MCT: Friday, October 4, 2019

• Bold Prediction
• MCDH Meetings
• Artists Reception
• Wastewater Tour
• Tire Dump
• Yorkville Market
• Boys Soccer
• Local Food
• Enchanted Pumpkin
• Broadband Questions
• Class K
• NYC GPS
• Pot Talk
• Government Control
• Ignored Subpoenas
• Judicial Error
• Meet Haschak
• Mill Site
• Reckless Driver
• Meeting CPUC
• Stuck Limo
• Domestic Violence
• World's Greatest
• Water Rights
• Yesterday's Catch
• Prematurely Old
• Info Glut
• Appy Road
• Inland Dems
• Public Bank
• Banking Legislation
• Found Object

SUPERVISOR TED WILLIAMS & PLANNING AND BUILDING DIRECTOR BRENT SCHULTZ are scheduled to be on KZYX Friday morning October 4 at 11am, presumably to take some calls.

Prediction: The discussion will be dominated by pot.

MENDOCINO COAST DISTRICT HOSPITAL TOWN HALL MEETINGS SCHEDULE

(This Is Regarding The Hospital Possibly Affiliating With Stone Point Health)

• Monday, October 7 - 6pm Elk Greenwood Community Center
• Tuesday, October 8 - 6pm Albion-Union Pacific College Field Station
• Monday, October 14 - 1pm Fb Senior Center
• Monday, October 14 - 6pm Comptche-Chapel Of The Redwoods
• Wednesday, October 16 - 6pm Mendocino-Hill House Inn
• Thursday, October 17 - 6pm Westport-Community Center
• Monday, October 21 - 6pm Fort Bragg-Town Hall
• Tuesday, October 22 - 6pm Caspar-Caspar Community Center
• Thursday, October 24 - 6pm Fort Bragg-Cotton Auditorium

Please contact Gayl Moon at 961.4610 for further information.

FREE ART RECEPTION!

All welcome! Last minute chance to see and buy original art by Deanna Thomas and Yoriko Kishimoto at Lauren’s restaurant Boonville, 4:00 to 5:30 pm, Saturday October 5, 2019

Light refreshments will be available and wine for sale at the bar

Our show’s been up for two months and this will be the last weekend!

Last weekend for our art show at Lauren's! Everyone's invited to our reception 4:00 to 5:30 pm on Saturday October 5th. Hope to see you there, Yoriko Kishimoto and Deanna Thomas

TOUR OF POTENTIAL BOONVILLE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROCESSOR

The Anderson Valley CSD is proposing using a Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR) for its wastewater project in Boonville. A question is whether these MBRs smell. Come see for yourself how MBR's operate. This will be an opportunity to be reassured that odor is not an issue with these types of units. You are invited to a privately scheduled tour with operator Nick at the Silver Oak Winery in Healdsburg on Saturday November 2nd, followed by a tour with Dan at Silver Oak and Nick at the Geyserville Coppola Winery's MBR. Meet at 10am at the parking lot of Silver Oak located at 7300 Highway 128 in Healdsburg. After the Jimtown store and the hard right turn left into the entrance to Silver Oak and go left at the Y on Chaffee Rd. back to the complex. For carpooling please call 895-2075 no later than Thursday 10/31.

HUNDREDS OF TIRES DUMPED ALONG RUSSIAN RIVER NEAR HOPLAND

pressdemocrat.com/news/10123463-181/hundreds-of-tires-dumped-along

OCTOBER AT THE YORKVILLE MARKET

Happy fall and the beginning of chilly mornings and changing leaves!

At the Market we are preparing for the autumnal holidays with tasty baked treats, hearty soup and a place to gather with friends and enjoy the simple pace of Yorkvillle life.

Please join us tomorrow, October 4th for our First Friday OktoberFeast! We will be serving delicious Yorkville Bratwurst, Homemade Sauerkraut, German Potato Salad and local Apple Kuchen. Happy Hour starts at 5:30 and Dinner served at 6:00ish.

October 12 we are hosting our 2nd Annual Fire person Appreciation Dinner. We will be serving BBQ Tri-Tip, Salads, Baked Potatoes, and delicious chocolaty Sundaes. There will be Live Music (and dancing!) from Dean Titus and the Boont-Jack 5. A Big Thank You to all our First Responders!! Dinner and Music at 5:30- $35/person portion of proceeds to benefit Fire Department.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

For more details on these events please contact the Market at (707) 894-9456.

