AN ANONYMOUS READER WRITES: “Your attack on Gary Hudson is unwarranted. Gary was one of the most intelligent, dedicated and hard working employees that Mendocino County will ever see. He was blindsided when Craver retired early. He went to the Board meeting expecting to be appointed interim Sheriff, but he did not know Allman already lobbied Wattenberger, Delbar and Pinches to appoint Broin, so Allman would have a better chance of getting elected. His life got even more fucked up when Allman took over. The stress did him in, and it was caused by the job, Allman, and dirty politics. The drinking, depression and domestic violence came later, and were symptoms of his stress, not the cause of it. The stress did Broin in too, but manifested itself as physical problems. Your claim that deputies go to doctors willing to write false diagnoses in exchange for office visits is pure tripe, and below even you. The problem is a sheriff that is a master at deceiption and manipulation who mistreats his people, especially the ones that will not give up their integrity for Allman. My guess is he made sure you got the story he wanted you to get, in hopes you would publish it. And you know what? You did exactly that. You’re a patsy Bruce. Wake up and smell the coffee.”
PATSY REPLIES: Excuse me, but are you saying the election of Allman so traumatized Gar that he stressed out? Please. I tried to make the basic point that stress leaves are often abused by cops and firefighters. In fact, fifty years ago stress outs were unknown because it was assumed that when you signed on to the job you understood that you'd be stretched physically and emotionally. And for the record, the AVA supported Broin for Sheriff. Also for the record, what you might call the “law enforcement community,” including the DA's office and even Bozette's half-arsed public defender's operation, has always kept us at arm's length and, for long periods of time over the years, has refused to talk to us period. The idea that Allman would confide in us to make Hudson's life difficult is laughable. No one on our end, incidentally, has strong feelings either way about Hudson, and less idea of his problems with the present leadership. I think a lot of the internal problems you imply at the Sheriff's Department have a very simple cure — make it a position filled by appointment by the Supervisors rather than an elected one which, as it stands, often puts cops at each other's throats when they divide behind this or that candidate for their boss. That said, I think Allman and Eyster are doing a good job, and I think cops generally in Mendocino County do a good job in an ever more impossible political-social context. But I wouldn't trust a psychiatrist to make me an edible cheese sandwich, let alone evaluate someone for so-called “stress.” From them, as anyone who's ever been in a courtroom knows, you get the opinion you pay for.
FROM LAST TUESDAY'S MEETING: Supervisor Hamburg wanted to know what was going to happen with the Mendocino Town Plan (which is almost 20 years overdue for an update) with the resignation of chief planner Roger Mobley.
“What is being done with respect to the completion of the Mendocino Town Plan?” Hamburg asked CEO Carmel Angelo.
Angelo: “I have talked with Mr. Mobley about that. He is giving me a list of projects, the Town Plan being one, and who that plan will be turned over to. I think I can probably say this, We have been in discussion with Mr. Mobley about staying on as a consultant to work with the plan. He started the Town Plan [No he didn’t; he started this latest round of the update of the Town Plan which is eternally evolving, eternally under discussion]. He's done a great job working with the Mendocino Town Plan and it is a loss to have him leave at this point in time in the middle of the project. So I can certainly have more information for you at the next board meeting. I don't have a definite response from Mr. Mobley at this time.”
Look for a nice “consultant” contract for Mobley.
Hamburg: “I think Roger, working along with Abby Stockwell from the Fort Bragg office, inspired a lot of confidence in the Town with the residents in the Town and they moved forward with the Plan and they've held three public meetings. I don't know how many smaller meetings with the community they’ve had, and I do think it would be difficult to stay on schedule if we took Roger completely out of the picture at this point. Just because they're -- and I think we heard when we had our May meeting in Mendocino that people who are usually on diametrically different sides of issues were both praising Mr. Mobley’s work on the plan.”
The best way to ensure that nothing ever gets done in Hamburg's 5th District, where every person is an expert, is to call public meetings where all the experts provide their “input.”
McCowen: “It sounds like the CEO is right in line with your thinking on that.”
Hamburg: “Any board members who really want to come up, I know Roger would really welcome the opportunity to sit down with each of us and talk about this list that the CEO referred to of projects that are in the balance at the Planning and Building Services Department.”
CEO Angelo suggested that a presentation could be made later this month on the subject of open planning projects.
Hamburg: “There are some really important things that we need to be moving forward on. One for me particularly is this idea of putting together a new vineyard and winery ordinance to put us more in line with what is happening in Napa and Sonoma County. I’d hate to lose all the momentum on that project and there are probably six or seven others that the board would probably do well to hear about.”
A vineyard and winery ordinance? This is the first we’ve heard of anything like that. What kind of ordinance? Water? A limit on tasting rooms? Another shot at a grading ordinance?
Supervisor Brown hadn’t heard of it either: “Thank you for mentioning the vineyard and winery proposal. I wasn't aware that that was going on.”
Since Supervisor Hamburg said he’d “hate to lose all the momentum on that project,” we assumed there had been quite a bit of progress, maybe even “momentum,” and emailed him to find out what’s been done.
No momentum, actually, as Supervisor Hamburg replied: “Really not much happening yet. But I do think there’s good reason to look into revisions. We haven’t moved much beyond the stage of compiling what other counties are doing.”
