- Out Of Sync
- Time For CEO Antle To Resign Or Be Fired
- God's Hand
- Get Out Now
- Love It Or Leave It
- Mendocino Town’s Bad Roads
- Off-Line, Falling Behind
- Joe's Gotta Go
- Totally, Hopelessly Off
- Media Failure (Number 85 Million)
- Adventist Saves Mom
OUT OF SYNC
Dear Editor,
Our Tax Dollars At Work…
The reimbursement for an Apple watch in the amount of $872.91 to a staff member in the Executive Office to “sync with my work cell phone, ensuring that I stay updated on important information from CEO Antle and Deputy CEO” is a fine example of our tax dollars at work. A cell phone isn't sufficient anymore to stay up to date? Would this have been reimbursed if Ms. Cubbison was still our independently elected Auditor-Controller? I doubt it.
Also, the County constantly says it is transparent. Is that why this Records Request is “Unpublished” and no one else can see it? These officials couldn't be further from transparent. This is a pattern with records requests I make as well as it taking almost a month for the request to be fulfilled.
I encourage everyone to request records of interest to them from the County and see if they receive them within the 14 day maximum allowed by law, and if the County actually publishes them for the rest of us to see.
Here is the link for Record Requests: mendocinocounty.nextrequest.com
Carrie Shattuck
Redwood Valley
TIME FOR CEO ANTLE TO RESIGN OR BE FIRED
This is an open letter to the Board of Supervisors, the CEO, Darcie Antle and the public:
I call upon the BOS to demand Ms. Antle step down from her position as CEO.
Ms. Antle was hired as CEO for her alleged financial experience. The current State audit is an indictment of gross County mis-management. I have personally heard from multiple Board members that she is not responding to their requests for information, or keeping the BOS informed of her decisions. The many poor decisions her office is making are costing the County millions of dollars in litigation, wasted man-hours un-doing bad decisions, uncollected taxes, and inefficient, unresponsive public services. The Veteran’s Office fiasco; the allegations against the elected Auditor; the on-going inability of the Cannabis Department to function as it was intended; the combining Public Health and Behavioral Health with no independent study to determine whether it was a good idea; and most troubling, there has been NO response to the very serious findings of the Grand Jury report about the under-staffing and too large case-loads at Family and Children’s Services and Adult Protective Services. Her office has taken over running almost all the County departments, including Human Resources, which seems like an obvious conflict of interest.
Department heads are hired because they are subject matter experts, but the Deputy CEOs now running almost all County departments lack this expertise. The County complains that they can’t hire department heads. Duh – no one wants to take a job that they could be marched out of at a moment’s notice and jeopardize their future careers. Our track record on how we treat our employees is horrible.
Ms. Antle has shown she is not up to the task of Chief Executive Officer and I call upon the BOS to remove her as CEO.
Respectfully,
Julie Beardsley
Former Mendocino County Senior Public Health Analyst
Past President of SEIU 1021
Concerned citizen
GOD'S HAND
To the Editor:
Everyone should be grateful that former President Donald Trump’s life was spared.
With that said, I question the simplistic attribution of divine intervention in this instance. The former president proclaimed, “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” And Senator Marco Rubio stated, “God protected President Trump.” And the Rev. Franklin Graham declared that “God’s hand of protection” was on the former president.
I would ask them and all those other “theologians” these questions:
Where were God’s hands on Corey Comperatore, who died after being shot in the head, robbing his wife and daughters of a devoted husband and father?
Where were God’s hands on James Copenhaver and David Dutch, who were severely wounded?
If we are to believe in a just and merciful God, we must reject the notion of divine puppetry, as the late Rabbi Harold Kushner suggested in his book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” Rather, we should recognize that God’s influence manifests through our own collective efforts to work to heal and improve the world, empowering us to act with compassion and justice.
If we can all do that, then we can indeed create a world embodying the values of mercy, justice and compassion.
(Rabbi) Reuven H. Taff
Sacramento
GET OUT NOW
Editor,
In the light of Adam Shatz’s superb piece on Israel and the US in the current London Review of Books it is depressing to reflect on the extent to which propagandists for Israel have succeeded in defining any attack on its government’s policies as antisemitic.
Two decades ago I was shocked when the New Zealand Herald fired its longstanding cartoonist Malcolm Evans for a work that dared to compare Israel’s oppression of Palestinians with the policies of apartheid South Africa. But I wasn’t entirely surprised: Evans had expressed a somewhat radical view for the time and the Herald was known for its conservative opinions.