AV PANTHERS EDGE MENDOCINO CARDINALS

A good first half for Mendocino - lots of pressure - but a bad result at halftime - AV up 2-0. Goals by Cristobal Gonzalez @ 24’ & Gael Gonzalez @ 30’.

In the second half both teams had opportunities but Mendocino forced the play - with Luciano Martinez finally able to score in a one-on-one situation with AV goalkeeper Diego Perez.

Martinez scored - of course - but the goal came in stoppage time.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, despite a well-played game (the best in 12 years vs AV) it was too little too late.

Mendocino will get a chance to break the 10-game losing streak (extending back to 2007) when they travel to Boonville on October 25th.

(MendocinoSportsPlus)

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Anderson Valley Boys Soccer beat Mendocino High School in Mendocino 2-1. AV Goals were scored by sophomore Edgar Gael Gonzalez and junior Cristobal Gonzalez.

AV Athletic Director Arthur Folz

LAST BOONVILLE FARMERS MARKET of 2019

The last day of the Boonville Farmers' Market is this Friday, October 4, 4-7pm! Join us in celebrating autumn's abundance. We'll be kicking off the annual C'mon Home to Eat. Kid's activity starts at 4:30, potluck at 6. Live music by 'Mary and the Boys'.

Press your own apples at the market with the Community Apple Press! Just bring your apples and a jug to take your cider home.

See you at Disco Ranch!

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C'mon, Once Again!

October means chilled sun gold tomato soup, late season raspberries, pumpkin cake, and a whole collection of summer bounty stored on your shelves and freezers. Anderson Valley Foodshed’s 14thannual C’mon Home To Eat in October 2018 has begun! Will you take the challenge to eat locally produced food for the month of October? … and beyond?

Eating local, fresh food has its distinct advantages to your overall health, the community, and our local economy. You can know the farmer who grows your food. Thinking about climate change, eating locally can be your contribution to reducing fossil fuel use and working towards zero waste.

The celebration to begin this month-long challenge and pleasure of eating locally will be tomorrow, October 4,th at the year’s final Boonville Farmers’ Market at the Disco Ranch in Boonville from 4-7 p.m. Join us for this special event, which, in addition to the wide selection of local veggies, fruits, meats, olive oil, and more for sale, will also include a raffle and an end-of-the-season potluck, starting at 6:00.

Local food in Anderson Valley is all around you. Farm stands are strategically placed:

• Apple Farm--Philo
• Blue Meadow—Philo
• Brock Farm—Boonville
• Gowan’s--Philo
• Petit Teton—Yorkville
• Seebass--Boonville
• Velma’s—Boonville

The restaurants/cafes that use local ingredients are numerous—The Bewildered Pig, Boont Berry Farm, The Boonville Hotel (Table 128), Lauren’s, Mosswood, Paysanne, Pennyroyal Farm, Poleeko Roadhouse, Stone and Embers, and the Yorkville Market. Check the menus for local ingredients.

Stores that carry local products are Anderson Valley Market, Boont Berry, Lemon’s Market, and the Yorkville Market. Don’t forget to stock up on the Mendocino County Grain Project’s fine flours for your baking needs.

To find out about other C’mon Home To Eat events, go to the Anderson Valley Foodshed’s website at www.avfoodshed.com. Local nights at restaurants and other events will be listed as they arise. You don’t need to wait for an event—eat locally at home, invite others over to celebrate your favorite recipes, or share your own garden produce. Want a weekly update centered on local food and events? Sign up for the AV Foodshed’s Weekly Update by emailing avfoodshed@gmail.com.

ENCHANTED PUMPKIN PATH

The Waldorf School of Mendocino County is hosting the Enchanted Pumpkin Path on October 31st from 4:30pm-8:30pm at its Calpella campus, 6230 Third Street. The school’s kindergarten playground and school campus will be transformed into a magical alternative to Trick-or-Treating for younger children and their families.

The cost of admission is $8 per person. Tickets go on sale on October 10th, 2019, and can be purchased through The Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah, The Cat’s Meow in Willits, and online at www.mendocinowaldorf.org/enchanted-pumpkin-path/ or at the Waldorf School office (707) 485-8719.

SUPE WILLIAMS INITIATES A TIMELY DISCUSSION:

Discussion and Possible Action Including Requesting the Treasurer Tax-Collector to Include High Speed Internet and Cell Coverage Checkbox Survey on the Next Property Tax Bills and County GIS to Plot Results on Map

(Sponsor: Supervisor Williams)

Recommended Action/Motion:

Request Tax Collector include High Speed Internet and Cell Coverage checkbox survey on next property tax bills and County GIS to plot results on map.

