AGENDA ITEM 6b for the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors begins: “It is customary for the Board of Supervisors to honor outgoing Supervisors in recognition of their public service.” Outgoing Supervisor Kendall Smith wrote her own agenda item (“Time Allocated for Item: 30 min” (!)): “Supervisor Kendall Smith, elected to office in November 2004, devotedly represented the constituents of the 4th Supervisorial District for eight years, from January of 2005 through 2012. Supervisor Smith served two terms as Chair of the Board in 2007 and again in 2011, the latter year in which she oversaw one of the most difficult fiscal years in the County’s history that required many tough budgetary decisions. She has served with distinction on many boards and committees including the Mendocino County Board of Retirement, Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG), the Fisheries Restoration Grants Program and the North Coast Integrated Regional Water Management Plan/Policy Review Panel, to name a few. Her passion and concern for the environment has positively affected the local region’s wilderness lands, marine life, coastal ecosystems, old-growth redwood groves and salmonid restoration practices through sponsorship of items on Board Agendas and her involvement in the community. The citizens of Mendocino County deeply appreciate her leadership, her dedication to public service, and her passionate advocacy for sound public policy in representing Mendocino County. The Board of Supervisors wishes to recognize outgoing Supervisor Kendall Smith and show their appreciation for her service by adopting a resolution in her honor as follows:
Whereas, Kendall Smith was elected to serve as Fourth District representative to the Board of Supervisors in 2004 by people who pay no attention whatsover, commencing her term of office on January 1, 2005 to unfailingly misrepresent constituents of the Fourth District of Mendocino County while protecting the interests of herself and her dogs for whose care she often billed the taxpayers of Mendocino County, and
Whereas, having been re-elected to serve a second four-year term because the local media except for the AVA failed to alert voters that Ms. Smith was dishonest, marginally competent and perhaps certifiably 5150, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith parlayed her experience as gofer for Congressman Corktop, a phony liberal much beloved by the phony liberals of Mendocino County into eight long years as a Mendocino County Supervisor, and
Whereas, during Ms. Smith’s eight years as Fourth District Supervisor she did indeed fully commit herself to maximizing her own compensation while minimizing that of all other Mendocino County employees, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith served on many boards and committees for no other reason than to fatten her travel and conference reimbursements, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith stole well over the minimally documented $3,000 for travel not traveled, and
Whereas Ms. Smith, aided and abetted by Mendo bureaucrats of comparably limited ethical functioning, only repaid the money she stole after four grand juries documented the thefts and DA Eyster threatened to prosecute her, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith bullied staff who complied with her endless petty requests only because it was easier than suffering repeated pesterings, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith went on every pointless junket she could pressure her colleagues into subsidizing, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith's incoherent presentations at public meetings sent eyeballs rolling and her colleagues into deep slumber, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith never took a clear position because no one could ever figure out what the hell she was talking about, and
Whereas, in the tradition of incompetent Fort Bragg supervisors, Ms. Smith misrepresented the Board on the Retirement Board and every other commission she served on, and
Whereas, Ms. Smith went to great lengths to see that her own unused office in the Fort Bragg County office complex was maintained, preventing productive use of the space by productive county employees,
Now therefore be it resolved that on behalf of the residents of Mendocino County and the Fourth District this board officially extends its hand to hold the door for Ms. Smith’s departure without further ado. Better late than never.
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COSTLY ACTS OF SERIAL VANDALISM at the Hill House, Mendocino, last Thursday night where some ten persons had their tires slashed. Perhaps the same outlaws broke into other cars and at least one house. The Hill House management has gallantly stepped forward with an offer to file insurance claims on behalf of the persons vandalized.
AUSTIN MORRIS, the son of prominent Mendocino County economic commentator John Sakowicz, will receive a proclamation honoring him from the Sups on Monday, December 17th. Last summer young Morris saved the life of another crewmember who had fallen from the Kaisei, a research ship with Project Kaisel monitoring the radioactivity emitted by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor disaster. Morris pulled the young woman from the frigid 10-12 foot winter swells when she fell overboard during night watch off Vancouver.
FRACKING CALIFORNIA. By David Gurney
California’s best kept secret since leaky pipes at San Onofre, earthquake faults under Diablo Canyon, the $54 million hidden slush fund at State Parks, and the Governator’s maid, is that the state already hosts at least 628 “fracked” oil wells.
While the rest of the nation is in an uproar to immediately ban a practice that is known to poison water tables and destroy drinking water, the head of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) Catherine Reheis-Boyd, declared in a release to the Sacramento Bee that hydraulic fracking is “safe for California.” She claimed in the article “virtually all California drilling activities are overseen by one or more agencies. Existing regulations already provide for extensive environmental protection and worker and public safety.”
Facts indicate that the exact opposite is true.
Ms. Reheis-Boyd, president and spokesperson for the WSPA, also served as Chair for the controversial Marine Life Protection Act “Initiative,” revealing stark levels of deception and corruption, both with the “Initiative,” and California politics in general.
Last week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced new lease-sales for Bureau of Land Management lands in California for oil and natural gas “fracking” development. Offshore areas are showing up on maps, indicating reservoirs of underwater deposits that lie under the ocean off Santa Barbara and Southern California. It’s clear that government and petroleum officials want to “frack” in the very same areas Reheis-Boyd was appointed to oversee as guardian of marine habitat protection, for the MLPA “Initiative.”
