Letters To The Editor

SALAD U.

Hi Folks,

We will be hosting a Salad University class on Sunday Sept. 9 at Floodgate Farm's new Redwood Valley location on Laughlin Peak. We'll meet at the Redwood Valley Farmers' Market (Lions Park on East Road just N of the center of town) at 12:30 PM when it ends and carpool/caravan to the site about 5 miles away. There will be tasting as we find each ingredient, discuss growing tips and medicinal properties, and at the end enjoy a potluck meal (we'll provide kimchi and gather the salad together). Suggested donation is $20 or 2 hours work trade on the farm. We will also give you seeds of unusual salad plants you may not have. Call 272-1688 or reply to this email to sign up.

Second, the initiative to require labeling foods containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's) is on the ballot as Proposition 37. Please let your friends know to support it and help get them to the polls in November! The big seed companies like Monsanto will be attempting to scare us all about costs, hunger, etc. and the campaign needs funds to get the word out as to the importance of stating whether food contains GMO's so food purchasers can make informed and healthy choices.

The campaign is at www.carighttoknow.org .

Hope to see you on Sept 9 and that we can lead the movement to label GMO's.

Bill Taylor

Elk

 _______________________________________

Dear Editor:

In the article, Summer Theater, published in the AVA’s August 1st edition, your correspondent concluded his beat report by saying, “The DA’s office failed to return our calls seeking clarification.” No matter what one’s personal take may be on the merits of the rest of the article, this concluding sentence left a foul taste in my mouth because, simply put, it misleads your readers. First, for over a year now I have been the media contact person who helps to timely disseminate accurate information from within the DA’s Office and I take that responsibility seriously. Though I am the DA’s designated “go to” media wonk, your correspondent never contacted me (and, trust me, I know you folks have my cell phone number). Instead, it appears your correspondent called DA Eyster’s voicemail, leaving a single message (not the plural “calls” as reported) and only asking for the name of the complaining witness in the Merrifield, et al., matter. As I was taught early in life by my parents, if one truly expects to have his or her call returned, one should have the good manners to leave in any request for a return call the return telephone number to be used. Unfortunately, your correspondent overlooked the need to leave the DA a number where your man could be reached. I think we can all agree that there is a difference between a party failing to respond and the other party failing to do their part to make it possible to return the call.

Mike Geniella

Public Information Officer, District Attorney’s Office

Ukiah

  _______________________________________

OLYMPIC SITTING

Editor,

The Misunderstood Sport of Sitting by sports critic Carol Denney

The flap over Olympic dressage as a sport obscures an even more misunderstood athletic pursuit: the subtle unpretentious sport of sitting.

It may seem simple to the untrained eye, but this underrated sport and the dedicated athletes who train throughout their lives to perfect the art of sports sitting deserve more respect.

Berkeley has agreed to partner with the International Olympic Committee to host an exciting sports event later this summer, an event which somehow got left out of the London games.

As we prepare for these riveting local games and the tourism they attract, the styles and techniques of sport sitting are worth reflection. The world of sport sitting evolves, as all sports do, but sports sitting judges agree that with a little direction even an amateur eye can recognize techniques which dramatically distinguish the performances.

• The Classic. Fans of the classic cite its long history and undeniable celebrity, but the style of classic sitters has made it a crowd favorite for decades. Participants, often in gloves and pearls, walk purposefully and directly toward a chair and simply sit down, occasionally crossing ankles or removing hats with a definitive flourish. The classic has won the gold for teams more often than any other style, newer forms of the sport are getting their due such as:

• The Punk. Sports fans were riveted in the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games when a spike-haired young man in ripped clothing strode toward a chair, took it by its back, and smashed it repeatedly until it became a pile of broken stakes. Judges' objections initially complicated the medal round, but “the punk” finally won undisputed Gold that year and changed the sport forever, as did:

• The Martha Graham. Common today, the unusual gestures and garb of modern dance influenced athletes who seem to commune with and become the chair have won both popular respect and an occasional bronze from judges who recognize, as the sport evolves, that the Martha Graham integrates athleticism and originality, as does:

The Militia. This crowd pleaser introduced a team dynamic to the games in 2004 when several armed, uniformed soldiers stormed the stage and “captured” a chair with weapons trained on the chair and the judges while a full military band played the beloved “Gallant and Gay We'll March Away,” The 1886 Sousa composition for trumpet and drum.

