- Another Successful Wildflower Show
- Preserve Mendo’s Charm
- Energy Independence
- Don’t Let Trump Sell Off Our Public Lands To Big Oil!
- Tax Relief For The Rich
- Biden Was Out Of It
- Don't Believe PG&E
- Here's To You, L.E.
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL WILDFLOWER SHOW
Dear Editor,
We would like to thank everyone who made the 2025 Wildflower Show a success.
But first - we are extending an invitation to community members to join us in next year’s wildflower adventure. We would love additional plant propagators, collectors, and especially those interested in identifying plants. Contributors with new ideas can only help to improve this special event. We want more of our community members to be an integral part, and to help make this show even better. Interested? Please contact Jean at (707) 272-8243.
Many members volunteered to help collect, sort and bottle hundreds of wildflower specimens from around Anderson Valley, over the course of three days. We also received valuable assistance from outside the Club whom we would especially like to thank: Anita Soost, Angela Dewitt, Heather Morrison, Jade Paget-Seekins, Scott Morgan, and Rick Bonner. These spry helpers climbed up cliffs and down trenches, braved swamp and poison oak, to collect things we couldn’t have gotten otherwise. Jade and Heather were also our official Botanists, helping to identify all the specimens. Lynn Halpern was there each day in the week leading up to the Show, helping us every step of the way. Hans Hickenlooper, Tom Condon and Jesse Reyers lent their muscles for the heavy lifting.
Each year our collection is enhanced by provision of tree cuttings from Scott Hulbert and wild grasses from Bill Harper and Kathy Bailey. An invasive plant table with specimens, pictures, and information provides a counterpoint.
Our vendors are selected to enhance the Show, and indeed they did so, once again. The Sanhedrin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society was there with books and posters to offer and was busier than ever sharing their knowledge with so many people. The Galbreath Wildlands Preserve provided an informative talk about Sudden Oak Death as well as a poster and brochures about their mission.
Thank you to the AVHS art department, whose students produced paintings for display at the show. The Club volunteers voted on the art and gave the top three artists $50 each. Also, Linnea Totten and Evette LaPaille worked to arrange the elementary students’ educational visit Monday morning.
Thanks to Robert Rosen, the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, and the AV Methodist Church for allowing us to place our banners on their respective fences, and to KZYX for airing our announcement each day.
Thank you to the businesses and people who donated auction gifts. A big ‘Thank You!’ goes to the following, for their support of our community: Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Bee Hunter Wine, Boont Berry Farm, Boonville General Store, Boonville Hotel, Brashley Vineyards, California Native Plant Society, Dancing Dragonfly, Disco Ranch, Farmhouse Mercantile, Foursite Wines, Goldeneye Winery, Gowan's Heirloom Cider, Gowan's Oak Tree, Husch Vineyards, Lemon's Philo Market, Mosswood Market, Navarro Vineyards & Winery, Offspring Pizza, Pennyroyal Farm, Philo Ridge Vineyards, Roederer Estate, Rossi's Hardware, Weatherborne Wine Corp., and Witching Stick Wines.
Finally, heartfelt thanks goes to Becky and the Fairgrounds staff for all their help.
Anderson Valley Unity Club
Jean Condon
PRESERVE MENDO’S CHARM
Editor,
Imagine Paris without the Eiffel Tower, San Francisco without its cable cars – that’s Mendocino without its iconic water towers. These towering sentinels, woven into the very fabric of our coastal town, are now under threat. This is an urgent matter!
One of Mendocino’s iconic Main Street water towers is now at risk, as narrow planning codes clash with broader community goals. Despite the Mendocino Historical Review Board rejecting this proposal three times, it’s now heading to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision.
What’s at stake? The three/four story water tower that acts as the stairwell into the restaurant Flow has come under attack: it is alleged that this tower is at the end of its lifespan and has no historical value.
No historical value? This tower has such significance to the town that it was moved from another location. Nearby San Francisco has a long history of moving buildings exactly because of their historical significance, so such a move only supports its esteem – in fact, moving a building is a downright preservation strategy!
However, Planning points out that the tower was never registered on any historical register, and that it is too late to do so. I do not, and so cannot, explain why it’s too late – I would strongly think this can still be done.
