Mendocino County Today: Saturday, August 26, 2023

Clearing | Beach | Mary Luther | Elk Garage | Pool Rescue | Great Day | Panther Win | Phillip Busbee | Too Much | CSD News | Garage Sale | Dissolving Committees | MacKerricher Shore | Transparency Lack | Wifi Password | Tree Cutting | Gloriana Showcase | Doctor Bashing | Ed Notes | Hippie Toss | Rental Ordinance | Economy First | Planting Oaks | 1941 Packard | Ukiah Construction | Doug Rosoff | Copper Camera | Mental Illness | Deinstitutionalization | Populating | Yorkville Social | Morning Show | Old Barbies | Huge Arker | Yesterday's Catch | Litter Free | All Backwards | Marco Radio | Pencil Carving | Disgusting Smell | Vacate Order | Oil Disposal | Anoushka | Free Beer | Santana Watch | Lab Rat | Not Falling | Wretched Place | Never Surrender | Or Death | Campaign Photo | Totally Lawless | Imminent Separation | Except Bears | Ukraine | Money Tree | Sell Weapons | Another Summer | Buffalo Roam

NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES are forecast to occur across Northwest California during much of the next seven days. In addition, dry weather will be probable, and northwest winds will become increasingly gusty during mid to late next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): Another warm 57F in the fog this Saturday morning on the coast. More of the same this weekend then gradual clearing next week as the NW wind picks up.

MARY LUTHER

Mendocino, Friday August 25: Mary Luther died at 9:25 this morning at her home here in the arms of her husband Jim, her daughter Betsy and her son Jason, with her little dog Pearl lying next to her.

She also leaves three grandchildren, Henry Cordes of Smithville, Texas, and Joon and Jory Luther of San Jose, two great granddaughters, Louise and Fern Cordes of Smithville, and two brothers, John and Jim Drew, both of Nevada County.

Born Mary Elizabeth Drew In Sacramento August 1, 1938, she was the descendant of Cornish mining families who settled in Nevada County. She was a lifelong Democrat and Episcopalian, whip-smart, kind, funny and cool. She and Jim met in May 1959 when they were fellow students at Sacramento State College and married six months later. While honeymooning at Heritage House they promised each other that they’d one day move to the Mendocino Coast to make their home; a promise kept though it took some years to fulfill. They raised their two children first in Sacramento and then from 1970 on in Ukiah where they both worked until they both retired in 1996 and moved to the Coast.

An early love of books and reading came to define Mary’s life and career. She worked for several branch libraries in Sacramento and later for the library in Ukiah. She felt a real calling to be a good librarian, knowledgeable and helpful but not pushy. Inspired by Christopher Morley’s book “Parnassian on Wheels,” she welcomed the opportunity to work on the bookmobile and was the Mendocino County Bookmobile Librarian for 20 years, traveling all around the County every two weeks—Long Valley, Round Valley, Sanel Valley Anderson Valley, Westport, Ten Mile, Big River, Elk, Gualala, Point Arena, even down to the Sea Ranch where Mendocino County had a contract to provide bookmobile services—every two weeks. Quietly suggesting, recommending, delivering. And she loved it.

When she died, in addition to her loved ones, she left a pile of books on her bedside stand. She considered herself “a work in progress.” And she was.

She will be buried in Little River Cemetery. No services will be held.

— Jim Luther

RESCUE AT THE CV STARR CENTER, SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2023 

On Sunday, August 20, 2023, at approximately 3:20 pm The CV Starr Center (Fort Bragg Community pool and recreation center) dealt with a medical emergency, which required all lifeguards on duty to spring into action. Both paramedics and firefighters were dispatched to help with the emergency, along with the Fort Bragg Police Department. 

While lifeguards undergo extensive training for emergency situations, this was no ordinary emergency. The situation quickly escalated into one of the most severe emergencies that staff at the Center have responded to since its conception. The lifeguards quickly shifted into emergency responder mode, without hesitation. The victim was immediately pulled from the water and brought to a safe and secure place on the pool deck. Staff then proceeded to care for the victim until EMS arrived on the scene. While the victim was being cared for additional lifeguards followed proper protocol, which consisted of clearing both pools, maintaining crowd control, keeping patrons and small children calm, all while protecting the privacy of the victim. What makes the response of the lifeguards even more astonishing is the fact that this was the first day on the job for over half of the staff on duty that day. These young adults rose to the pressure of this event with professionalism, maturity, and courage. They are true heroes; the City of Fort Bragg and the CV Starr Center are blessed to have them. 

Management at the CV Starr Center would like to thank the additional responders, who not only handled the situation with care for the victim, but also cared for the lifeguards’ mental/emotional wellbeing after the intense event. 

As Special thank you to Sergent McLaughlin, Officer Franco and CRU Team member, Janette Orneals. 

Moneque Wooden, Coast Parks & Rec Director

Fort Bragg

AV SOCCER BEATS CREDO 3-NIL

Through three games, the Panthers have given up ZERO points

MAN FOUND DEAD IN COVELO BARN FIRE ID'D

Authorities identified a man who was found dead last weekend outside a barn that was on fire in Mendocino County.

Firefighters found Phillip Busbee, 68, unresponsive outside the structure about 5 p.m. Saturday as they responded to the blaze in Covelo, Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Lt. Quincy Cromer.

Busbee, who lived on the property, was pronounced dead at the site.

Witnesses and residents told Sheriff's Office investigators that numerous propane tanks, gasoline tanks and generators were stored in the barn. They also said they heard multiple explosions during the fire.

Residents told investigators Busbee was in the barn when the fire started.

Crews from the Covelo Fire Protection District and Cal Fire extinguished the flames.

The Coroner Unit is still investigating Busbee's cause of death.

COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT NEWS

(From the Minutes of the August 16, 2023 Board Meeting)

Idea for Funding Maintenance for Future Public Improvements in Anderson Valley: Patrick Miller Presentation of the 1% Fund Raising Plan for Future Public Improvements In Anderson Valley: Public amenities as a primary goal. It is a partnership and done with local businesses to collect a small percent from tourists and visitors and the community. Miller talked about other towns that have been successful with this type of fund raising. It isn’t a new idea and it isn’t a tax. A business can advertise that they are part of this program. There was a discussion about reaching out to the Community Foundation people and to meet with them. After some back and forth, it was decided to keep this item on the CSD agenda for another month. Director Kathleen McKenna will find out from the County how much tax they collect in Anderson Valley and report back. Miller thanked the Directors for their time. Miller stressed that this is for Anderson Valley only. Chair Valerie Hanelt thanked him.

* * *

Skatepark Receiving $250,000 From Assemblymember Jim Wood: By now everyone is probably aware that the skatepark is receiving a quarter of a million dollars from Assemblymember Jim Wood (District 2 CA). We should be receiving this money hopefully in the next month or two, and they have stated that it must only be used for planning and building costs related to the skatepark. They are very excited to be receiving this money!

* * *

Our lovely secretary Patty Liddy will be on vacation for all of September for those who might not be aware. The Personnel Committee is still in the process of restructuring the job description so we can get started on hiring someone new. Patty has said she could stay until about the New Year and then she will be moving on.

* * *

Fire Chief’s Report (Chief Andres Avila)

Boonville Rescue Replacement: Initial research for purchasing a rescue apparatus for Boonville Station is in the ball park of $350K. This is a very undesirable price increase of about 100%. The market has had massive price increases over the last few years that has been industry wide. The delay in chassis delivery, the increase in materials and the decreased labor force has all driven the price up. This has also extended the lead times for new build outs tremendously, to the point that some manufacturers are quoting four years for delivery. We must consider these delays and price impacts when implementing our apparatus replacement plan and decisions to maintain a fleet of 24 apparatus.

* * *

ISO Report: We received an Insurance Services Office (ISO) email with an update of our community classification rating under their Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) program. ISO had gathered information back in 2019 and 2020 and has now produced the latest results. ISO is a private independent organization that evaluates a fire department’s capacity to suppress structure fires based on categories like; training, number of FFs, pump capacity, municipal water supplies, tools, etc. We were down-graded from a 5/5Y rating to a 6/6Y rating which doesn’t make much sense since we have made many improvements since the last ISO review in 2014. I will be diving into the details of this report to contest the accuracy and understand their rating methodology in order to determine if we can correct or improve this new rating. I will inform the Board as to all developments as I go through this process.