McCowen didn’t want to go anywhere near a vineyard and winery ordinance. “Let's not turn this into a discussion on that,” said McCowen. “I think we will look forward to the executive office bringing this item forward.”
Any crackdown on the sacrosanct wine and grape industry in this county is unlikely to happen. Ever. While the liberals never had any problem vilifying “loggers,” code for “rednecks,” the wine people are more like themselves — semi-educated, semi-sophisticated, white wine and cheese oriented. It's a class thing, really.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ABALONE COOK-OFF — “Abalone Cooks, this could be your year to be named the first-ever World Champion Abalone Cook!” says Carolyne Cathey, Executive Director of Mendocino Area Parks Association (MAPA). Abalone cooks are invited to compete in the 2012 MAPA World Championship Abalone Cook-Off, Saturday, October 6, 2012. The event is held in memory of Ken Tallman, founder of the MAPA fundraiser and in honor of the Tallman family of Subsurface Progression Dive Shop. The World Champion winner will receive a trophy. Even more, the three traditional Grand Prizes will still be awarded; the three winning booths may enjoy 8 days and 7 nights at a private villa in the Yucatan, donated by the Subsurface Progression Dive Shop and the Tallman family. Also, MAPA will award $1000 to each Grand Prize Winner that they can use for their transportation to the Yucatan. Other prizes will also be awarded. The odds of winning a prize are excellent because competing abalone cooks have approximately a one-in-ten chance of snagging the Grand, and a one-in-thirty of winning the World Champion Abalone Cook Trophy. “If you believe you have a great recipe, then you could be our next winner,” says Chris Anderson, the Abalone Committee Chair. “But MAPA only has room for 30 abalone cooks at the Noyo Harbor location, so people need to register before we are full.” As of this date only 14 cook sites are available. If you don’t cook abalone but love to eat it and want to help MAPA and parks, then we invite people to be an Abalone Cook-Off Judge, where they may taste up to 10 delicious wild abalone recipes and vote for your favorite dish. There is also wine and beer tasting, live music by the Bayou Swamis, a silent auction, craft fair and raffle. “Due to MAPA and Team Standish re-opening Standish-Hickey SRA as of July 6th and actually running the park, MAPA’s mission in more crucial than ever,” says John Redding, MAPA Board Chair. “Traditionally, MAPA funds the natural and cultural heritage programs in our local state parks, and supports six visitor centers. Now, we feel impelled to expand our mission by partnering with parks and the community to help keep our parks open as we did with Standish.” Redding adds, “Our businesses and communities are dependent on our parks for visitor income and a quality of life. We must pull together to keep our local parks available for the benefit of all of us.” For more information on being a competing cook, or for abalone tasting-judge tickets, please contact MAPA at www.mendoparks.org, mapa@mendoparks.org, or 707.937.4700.
CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR JOHN BURTON has backed off his invocation of Goebbels as the inspiration for the Republican lie machine: “To correct press reports of my recent comments about Republican lies, I did not call Republicans Nazis nor would I ever. In fact, I didn’t even use the word. If Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, or the Republicans are insulted by my describing their campaign tactic as the big lie — I most humbly apologize to them or anyone who might have been offended by that comment.”
COMMENT OF DAY from Jim Kunstler: “The two major parties pretend that so-called ‘entitlement’ programs can be simultaneously reformed, improved, and abolished — that is, you can have your cake and eat it (with ice cream) at the same time you throw it in the garbage. Reality rejects this incoherent juggling act and proposes that Americans better just make other arrangements for old age, routine medical care, and daily bread. This implies cultural as much as economic transformation and it will occur emergently no matter what empty promises anyone makes. People who want to get food at regular intervals will have to find some way to make themselves useful to others. Medicine will return to the local clinic model and doctors will have to find another motivation for practice besides the acquisition of German automobiles. Old people will have to prevail upon their offspring for care and protection, and they will be expected to play a useful role in the household or community in return if they are able-bodied.”
THE MAJOR, a veteran of hostile receptions, elicited groans at last Thursday's quiz at Lauren’s Restaurant in Boonville when he announced that one of the quiz rounds would be “Mendocino County.” The Major was filling in for Quizmaster Steve Sparks who was steering his soccer team to a 5-1 victory over Cloverdale in Cloverdale. The Major thought, if anything, the questions were too easy. And one player even admonished his groaning colleagues, “Hey, you live in Mendocino County!”
1. NAME THREE former Supervisors who served in the 2000s. 2. According to the latest County Ag Report, within 2000, how many acres of grapes does Mendocino County have? 3. Who was the County Sheriff before Tom Allman? 4. To within 1000, what was the population of Mendocino County according to the US Census 2011 estimate? 5. In the most recent County election what County department received dedicated additional funds from a sales tax measure called Measure A? 6. a. Who is the current District Attorney? b. Who was the current District Attorney’s immediate predecessor? 7. (True or False?) a. The County Agricultural Commissioner is an elected official. b. The County Auditor is an elected official. 8. To within ten miles, what is the road distance between Covelo and Gualala by the shortest route on paved roads? (This one elicited the most groans.)
THE BEST ANY team could do was four and a half correct out of eight questions. You get the answers next week, and no cheating!
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