Much more disturbing was last year’s decision by the supposedly left-leaning Guardian to sack Steve Bell. Arguably the greatest British cartoonist and caricaturist since George Cruikshank, Bell had published in the Guardian since 1981. He had produced a caricature of Benjamin Netanyahu that now seems prophetic: completed on October 9, 2023, shortly after the bombardment of Gaza began, it shows Israel’s prime minister engraving a map of Gaza on his stomach while his speech bubble orders “Residents of Gaza, get out now.”
The cartoon, explicitly labelled “After David Levine,” was closely based on Levine’s depiction of Lyndon Johnson from 1966, showing his stomach scar as a map of Vietnam.
But the Guardian accused Bell of employing an antisemitic trope deriving from the “pound of flesh” episode in The Merchant of Venice. They refused to publish the cartoon; Bell posted it on Twitter, and was fired. Looking at it now, I find it hard to imagine how the connection with The Merchant of Venice could have been made; but once such an allegation has been uttered, there seems to be no escaping its consequences.
Michael Neill
Auckland, New Zealand
LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
Editor,
Regarding a recent Chronicle article about David Sacks (‘This is the San Francisco billionaire who bashed his hometown at the RNC’) as a native and lifelong resident of San Francisco in my 70s, I’ve lived through many of the city’s highs and lows.
San Francisco has always been and continues to be, a great and vibrant place to live.
The people here are the best, always resilient, resourceful and tolerant. I advise billionaire David Sacks, who called San Francisco a “cesspool,” to follow Elon Musk to Texas and good riddance to both.
We have forgotten you already. Don’t come back.
Mike Matza
San Francisco
MENDOCINO TOWN’S BAD ROADS
Emily Strachan:
What department is responsible for the condition of our roads in town? It's an embarrassment. It does not leave one with a good impression of our town. Whether good or bad, tourism is the main industry here and the road conditions are not inviting.
Robert Cimmiyotti:
I agree the condition of the roads in the town of Mendocino are unacceptable and in dire need of repair. I believe that Mendocino County Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining and repairing the roads and Howard Dashiell is the person in charge of that department.
OFF-LINE, FALLING BEHIND
Editor,
I write because I have no long distance service on my phone line. I can only call 459 or 456 numbers. Everyone I know, it seems, has unlimited long distance. Years ago Ma Bell wanted me to pay $12.50 a month for the privilege of paying 17¢ a minute. Probably more now! So I send post cards and people call me three or four days later.
As I have no long distance, I also have no email, web, net, password, log-on or ID or computer or the knowledge of what to do with such if I did have it. That’s why I don’t call your 895-exchange or sign up for your website.
On Feb. 10, 2024 I sent a check for $92 for 24 month of print issues, but only received three months. I figure that leaves about $80 refund due for 93 issues. I would settle for $50 and put the rest towards a bottle of Maker’s Mark if health allows.
Time keeps marching on while I fall further behind.
Best wishes to all.
Casey Pryor
Willits
JOE'S GOTTA GO
Editor:
I am writing to protest in the strongest possible terms the efforts on the part of high-level members of President Joe Biden‘s campaign to deceive voters about his deteriorating physical and mental condition. His debate with former President Donald Trump finally revealed convincingly to anyone willing to admit the truth of what they saw that Biden does not have what it takes to lead the country for another four years. And I strongly resent the fact that his campaign is trying to tell me that my own eyes are lying to me. It distresses me beyond words to have to say this because I am a liberal Democrat who has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since the Kennedy-Nixon contest of 1960.
Roy Hagar
Pope Valley
TOTALLY, HOPELESSLY OFF
Editor:
The American experiment is under attack. Institutionally, the attack emanates from educational, governmental, corporate and journalistic elites. Ideologically, it is shaped by atheistic humanism, evolutionism and neo-Marxism. Since so many seem ready to reject our great experiment in ordered liberty, we do well to consider it afresh.
It rests squarely on two pillars, largely derived from the biblical worldview. First, God exists: the creator, ruler, benefactor, lawgiver and judge of all nations. The experiment cannot succeed unless a majority of citizens honors and obeys him. “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other,” John Adams wrote.
Secondly, mankind — God’s supreme creation — is fallen and sinful, given to various lusts, including the lust for power. Government is indeed necessary to protect the weak and innocent from the powerful; but it too can become corrupt and tyrannical. Therefore, said the founders, good government will confine itself to an administration of basic justice, incorporate healthy checks and balances and maximize the religious, economic and political freedom of the people. Beyond that, all must look to God.