* * *

MCFCA 501C3 and Fire Warden Position:Over the years, the County Fire Chiefs Association (MCFCA) and the Mendocino County Association of Fire Districts Association (MCAFD) have been working diligently to increase coordination with the county and to find funding for our small agencies through various sources. We have succeeded in some additional fire funding via the county agreeing to allocate a portion of Proposition 172 monies, county ballot measure Measures D & E known as the private campground Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and the recent 2022 Measure P. The TOT measure had a provision allowing up to 25% of the funds to be allocated at the discretion of the County Fire Chiefs (MCFCA). For the last year we have been attempting to establish the MCFCA as a legal nonprofit organization to allow the county to transfer funds to the MCFCA. The goal has been to utilize a portion of these funds to establish a Fire Warden position that could liaison for the MCFCA and MCAFD with the county and other agencies to ensure a fire and EMS voice is at the table. Inadvertently, this advocacy position has become a stumbling block for the creation of a 501C3 due to the political parameters prohibited with non-profits. We intend to continue with the intent of the nonprofit organization unless our pro bono attorney advises otherwise. Nonetheless, we need to find a regular way to maintain a presence at county and state levels to ensure that fire and EMS services are regularly represented and supported. 

* * *

Chief Avila reported that ambulance has been phenomenal lately with volunteers stepping up. Avila is aware that we need a plan in place long term, but the Anderson Valley has been covered very well recently.

* * *

Water & Wastewater Projects

Wastewater: Still waiting for soils analyses [at the North Boonville near and across from the Gas Station/Drive-In]. Once the engineer has the data he can finish designing the leach field system.

Drinking Water: Negotiations are either done or are close to being done. Meadow Estates now has their agreement, and their water board will need to contact the parcel owners to accept the agreement or get back to us with requests for modification. The outreach survey is completed with about 180 parcels out of 240 (75%) of the parcel owners indicating interest in hooking up to the system. This is acceptable. The next step is to develop the modified rate study which will look slightly higher than the 80% hook-up rate we used in the information shared in meetings, etc. This will be the new rate that will go out in the Prop 218 letter which only goes out to the “yes” (and “maybe”) parcels (180 parcels). We are not contacting the “no” parcels again. There is a waiting period once the Prop 218 letter goes out to give time to respond. If no more than 50% plus 1 parcel owners object to the new rate the project is approved. RCAC (Rural Communities Assistance Corp) is now moving into assisting us with applying for the DFA construction grant. The first phase of this grant will be to finish the 100% design of the system (the planning grant completed 30% of the design). This is because the State did not want to finance the considerable expense of the full design in case the project did not go forward. Once we have the full design we will also be looking to get commitment from the parcel owners who indicated interest so that it can go out to bid. This is still at least a year to 18 months into the future.

* * *

AV DISTRICT OPPOSES ANTI-DEMOCRATIC INITIATIVE 21-0042A1

Anderson Valley Community Services District Votes to Oppose Deceptive Proposition Aimed for November 2024 Statewide Ballot that Would Undermine Voter Rights and Jeopardize Local Services

[Boonville, August 17, 2023]– On August 16, 2023 the Anderson Valley Community Services District voted unanimously to oppose Initiative 21-0042A1, a deceptive, developer-sponsored proposition aimed for the November 2024 statewide ballot that would undermine voter rights and significantly jeopardize local agencies’ ability to provide essential services and infrastructure for residents. The measure is being pushed by millions of dollars in contributions from developers and the California Business Roundtable, an association that represents developers, oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, and other wealthy corporations. 

“This far-reaching proposition would give wealthy corporations a new constitutional loophole to avoid paying their fair share for the impacts they have on our communities, including on our environment, infrastructure, and local services,” said Valerie Hanelt, Chair of the AVCSD “It contains undemocratic provisions that would make it more difficult for local voters to pass measures needed to fund critical services and would limit voter input by prohibiting local advisory measures where voters provide direction on how they want their tax dollars spent.” 

Anderson Valley Community Services District joins a fast-growing coalition, including the California Special Districts Association, League of California Cities, California Professional Firefighters, California Alliance for Jobs, SEIU California, and AFSCME California.

Unless defeated, the measure puts billions of dollars currently dedicated to state and local services at-risk and could force cuts to public schools, fire and emergency response, law enforcement, public health, parks, libraries, affordable housing, services to support homeless residents, mental health services, and more. The measure:

Limits voter rights, transparency, and accountability.

The measure would limit voter input by prohibiting local advisory measures, where voters provide direction to politicians on how they want their local tax dollars spent.

It changes our constitution to make it more difficult for local voters to pass measures needed to fund local services and local infrastructure.

It also includes a provision that would retroactively cancel measures that were passed by local voters — effectively undermining the rights of voters to decide for themselves what their communities need.

Jeopardizes vital local and state services.

The measure puts at risk billions of dollars currently dedicated to critical state and local services.

It could force cuts to public schools, fire and emergency response, law enforcement, public health, parks, libraries, affordable housing, services to support homeless residents, mental health services, and more.

It would also reduce funding for critical infrastructure like streets and roads, public transportation, drinking water, new schools, sanitation, utilities, and more.

Opens the door for frivolous lawsuits, bureaucracy, and red tape that will cost taxpayers and hurt our communities.

The measure will encourage frivolous lawsuits, bureaucracy, and red tape that will cost local taxpayers millions — while significantly delaying and stopping investments in infrastructure and vital services.

COUNTY PROPOSES TO ‘DISSOLVE’ CITIZEN COMMITTEES

by Jim Shields

Let’s see, for the past 18 months we’ve heard from the Board of Supervisors that the County is broke but they don’t quite know how that happened.

Supervisor Ted Williams says the County “has three set of books.”

At a recent Board meeting, Williams asked County Counsel Christian Curtis, “Can you assure us we have accurate (financial) information now, that we can trust this data we have now?” Curtis succinctly responded, “No, that’s something the Board will have to take up.” 

Supervisor Glenn McGourty says, “It’s difficult to do business when you don’t know how much money you have in the bank.”

Negotiations with the County’s largest bargaining unit are stalemated because the union doesn’t believe and/or know how much money is in the bank either.

So with all this uncertainty surrounding finances, what’s being done to straighten this mess out?

Well, according to a memorandum-report submitted by County Counsel Curtis in support of a proposal to be discussed at Tuesday’s BOS meeting, the supervisors may approve “dissolving” upwards of 29 citizen committees, including all six of the existing Municipal Advisory Councils (“MACs”) located in Gualala, Hopland, Laytonville, Redwood Valley, Round Valley, and Westport.

That’s the brainstorm to solve financial woes.

Here’s relevant excerpts from the Curtis memo outlining the plan.

“During budget hearings on June 7, 2023, the Board of Supervisors directed the Executive Office to work with departments and community partners to identify functions of the County which community members and nonprofits could fulfill the role at a lower cost to the County. The fiscal year 23/24 budget approved the use of approximately seven million dollars ($7,000,000) in reserves and other one-time monies to cover expenses that will recur on an annual basis. This structural deficit is projected to grow to more than ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in fiscal year 24/25, at which would deplete most of the remaining reserves. As such, the Board has undertaken a larger effort to reduce expenses related to nonessential operations. As part of that process, the Executive Office and County Counsel have worked with departments to identify existing boards, committees, commissions, and advisory bodies (collectively “Committees”) that are not required by statute, citizen’s initiative, or other law … Per the included fiscal analysis, the Executive Office has calculated the annual costs of operating the identified committees at $921,020.66. True costs are likely much higher, but significantly more difficult to calculate.”

It should be noted the annual budget for all six MACs is a combined total of $17,500. For some unknown reason, the Gualala MAC is allocated $5,000, while the remaining five MACs are budgeted at $2,500, each. I can tell you that the Laytonville MAC, on which I serve as chairman, has not spent a dime of our annual $2,500 in the past four years. 

So the bottom line is the County is planning to terminate all six MACs to save $17,500 which is probably not being expended by the MACs in the first place. That makes a lot of sense doesn’t it?

Basically, the same is true for the other 23 citizen committees on the chopping block. 

Counsel Curtis in his memo alleges that MACs and other citizen committees just aren’t up to doing their jobs because they can’t cope with the Brown Act, which is complete nonsense and demonstrates his ignorance of the open meeting law in relation to citizen committees.

Here’s his unique interpretation of the Brown Act as it pertains to how advisory committees actually function and operate:

“When a Brown Act body deals with a broad range of subject matter, then its members are restricted from discussing a broad range of topics outside of their meetings. Thus, as the MACs role has broadened over time, it has further limited the ability of its members to pursue local civic engagement outside of the MACs. MACs members have increasing limitations on their ability to participate in the meetings of local districts, nonprofits, or other areas of community interest without violating the Brown Act. This, coupled with the fiscal and operation impact to the department, has led PBS (Planning and Building Services) to conclude that the current MAC functions may be better performed by local nonprofits or nongovernmental organizations (“NGOs”).”