This is only a brief sample of what citizens will enjoy when the Olympic sports sitting games come to town. Get your tickets early. The competition will be vigorous this year!

Carol Denney

Berkeley

 _______________________________________

COCKBURN AT ISLAND MOUNTAIN

Editor,

I was deeply saddened to learn from the July 25 AVA that Alexander Cockburn had died prematurely on July 19.

It should have been a shock, but lately I've spent an inordinate amount of time attending memorial services and sending condolences as several friends and acquaintances of my generational cohort have quietly slipped away. Those of us born during the World War II years (1939-1945) are cynically called the “doom generation” because we have an intuitive realization that the shit can hit the fan at any moment.

As fellow Cornhusker Nick Nolte recently said, “At 70 you crest that hill and realize that you can no longer do something about the slow disintegration of the body.”

I didn't really know Alexander Cockburn personally, but I knew him well through his writing.

I met him briefly in Boonville in the late 80s when he and Fred Gardner performed at a bar that is now Lauren's, and again later when he appeared at the Casper Inn.

The last time I met him was during an outing to John Pinches Island Mountain Ranch accompanied by the Editor and Cockburn's friends from Petrolia, Joe and Karen Paff of Gold Rush Coffee fame. Our goal was to find the fabled ancient petroglyphs on the east side of the Eel River rumored to be near a certain milemarker.

John Pinches, our gracious host, drove us down to the railroad tracks on the west side of the river and we started the difficult and slow hike on the railroad ties because there were few walkable areas on either side of the rails. John Pinches helped move us along ferrying people one by one on his quad runner which straddled the rails.

At the designated milemarker we started wading across the river occasionally disappearing into unseen holes. The east bank was a dense jumble of brush and rocks with no obvious outcrops. But there was one vertical slab of rock that beckoned, and we made our way there to discover the fabled petroglyphs on a vertical south face.

These petroglyphs had the traditional spiral and a zigzag motifs but were minimal by Southwest standards. Nonetheless, we were thrilled to find them. I thought about how long it took to make them and wondered what the graffiti artist was trying to say and concluded that it was just an ancient version of, “Kilroy Was Here.”

During this whole outing Cockburn was having a grand adventure, hiking way ahead of us as if he were on a personal quest for the Holy Grail.

Back at the ranchhouse we had to deal with a major oil leak in the Editor's truck caused by the undercarriage scraping the tortuous rocky roads.

Cockburn slid under the pickup and determined that the oil drain plug had cracked. So he removed it, and in John Pinches' shop, devised a temporary patch that reduced the leak from a gusher to a stream which required frequent crankcase fill ups on the way back.

I had brought along a copy of the IWW publication by Walker C. Smith, “The Everett Massacre: A History of the Class Struggle in the Lumber Industry” that had belonged to my grandfather. Cockburn was very interested in the book and the Editor warned me not to lend it to him if I ever wanted to see it again.

To me, Alexander Cockburn's most endearing qualities were his mischievous sense of humor, his rapier wit, his world class bullshit detector, his stubborn, no-compromise positions on critical issues, and his genuine empathy for so-called “ordinary people” — the hapless victims of turbocharged capitalism. You could say he had a hard head and a soft heart.

I must admit, though, to being totally baffled when Cockburn dredged up obscure esoteric references to bolster his argument. My favorite Cockburn stories were his humorous, interesting accounts of cross-country jaunts in his Chrysler tunaboat searching for the perfect barbecue.