Summary of Request:

Accurate mapping of Internet service areas continues to block high speed Internet coverage efforts. A survey on property tax bills with two questions would greatly assist the effort at a near zero cost to County. Recommended questions include checkboxes “Property Lacks High Speed Internet” and “Property lacks cell phone coverage”.

FROM SUPERVISOR DAN GJERDE:

At Tuesday’s board meeting we expanded opportunities for property owners to construct a home under the less expensive Class K building code. We eliminated the square footage cap for a “Class K Home” and maintained an exemption for K Homes under 2,000 square feet from the State’s typical requirement that new homes have fire sprinklers. Hopefully this will help people to build their home.

CAN MENDO SALVAGE ITS FAILED POT PERMIT PROGRAM?

(An exchange at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting)

Supervisor Ted Williams opened the discussion by proposing the use of satellite imagery for code enforcement to identify Mendo pot grows/growers who do not have permits or have not applied for permits.

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Supervisor John McCowen: “We are not forcing anyone into the black market. It's a choice people make. If they are still growing without a permit or permit application — I think we've had about 1200 applications in total. We have been accepting permit applications for two and a half years. So people who are still growing outside the permit process are doing so by the choice they are making. At some point if we are serious about having a legal regulated market we have to do something about the people who are not choosing to participate in the legal regulated market. This [Williams’ proposal to use satellite imagery] potentially is an efficient way of doing that. We have heard the stories out of Humboldt County where they do use aerial photography and imagery and they send out enforcement letters to people. They can dispute the findings in the letter and then move forward. In one case a greenhouse was you being used to grow vegetables I think. That can all be sorted out. But somehow the message needs to go out that you are either in the legal system or you are not allowed to grow cannabis commercially. I don't have a concern about what the total number of people out there is. My concern is if they are cultivating outside the permit process and beyond their exemption limits for either personal or medical use they should be held accountable. That's the number one way you are going to help sustain the legal market.”

Supervisor Williams: “I see this proposal to be done in concert with other changes. Maybe changes to our ordnance. Maybe we need to go to the state and lobby based on our findings. If we find there are 9000 grow sites I think it's time to ask the state: We have a problem with the way Prop 64 implementation has been rolled out. We have not been able to bring the majority of cultivators into the legal market. Maybe we have only brought 5% in. That's a failure. This board has worked very hard and county staff has worked incredibly hard. But if at the end of the process we only have 5% or 10% of the cultivators in the legal system, then the county is falling short on revenue and it's hitting us in every direction of services. We are not giving legitimacy to the cultivators who want to be part of the legal market and they are scared because they have seen their neighbors try to go through it and it's a very difficult process. The planning director said our ordinance is very difficult and one of the most challenging ordinances he's ever worked with. No fault here. But something needs to be done to shift this equation so that we can have a success of most cultivation being legal. In the years to come. The policy we set should have an eye for years out, not just tomorrow but maybe three or five or ten years out. With the national market opening it will be more important for the cultivators in our county to be part of the legal system. Today there may be a black market selling out of state. But that may not always be a viable business model. I worry that by closing Phase 1 and telling people, You had two years to get in the system and you didn't do it so you are permanently shut out. That would be a large economic hit to the county and it would trickle down everywhere even businesses outside of cannabis.”

Ron Edwards of Willits: “Is the letter going to give a person an opportunity to opt in? I would assume the reason they are not in is because of a zoning issue or some other reason. I don't think that's very reasonable. Also the cost. We are looking at $250,000 a year to contract with plant.com and then staff will need to do that. But the cannabis program is in the hole. You have less than 300 people with permits. There's chaos right now with people not really understanding what this (Phase 1) closing means. It's clear we need working groups. I don't think staff foresaw looking at future expansion after this phase closes. Our ordinance was a complaint driven ordinance. This would not be complaint driven. I think this indicates the failure of getting people into the program. I do know the ordinance is very complicated. I would rather see the ordnance reworked and try to do this again.”

Scott Ward, Redwood Valley: “I was in code enforcement for 13 years for the county when I worked here. It was complaint driven. We did not go out and seek problems. It just gives us more grief and more work than we have staff for. There are a lot of barriers the way the ordinance is written. I had a friend submit an application last week to beat the deadline and I had forgotten what a brutal experience it is to put all that paperwork together. He had a packet that was about 2 inches thick with a half a dozen state agencies. It was technically challenging and this is what I did for a living for 30 years. If you're going to do this it will change the culture of code enforcement and it needs to be sold to the public because because you are not well perceived in the cannabis growing community now because of the onerous parts of the ordinance. To have satellite images would be an example of Big Brother. Whether it's true or not, perceptions are reality. I think right now it would be better to spend the money on staff to get us over the hump and into the next phase and get it streamlined before we consider this. Let's get people in by making the system better and have it staffed up. Certainly people have had two years to get into the system but for some it's just too hard to get in and too expensive.”