This whole scheme is a reprise from seven years ago when then-CEO Carmel Angelo attempted to deep-six the MACs because she didn’t agree with some of the recommendations they were making to the Supervisors.

I was successful in putting a stop to it by working with Supes Dan Gjerde and Carrie Brown to overturn Angelo’s actions.

Part of the settlement agreement I wrote specified, “Earlier versions of the proposed MAC policy [written by Angelo] not only attempted to re-write the original legislation, but it conflicted with both the letter and spirit of the MAC statute found in Government Code Section 31010. It was and is the LAMAC’s (Laytonville MAC) position that the statute’s enabling resolutions are sufficient guidance for the formation and operations of Municipal Advisory Councils.”

Anyway, I don’t believe there will be majority support on the BOS at the Tuesday meeting to implement this foolish proposal. Both the Supervisors and the MACs understand the mutual benefits that derive to our communities from working together to at least get a few things accomplished that otherwise wouldn’t happen.

(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org)

TRANSPARENCY? HARDLY.

Dear Editor,

This about is the lack of financial information that our County has. Here is a link to the Month to date accumulated totals through the Mendocino County's Budget Portal:

https://comendocinoca.opengov.com/transparency/#/2742/accountType=expenses&embed=n&breakdown=types&currentYearAmount=monthly&currentYearPeriod=months&graph=bar&legendSort=coa&month=6&proration=false&saved_view=88212&selection=A9741D81E6019592C5BCAFE2B5496302&projections=null&projectionType=null&highlighting=null&highlightingVariance=null&year=2022&selectedDataSetIndex=null&fiscal_start=earliest&fiscal_end=latest

These totals were updated July 28, 2023. They show totals for budget year 2021-22, not even last year's budget of 2022-2023. And we are in budget year 2023-24.

Notice the link for opengov.com- the first word is transparency! What transparency, when these totals are over a year behind?

This coming Tuesday's Board of Supervisors (BOS) Agenda packet has 1,390 pages. Here's the link:

https://mendocino.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=PA&ID=1075916&GUID=A2084714-671B-4E3B-B62E-F9CB9A647DCB

These are some of the Agenda items: Short-term rental ordinance, Parks, Broadband, to name a few. There are 48 items on the Consent Calendar. If you are not aware of how the Consent Calendar works, it is voted through with a majority of yes votes by each Supervisor (I have never seen one not approved). All items are supposed to be non-controversial. A lot of items get “pushed through” on the Consent Calendar, including, recently, raises.

I encourage everyone to attend BOS meetings, have your voice heard in public comment and follow where your money is being spent and what is being planned for our future. 

Happy reading!

Carrie Shattuck

1st District Supervisor Candidate

Ukiah

TREECUTTING - REQUIRES NOTIFICATION

Current crews at the behest of PG&E might be cutting without informing you beforehand. They should have attempted to contact you notify, re: trees & limbs marked for removal due to wire proximity. According to some, there should be 3 attempts to make contact with property owner in question.

If notified, owners can monitor and ensure that piles and slash - branches, logs, etc are cleared and chipped if possible, or ordered so the land is left safer’.

Fire preparation and readiness certainly is welcomed by all of us. Following protocols and sharing information helps that process go more smoothly. The workers are doing the heavy lifting. If the companies not in the field, do the outreach, the workers can do their jobs more efficiently. Forward.

Julie Rumble <jrumble@mcn.org>

IS THIS ANOTHER CASE OF BLATANT MISOGYNY?

To the Editor:

Tommy Wayne Kramer recently published a column that bashed the new Ukiah High School Principal for saying she preferred to be called Dr. Alvarez.

It would be interesting to know if he ever trashed our beloved Dr. Don Demartini of the same school district for using the title “Doctor” in his professional capacity.

I’m also wondering if this is another case of blatant misogyny or veiled racism? My suggestion is that you at least request this supposed writer’s pseudonym be changed to Tommy Whine Kramer.

Our local students need good and respected role models, and Dr. Alvarez is certainly due the respect of the title and position she’s earned.

Tom Montesonti

Ukiah

ED NOTES

The three affidavits used as the basis for an August 11 police raid on the Marion County Record, a small Kansas newspaper that was investigating corruption in the police department, were not filed until three days after the search warrants were executed. Many civil libertarians are blaming the judge for blindly signing the warrants. “Too often the warrant process is just a way for police to launder their lack of probable cause through a compliant judge,” Jared McClain told the Kansas Reflector. “Until we start holding judges accountable for enabling the abusive and lawless behavior of the police, incidents like this are just going to keep happening.”

Ed note: Mendo judges have been blind-signing search warrants for many years, probably since the founding of the county in 1850.

We’re all enjoying the Trump Gang’s bookings, but he may have the last laugh, especially if he runs against that other long-time grifter, Biden.

BLIPS ON A DIMMING mind screen: Trump says he’s 6’3" and 215, which are exactly my dimensions, and I ask you my friends which of us is being truthful? Looking at the omni-indicted former leader of the free world, I’d guess he comes in at a little over 250 and he’s about 6’2".

DEPARTING FORT BRAGG the other night after a dialogue of the deaf, but under a redeeming brilliant quarter moon, the night-lit tennis courts were busy with adult athletes. Adjacent to the tennis courts, a dozen or so kids played half-court basketball on the unlit court. Light it, too, Fort Bragg. Anything wholesome to burn off youthful energy is always a civic plus.

THE NAME CHANGER spoke first. But he didn’t speak, he read out of a biography of Braxton Bragg, Fort Bragg’s accidental, afterthought namesake a century and a half ago. When it was my turn to add to the tedium I was surprised, having been lulled into a kind of narcoleptic trance by the droning voice of my adversary. It’s odd that people of purplish political persuasions like this guy want to either re-write or eliminate American history to bring it into line with their effete, faddish sentiments. It’s the glory of our fine, fat, genius of a nation that we emerged from our barbarous founding years to become the thriving, mostly assimilated, vivid mix of people that we are today. 

THE THRIVING part may be on the wane, and we seem to be headed for a balkanized future — or worse — with us candy asses pretty much confined to California, Chicago, New York, and Vermont, with the Magas dominant in all the areas in between.

WHICH reminds me of that crack by some sage who said that America is the first country to move directly from barbarism to decadence without an intervening civilization. 

IT’S DECADENT out there for sure, but we certainly managed an unrivaled cultural interim between the slavery and mass murder of our early years and today, with that plump, porn-soaked, nose-ringed, tattooed freak show we see beyond Boonville and Fort Bragg. 

49ers HAVE TRADE QB TREY LANCE to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round draft pick. Good luck to him because bad luck plagued him as a Niner.

REQUEST FOR GUIDANCE: INLAND SHORT-TERM RENTAL (STR) ORDINANCE 

Memorandum to Supervisors from the Planning Department (Excerpt)

Introduction: Online hosting services such as Airbnb, Vrbo, Expedia, and others allow individuals to rent out real property on a short-term basis, commonly known as short-term rentals. These online hosting services are known as part of the sharing economy, where physical assets are shared as services. Though communities have shared the use of assets for thousands of years, the advent of the Internet has made it much easier for asset owners and those seeking to use said assets to find one another. With short-term rentals and their online hosting providers being some of the more recent additions to the sharing economy, many jurisdictions across the nation have already considered or are just now considering the benefits and consequences of such property uses and how to strike a balance with effective regulations. 

Short-term rentals throughout Mendocino County have implications for transient occupancy tax revenues, lodging options, housing stock, and neighborhood stability. Currently, the only short-term rental regulations within the County’s Zoning Ordinance are in its coastal regions, Division II (Coastal Zoning Code) and Division III (Mendocino Town Zoning Code). Despite these existing regulations, there are no explicit short- term rentals regulations for the inland areas of the County captured by Division I of the Zoning Ordinance. To better address this the Planning Department has summarized previous County actions and discussed the existing regulatory framework, relevant case studies, and potential guidelines to consider when crafting short-term rental regulations for the inland areas of Mendocino County. 

. . .

Recommendations: It is necessary to public health and welfare to regulate health and safety standards related to the nature and ongoing operations of STRs through a STR ordinance. The following recommendations are offered to better direct staff on the next steps in developing STR regulations for the inland areas of the County: 

Evaluate whether a distinction between hosted and un-hosted rentals should be made.