It would have been grand fun had Cockburn taken an extensive road trip through all 50 states reporting on the mood of America. (Though the drive to Hawaii would have been dicey). A contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville.

Though Alexander Cockburn's departure leaves a huge void, he will always be a member of the AVA family. He's just hit the road to another realm. I accept the Druid notion that death his just a gateway on a long journey.

Cheers,

Don Morris

Skunktown (Willits)

 _______________________________________

THE LADIES LOVE IT!

To the Editor:

Straight up and off the top comes my deepest and sincerest regards. This one's for all the lonely women out there who may have a little extra time on their hands to write me a letter and to possibly make a friend.

I'm a 33-year-old male who is currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. I currently have a couple of years left to do. I'm 5-11, 175 pounds and I'm blasted in back with ink. The ladies really seem to love it. I would have printed or sent a photo of my tattoos, but I wasn't sure if it would have been printed and I've only got a couple of them. But to the ones who may decide to write I will shoot a flick and I'm sure you will not be disappointed. I want to think that I have good conversation as well as I can be a righteous friend. I'm a loyal person. I'm just in a real lonely place at a lonely time and I would love to have a friend. With that being said I go as I came.

Respectively,

Josh Bolen T-52860, San Quentin State Prison,

San Quentin, CA 94974

 _______________________________________

REPENT

Dear AVA:

For as much as the AVA is a forum for views boldly expressed, I would like to stand before the progressive firing squad to mention that the lionization of Alexander Cockburn is understandable as he was one of many calling good evil and evil good. While his mouth is stopped now by death, many others continue speaking proudly. But all will give an account before God for their deeds in this life. God is now graciously calling all men everywhere to repent. “But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

John Kennaugh

San Francisco

 _______________________________________

SOCIETY’S SHEEP DIP

Editor,

People have asked me if I've watched the reporting of the mass killings from Aurora, Colorado. “No,” I tell them. “I'll wait for the next mass killing,” which surely will come — when and where the only unknown.

A ban on assault weapons, at the least, seems to be the only clear answer. But that's never going to happen. So what are we left with? A sadness, that a decent civilized life in America is out of reach. As fine as life can be here in the land of the free and the greed we continue to slide further and further into a darkness brought on by our own inability to pursue happiness.

I admit it. I did society's sheep dip by plunking down my $15 to see the recent Dark Knight prior to any knowledge of the Colorado killings until my friends with me told me of the shooting. Cinematic violence, violence. I wallow in it. As a boy I killed other humans in Vietnam. Perhaps I'm a symptom of America's health. An acceptance of too much cartoonish violence too often. Perhaps now I can purge myself of this affliction but that leaves millions more.

I've left friends who own handguns, painful but less so than the consequences of a loaded firearm. I guess I'm writing this as a sort of therapy: killings, Olympic uniforms produced by slave labor in totalitarian China, with polo player logos, unlimited ammo over the Internet, endless electronic addiction, shooting endangered wolves, missiles on London Olympic rooftops, G.I. suicides off the charts.

Life in the United States has always been a Ralph Lauren bag of worms. But where does it end? Where can someone turn for solace?

The other evening on PBS there was some thinker trying to explain the cosmos, Einstein's theory of time and space as proof of what I'll never be quite sure. While on the same day came the rather joyful and spiritual announcement that a white buffalo had been born on a farm in Connecticut. Joyful and spiritual if you happen to be a Lakota Sioux. A sign — solace.

So I'll take two Lakota Sioux and not a cellphone, text or Google our violent universe in the morning.