Casey O'Neill, Cannabis Growers Alliance: “Supervisor McCowen, I don't think it's quite so much a choice for a lot of people. I've spoken to a lot of people who come to me to ask what they should do? How should they do this? For a lot of them I say, Do you want to be a business owner in a highly regulated, complex and changing environment that costs a lot of money? For a lot of people it's not so much a choice. It's a choice they would love to make but they don't have either the ability or the money to make that choice. If we start using satellite imagery and enforcement letters it will push people back under the trees and the ramifications would be much more damaging for widespread large-scale cultivation under the trees than for small-scale cultivation like under 25 plants in a sun grown patch. Bad things happen under the trees.”

Jed Davis, Potter Valley: “I would hate to see people who have not come in to the program now basically be wiped out. The way compliance has been shaped is that the well-funded corporate operators can go through this uncertainty and complexity and expense. This ordinance is very difficult to comply with and very expensive. I'm a pretty cerebral person and I pull my hair out trying to get through this. The goalpost is always moving. Government overdid this. We did not do it right, the barrier to entry is expensive and very difficult. We need to allow people to come in and start paying taxes and license fees and continue growing with a seller’s permit and a state permit and pay taxes. The main thing is they have to be tested so we know they are growing safe stuff going to proper outlets. Then a three or five or seven year amnesty to allow these businesses to come into full compliance. You have to spend $600 to take a 30 hour OSHA training for two employees? It just goes on and on. $2500 a year for the water board? $1200 application fee for just an application renewal? Why am I resubmitting a whole new packet and paying $1200 for a renewal? It makes no sense. That's the reason people are not coming into the program. Make it easy. Let them come in and give them time to make some money and slowly become compliant. Then we will have everyone in the program paying taxes.”

Supervisor McCowen: “We have heard a lot of comments about how difficult it is to come come into compliance. I believe most of those difficulties were created by the state and Prop 64. That combination. Prop 64 is voter approved and can only be changed substantively by the voters. The mandates the state has laid down can only be changed by the state legislature. We have items in our legislative platform that are intended to remove some of the burdens that were created by the state. But if the Mendocino County ordinance is difficult it is because it has attempted to accurately capture the things that have to be done to satisfy the state. The call to just let everyone in — that's actually where I started with this when we knew that state legalization was coming. I think this board, those of us who were here initially, were very much of the mind that: Let’s create a legal regulatory system. Let's bring existing growers into that system and by simply doing that we will improve the environmental impacts by getting people in a regulated legal system where we had people inspecting their activities, making recommendations for improvement. That would have allowed virtually anyone who sincerely wanted to come in and to do so. The tragedy of how this has all rolled out — there are many many people who advocated for legalization and regulation and who wanted to step forward and get a permit and pay their taxes and all the rest. But they are not able to do this primarily because the state has made it so difficult. Most of the complexities in our ordnance are there to try and benefit discrete categories of growers with unique situations to be able to allow them to participate and get legal. If we stripped out all those variations in the ordinance it would be simpler and more straightforward. But then even fewer people would qualify. We have to face the reality that at the state level the ordinance is what it is. We cannot simply say come on down, submit your permit, we will let you in. We don't have that authority to unilaterally do that. It doesn't help people if we approve a permit at the county level that will be rejected at the state level. Turning a blind eye to people who are blatantly growing outside the legal permitted system is an unfair business practice that undercuts the legal market and undercuts those of you who have been attempting to become legal and participate in the legal regulated market. You are facing unfair competition. This won't happen overnight if we do move forward with this (aerial surveillance). But I do think it's a reasonable direction to get the Departments to investigate streamlining code enforcement to bring people into compliance. If we are going to go forward with this we probably should open another window of opportunity so people have the opportunity to come forward whether they have gotten a letter or not. I can see us reopening that. And I think that would be equitable. That would give everybody plenty of advance notice that we know you didn't come forward for one reason or another, but you are going to have another opportunity.”

Supervisor John Haschak: “I worry about spending a lot of money on this eye in the sky and having people, instead of growing up in the sunshine, going into houses and going into greenhouses where you are creating a lot of plastic and garbage and waste and people going back into hiding because of this. I don't support it at this point.”