What’s becoming obvious is that Reheis-Boyd’s expedient presence as Chairwoman of the “Blue Ribbon Task Force” for the MLPAI was a ploy by the oil industry, to make sure no restrictions were applied against drilling or fracking in or around so-called marine protected areas.
Objections to the obvious conflict of interest of Reheis-Boyd’s appointment to the top level of the MLPA “Initiative” fell upon deaf ears during the MLPAI’s run, and were in fact actively squelched by Kearns and West energy interest facilitators, during the quasi “public process,” a process which exclusively forced fishing and food gathering interests off the ocean in areas now apparently slated to become sacrifice zones for oil industry pollution.
Meanwhile, an October story by Bay Area NBC reporter Stephen Stock revealed that California already has numerous “fracked” wells – that state regulators have failed to even keep track of.
Fracking has been taking place for over five decades in Sacramento, Monterey, Los Angeles and Kern Counties, without any state oversight or regulation whatsoever.
According to Tim Kustic, chief oil and gas supervisor at the Department of Conservation, (link) “We don’t have an exact number of how many wells in the state are fracture stimulated.”
In California, the practice of fracking does not even require a permit. According to an Aug. 2012 article in San Luis Obispo’s ‘New Times’ – “The oil company drilling under Lyon’s…ranch and vineyard wasn’t required to obtain a permit or notify anyone before it began high-pressure pumping of a mix of water, sand, and a cocktail of “trade secret” chemicals, deep down into the earth. Not Lyons, not the county, not the state, not even the federal overseers of oil and gas drilling.” (link)
Negligent California law makers and supervisors are scrambling to catch up with the rest of the nation and the world, in regulating an alarming practice that many believe sacrifices pure, unpolluted water for natural gas. Residents in the above mentioned counties may be well-advised to start having their water tested.
Please see also: Fracking explained (You Tube)
How water is polluted by fracking (You Tube)
And: Former MLPA chair says hydrofracking is ‘safe for California’
SHANACHIE PUB December music & New Years Eve! Shanachie pub's music! Please remember, there are no dogs allowed at the pub. "happy hour" is daily from 5-7 pm! Get $1. off all drinks! TUESDAY PINTS are just $3. ALL DAY!!!! OPEN MIC is every WEDNESDAY at 8:40 PM!-Sign ups start at 3 pm REMEMBER, you can order gourmet pizza from PIZZA TO GO and have it delivered to the Pub! Hours are Sun.-Thurs. from 11am to 9 pm, and Fri. & Sat. from 11 am to 10 pm, and some of their specialties are the Southwestern, Mediterranean, Zorba, Marinated Mushroom and The 707! They also have garlic bread, Jo-Jo fries, wings, salads and more! Check out the menu on the bar and call 459-5813! Friday, December 21st Welcomes The West Africa Rhythms Of Dian Sewo And Amadou With Friends! 9 Pm-$5 Cover! Don't miss this night of dancing to the West African Rhythms of Dian Sewo Diallo and Amadou, who'll be bringing along some friends for a hot night of music! Saturday, December 22nd it's the debut of Comedian Richard Benson!-8 pm-No Cover! Richard Benson has been making people laugh ever since his childhood. During his school days, this special talent so impressed his teachers that they often singled him out for recognition saying, “Go stand in the hallway and think about your behavior.” In his adult years, joke telling and quipping continue to be a big part of Richard’s life. With his quick wit, he’s able to get a laugh from almost everybody he meets. Richard has extensive experience in the world of entertainment. As an actor, he has played comedic roles in theaters in his native Minnesota as well as in his adoptive state, California. Richard has a degree in broadcasting from the highly regarded Brown Institute of Minneapolis. He was the creator, producer and host of the humor oriented, “Planet Mirth” radio show on KZYX/KZYZ FM. Richard has been performing as a stand-up comedian for over 20 years. He describes himself as a classic comedian. He particularly enjoys performing for retired people and senior citizens. His influences include Bob Hope, Henny Youngman, Milton Berle and Steve Allen. Still To Come.... Saturday, Dec. 29th-Crosby Tyler!-8 Pm-No Cover! Road musician, travel junkie Crosby Tyler over the years has absorbed music of everyone from Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy (among others) of the blues genre to the Beatles, Jim Morrison and the Doors, Johnny Cash, Springsteen and Neil Young. A guitar and harmonica rack aside, Tyler reveals the soft-hatted, careworn voiced Los Angeleno to be as much theatre director as troubadour. This show will also feature his sidekick/stand up bass player. A naturally gregarious character, he involves his audience from the moment he sets foot on-stage, inviting them into the neighborhood he lives in, sharing his enthusiasm and getting the crowd to sing along to songs about cotton and, um, other crops, and mixing the light-hearted with the sincere and movingly personal. Visithttp://www.crosbytyler.com/ New Years Eve-Monday, Dec. 31st!-Brian Jordan Band!-9:30 Pm-$10. Cover Being a native of Southern California, musician/songwriter/composer, Brian Jordan delivers his sultry sound to audiences around the world with a unique flair. As leader of, “Brian Jordan Band”, Brian has thrilled many audiences with his own brand of rock infused groove music. As well, recent collaborations with DJ Logic and Willie Waldman Project have brought a new level of fluid, danceable, eclectic and fully improvisational performance! Shanachie Pub is located behind Adam's Restaurant on 50 B South Main St. in Willits. Call 459-9194 for more information or visit us on Facebook.
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