Evaluate what minimum standards should be required for STRs including but not limited to the following:

Noise limits

Parking requirements

Proof of Water

Proof of Septic

Establish yearly caps rental days

Prohibit use of accessory dwelling units 

Provide direction on potential avenues for the enforcement of regulations including code enforcement, third-party compliance software, and/or incorporation of penalty fees.

Provide direction of the level of permitting that should capture STRs and whether or not public hearings should be required.
…

(Full memo is attached to this week’s agenda item # 4a at https://mendocino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx)

THAT WAS COOL - Local School Program Adopts Baby Oak Trees

by Justine Frederiksen

I live next to a very tall Valley Oak that drops a lot of acorns in my yard. If those acorns sprout I usually pluck them, but one spring when I found a bunch of tiny oak trees happily growing in my outdoor pots, I couldn’t bring myself to yank out the seedlings and toss them in the yard waste bin.

And I was especially inspired to find a home for those trees at the time because I had just read a book called “The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees,” in which Douglas W. Tallamy urges those who can to plant oaks in their yards because they “support more forms of life and more fascinating interactions than any other tree genus in North America.”

So I asked my fellow tree lovers for ideas on who might be willing to adopt my oaks, and one pointed me to the staff at a local school program who happily agreed to plant them.

That was cool.

When I visited my seedlings at the Redwood Valley Outdoor Education Project in May of 2021 before they were planted, Erich Sommer showed me the spots he carefully picked out for the trees.

“We were trying to think about where they could get some full sun, but still get some protection as well,” he said while standing next to one of the holes he dug for the sprouted acorns, which he guessed had not planted themselves, but were actually put in the pots by my resident Scrub Jay.

I was disappointed that we couldn’t plant the trees while I was there, so Sommer said he could take pictures of them once they were put into the ground, “or you could come back and visit your babies.” (I loved that he called them my babies, because while I felt that way about them, I wasn’t going to be the first to say it!)

After some of the trees were planted, Maureen Taylor, education coordinator for RVOEP, sent me pictures as promised. She said I delivered far more seedlings than she had expected, but she enjoyed gently separating their roots in preparation for planting, though only a few were put into the ground before the weather got too hot.

“I’m taking the rest home to baby on my porch until after we get some rain,” she said, adding that the program’s staff was inspired to begin planting oaks after a crew from Cal Fire helped them clear tree limbs and other wildfire fuels from the property. “Then we looked at all the empty land and thought about what we wanted to put back.”

Knowing how much of the local wildlife depends on oaks — caterpillars who eat the leaves, the birds who eat the caterpillars, plus the deer, squirrels and, of course, acorn woodpeckers who depend on acorns for food — Taylor said they began an Oak Restoration Project, and happily folded my trees into the mix.

Amy Wolitzer, an outdoor educator who works with Sommer at the RVOEP, said the Valley Oaks were particularly welcome because the school site mostly has Blue Oaks, and “we’d like as much diversity of trees as possible to attract as much diversity of wildlife as possible,” explaining that Acorn woodpeckers want to see at least two varieties of oaks growing in an area before they move in.

“That’s so if one variety has a bad crop one year, there’s a good chance the other variety will have a good one,” said Wolitzer, who had invited me to visit the trees again this month while she tended to them.

“You need to water them the first year after they’re planted so they can take hold,” she said, explaining that while oaks usually grow best when planted as acorns, the seedlings they planted for me were thriving in their new home, though they still looked very tiny compared to the Valley Oak that towers over my house.

“Oak trees grow very slowly, so this is actually a great amount of growth,” said Wolitzer, whose “nature name” when teaching classes just happens to be Valley Oak.

UKIAH CONSTRUCTION UPDATES FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 28TH:

On the south side (Mill to Cherry), “potholing” will continue, though the “real” work that will involve trenching and utility replacement is not expected to begin until after Labor Day in September.

On the north side (Norton to Henry), work continues to install the new water lines. During this next week, there will be disruptions to water service for up to a full day. A minimum of 72 hours advance notice (on a flyer or doorknob hanger at your location) will be provided to individual properties before that occurs. As always, we will provide as much notice as possible and complete the work as quickly as possible. We know this is a huge inconvenience and we appreciate your patience. 

REMEMBERING DOC ROSOFF

Dr. Michael Turner:

Of all my colleagues when I practiced in Ukiah, Doug Rosoff was the doctor I respected the most. While the other psychiatrists in town (Gardiner, Lacy et al) cherry-picked the paying patients, Doug saw virtually all the psychiatric emergencies in the ER and was the only one taking care of indigent or imprisoned patients. These were all patients with severe morbidities and Doug was the only one to step up. It must have been incredibly taxing, but he was always calm, friendly, and helpful. A very humble man. His tragic death in 2012 was stupid; he was cycling and run over by a truck carrying construction materials to the McDonald’s remodel. They still haven’t fixed that intersection at Orchard and Gobbi, or put up a plaque. His demise left a huge void in the community as evidenced by Ukiah’s present anarchic mental health crisis.

THE MENTAL ILLNESS CONTINUUM

Editor,

Re: PHF…. Thanks again to Jim Shields for the details.

And yet here we are…all these years later…

This brings up a question, back then when the PHF was a working operation, were people with Serious Mental Illness just driven to PHF and they were evaluated and held on a 5150? Did the police understand when running in to these people they needed a ride to the PHF to be evaluated and they just transported them from street to jail?

And this part…. Lol

Speaking to the dangers of housing mentally ill inmates in the PHF, William French, a member of the Mental Health Advisory Board, as well as a former PHF patient, advised the Supes that “You have to look at how to better protect staff and patients (in the PHF) because with inmates there it’s not safe.”

I love how the separation is made of the criminal and the Serious Mental Illness…. Like they exist separately ….. 

And herein lies the crux of all the problems we face, because it is all so freaking discombobulated! It is a fact that people suffering from episodes of psychosis due to Serious Mental Illness can be combative and lash out. You would assume a PHF would be able to manage such behaviors and train its staff in how to recognize, approach and handle those situations. I see Mr. French’s statement as ridiculous and may he RIP. Because well at least now a big portion of inmates are those with Serious Mental Illness and often street people with SMI.

I am sure Sheriff Kendall can shed some light on that, but I think he downplays it and I say that with all due respect. He and I have had quite a few convos on these issues. The issues with safety due to violence/crime from Serious Mental Illness, affect the family first, always the family first and then the community at large. Intervention and prevention are necessary! 

So if we had a PHF now and when we do in the near future how do you suppose that is going to address any of these issues? It’s not, it is a nice looking band aid that will fall off because there is no structure underneath it to support us! I am always in awe of how many meetings and committees and services and all the money floated about that touts how things are working and solutions happening! As they say the proof is in the pudding, but there is no pudding!

And again last night walking my dog I saw young Jahlan Travis walking around ill, confused and sick. No intervention for him, do you think the mobile crisis unit would come to his aid if I called? The police?

Mazie Malone

Ukiah

IN THE 1960s California pioneered in what came to be called deinstitutionalization. Especially important was federal funding through Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, which provided for non-hospital room and board. The emigration from hospitals was phenomenal. At Mendocino State Hospital in Talmage, where several People’s Temple members worked, the patient census dropped from 3,000 in the early 1960s to 1,200 in 1969. A number of convalescent homes around Ukiah offered facilities for its former patients.

People’s Temple itself began organizing care homes for the burgeoning and potentially lucrative market in community care for the “socially dependent.” Its members took in not only elderly psychiatric patients but those simply requiring nursing home care, as well as younger mentally retarded people, and minors who had become wards of the state, some after being declared “incorrigible” by their parents.

It has been suggested that Jim Jones led the exodus from Indiana to California not just to escape nuclear holocaust in the “upwind” area north of San Francisco but, more importantly, to cash in on the deinstitutionalization of Mendocino State Hospital. Jones and his followers operated nursing homes in Indianapolis, and before leaving Indiana he promised that his followers would get jobs in California. Marceline Jones and as many as five other Temple members worked on the psychiatric hospital staff, and Marcie was a visiting nurse who looked in on patients placed in care homes. At least eight other Temple members at various times worked for another agency serving care-home residents, Mendocino County’s Department of Social Services; among them were some of the Temple’s more prominent members: Jim Randolph, Laura Johnston, Grace Stoen, Joyce Shaw, and Linda Amos. These Temple workers provided important liaison between the welfare system and the series of care homes that were established by still other Temple members. 