Supervisor Williams: “I move we direct County Counsel and Planning and Building Services Director to determine the feasibility of using satellite imagery to streamline cannabis code enforcement, collect fees and/or taxes from unpermitted cultivation and based on findings consider reopening phase one as necessary to bring cultivators into compliance.”

Williams’s motion passed 4-1, with Hascak dissenting.

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Mark Scaramella comments:

Has the County/Supes really thought this through? Simply taking these (arguable) remarks and estimates at face value, we have around 300 permits issued out of around 1200 that have applied — in two and a half years (and most of those in the first few months before people realized what they were facing to apply). Many of the remaining 900 applicants have just given up because they belatedly discovered that the process is beyond their abilities or budget and have either returned to the black market or are not/no-longer growing. Some of the remainder will be denied. And given the timing, these first few (hundreds) were supposed to be the “existing” growers that the County was trying to lure into the program. So as they approach the end of this initial “phase” (that was supposed to bring existing grows into the system) maybe 500 will get permits, if that. That pathetic result — no matter who’s to blame, the County or the state, or the applicants — has required a burgeoning pot permit staff of 12-15 people and millions of dollars in application costs, fees, consultants, taxes, loss of revenue, and staff costs, etc.

For a measly 300 permits.

And the process continues to change.

Now, with the word in the pot growing community having spread about how hard and costly it is to get a permit, the County wants to somehow identify and offer amnesty to some of the thousands of unpermitted grows in Mendo without any significant changes to they all acknowledge is a burdensome and expenisve permitting process that has taken a lot of staff and General Fund money just to get 300 people into the legal system? Even if a few hundred more apply, who’s going to process and handle and inspect and enforce those new applications and permits?

What's that old line about the definition of insanity?

A UKIAH READER WRITES: I just got rental increase notice from our trailer park operator saying that space rental is going up by another 5%. This notice was on top of the annual increases they have been imposing on us — mostly retired and fixed-income people. A note at the bottom of the notice says, “This rent increase is a direct result of the continual resing cost for water, sewer, new sewer consumption charges, garbage, and increased government permit-to-operate fees for mobile home parks.” The City of Ukiah and the Sewer District are raising our rents due to bloated admin and those millions of dollars they wasted on a pointless lawsuit. Maybe we need local government control more than we need rent control.

HE WAS NOT GUILTY of anything that he knew of and could pledge that he would never kill, or burn, or steal. Yet, it was not difficult to commit a crime accidentally, inadvertently. And was slander or, finally, a judicial error impossible? Not for nothing has age-old popular experience taught us that against poverty and prison there is no guarantee. And a judicial error, given present-day Court procedures, was very possible, and it would be no wonder if it happened. Those who take an official, businesslike attitude towards other people’s suffering, like judges, policemen, doctors, from force of habit, as time goes by, become callous to such a degree that they would be unable to treat their clients otherwise than formally even if they wanted to. In this respect they are no different from the peasant who slaughters a sheep and calves in his backyard without noticing the blood. With this formal, heartless attitude towards the person, a judge needs only one thing to deprive an innocent man of all his property rights and sentence him to hard labor: time. Only the time to observe certain formalities, for which the judge is paid a salary, and after that — it is all over. Then go looking for justice and protection in this dirty little town 200 miles from the railroad! And is it not ridiculous to think of justice when society greets all violence as a reasonable and expedient necessity, and any act of mercy — an acquittal, for instance — provokes a great outburst of dissatisfied, vengeful feeling?

— Anton Chekhov

HEREEEESSSSSS, JOHN!

Willits Town Hall with Supervisor John Haschak, 10/16/19

John Haschak will be hosting his second in a yearly series of Willits Town Hall Meetings on Wednesday evening, October 16th at 5:30 at Willits City Hall.

This is the perfect time to bring your concerns and issues to someone who actually listens and is informed enough to, perhaps, do something about them!

This event, will be on KLLG radio (97.9FM) and the video can be viewed both on Willits Channel 3 TV and on You Tube. Willits Community Television. Please allow a few days for editing.

This event is sponsored by the City of Willits and the Willits Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

All are welcome at the Wednesday evening, October 16th, Willits Town Hall Meeting to talk with Third District Supervisor, John Haschak at the Willits City Hall.