In an effort to support their findings, the owner hired Duncan Engineering to look at the tower, and as such the report is likely to be biased, and it reads as such. Instead of remediation efforts, the report recommends that the tower should be “phased out”.
Here’s why this letter is inappropriate, incomplete, and surface-level for supporting a decision on removing the historical water tower.
- No measurements or critical core sampling were taken to assess the strength of the tower, relying upon visual assessments only.
- The report lacks quantitative data on the wood’s internal condition.
It omits critical information about the foundation, which is essential for evaluating the structure’s stability.
- The tower’s historical significance is barely mentioned, missing a vital context for preservation decisions.
- There’s no analysis of repair or reinforcement alternatives, ignoring less invasive, historically sensitive options.
- The assessment fails to address potential building code requirements, making it incomplete for decision-making.
- Finally, it declares the tower “at the end of its useful life” without any solid evidence, relying on surface-level observations rather than thorough testing, quantitative calculations and modeling.
- The Duncan report tells us very little about the integrity of the structure.
Nevertheless, the flimsy words of David Duncan’s report will become the basis for a Board of Supervisor’s discussion and call to vote this May 20, 2025. They will have very little time to discuss a matter that may impact a sacred Mendocino landmark.
The Board of Supervisors has a unique problem – no matter their viewpoint, they cannot argue on historical, economic, or policy grounds, only judicial. So there are really only three possible outcomes, and here is the priority order that I believe best serves this Community:
Affirm the decision – Agree with the Review Board’s original decision.
Send it back for reconsideration – Have the Review Board take another look at the project, including for CEQA purposes.
Modify the decision – Change the Review Board’s decision as needed.
So it’s a very narrow course left to the board, with only a single board meeting and an anemic engineering letter on which to base such an important and historical decision. If this hasty decision sets the wrong precedent, it’s not just one tower at risk – other water towers are likely to follow.
Please act now, don’t wait. Send an email helping them understand your concerns to BOS@MendocinoCounty.gov. Even better, I find calling them makes even more direct difference, and here are their numbers – insist that they at least do due diligence to protect this landmark. Perhaps even ask that it be designated a historic structure. Your voice is critical.
Here’s who to contact:
Madeline Cline, 1st District
clinem@mendocinocounty.gov
Mo Mulheren, 2nd District
mulherenm@mendocinocounty.gov
John Haschak, 3rd District
haschakj@mendocinocounty.gov
Bernie Norvell, 4th District
norvellb@mendocinocounty.gov
Ted Williams, 5th District
williamst@mendocinocounty.gov
All emails should be CC’d to BOS@mendocinocounty.gov as well, as that makes it public record. Each of the Supervisors can be called during business hours at (707) 463-4221. Ted Williams is an exception in that he makes his cell number accessible to everyone, at (707) 937.3500.
Can you imagine if the key details that make Mendocino so charming were slowly whittled away because some short-minded policymakers weren’t preserving our most valuable assets? What would Mendocino be without it’s water towers!
I rarely speak up like this – please act now. Preserve Mendocino charm for future generations!
Scott Roat, Mendocino Coast Realtor
Mendocino
LEE EDMUNDSON:
Scott Roat’s reporting of the peril facing the future life of the Main Street Mendocino water tower is persuasive, and compelling.
I would add only one caveat: The Board of Supervisors has only a single choice to make in this matter:. That is; to uphold the authority of the Mendocino Historical Review Board (MHRB) to determine the appropriate protections to preserve historical architecture within the Town. To do so, the Board must deny applicant’s appeal to overturn MHRB’s ( 3 times now) decision(s) to protect the Landmark Category 1 historic water tower from destruction..
The demolition/destruction of the water tower is anathema to the reason MHRB exists: To protect and preserve the Town’s historic architecture and the historic architectural character of the Town.
This issue should be a clarion call to everyone who cares about preserving the integrity of the Town for future generations..
Kudos to Scott.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
Editor:
Burdened by outmoded infrastructure and still driven primarily by fossil fuels, PG&E is asking for another rate hike on top of six it received in 2024. For families struggling to pay bills, recover from wildfires, navigate power outages or lower their carbon imprint, another rate hike feels like the tipping point.
When we built our new home in Glen Ellen after losing our previous home in the wildfires of October 2017, we knew we wanted to do some things differently. We wanted to have more control of our home’s energy instead of relying on an already overburdened public utility. Quite simply, and if at all possible, we wanted cheaper power, cleaner power and more dependable power.