William J. Hughes

Sacramento

 _______________________________________

THE FRUITS OF FAILURE

Editor:

How do we know American schools continue to fail? We witness ever more tattoo parlors, tattoo removal parlors, A & B grades, voter abstention, parked idling vehicles, dying and dead newspapers, drone assassinations, obnoxious Harleys, texting zombies, reckless driving car ads, misspellings, oblivious pedestrians killed in crosswalks by oblivious drivers, cleavage, loud growling pickup trucks, distance learning, leaf blowers, obesity, billboards, highway litter, nail parlors, barely literate college grads, incivility, libertarians, misogyny, for profit universities, ADD, self esteem, imprecision, humanitarian wars, maldistribution of wealth, and gun massacres.

Case closed.

Phil Baldwin

Ukiah

 _______________________________________

HOW MANY JOKERS?

Editor,

I just read what Nate Collins wrote guarding the Colorado massacre and his analysis of the shooter, James Holmes. It seems a bit too simplistic to dismiss him as a “spoiled loser.”

Having taught in the public school system for over 50 years, I would offer another scenario for consideration. Without even calling it violence, we condone it by saying things like, “boys will be boys,” or, “you are just a little too sensitive.” The “it” I am referring to is the teasing and bullying that goes on daily in the lives of many children.

These daily doses of hatred do not go unnoticed by the recipients of this abuse. It gets stored up and is acted out sooner or later. For some of the release is drugs or alcohol. For others, abusive parenting or spousal abuse and other maladaptive behavior. The most fragile and borderline individuals act out like James Holmes. The Joker.

It is unfortunate that in our culture being a crybaby is about the worst thing a young boy can hear himself being called. There is no avenue for him to express his tears or escape. We men are told to “suck it up.” And so we do. But at a cost.

I am not trying to excuse James Holmes. But we can talk to our young people and encourage them to become aware of the suffering our taunting can cause. There are a few who cannot tolerate it.

Ashley Jones

Boonville/Alameda

PS. Thanks to Carol Campbell for her views.

  _______________________________________

NO ACCOUNTABILITY, EITHER WAY

Dear AVA:

I like Franklin Graham’s statement in the last issue regarding California State Parks Department, “Their objectives are to carry out their duties with a minimum of contact with the public they serve, resist initiatives to make their role and work product transparent or accountable to others, and, when challenged, close ranks. Their entire careers are spent inside the halls of power and their pay is commensurate with the status of an elite. To support such elites, an entire bureaucracy grows up to further insulate department and agency heads from pressures or influence from the outside. They are, in effect, unaccountable and virtually invisible to the public they are sworn to serve.”

No kidding. The same could be said for every government agency. But States Parks is a state agency and we are dealing with the problem. We have the same problem with county government as well, and we deal with it as well. It is ugly, but we tend to deal with these inherent government problems, eventually. This cannot be said for federal agencies. There is no accountability for the government agencies from afar. And they have the power to print money when it is needed. So the next time an uninformed one promotes (like this paper does) the federal government taking over something else, like healthcare, read Mr. Graham’s statement. Then find another way. Our founders would be proud.

Sincerely,

George A. Hollister

Comptche

 _______________________________________

YES ON F

Editor,

There will be a measure on the November ballot for those Mendocino residents who would like to start working towards defending our Democracy from corporate corruption. The Move To Amend Coalition of Mendocino County gathered enough signatures to qualify Measure F for the November elections.

Measure F instructs our state and federal representatives to begin drafting an amendment to the Constitution that removes the status of persons with human rights from corporations. The amendment will also reverse the corrupt Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United v. the Federal Elections Commission.

This decision allowed corporations to spend unlimited, anonymous millions on political campaigns. The Court ruled that campaign spending was free speech and that limiting corporations campaign expenditures was limiting free speech. This decision has severely diluted the voice of every American.

Recently the California state legislature called for an amendment reversing Citizens United. California joined Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and 68 communities in Massachusetts well as the Massachusetts state legislature.

This is the beginning of a movement to make America an government by, of and for the people rather than just the obscenely rich and their corporations. The Move to Amend Coalition hopes you’ll join this movement to take back the country from the one percent by voting yes on Measure F this coming November. Corporations are not humans with limited lifespans. They have more financial resources than humans and they have far too much control over our government.