NOT OUR PONDS

Mr. Gressett

The City of Fort Bragg does not own the ponds located on the former GP mill site, so clean up of those ponds are not the City's responsibility. The open spaces are also not owned by the City, except the coastal trail parks that we do own. GP has the right to sell any, all or none of their property and we cannot control their land transactions. Our responsibility is to rezone the land so that developers and property purchasers can buy parcels and develop their newly acquired land. 300+ units of housing and hundreds of jobs are exactly what Fort Bragg needs. The citizens of Fort Bragg elected us to accomplish just that and we will deliver on that mandate. This is a great opportunity to grow Fort Bragg and to provide much needed housing for the people that actually live and work in Fort Bragg. It is not a sell-out, but positive movement to improve our way of life in this amazing City. If you look at the current proposed zoning map, there is a lot of open space and parks, as required by the Coastal Commission.

Thank you,

Will Lee

Mayor

SLOW JEFF DOWN

A Reader Writes: 1HIS167 80s/90s Supra

I’ve seen this kid driving recklessly around town for a while. I’ve seen him getting sideways coming around the corner of 253 and 128 when my wife was on a bicycle at that intersection.

If anyone knows him maybe you can have a word

Edit: his name is Jeff Emery and his family lives here in the valley too. Apparently he’s been in a few wrecks out here.

Someone slow this kids roll before he does any more damage

FROM SUPERVISOR WILLIAMS

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins (Sonoma) and Supervisor Diane Dillon (Napa) joined me this morning for a meeting of minds with the California Public Utilities Commission. The Commission heard a unified voice of concern about PG&E’s failure to follow the Commission’s direction to work with local government to mitigate hazards resulting from “public safety” power shut offs. We insisted on two way coordination, transparency of shut off decision making algorithm and assignment of responsibility (today the counties are absorbing risk to reduce for-profit utility liability). The CPUC accepted my offer to tour our rural county in hopes of better understanding the risks to life and property we face. We pushed back on communication to date as insufficient brochures. Worth noting, in the recent shut off, Nevada County suffered a few fires ignited by generators. I asked the PUC to convey collaboration requirements in PG&E's love language: financial penalties for failure to perform. I appreciated the meeting, especially the support from our neighboring counties, but I remain concerned by government’s inability to protect the people over corporate profit.

www.cpuc.gov

HEAVY LIFTING

Dear Editor:

Yesterday, in her article “Your Government, Not at Your Service,” Marilyn Davin wrote about the high demand for sexual and domestic violence services in Mendocino County—and Project Sanctuary’s hard work to serve survivors with limited state funds compared to last year’s budget. At the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, we are constantly engaged in legislative advocacy to fund our member programs’ life-saving efforts—and we were sorry to see that our written comment never reached Marilyn due to an error on our end. Jessica Merrill, our coalition’s communications manager, followed the proper protocols to relay Marilyn’s media inquiry to the Partnership’s leadership, and I’m writing this letter to the Editor to provide the information we wanted to reach the community.

In just one day in 2018, California domestic violence programs served 6,903 victims—but due to a lack of funds, there were 688 unmet requests for services. 83% of these were housing requests. Last year, Governor Brown included one-time, $10 million funding for domestic violence homelessness, and the California Office of Emergency Services distributed $8 million of these dollars through the Domestic Violence Assistance Program (DVAP). As a result, all programs saw an increase in last year’s grant amount. Since they were allocated as one-time funds, these dollars were not included in Governor Newsom’s 2019 budget, which lowered the 19-20 by approximately $75,000 per DVAP-funded agency.

Advocates like those at Project Sanctuary already face a heavy lift every day as they stretch funding to meet the needs of survivors and families. In addition to our ongoing commitment to funding sexual and domestic violence prevention—addressing root causes—funding for the Domestic Violence Assistance Program is at the top of our minds as we begin to plan for our 2020 state policy priorities. Public will plays a large role in mobilizing support for these types of resources, and we ask that Mendocino County residents continue to support Project Sanctuary by following their lead during the next legislative session.

Jacquie Marroquin,

Director of Programs at the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence

Sacramento

WELL, WELL, WELL

Editor,

When it comes to drilling wells there are few rules and no boundaries, just a few regulations. Drill wells, but be aware that it may make a huge difference to your neighbor.

I talked to one guy who lost his gushing spring because 15 or 20 vertical wells were drilled by neighbors approximately half a mile up the mountain from him in Rancho Sequoia. He said he has no way to prove it but believes they drilled into the aquifer and it affected the geology of water flow. He isn't the only one.

A nearby neighbor and I sat down for a beer this summer and he said after 40 years and a super wet winter his spring dried up. He was forced to pump pond water. He told me that following the geology up the mountain he knows why. His neighbor two parcels over and one up put in several horizontal drills last year. There isn't anything he can do about it except maybe turn his neighbor in for abatement.