— From, ‘Gone From the Promised Land’ by John R. Hall (2004)

YORKVILLE ICE CREAM SOCIAL

On Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 4), the Yorkville Community Benefits Association will hold the 33rd Ice Cream Social.

There will be a Cake Walk with a special guest host, the Cake Walk Fairy. The book sale will also be selling books by the inch. Hamburgers, hot dogs, salads and tamales will be available. There is an area for kids to play in as well. A silent auction will also be an event.

This is a free event. All proceeds benefit the Yorkville volunteer fire station.

It will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yorkville Fire Station/Post Office/Community Center, located at 25400 Highway 128, Yorkville.

For more information, email ycba@gmail.com

SYMPHONY OF THE REDWOODS Invites You To Tune in to KZYX Monday morning to hear Symphony of the Redwoods' Board President, Eva von Bahr co-host the B Vitamins Show with Russell Piti Monday, August 28, 10 a.m. until Noon.

The old Barbies descend on the Regal Theater in downtown Ukiah today! Epic!

HUGE ARKER DAY

The Pilsner Available Nationwide

Conceiving an exceptional Pilsner is both difficult and a big responsibility. This is the Mother of All Beer-Flavored-Beers. The Pilsner is soft, crisp, clean, and delicious and while extremely drinkable it is also flavorful and complex.

(https://avbc.com/the-pilsner-in-a-can/?mc_cid=d4652bf6b9&mc_eid=UNIQID)

After twelve long months spent barrel aging and acquiring the superhuman strength of 15.5% ABV, Huge Arker Day will welcome back the Huge Arker on November 4th.

(https://fb.me/e/2R8bOdc6y?mc_cid=d4652bf6b9&mc_eid=UNIQID)

Got Merch?

Bear flannels? Skull T-shirts? An interpretation of the California Flag with Barkley as the bear? We’ve got it all. Stock up on some Anderson Valley Brewing merch and look cool in front of all your friends.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Friday, August 25, 2023

JESUS DIAZ-CARMONA, Covelo. Reckless driving, no license, evasion, probation revocation.

MATTHEW FAUST, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs. 

KIMBERLY JONES, Ukiah. Trespassing.

ANGEL MILLER, Ukiah. Unlawful camping on private property, parole violation.

SHANE MILLER JR. Ukiah. Under influence, mandatory supervision violation. 

ISIDRO ORTEGA-REYES, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, controlled substance. 

ABELINO SALGUERO, Ukiah. DUI.

JAMES SIMMONS, Laytonville. Arson, vandalism, parole violation.

VAN SLAGLE, Willits. Protective order violation.

PHILLIP WINTERS, Fort Bragg. Under influence, paraphernalia.

CRAIG CLEANS UP

A Li’l Straight Talk

Warmest spiritual greetings,

Awoke early, and once more walked along the fence line by the Ukiah airport picking up the litter all the way to Plowshares. South State Street, between Thomas Street and Plowshares, is litter free on both sides. I would like this remembered when it is time for the City of Ukiah budgetary meetings. Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center located at 1045 South State Street both needs and deserves more money! Let’s face it, if you live in Wine Country and your existence is at least semi-dependent on the Cannabis Industry, there is no sane reason to oppose increased funding for Redwood Community Services Organization/Building Bridges. I am thanking you in advance for your cooperation. Peaceout.

Craig Louis Stehr

MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio show is on all night tonight!

Soft deadline to email your writing for tonight’s (Friday night’s) MOTA show is 6 or 7pm. If you can’t make that, send it whenever it’s done and I’ll read it on the radio next week.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am PST on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg as well as via KNYO.org. Also the schedule is there for KNYO’s many other terrific shows.

Furthermore, you can always go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week’s MOTA show. By Saturday night I’ll put up the recording of tonight’s show. And you’ll find plenty of things to goggle at and ponder until showtime, or any time, such as:

Acquanetta, the Venezuelan Volcano.

www.vintag.es/2023/08/acquanetta.html

We all have so many things to worry about, and this comes on, and I’m crying, I’m so happy. The musicianship, the wonderful people, the recording quality, the coordination, the perfect mix of sound, the organization and tech behind all of it... Just, wow. Wow.

www.misscellania.blogspot.com/2023/08/listen-to-music.html

"However, scientists think that nature forbids the formation of naked singularities. Something enforces the creation of an event horizon around them to prevent their insanity from infecting the rest of the universe."

www.misscellania.blogspot.com/2023/08/what-happens-if-you-destroy-black-hole.html

Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, www.MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

MENDO COUNTY? 

(Facebook post)

Well we all found the source of the disgusting smell in our apartment complex. It’s sad and pisses me off that they housed people who are genuinely bad people. There is 3 known apartments here that are manufacturing drugs. I didn’t know that this is acceptable behavior in a federally subsidized complex. This place is barely a year old and is disgusting. We have no manager now, she lives here still but doesn’t go to work her guests participate in the drug and dealing activities. The corporation does not provide the services that are supposed to be here to support the families, the mental health needs and the drug and alcohol services as written in their contracts to any of the tenants. Several tenants have gone to authorities and Housing as well as county officials and nothing is getting done. 

This was supposed to be a positive environment for our family and an opportunity to rebuild to move forward and it’s anything but. I don’t know what to do anymore or where to go to get changes put in place for me and my family or the our neighbors who are beyond fed up to. Is it like this everywhere??? It was bad in Reno NV but what goes on in this place is 10 times worse. I wish we never came home.

CLOVERDALE TRAILER PARK RESIDENTS, SOME THERE FOR DECADES, GIVEN 60 DAYS TO MOVE; NEW OWNER SUGGESTS HOMELESS SHELTER

by Martin Espinoza

Soul Cotton, 53, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer three months ago. He uses a walker to tread the gravel and dirt driveways of the makeshift trailer park where he’s lived the past six years.

Amid a ramshackle assemblage of recreational vehicles, trailer homes, auto parts and junk, Adrian Cholula Gonzalez, his wife, Yasmin Lara, and their autistic son have also grown roots here.

Elizabeth Peterson, 64, has lived here with her daughter for 12 years. Peterson, who has a medical condition that causes swelling in her left leg and limits her mobility, cares for her daughter, who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child.

Along with a couple dozen others, they are among a diverse group of residents who have been told they must vacate their homes at 890 Rockwell Road, just outside Cloverdale city limits.

Gary Gerdes, their longtime landlord who for years operated a nearby auto wrecking yard, recently sold the property to a Cloverdale couple who want to make upgrades.

Rents the residents pay for their spaces are still in the hundreds of dollars, and many say they will be forced to flee the county or, worse, become homeless if they have to leave.

Gary Gerdes, their longtime landlord who for years operated a nearby auto wrecking yard, recently sold the property to a Cloverdale couple who want to make upgrades.

Rents the residents pay for their spaces are still in the hundreds of dollars, and many say they will be forced to flee the county or, worse, become homeless if they have to leave.

For decades, the unsightly property, bordered by Alexander Valley vineyards to the south and Big Sulphur Creek and the Russian River to the north, has offered the nearly 30 residents a refuge from the crippling rents and housing costs that plague Sonoma County and the rest of the Bay Area.

Unlike the scenic vineyards of Alexander Valley, the lives of those who live in Gerdes Apartments and Trailer Court are hidden from view. You can’t see them from Highway 101 and you won’t find them profiled in the pages of Sonoma County tourist magazines.

Their lives in Sonoma County had for a long time been tenuous, dependent largely on one family’s ownership of the trailer park. But now they face the unforgiving hunger of Sonoma County’s housing crisis.

Some residents said Gerdes, the previous owner, was flexible and often let them shave portions off their rent in exchange for work at his wrecking yard. But those days are over. The new owners say they can’t afford such arrangements.

“$400 is not going to cover … I have to pay for water … I’m paying for garbage, and I don’t know what else I have to pay for,” Rebecca Clemmer told The Press Democrat.

The trailer park is spread over four parcels — encompassing no more than two acres — of the 33 acres Gary Gerdes sold to the Clemmers in July.

A rusty basketball hoop sits in the middle of the parking lot. Tools, old furniture and broken appliances are strewn throughout. Several pets freely roam the property, receiving friendly greetings from the residents. They live in an array of aging RVs, trailers, fixed wooden structures and very old mobile homes that have been there so long they appear rooted in the gravel.

Numerous shade trees and shrubs offer respite from Cloverdale’s summer heat.

One of the residents being displaced is actually the sister of the former property owner, Gary Gerdes. Julene Gerdes said she was kept in the dark about the future of the property as much as her neighbors.

