his son, Colombi Jr., who has admitted to impulsive thievery while under the influence of methadone. In 2006, McCutcheon told Colombi Jr. he was moving his business to Elk in late May and agreed to have the logs out by mid-July. When McCutcheon showed up to the lot in June, he found a smoldering burn pile. His logs were gone—“abandoned”—according to Columbi Jr., who gave Robert Russell the okay to haul the wood away and clean up the lot. Russell, Colombi’s co-defendant, is missing.

The case picks up again Friday June 11 at 9 a.m. in front of Judge Richard Henderson in Ukiah.

]]> http://theava.com/archives/6263/feed 1 http://theava.com/archives/6104 http://theava.com/archives/6104#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 23:57:00 +0000 Tim Stelloh http://theava.com/?p=6104

Highway 20 & Highway 1

Don’t know who’s running for DA, Fifth District Supe and judge? Now you do. David Eyster, Jim Mastin, Dan Hamburg, Wendy Roberts, Ann Moorman, Matt Finnegan, Meredith Lintott.

Where are you, Caren Callahan?

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]]> http://theava.com/archives/6104/feed 0 http://theava.com/archives/6006 http://theava.com/archives/6006#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:51:34 +0000 Tim Stelloh http://theava.com/?p=6006 David Gurney, “independent video journalist” and enemy of all things Marine Life Protection Act, was arrested last week at an MLPA meeting in Fort Bragg for “disrupting a legal assembly.”

A Fish and Game spokesman told the Sac Bee that Gurney had disrupted meetings five times in two days; when he was eventually asked to leave, he refused and was arrested.

Gurney–who says he’s creating a “video record” of the protection act–contends that his rights to film and speak at a public meeting were violated.

On the first day of meetings–which were “work sessions” for the North Coast’s 34 regional stakeholders–MLPA officials asked Gurney to turn off his video camera. He initially protested, saying the meeting was public and that they were violating the Brown Act. He eventually relented (click here for footage of that exchange) and shut off his camera. The next day, after asking a question about ocean industrialization, Gurney says he was approached by a Fish and Game warden and forcibly removed.

Here’s a little more detail, via the Bee, on what the MLPA says the public can and can’t do during such meetings:

The stakeholder group holds two kinds of meetings that are noticed for public attendance. The first is a conventional meeting in which the public may comment and ask questions. The group also holds “work sessions,” in which the public is not allowed to ask questions, take photographs or record audio or video. Accredited journalists are told to obtain approval before attending…The goal is to create a “safe space” to share ideas candidly, said Ken Wiseman, executive director of the initiative to create the preserves. “It lets people talk about ideas without having it thrown on the Web,” he said. “It is as open and transparent as you will ever see.”

This isn’t the first time Gurney has had problems with Fish and Game and the MLPA. There was a similar exchange in January while Gurney was filming a meeting, according to Frank Hartzell at the Fort Bragg Advocate:

The biggest controversy of the night erupted when the PR staff noticed David Gurney videotaping the meeting and asked the crowd if anyone minded being recorded. They said the camera should be turned off if anyone requested it. Two people said they didn’t want to be on tape.

Gurney, who was standing against a wall operating his camera, said it was his right to record a public meeting. A controversy erupted and two uniformed DFG wardens came to assist MLPAI staff.

Gurney has repeatedly objected to the use of wardens as security officers and said they should instead participate in the meeting. He had also been involved in a confrontation at a meeting in Eureka. He blamed the staff for starting the confrontation on Monday, saying it was typical of the extra-legal and illegal efforts of the private MLPAI.

As the situation heated up, this reporter backed up the right of anyone to film a public meeting. A compromise was reached when Gurney agreed not to film people in the audience, although he (correctly) said it was his right to film whatever he wanted at a public meeting (as long as he continued to not disrupt the meeting).

The question, said Peter Scheer, of the First Amendment Coalition, is whether MLPA meetings are more like city council hearings–which can be recorded–or court proceedings, which can’t (unless you’re given special permission).

Though Scheer isn’t familiar with the MLPA, he said its open meeting guidelines are probably defined by the Bagley-Keene Act, which allows the public to record state meetings. Just because someone is uncomfortable with the idea of ending up on the Internet isn’t a good enough reason to keep the public from recording a public meeting, he said.

“Frankly, people who come to these meetings have to understand what they say is the public record,” Scheer said.

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