Ed Oberweiser

Fort Bragg

 _______________________________________

COMPULSORY RAVING

Editor,

For the filler file:

(In a court case arising out of an onlooker's failure to salute the flag, the public prosecutor stated:)

“Although there is no law enjoining a compulsory salute, the custom of this greeting has nevertheless established itself and non-adherence to it is therefore an obvious act of provocation.”

— Volkischer Beobachter, Feb. 1, l935

* * *

“The Sportspalast roared and raved for a whole hour in a delirium of unconsciousness.”

— Joseph Goebbels

Jay Williamson

Santa Rosa

  _______________________________________

THE REST OF THE IMPACT

Mighty AVA,

Regarding that letter from MRC in last week's paper, I'd first like to thank Mr. Jani for the attempt. Anything is better than nothing. However, I thought his note was most peculiar in what it did not address, which is the public's obvious distaste for being poisoned. Instead, Mr. Jani focused obsessively on the “visual impact,” which almost made it sound more like an internal memo: “Guys, we screwed up, it's too visible, the natives are restless, we've got to go back to hiding this better.” The effect of Mr. Jani's message, to those of us being poisoned, was not reassuring.

His careful subject avoidance reminded me of the tobacco industry, who for decades after everyone else had figured it out, kept pretending that there was no connection between smoking and cancer. A big difference in these two situations is that one could choose not to be a smoker; whereas, here, we are unwilling participants in MRC's poisoning of the environment.

If you haven't already done so, take a drive out Comptche-Ukiah Road, three to six miles east of Comptche. You'll get the “visual impact” Mr. Jani was talking about. The ugly brown is one thing, but the real story is those thousands of dead trees, perched steeply above the headwaters of the Albion River, have all been killed with a highly toxic herbicide. Their fallen leaves are now sliding down canyon walls toward the river, rainy season is coming, and we know the herbicide used to kill those trees, imazapyr, is both mobile and persistent. I mourn for the people throughout the Albion River watershed. The toxic load heading your way is criminal.

I mourn for all of us in western Mendocino County. What you can see along the Comptche-Ukiah Road this year, MRC has been doing in more hidden locations all along. From our property, we see large fields of MRC Brown along tributaries of the Navarro River. MRC averages two tons of imazapyr on over 5,000 acres every year. That's a huge toxic load on us all. Doesn't it seem like too many people are getting cancer these days? MRC is helping make that happen.

How can we make them stop? What these corporate types care about is money, so I suggest boycotting Home Depot (which distributes MRC lumber) and the five clothing businesses of the principal owners: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, and Athleta. Tell these businesses what you're doing and why. Spread the word. Together we can create something that matters to these people: financial impact.

Mike Kalantarian

Beyond the Deep End (Navarro)

 _______________________________________

BEHIND THE DOOR

Dear Editor,

Thank you for the paper. I’d like to highlight some gray areas for the folks around here. I read in all the papers, watch the news about our mental health issues across our country with shootings, etc. But let’s just focus on our home here. My heart is with Mr. Bassler and his family for their dedication to pass this Laura’s Law and other help for the mentally ill.

People everywhere are asking, Why are these people not being treated and what can we do? Millions are being spent to cure these people. Where is it?

Well, I can assure you as a witness on this side of the fence, it isn’t taking care of patients. It’s funding jobs for doctors and security that intermingles in the back offices and hallways of hospitals, jails and prisons for people eating doughnuts and talking about the new fishing boats they’re never use. They have interns type a paragraph here and there, pay a janitor to shine their shoes and a maintenance man to replace an outdated lighting system. As for the funding of our jails and the interviews with our fine “Captain Pearce,” the jail commander. I read it and I cannot believe these people get by with selling all of you that crock. I asked a deputy what he thought of my last letter and he said he “does not read that propaganda.”