“I’m just kind of winging it right now,” she said. “I didn’t think this was going to happen. We knew (Gary) was going to sell the place, but he didn’t tell us what was going to happen.”

Julene Gerdes said her family had owned the property since the 1920s and operated a lumber company there for several years before it was turned into an auto wrecking yard.

She said she’s not sure if or when she’ll come into any of the $1.5 million the Clemmers paid her brother.

“I have a motor home here that I got to move out,” she said. “I can’t move it. It costs money so I need some money to move it. I have to move it or I have to leave it. What’s going to happen then?”

Maldonado Lopez lives in a wooden building that occupies two spaces with four other men. The structure is two stories and has four bedrooms, for which he and his housemates pay $1,000.

Maldonado Lopez said when he worked for Gerdes he often removed auto parts from old vehicles or moved the car carcasses from one place to another. He’s not sure what he’s going to do if he’s forced to leave.

He’s not worked since Gerdes sold the place and left the area, Maldonado Lopez said. And he’s still waiting for his last month’s pay.

“It’s really hard for me to find work at my age,” he said. “Where are we going to go? It’s too expensive to live anywhere else.”

Gerdes could not be reached for comment for this story. Residents say he no longer lives in Sonoma County.

On a recent evening, many of the residents gathered to speak to Press Democrat reporters about their plight. Many made it clear they would be unable to afford market rents.

Median gross rent in Cloverdale from 2017 to 2021 was $1,250, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Local housing advocates said the move to uproot residentsat 890 Rockwell Road is symptomatic of the housing affordability crisis that’s crept into even the most hidden corners of the county.

Karym Sanchez of the North Bay Organizing Project visited the residents last week to discuss their situation. Sanchez said his organization is trying to get Legal Aid of Sonoma County to weigh in and offer some assistance.

Sunny Noh, a supervising attorney of Legal Aid, said her group is currently reviewing the notices and that it’s too early to tell whether the Clemmers are following “the letter of the law.” Noh said in an email that Legal Aid has “concerns about the conditions of the park and how things are proceeding.”

She added that the hand-delivered and mailed notices sent to the residents appear to have been issued by Rebecca Clemmer, and that she hired the Sheriff’s Office to serve the notices.

These types of notices are a precursor to evictions proceedings, which can later be enforced by the Sheriff’s Office.

Noh’s said her main concerns center on the tenants themselves, some of whom have lived there for more than 20 years, despite the property’s substandard conditions. The county’s “constricted housing market” present an uphill battle to secure housing, she said.

“The residents of this park highlight the vulnerability of low-income tenants and mobile homeowners in this County. We know that many are elderly and/or seriously disabled … It will be incredibly difficult for most, if not all, of these residents to give up their homes and this community, which appears to be quite tight knit and supportive of one another,” she said.

Legal Aid is still determining whether the residents are covered under the state’s Tenant Protection Act.

Supervisor James Gore, whose fourth district encompasses much of northeast Sonoma County, acknowledged that these residents will likely be unable to withstand the “insatiable appetite“ of the local rental market. He said ”hidden places“ such as Gerdes Apartments and Trailer Court can be found all over the county, occupied by thousands.

Gore’s staff have reached out to the trailer park residents and local organizations to help find solutions.

“Our government and nonprofit service providers are there trying to identify housing options for folks,” he said. “Nobody knows how successful that will be … the programs that are offered don’t match the need.”

While the park’s residents are trying to figure out their next steps, the new owners, Rebecca and Curtis Clemmer, say they’re worried about the property’s neglected condition and possible liabilities it could present. During a phone interview, Rebecca Clemmer said she empathizes with the residents but now has a mortgage and has “to get the place cleaned up.”

“We don’t know what the houses look like. We don’t know what the conditions are on the inside,” she said. “So for our safety we need to evict them, fix them up so we don’t get sued as new landlords.”

Rebecca said she and her husband have been in talks to purchase the property from Gerdes for the past four years and that residents often called to ask about negotiations.

“They had four years to find a place. They knew this day was coming,” she said.

“They knew that new owners were coming in,” she said. “They had more than plenty of notice. Even 60 days is plenty of notice. I didn’t have to give them 60 days. These are trailers that are parked on the property … they can easily pick it up. There’s places for them.”

Clemmer said she suggested to residents places where they can go, including interim housing such as the trailer encampment at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and the 90-bed emergency shelter site at the county administration complex.

“There’s tents and everything. They can stay there,” she said. “And I told them once we get the park cleaned up, they’re more than welcome to come back.”

Clemmer said she gave residents a letter on July 28 to let them know she and her husband would need to clean up the park. Clemmer said she and her husband tried to talk to residents in person the next day but “no one wanted to talk to us until I got them served.”

The residents said they found notices taped to their doors by Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies on Aug. 1.

Jade Weymouth, executive director of the Cloverdale-based nonprofit La Familia Sana, said immigrant families and older individuals often face evictions when owners upgrade their properties.

Weymouth said more attention needs to be on the economic circumstances and forces that put their housing at risk.

“There’s a pattern and cycle, particularly with the seniors in our community — they’re on the brink of eviction and or becoming homeless,” Weymouth said. “There’s been a lot of conversation about getting people off the street. There needs to be more conversation about how to keep people from becoming homeless in the first place.”

Weymouth added that the impact of evictions and the county’s ever-increasing cost of housing is tearing families and communities apart.

“We have families leaving the county because they can’t find places to live,” she said. “We have kids being uprooted from their schools and their friends. We have seniors who have lived here for over 20 years who now are completely displaced and don’t have their own support system.”

Curtis Clemmer declined to comment on his attempt to clear the trailer park but defended his plans for the property. He said his purchase and plans for the site were an effort to bring much needed improvements to the neighborhood for other residents who live in that community.

“We’re trying to help the county clean up a yard that was in violation for years,” Clemmer said, referring to previous violations at the wrecking yard.

Sgt. Rob Dillion, a spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, said that since 2003, there have been 228 calls for service at the trailer park address. Since the start of 2022, there have been 14 calls for service, he added.

“I would consider that a lot,” he said.

A handful of residents have had numerous run-ins with the law: DUIs, battery, possession of drugs with intent to sell. However, court records indicate most of these offenses happened years before they resided in the trailer park.

One of the trailer park’s oldest residents is Ernie Knight, whose hands shake as he walks with a cane, though he refuses a walker.

Originally from Lubbock, Texas, he’s lived in his blue and white mobile home for nearly 19 years. Previously occupied by a niece, his only local family member, he estimates the home has been on the property for nearly 40 years. He moved to Cloverdale in 1970.

“I been here for most of my life,” he said with a tinge of a Texas drawl.

Now 15 years retired from MGM Brakes, a brake manufacturer and distributor in Cloverdale, he wants to stay in the county.

“I’m trying to get into some low-income housing in Healdsburg and Windsor, but the problem is they’re not built yet,” he said. He pays about $400 for his space, plus a Pacific Gas & Electric bill of over $100 a month.

He has an application for a low-income complex in town, but he was told the wait list is about two to three years long.

“Everything is full,” he said.

He, like the rest of the residents, doesn’t have time for a yearslong wait list.

“Sixty days isn’t enough for anybody to get out of here,” he said.

Residents heard rumors of an impending sale years ago, but they weren’t sure when it would happen.

“Almost until the day these people took over, we really didn’t know it had been sold,” said Peterson, who found out about the sale on July 27 via text from someone close to Gerdes.

After Peterson’s husband died two years ago, living without his income made life harder and complicated the search for a new spot.

“It’s not just the spot you’re looking at. I mean, there’s other factors with the trailer … you have PG&E. You also have propane, because they’re not natural gas. And then you have water, sewer, garbage, all that stuff. Prices change, everything is going up,” she said.

They live on a fixed disability income, and their primary medical providers are all in Sonoma County, with some “right here in town,” Peterson said.

She has lived on the property for nearly 12 years with her adult daughter, Kimberly, who suffered from a traumatic brain injury at age 9.

Since Peterson receives ongoing testing and she and her daughter see specialists who’ve spent years with them, they’d rather not change their medical providers.

Raised in the city of Sonoma, she’d like to stay in the county but finding a place to accommodate her 40-foot trailer also seems unlikely.

“It’s going to be a toss up whether feasibility or affordability wins out,” she said. She’s considering moving to Mendocino County with her son, but that’s a last resort decision.

“Me, I’m in a fifth-wheel, so yeah, I can pick it up and move it, but there are other people here who live here who can’t do that. They can’t even take their homes with them,” she said, referring to the long-occupied mobile homes that are simply too old to move and have seemingly fused into the ground.