Imagine owning a parcel in Mendocino with three springs that together produced about 28,000 gallons a day and fed a spring since the beginning of recorded history. In 1948 the Springs went on record and in 1976 the rights were split legally to the neighboring parcel. There are artifacts that show that acorns were processed in those spring waters. I talked with a woman who is 66 and this is her story.

She told me that a week after she listed her property for sale, sometime this past June, that she noticed a reduction in water pressure in her house. She walked to her spring and noticed it was low and did maintenance on her springbox and improved her collection in her tank. After about a week she noticed a decrease in pressure. Back at the springbox she also noticed a big difference in her stream.

She called the neighborhood who drilled a well a week before. His first response was, "You can't prove we did that." In a time lapse, she lost her water completely by July. She has no water at all. Those springs have completely dried up. She has had no water all summer and to this moment has no water to shower, water pets, cook, and to drink. Zero water. She buys water and eats out. Since you cannot sell land while in litigation, the land can't be listed.

Where it stands now is they are trying to reach an amicable agreement. In those discussions the well digging neighbor wants to control the water. He wants them to go from collecting 28,000 gallons a day to 1,000 gallons a day. He argues that if they need that much water a day then they must be growing pot illegally. The audacity of this guy who nearly pierced through to the Holocene layer at 160 feet.

No wonder now at the postcard I purchased once on a road trip that said, "Montana water rights." It showed a picture of two guys getting ready to hit each other with shovels. Hell, I want to hit that guy. The water war has begun folks. To be honest, for weeks I've been obsessing over who exactly decided to not honor the agreement to release 50,000 acre feet of water every year from the Potter Valley Project to the Eel River, the very river that is dammed.

How did that happen for six decades?

There is something awful about everything. What I mean to say is, there isn't one thing done or one thing produced that hasn't been corrupted at one time or another. California water management is this complexity of laws and politics and institutions of Roman, Spanish, English and indigenous governments. Our modern system first came together in 1914 and the Water Commission was established. It is now called the Water Board.

Industrial extraction of the aquifer began after World War II when pumps replaced windmills and they then pumped hundreds of gallons per minute. Before that there were settlers. Their children turned the middle of America green. The beef got fat and farms got rich, but within 10 years there was a drop in the water table of 100 feet.

So right now in Texas there is a perfect example of a crossroads in our future. Beneath Texas is the Ogallala aquifer. It is so big that if drained would cover every state in 1.5 feet of water. If drained it will take 6,000 years to fill again. It is greatly diminished and they are busy finding ways to extend its usage. When it is gone a $20 billion industry will go too. Economic growth and declining resources are our issues in America.

I wish there were better news about laws and regulations. The only thing I've seen so far that may be of use in court are the two words "reasonable use." What is reasonable? Is it reasonable to ask someone to go from 10,000 gallons a day to 1,000 gallons a day? I don't think so. There is a conference coming up in Sacramento. It is on the American River I believe: 2020: a year of reckoning. This is the 2019 36th annual water summit. It costs. Farmers can get educated before drilling. Rub elbows with policymakers, stakeholders and farmers. Find out what decisions are being made in California. These are defining times for both Texas and California. How do we manage human demands without sinking?

Cheri Colston

Garberville

CATCH OF THE DAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019

LORI BEATY, Eureka/Ukiah. Possession/purchase for sale of narcotic/controlled substance, sale/transport/furnish organic drug, conspiracy, probation revocation.

ISAIAH BENNETT, Ukiah. Murder, Assault with deadly weapon with great bodily injury, DUI, controlled substance.

JOSE BRAVO, Potter Valley. DUI, probation revocation.

SERGIO CHAN-SOSA, Fort Bragg. Substance similar to toluene.

THOMAS COOK, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

RICK DICKERSON II, Covelo. Probation revocation.

KEVIN HABERMAN, Eureka/Ukiah. Pot for sale, suspended license, resisting, ammo possession by prohibited person, possession/purchase for sale of narcotic/controlled substance, sale/transport/furnish organic drug, conspiracy.

PEGGY HERNANDEZ, Point Arena. Probation revocation.

NANCY LARIOS, Philo. Probation revocation.

NOLAND LAWSON, Ukiah. Disobeying court order.

WILLIAM LEHER, Ukiah. Protective order violation.

DUSTIN MARKS, Hillmar/Redwood Valley. Paraphernalia, parole violation.

VANESSA MEZA, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

RICHARD NEAGLE, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

CHERRI ROBERTS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)

DALE SILVEY, Fort Bragg. Paraphernalia, failure to appear, probation revocation.