But as I read your paper, I hear individuals speaking out. Like this woman, Elaine Kalantarian, speaking about the Mendocino Redwood Company using chemicals to wipe out vegetation and the Navarro River where we all grew up swimming. Looks like a biohazard soup.

And she looks out her windows to see the once-gorgeous sights of the northern California redwoods, a wasteland. My thoughts are with these people. But I’m like, how do we find a voice? We are all screaming, help!

But really, what can we do? I have first-hand knowledge as to what “representatives” would have you, the public eye see. Then as I sit here and see the taxpayer dollars at work behind these doors, I’m utterly astounded at what I’m seeing. I am reminded of a very good movie called “Cold Mountain” starring Rene Zellweger and Nicole Kidman. Rene’s father passes and she says, You know, men create rain clouds, then they stand in the rain and say, damn, it’s raining on me!

As for Captain Pearce and his professionalism. Here’s an inmate request, and maybe you can describe what you read to our fine community. People who assault someone have a 10-day to 30-day lockdown. I never assaulted anyone yet I have been locked in isolation for almost a year now. Oh, I admit an argument with an inmate six months ago. But I never was close to assaulting him. You see, I am here for pissing off the chain of command all the way up to Mr. Pearce who needs me and our fine mental health patients for job security. We are a number as an inmate who have no rights. We are a number and we are to watch this nightmare and remain utterly and completely silent.

Oh, there’s many inmates who can confirm a lot of wasted dollars. But they don’t know how nor where to make a complaint. I have written to newspapers, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, and the list goes on.

I have honest knowledge to all these questions being raised throughout the news because my front row seat differs from all of yours. My letter here touches on mental health and the recent article about who’s paying for this detention facility. Where is taxpayer money going? I am on page 4 and barely scratching the surface of the depths of our problems and what’s really going on. I’d like a way to communicate exactly what really happens behind these walls and why our societies have grown worse instead of safer. There are victims on both sides of the fence and unfortunately from here it’s a long jump to carry all this out.

James Kester

951 Low Gap Road, Ukiah

  _______________________________________

THEFT IS STILL THEFT SOME PLACES

Dear Editor:

There is a case in the City of Sacramento regarding the misuse of a City credit card which is similar to a situation that occurred in Mendo County but with different results. As I recall you had a County Supervisor who confused her personal expenses with county expenses and when caught ended up owing the county a chunk of money. She paid back only part of the monies due the county and your DA huffed and puffed but didn't collect the balance or prosecute her.

In Sacramento the Assistant to the Mayor and a member of a prominent political family signed a “Purchase Card Request” which reads in part “That use of the Purchasing Card for any purpose other than City business is a crime, and will be prosecuted.”

The Assistant to the Mayor, to the tune of about $9,000, took a trip to Disneyland and bought personal items including groceries. When an audit disclosed her thievery she made full resitution but she is not off the hook. She is under investigation by the City Police and the County District Attorney. Now our Chief of Police is a straight arrow and our DA is no namby-pamby like some other DAs. She has the personality of a clam but also loads of integrity. She firmly believes no crime goes unpunished and if you do the deed you do the time. The case also got lotsof ink from the Sacramento Bee, our daily newspaper. The Assistant's best bet is to work out a plea agreement since she is not going to get off the hook.

In peace,

James G. Updegraff

Sacramento

 _______________________________________

WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID?

Dear Editor

I have reason to believe, by process of elimination, that I was deleted from Mendo-Community Bulletin Board yahoo listserve of 2200 members based in Willits on August 5, 2012 because of an unseen off-line criticism email, that was described by list owner Maddy Avena to me.

Doug Fine, author of Too High To Fail, with a book tour and upcoming benefit for the Emerald Growers Association this August in Ukiah, apparently objected to me asking him off list whether he was aware that Northstone Organics had a help wanted classified ad published in the Ukiah Daily Journal a week before the federal raid on Matt Cohen dba Northstone Organics.