She, like many others, are saddened by the possibility of having to leave considering the connections they’ve fortified over the years.

“If anybody here needs something, there’s always someone here who will help,” Peterson said.

Others in the community also want to stay in the county, but their downturned faces and hunched shoulders say everything before their words: they’ll likely move further north to Lake or Mendocino counties. That is, if they can find an affordable apartment, a home to rent, or a space to park their trailer or mobile home.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

ANOUSHKA SHANKAR: LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER

by Jonah Raskin

“Sold out.” Those words have greeted fans of Anousha Shanker when they went online recently to buy tickets for her one and only performance in San Francisco. Her father’s concerts were also sold out. Having been cooped up during the pandemic, The City’s culturally minded citizens snap up tickets for events as soon as they go on sale lest they read “Sold Out” and have to stay at home.

No one today plays the sitar with as much panache, precision and passion as Anoushka. That’s no surprise. The youngest daughter of Ravi Shankar — who first brought his brand of Indian music to the west in the 1960s — Anoushka is the half-sister of singer/songwriter/musician Nora Jones.

Like Nora, she has performed jazz, appeared in movies, released more than a dozen albums and received numerous awards. This year, she branched out and became a visiting professor in music business — a subject she knows well from her own experience — at Oxford University in England. For the past two decades, she has lent her name and her music to the cause of refugees and the environment and for global peace and reconciliation.

Anoushka appears on stage at the Herbst Theatre for one evening only, October 18, 2023, starting at 8 p.m., after performances on the East Coast and in Toronto, Montreal, and in Chicago and Seattle. It’s probably too late to catch her in San Francisco this year, but you might catch her when she returns, so keep an eye out. In some ways coming to California is like coming home. As a teenager, she lived in Encinitas and attended San Dieguito Academy where she graced the school as Homecoming Queen. You can’t get more Californian or American than Homecoming Queen. Anoushka is definitely the academy’s most famous graduate.

Music critic, J.D. Considine, noted not long ago in “Downbeat” magazine, that “like her father, the legendary Ravi Shankar, Anoushka is a master of Hindustani classical music, but also open to working outside that tradition in various types of fusion formats.”

Considine added that her “sitar remains constant—not just its sound, but the musical sensibility behind it.”

Anoushka has fused Hindustani music with the blues and with flamenco and has created a strange and wonderful sound.

Born in London, and now 42 years old, she began to play the sitar with her father when she was 8 years old and barely big enough and strong enough to hold the instrument that Ravi made world famous and that can have 18, 19, 20 and 21 strings which are plucked.

Anoushka performed in public for the first time at age 13 in New Delhi, India. Two years later, she worked with her father on the album, Chants of India, which was produced by Beatle George Harrison. At 16, she released her first album, titled simply Anoushka. Fans around the world know her and love her by her first name. No other name is needed.

Over the years, fans have grown to appreciate the ways she has carved out her own style, even as she pays homage to her father’s groundbreaking work. Sitar music in the 21st century isn’t the same as sitar music in the 1960s, when it was linked to rock ‘n’ roll and to psychedelics. But it is no less popular today in the West than it was during the height of the American cultural revolution.

For several years, Anoushka performed fifty or sixty times a year. These days her schedule is far less hectic.

Her Bay Area appearance at the Herbst Theater is rare indeed. She last went on stage in San Francisco in 2007 when she performed at the Fern Grove Festival with Karsh Kale and half-a-dozen other musicians, including drummers and flutists.

Part of that inspiring concert can be viewed on YouTube where it offers a rare opportunity to appreciate Anoushka’s virtuoso skills, along with the technical expertise of her ensemble that performs the traditional music of ancient India with a contemporary twist.

Yes, contrary to popular belief, East does meet West.

There was no advance publicity for the music Anoushka would perform at the Herbst, along with Arun Gosh on Clarinet, Tom Farmer on bass, Sarathy Korwar on drums and Parashanna Thevarajah on percussion. The word “spontaneity” doesn’t seem to exist in Hindi, but Anoushka and her crew sound like they’re playing spontaneously.

No doubt there will be pleasant surprises during the concert, plus familiar melodies reminiscent of the ragas her father performed for Princess Diana and for Margaret Thatcher and who was known during his lifetime as “The Godfather of World Music.”

Anoushka carries on Ravi’s legacy with pride and with love.

CARLOS SANTANA DELETES APOLOGY, POSTS CRYPTIC POEM FOLLOWING ANTI-TRANS RANT

by Aidin Vaziri

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana has taken down an apology he posted on his Facebook page after a viral video emerged this week showing him saying transgender people should stay “in the closet.”

In the video, recorded during a late July concert in Atlantic City, N.J., the 76-year-old musician can be seen pausing the show to share his thoughts on gender identity with an audience of 5,000 attendees. 

“When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are,” Santana, who grew up in San Francisco, said in the clip posted to YouTube on Aug. 19. “Later on, when you grow out of it, you see things and you start believing that you could be something that sounds good, but you know it ain’t right. Because a woman is a woman and a man is a man. That’s it. Whatever you wanna do in the closet, that’s your business. I’m OK with that.” 

An apology, initially shared via email with the Chronicle on Thursday, Aug. 24, and subsequently on Facebook, conveyed Santana’s remorse: “I realize that what I said hurt people, and that was not my intent. I sincerely apologize to the transgender community and everyone I offended.”

However, by the following morning, Santana removed that message from his Facebook page and replaced it with a more succinct post in the form of a poem: 

“the energy of 

consciousness generates its own kind. 

hate begets hate

love begets love.”

During his rant last month, filmed at one of his appearances on a 1001 Rainbows Tour stop at the Hard Rock Live at the Etess Arena and first shared on Reddit, Santana also praised comedian Dave Chappelle, referring to the comedian who came under fire for making transphobic jokes in his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer,” as “my brother.” 

Santana’s remarks drew criticism from various quarters, including Suzanne Ford and Nguyen Pham, executive director and board president, respectively, of San Francisco Pride. 

“Carlos Santana’s recent anti-trans comments are particularly disheartening as he is a prominent Bay Area resident,” they said in a joint statement to the Chronicle. “The fact that he used his incredible platform, onstage, to spew hate underscores the gravity of perpetuating misinformation in a society where gender’s spectrum is well-established.”

The incident occurred as a wave of anti-LGBTQ bills were being considered in state legislatures across the United States. Nearly two dozen states have imposed bans or limits on transgender athletes’ sports participation at the K-12 or collegiate level. So far about 20 states have adopted laws or policies — including some blocked by courts — barring gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery for minors.

“Santana’s influence demands responsible discourse, especially considering the marginalized position of transgender individuals facing discrimination and violence,” Ford and Pham said. “As a community striving for inclusivity, we must channel this moment to reinforce empathy, education, and unity against the backdrop of discriminatory policies, and to encourage allies like Santana to wield their reach in promoting understanding rather than perpetuating detrimental stereotypes.”

The video coincided with Santana’s ticket release for an upcoming documentary about his life, “Carlos: The Santana Journey,” directed by Emmy Award winner Rudy Valdez. The documentary is scheduled to premiere on Sept. 23, and features unreleased archival footage tracing Santana’s life from his upbringing in Tijuana, Mexico, where he struggled with poverty and sexual abuse, to his rise in the San Francisco music scene and subsequent international fame.

Having lived in San Francisco’s Mission District for most of his life, Santana attended Mission High School before achieving global recognition with hits like “Black Magic Woman” and “Evil Ways,” as well as the multiplatinum “Supernatural” album in 1999. 

While Santana resides in Las Vegas now and had a brief hiatus due to a heart procedure in 2021, he is set to resume his 11th year of residency at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay next month.

At the same shows where the viral clip was filmed, Santana told the audience, “We want you to feel precious and priceless because you are significant and meaningful. … It’s important to validate and celebrate you.” 

(SF Chronicle)

SKY STILL UP THERE

Editor: 

Contrary to what others might have you believe, the country is not failing. Check the jobs reports, check the spending reports, and check the savings reports. Inflation is not through the roof, as Republicans would have you believe. What recession? The current administration is not failing. As a matter of fact, it has passed over 200 (bipartisan) bills, most of which positively affect the whole country. The Inflation Reduction Act is working, folks. Jobs are being created for Americans. Did you notice how Republicans are taking credit in their districts for bills they voted against? They don’t want to give the administration any credit for anything positive.

But it may feel like the sky is falling in 2025 when the Trump administration tax breaks expire and your taxes go up (except for big business). This was planned — the tax breaks would expire during the next presidency (if Trump had been elected to a second term), so he would not be blamed for taxes going up.

