SAVE THE PEOPLE’S POST OFFICE. March, Wed. June 27, 2012. Gather 4pm at the New Federal Building in San Francisco (Seventh St. at Mission ). Civic Center BART. March to 5pm Protest in front of Civic Center Post Office, Hyde & Golden Gate. To coincide with national Hunger Strike in Washington DC. Stop Starving the Postal Service! No cuts, no closures! Keep door-to-door and Saturday delivery! The Postal Service has threatened to eliminate 220,000 living-wage jobs — and close 3,700 post offices including four in SF. Why? Because these post offices are “not generating enough revenue.” You can see they’re targeting poor and rural communities, those who need their neighborhood post office the most! A nationwide movement is growing, from cities like New York , Baltimore , Chicago , SF and Portland to little towns in the countryside to get into the streets and Save the People’s Post Office. (http://www.globalexchange.org/events/rally-save-peoples-post-office)
JARED HUFFMAN has put out the following blanket mailer. Huffman could completely disappear, including being officially declared missing and presumed dead, and still win in November. But here he is trying to convince people that he faces a serious challenge in November: “The lengthy post-election process of counting provisional and late absentee ballots is now over and I wanted to share the official results. While some of the margins changed, the final outcome did not: we finished in first place with 38% of the vote, and we will be running off against Republican Dan Roberts in November. Roberts finished second with 15% of the vote, just ahead of Norman Solomon. I want to once again thank you for helping make this first-round victory possible. It wouldn't have happened without the incredible community of support we've built over the past 18 months. Now it's time to turn our focus to the November election. And it's time for Democrats, after a long and spirited primary campaign, to come together and work to advance our common goals and values. We have a history of great Democratic representation in the North Bay and North Coast, and I intend to continue that legacy — which starts with working hard to win the general election this fall! Make no mistake, Republican Dan Roberts is a serious opponent. He proved the political pundits wrong by besting 10 other candidates to make the runoff. He is an articulate, savvy and successful businessman, a decorated veteran, and he will definitely have the resources to fund a strong campaign. We're going to have to work hard, but I'm confident that our campaign can meet this final challenge. And I'm looking forward to a robust, respectful, issue-based contest with Dan this fall. Our campaign is already building momentum for the final round. I'm proud to have received several major endorsements in the past two weeks — including Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and the California Teachers Association. We'll be announcing more endorsements and campaign news in the days ahead. Thanks again for your support and friendship. I hope to see you along the campaign trail soon, and in the meantime I hope you are enjoying your summer! Warm Regards, Jared Huffman”
A FRIEND WROTE to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat: "How does management justify their 'forums'? It appears you have a core group of losers who within four or five comments on any string bring it down to very obscene name-calling. Nothing is truly discussed or debated. It always comes down to insults...." Friend goes on to cite a particularly vile denunciation of Obama by some anonymous white race warrior.
THE UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL was forced by the anonymous slobs plaguing its comment forums to simply cancel it. The Press Democrat will have to do the same, and SF Gate, the Chronicle's comment line, might as well cancel theirs, although they do edit out the racist remarks and the obscenities. But what remains is really, really stupid and enough to make a sensible reader despair for the human race, not to mention whatever residual hope he or she may have for anything resembling political democracy.
THE AVA'S COMMENT LINE? We censor the hell out of it. If you want to do racism, for instance, go ahead, but we're going to have to have your name, phone number and street address. This is the only way to keep the cowards and the nuts from destroying public discussion.
A LITTLE NOTICED Grand Jury report released last month says the Ukiah City Council and City staff badly botched their garbage hauling contract, resulting in unreasonably high garbage rates being charged to Ukiah residents. “The story of the city's garbage contract with C&S Waste Systems is a saga of: Apparently careless city procurement practices; A relationship between the new contractor and the old contractor; Restricted public access to government decision-making; Weak City Council oversight; Less than adequate City Staff work; Apparently out-classed City Negotiators; Allegedly hidden business transactions. All of these actions or inactions have translated into higher costs for the residents of the City and the City ratepayers.” The report notes that the GJ got lots of complaints about the garbage hauler contracting fiasco, many of which turned out to be valid. The Grand Jury listed an unusually high 46 (mostly negative) findings. The GJ’s six recommendations are that the Ukiah City council take another look at their garbage contract — primarily “determine if…” and “conduct an investigation into…” The report concludes with a recommendation that the City Council “determine whether the City's contract with C&SWS can be voided, or any other any legal action taken, after the City's investigations noted above are completed and fully evaluated.”