The classified ad is perhaps a smoking gun that Northstone Organics business plan was far bigger than the folksy myths that appear to continue to be proliferated by Doug Fine's book.

Mr. Fine has written extensively in his book about Mendocino County's experimental county code 9.31 99-plant program recently terminated, according to a brief end segment of an interview that I heard late last week on KMUD News.

Emerald Growers Association has apparently taken over a role of MendoGrown, and Matt Cohen is still active there. At a prior meeting benefit of MendoGrown at the Saturday Afternoon Club about two years ago, voting memberships were offered for I believe $1K. And board memberships for $5K. I would have to check my records.

Emerald Growers Association substantially crafted and lobbied recently along with Americans for Safe Access, for state legislation AB2312, the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Control Act, to allow and regulate dispensaries, a bill that was withdrawn after gaining support by the Mendocino Board of Supervisors (4-1 McCowen dissenting). This bill is coming back again, thus the fundraising effort for the Emerald Growers.

Main criticism of the bill included that it would substantially increase cost, penalties and registration requirements for most medical cultivators and would not have a small collectives exemption.

Further information has since come to light that ASA (which stands for “Safe Access” but not “Safe and Affordable Access”) is principally a small group of wealthy investors who have controlled many of the largest medical marijuana dispensaries now being closed. They participated to encourage municipalities to have restrictive zoning to limit dispensaries to a small number of the largest.

There have been claims of intimidation and threats and computer hacking by the ASA elite. Do a search on “ASA San Diego NORML weedy.” The San Diego NORML chapter was apparently shut down because of intimidation by ASA, and has formed a different compassionate group.

I cannot give a definitive report on the alleged machinations of ASA. Try an internet search with these terms. “ASA san diego norml weedy.” I just want my access restored to Mendo-CommunityBB yahoo listserve.

For those who want to meet with Doug Fine, author of Too High To Fail, a book which seems to be partially one of “pot porn comedy,” there is a benefit for the Emerald Grower's Association on Sunday, August 26th (5-7pm) at the Saturday Afternoon Club, 107 South Oak St., Ukiah. Just be cautious to determine whether the Emerald Growers has a benefit beyond its key group of supporters.

And the previous evening, author Fine will be stumping on his own at Gallery Books in Mendocino on August 25, 2012 6:30-8:30pm. For other listings of the book tour, go to dougfine.com.

Sincerely,

Eric Sunswheat

Potter Valley

 _______________________________________

BROWN ACT: A RESPONSIBILITY?

Editor,

Much has been written about the recent gutting of California’s Brown Act by the State Legislature. Reversing this misguided action will require a vigorous fight to defend our right to know. Since the 1950s the Brown Act has helped defeat secrecy, cronyism and corruption in government. Preserving it should be a high priority for all who value democracy. Still, even a full reversal will fall a stroke short unless we also exercise our responsibility to know as involved citizens in a democratic society.

Rights, like muscles, depend on regular exercise and the Brown Act kafuffle presents a stellar opportunity to commence a new fitness program. Draft a message to your county supervisors and/or city council today, urging them to make a legal commitment to uphold the Brown Act regardless of action by state legislators. Copy it to Governor Brown. Now, choose a county, city, school or special district board or a public-private agency and start paying attention. Sign up for e-mailed agendas. Attend meetings. Insist that websites include agendas, minutes and ordinances. Encourage non-profit and public boards to abide by open meeting laws and to send members to free county ethics trainings whether or not these organizations are legally bound to do so. Thank those who serve. Join them in an area that interests you. Empty seats abound. As with personal health, passivity weakens our self-governing society. The right to know was given legal protection because it is essential to participatory government. Keep your right strong. Exercise it today. One final tip: Exercise with friends to increase your odds of success.

Wendy Roberts

Mendocino