And I pray we will, for I see no other way to, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, “nobly save the last best hope of earth.”
Dean Davis
Santa Rosa
ED REPLY: Read some history, Deano, and you'll discover that the Founding Fathers were mostly atheists, or deists, who set it up so only wealthy white boys like themselves could vote, a stipulation that restricted the franchise to about 7 percent of the population at the time. Additionally, having seen what religious fanaticism had done to Europe, the founding aristos separated church and state, a fact our latter day fanatics prefer not to hear. Finally, the reigning Democrats are conservative liberals, not neo-Marxists, whatever you mean by that boogeyman prevalent among Magats.
MEDIA FAILURE (NUMBER 85 MILLION)
Editor:
Millions watched the presidential debate and saw that Joe Biden’s mental faculties have declined to the point of great concern. Those in conservative circles have known this. To others, this was a surprise. For this, we can blame the media. Recently, the media has made it their role to promote a narrative rather than simply report the news. Much of the news that we may find on the front page of our favorite newspaper is simply opinion barely fit for the opinion page. They see it as their job to censor, omit and spin to promote the Democratic Party. Doubt me? Thumb through today’s newspaper and tell me what you see is fair and unbiased.
Some will never be convinced. For they love to bask in their illusions. But what we witnessed at the debate was laid bare for all to see. If the media was doing their job, the president’s decline would have come as no surprise to anyone. But that is not the case. Perhaps I may be the first to point it out, but the emperor wears no clothes.
Shane Camozzi
Santa Rosa
ADVENTIST SAVES MOM
Dear Editor,
We want to tell you about our fabulous Adventist experience!
It was as if five sprinters were speeding as fast as phones could carry them. They each passed the baton so quickly, that Frank Hartzell and I’s beloved mom, Anne Bobincheck, was saved and with seconds to spare.
These were not heroes in track shoes but with stethoscopes!
Five different Adventist doctors relayed mom from a scary ER visit on Sunday when she couldn’t breathe to pacemaker implant surgery on the following Saturday. We all wanted to say thanks for saving mom. It started when mom went to the Adventist Health Mendocino Coast ER and was treated by Dr. Samuel Martisius the ER doc (Dr. Sam to everyone). It wasn’t readily apparent why she couldn’t breathe. Anne’s pulse dropped low and came back and her blood pressure was high. Dr. Sam did all the tests and told Anne she needed to see a cardiologist ASAP. This wouldn’t be easy as she had not been to see one. Usually its a slow process. One has to call a doctor and see if you one can even get in. The official plan was for her to go to her primary physician two days later, on Wednesday and seek a referral. Dr. Sam wanted to get going faster. He went down the hall to Dr. Jason Kirkman, who reads and refers heart tests. While not a cardiologist, my cardiologist said he is trusted like he is one in the trade.
Dr. Kirkman got back to Sam and explained the apparent urgency of this situation. Dr Sam made a midnight fax referral to Dr. David Ploss, with Adventist in Ukiah. They also called. Frank called too. She saw her primary, Nate Lane at the clinic on Wednesday and went with his help and blessings to Ukiah on a very hot Thursday and Dr Ploss said the surgery wouldn’t wait. He talked to St Helena cardiac surgeon Dr. Matthew Cain. Who talked to us on the phone and got this emergency in gear. Frank was told by a scheduler it was impossible to sprint her in this quickly. But Drs Cain and Ploss made it happen anyway.
Heart surgeries don’t usually happen on weekends so he’d try to get her on Friday so we (she and daughter Linda) had to leave first thing Friday morning and get there as fast as possible. Trouble was, where would Linda stay? Motels are $600 and up in St. Helena. We met the wonderful “hospital concierge” Doug who rented Linda a room with a bed inside the hospital for $100 a night, with meals from the kitchen! He was just another awesome person.
Mom got a pinto bean-sized pacemaker implant from surgeon Dr. Susan Eisenberg. When Anne was getting prepped for surgery, she started crashing and boy did they move fast getting her in. Talk about timing. She is now breathing well. Has an awesome steady heartbeat and is even thinking better! Wowza. Thanks to Adventist Health for still being willing to let top doctors make these decisions it's getting more and more rare for human beings, even smart and caring doctors to prevail in this world, but our story shows how having a real human being to help is stil always the best.
We thank everyone very much!
Linda Hartzell.
Fort Bragg
~The Full Realization of the Inherent Emptiness of All Phenomena~
Sitting in the room
Aware only of God
Life is a joke
Craig Louis Stehr
30.VII.’24