The sky is not falling!

Clifford Ferrerll

Cotati

A DIRTIER OR MORE WRETCHED PLACE he had never seen. 

The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours. There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming from the inside. The sole places that seemed to prosper amid the general blight of the place, were the public-houses; and in them, the lowest orders of Irish were wrangling with might and main. Covered ways and yards, which here and there diverged from the main street, disclosed little knots of houses, where drunken men and women were positively wallowing in filth; and from several of the door-ways, great ill-looking fellows were cautiously emerging, bound, to all appearance, on no very well-disposed or harmless errands.

— “Oliver Twist” Charles Dickens - 1837

MAUREEN CALLAHAN: Inside that Fulton County jail, Donald J. Trump, weighing in at 6-foot-3-inches tall and 215 pounds, became a newly minted anti-establishment figure. His mugshot is the stuff of Warhol: Instantly iconic Americana that will be reproduced and repurposed for decades to come. In the immediate, his enemies have handed him the greatest gift imaginable. This image has turned a multi-billionaire former president into a folk hero, a renegade, an outlaw. And America loves nothing more than an outlaw, as Trump well knows. Within hours, he was selling official merch stamped with the image: mugshot coffee mugs ($25), beer cozies ($15 for a set of 2), t-shirts ($34) and bumper stickers ($12 for a set of 2) all emblazoned with the slogans “Never Surrender.” Guess what we’re all getting in our stockings this Christmas? These tchotchkes make great gifts for the Trump lover and even better gag gifts for the Trump hater. First U.S. president to submit to a mugshot? Be careful what you wish for.

CAMPAIGN PHOTO

by James Kunstler

“Georgia could determine who is our next president. A team of lawyers needs to watch them count every single vote. They can start in Fulton County where we are having water leaks.” — Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Nov. 4, 2020

What to make of this mugshot? Serious as a heart attack? I’d hate to be you on that fateful day? Table turner? Energy shift? Game on? Daddy’s in da house? Good career move? You can run but you can’t hide? Please, Br’er Fox, don’t fling me in that-there briar patch…!

Good luck trying this case, DA Fani Willis. And by all means roll the TV cameras in the courtroom. You are about to supplant the Scopes trial of 1925 as the most notoriously ridiculous piece of legal work in US history. That one, over in Tennessee, was called “the Monkey Trial” when a high school teacher named John Scopes was charged with teaching the theory of evolution in his biology class. It got the national news spotlight for the duration. The state enlisted three-time Democratic presidential nominee Williams Jennings Bryan as a special prosecutor. Poor Bryan, famously sweating in the southern July heat, was made a fool of by Chicago lawyer for the defense Clarence Darrow. Bryan died of a stroke days after the conclusion of the trial. It also killed what remained of his reputation.

This week, DA Willis staged the circus parade of bookings, forcing the large cast of indictees — most of them attorneys for Mr. Trump — to submit to the finger-printing and mugshot ceremony in the county jail, in case any of them had thoughts of decamping to Uruguay. The cable news peanut gallery went berserk with glee at the humiliation of election denial celebrities Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell especially. On Thursday, attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who advised Georgia GOP officials on the process of assembling alternate electors in the case of election fraud under Georgia law, demanded a speedy trial.

Under Georgia’s speedy trial law, Mr. Chesebro’s trial would have to take place this fall. (Such are the guiles of the law.) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper called it, “an aggressive filing.” Ms. Willis had hoped to try all 19 defendants together during the 2024 presidential primary season, to support her RICO charges. Meanwhile, three other defendants, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, filed to have their cases removed to the federal court, in so far as the actions they are accused of taking happened while they worked in the service of the US government. Mr. Meadows is accused of seeking by email to get the phone number of a Pennsylvania election official.

Ms. Willis’s case hinges on a number of novel propositions. First, that it is somehow against the law to object to the outcome of an election. And second, that the process for relief in such a case, as provided in Georgia’s election contest law and the US Electoral Count Act of 1887, does not apply to Mr. Trump and his lawyers. Anyone who intends to challenge the outcome must necessarily assemble a panel of alternate electors if state officials cannot certify the election properly and in good faith. Ms. Willis refers to these erroneously as “fake electors.” Mr. Trump and his co-defendants will necessarily have to present evidence that the Georgia presidential election of 2020 was not certified properly or in good faith.

Will the defendants be allowed to present evidence of serious irregularities in the 2020 Georgia election results? If not, would that not be grounds for dismissal. So far, Democrats in charge of the machinery of law all over the country have skated on mere assertions that the 2020 election was fair. In Georgia, none of the principals involved in the dispute have been subject to cross-examination, the best instrument for truth-finding in the American legal system. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Sec’y of State Brad Raffensperger may not be so hot for an airing of what actually went on Nov 3, 2020 and the days after, especially the validity of over 100,000 mail-in ballots in a state where “Joe Biden’s” margin of victory was a mere 11,799 votes.

Mr. Trump seems to be thriving under the tribulation of four court cases brought against him as he runs for election in 2024. Each new set of charges boosts his poll numbers. It helps him hugely that the cases are transparently idiotic and mendacious. If he is initially convicted in any of them, he can still run for president and be elected, even if he’s jailed — as Eugene Debs did in 1920 getting 913,693 votes running on the Socialist Party from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he was jailed under the 1917 Espionage Act for speaking out against America’s entry into the First World War.

The Party of Chaos is running scared. Everybody knows that “Joe Biden” can’t possibly run for another term and yet the public debate is so grotesquely disabled that nobody will talk about it. Most particularly, they will not talk about who might take his place. All they are really demonstrating with this barrage of prosecutions against their chief adversary is how broken, craven, and degenerate the party is, and what a menace it is, as they like to say, to our democracy.

JOE ELY: 

The West Texas and Oklahoma honky-tonk scene was totally lawless. We used to play these shows and there’d be a thousand people in there and not a security guard in sight. Everyone would bring their own booze because a lot these places were dry, so you’d have to buy stuff from bootleggers. The bootleggers sold half-pints of gin out of their cars and wore big, old pistols.

There was just no law out there, the law left those places alone because it was too dangerous for them. It’s just the way things are when you get out into the wide-open spaces.

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I have thought for a while that there is no way this country can reunite again. The opposing parties are just too far apart in beliefs.

I think that the next twenty years will see the separation of the US into two sectors, with no idea on how it will be done.

Precedent exists, however, the Balkans and India come to mind.

Two areas I can think of exist where separation is necessary to avoid collapse in the future, the USA and Israel. I do not think either will be peaceful.

UKRAINE, FRIDAY, 25 AUGUST

The Kremlin denied it was involved in the Wednesday plane crash that may have killed Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, calling such speculation "an absolute lie." Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said genetic testing is underway to confirm whether Prigozhin was on the plane.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Prigozhin was a "talented man" who "made serious mistakes," in his first public comments since the crash.

Meanwhile in Ukraine, signs are growing that Kyiv’s forces have penetrated the first line of Russian defenses in part of the Zaporizhzhia region.

Russia destroyed 42 Ukrainian drones over Crimea early Friday, its defense ministry said. It comes after Kyiv’s forces carried out what appears to be one of Ukraine’s most complex and ambitious operations to date against Russian military facilities on the peninsula.

Trout, incidentally, had written a book about a money tree. It had twenty-dollar bills for leaves. Its flowers were government bonds. Its fruit was diamonds. It attracted human beings who killed each other around the roots and made very good fertilizer.

— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

ANOTHER SUMMER DAY

Has come and gone away

In Paris and Rome

But I wanna go home, mmm

May be surrounded by

A million people I

Still feel all alone

Just wanna go home

Oh, I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters

That I wrote to you

Each one a line or two

I’m fine baby, how are you?

Well I would send them but I know

That it’s just not enough

My words were cold and flat

And you deserve more than that

Another airplane

Another sunny place

I’m lucky I know

But I wanna go home

Mmm, I got to go home

Let me go home

I’m just too far

From where you are

I wanna come home

And I feel just like

I’m living someone else’s life

It’s like I just stepped outside

When everything was going right

And I know just why you could not

Come along with me

That this was not your dream

But you always believed in me

Another winter day

Has come and gone away

In even Paris and Rome

And I wanna go home

Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by

A million people I

I still feel alone

Oh, let me go home

Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home

I’ve had my run

Baby, I’m done

I gotta go home

Let me go home

It’ll all be all right

I’ll be home tonight

I’m coming back home

(Michael Buble, Alan Chang & Amy Foster-Gillies)