MARK SPITSEN, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

DANIEL YEOMANS, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation. (Frequent Flyer)

OLD GUYS DISCUSS FITNESS

Editor,

My efforts to reach 100 push-ups in one day have been hampered by a couple of injuries to my left arm and two fingers on my right hand—I might need yet another surgery on the pinky finger. My pursuit of difficult goals in my old age reminds me of a goal I had when I was a young man and used to run at the track of the University of Pennsylvania, where the Penn Marathon is run. My goal was to run a five minute mile, which to me meant 5:59 or less. Twice I came tantalizingly close but failed to break the six minute barrier. I figured out that I needed to run three quarters at one and a half minutes each; then, I could bust my ass and run the last quarter in 1:29 or less. On two occasions, on that beautiful running track, I completed 3/4 of a mile in 4:30. Alas, I wound up at 6 minutes flat each time. The second time, I confess to clicking the stop watch a split second before my foot hit the finish line— but to no avail. I still wound up with a flat six. And this was at a time when I was running between three and five miles five times a week. So, I've never run a five minute mile. Not even a 5:59 one. Perhaps I’ll never hit 100 push-ups in a day either. However, even the 45 I've been doing lately make me feel good.

Louis Bedrock

Roselle, New Jersey

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ED NOTE: Anything under 7 is a good time. In my running days I cracked 7 a couple of times. I think now running was a mistake for someone of my bulk. Too much strain on the knees, both of which are now arthritic. As for upper body and back, nothing beats push-ups even if you at first can only manage a few. I've been doing them all my life and, if there's money on it, can do 60. These days, I walk three miles in the morning, some of it uphill, do 200 push-ups at night in sets of 50 with five minutes between each set. Seldom drink any more but pound down three or four Original Boonville Donuts a week along with an apple fritter if I'm in Ukiah (Sunny's Donuts, Ukiah, managed by the effervescent Maria, can't be beat for product and customer service). I could lose 30 pounds without looking cadaverous but my health seems robust without austerity.

PS. The other day I held a market door open for an elderly couple who seemed on the very edge of immobility, shuffling along as if they were blind. And then I recognized them and know they're at least five or so years younger than me, the point being that a lot of old people are prematurely old because they don't exercise. The young fat people everywhere these days are downright alarming. Sedentary gluttony at an early age and it's bye bye baby at 50, if you get that far. Fatso used to be seldom seen. Now they're everywhere.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

If not a civil war in the US, there is a blogger war about the inquiry on the web. I’m not going to weigh in but I have a funny story. I was at a small party and a Trump supporter I was talking to began to read an article that was just posted to his Facebook page. The story was that NASA finally admitted that global warming is actually caused by the sun. I asked, could you go to the NASA site to confirm this? He said, there is no point, there is so many stories out there and no way to say what is true or false.

THE INLAND MENDOCINO DEMOCRATIC CLUB will hold our next meeting Thursday, October 10th at 5:30 pm at Slam Dunk Pizza, 720 North State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482. Let’s all join together to make our county an oasis of Justice and Peace. Together, in coalition, we can take progressive action and protect our county from the conservative nightmare. Come lend a hand. All are welcome. See us on Facebook and at http://inlandmendodems.org

HORNITOS® TEQUILA ELEVATOR PITCH CONTEST

My entrepreneurial shot-taking idea is to start a county-owned and operated "public bank" in Mendocino County, CA, so cannabis farmers and cannabis-related businesses can legally do their banking. It's out of my comfort zone — in fact, anybody's comfort zone — because all interstate banks are nationally chartered banks.

I am uniquely qualified to be selected to present my proposal at the ‘A Shot Worth Taking’ Elevator Pitch event during Chicago Ideas Week, because of three reasons: 1.) I've been a cannabis farmer since 2001, 2.) I'm law-abiding, worked for the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, and served on three grand juries, and 3) I'm running for Mendocino County 1st District Supervisor.

For more about public banking, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_bank

See also: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2019/03/28/marijuana-banking-bill-approved-by-congressional-committee/#fa023df2ce18

Thank you.

John Sakowicz, Candidate 1st District Supervisor

Ukiah

CALIFORNIA: PUBLIC BANKS LEGAL

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed into law historic legislation that would allow the state's cities and counties to establish public banks as an alternative to private financial institutions, a move advocates hailed as a "stunning rebuke to the predatory Wall Street megabanks that crashed the global economy in 2007-08."

commondreams.org/news/2019/10/03/stunning-rebuke-predatory-wall-street-megabanks-california-gov-signs-law-allowing

FOUND OBJECT