THE REPORT mirrors and buttresses remarks made months ago (before Ukiah signed the garbage hauling contract with C&S Waste Solutions) by Ukiah Daily Journal Editor K.C. Meadows (and others). Meadows’ sensible and pointed criticisms not only went unheeded by the City Council, but were actively argued against by several individual members of the City Council. (Councilmember Mari Rodin actually claimed that Ukiah had a “newspaper editor problem,” not an inept-self-adulating Councilwoman problem.) But at this point it’s hard to imagine the same City Council members who defended the bad garbage contract reversing themselves and revisiting the contract now based on the Grand Jury recommendations — after the city’s garbage hauling contract has been signed — since the results of any investigations would only make the City Council look worse than they already do. Ratepayers may have grounds for a lawsuit, but they would probably have to organize into some kind of class action and the City or its insurance carrier would get stuck with the bill which wouldn’t help the ratepayers anyway. Cold Creek Compost in Potter Valley (which appears to have been aced out of a lot of Ukiah’s greenwaste stream by the questionable contract) may have grounds for a suit as well. Meanwhile, Ukiah residents are obviously being ripped off by Ukiah’s garbage hauling contract rates. (The full report is available on-line at the County’s Grand Jury webpage.)
JUST WRITE AND ASK: Exhibit showcases stamp and VIP autograph collection Captures nation's bicentennial moment “Bicentennial Signatures and Stamps,” a private collection of autographed and stamped envelopes from a wide array of distinguished United States politicians, will open at the Mendocino County Museum on Wednesday, July 4, 2012 and will continue through September. The opening reception will coincide with Independence Day festivities in Willits and will take place at the Museum from 2 to 4pm. This one- of-a-kind collection is the 1976 brainchild of Fort Bragg native and art gallery owner Dennis Tuolama, who will be on hand at the display’s opening to answer questions. Seeking to create a legacy for his children and to commemorate the country’s bicentennial year, Dennis sought and received signatures from a wide array of politicians, leaders, and entertainers. In the end, Dennis had collected mail from then-President Gerald Ford and President-elect Jimmy Carter, from former first ladies including Bess Truman and Jackie Kennedy Onassis as well as the present one, Betty Ford, from all 100 U.S. senators, and from all 50 governors. His conclusion: "You never know what is going to happen when that letter crosses someone's desk. The only way to know if anything is going to happen is just to write and ask." The Mendocino County Museum is located at 400 East Commercial St. in Willits across from Recreation Grove Park and the Rodeo grounds. The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 4:30 pm. For more information please call 459-2736 or visit www.MendocinoMuseum.org. — Roberta Werdinger
OCCUPY UKIAH is having a Localize Your Money Public Forum at Alex Thomas Plaza in downtown Ukiah. Saturday July 14. Speakers at 11am, noon march to Bof A, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase. Followed by a potluck and open mike forum. The big three after taking taxpayer monies to bail them out continue to foreclose on our friends and neighbors. Refusing to modify or work w/ homeowners. Nothing has changed these banks continue their reckless ways, note JP Morgan’s recent $2 to $3 billion loss. We encourage everyone to transfer your funds to a local Credit Union and pull your money out of these corrupt casino institutions. To big to fail is madness a myth floated by players that should be indited for ripping us off. So join us in Ukiah or do a have your own bank transfer day Our local Credit Unions are Redwood and Mendo Lake .I am sure you can find one in whatever area you live. Together we can be strong and do some good. Peace, Tim Hemlock, Occupy Ukiah
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