We decided to install solar panels with backup batteries, and that installation has been one of the best decisions we ever made. Our energy bills are dramatically lower, we no longer worry about blackouts, our cars are solar-charged, and we are making our small contribution to make the world just a little bit better.
We were able to take advantage of Northern Pacific Power’s “Energy Independence for All” campaign to achieve our own energy independence. I urge others in our community to do the same — especially now, with rates continuing to rise.
Timothy Dorman
Glen Ellen
DON’T LET TRUMP SELL OFF OUR PUBLIC LANDS TO BIG OIL!
Dear Editor
Donald Trump is offering a massive public lands giveaway to the fossil fuel industry.
He’s ordered the U.S. to “drill baby drill” on public lands, and he’s fast-tracked new oil and gas projects, bypassing environmental and public review. His allies in Congress are even pushing to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
If they get their way, the fossil fuel industry will wreck our national landmarks for profit and pump millions more tons of planet-warming pollution into the atmosphere in the process.
So if we don’t want to see drilling rigs the next time we head outdoors, we need to send a clear message: Don’t sell off our public lands to Big Oil!
Sincerely,
Susan Henning
Mendocino
TAX RELIEF FOR THE RICH
Editor:
A millionaire, A billionaire. The two are often conflated by the public to define great wealth. But the chasm between the two is enormous. Consider: $1 million in $100 bills weighs 22 pounds; $1 billion in $100 bills weighs 11 tons. But let’s give oligarchs some tax relief.
Tim Flagerman
Rohnert Park
BIDEN WAS OUT OF IT
Editor:
In fall 2019 ahead of the Iowa caucuses, at a campaign event in Des Moines, my wife and I were seated directly in front of Joe Biden, who was no more than a few feet from our faces for most of his stump speech. The speech, rambling and at times incoherent, was picked up by the press (including the Times) after Biden’s statement that “poor kids are just as smart and just as talented as white kids”—a gaffe jumped on by the Trump campaign. But beyond that I noted to my wife and others that there was something wrong with Biden, that he was often confused and grasping for words, struggling to recover his train of thought. When I remarked on social media what seemed to me Biden’s obvious mental deterioration, many of my friends who were Biden supporters—and who were at that event with me—jumped all over me as biased due to my support at the time for Elizabeth Warren for the nomination. And many of these same folks went after me for stating the obvious after his catastrophic debate performance. So it was not simply Biden himself, his wife or his protective inner circle who were in denial: he was aided and abetted by millions of otherwise sensible Democrats who couldn’t—wouldn’t—believe their eyes and ears, choosing instead to back a candidate who had been slipping for years at a cost to the nation that we’ve scarce begun to calculate.
Dennis Smith
Des Moines, Iowa
DON'T BELIEVE PG&E
Editor:
You may have heard that rich rooftop solar customers are not paying their fair share of electricity costs. The truth is, it’s not just rich people who are cashing in on the savings. Sixty-one percent of rooftop solar users are working and middle class. Fifty-two percent are people of color. So the myth that it’s only the wealthy making their own electricity is PG&E’s lie.
Another lie is that rooftop solar customers are costing all other ratepayers a “cost shift” of $8.5 billion a year. The truth is that rooftop solar customers are saving other ratepayers $1.49 billion per year.
These figures have been calculated by the Solar Rights Alliance (solarrights.org). Go to their website and click on “Learn More” to find out how you can fight back and keep California on track to meet its clean energy goals.
Assembly Bill 942 was passed by the state Assembly on May 5 and has been sent to the Senate. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will sign it. Call, email or write to your state senator and urge them to vote no on this unfair tax on rooftop solar customers.
Randy Jones
Santa Rosa
HERE'S TO YOU, L.E.
Editor,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to express my heartfelt gratitude for the exceptional work your team displayed in a recent situation that i was involved in at 3900 North State. The professionalism and respect your team demonstrated throughout the situation truly impressed me.
In what was a highly stressful and chaotic situation, your officers managed to maintain a calm and respectful demeanor, making sure that the truth was heard . It is clear that your agency is committed to justice and public safety, and I appreciate how you prioritized the well-being of everyone involved.
I am grateful to have been treated with the utmost respect and for the way my concerns were heard. It is reassuring to know that our local law enforcement agencies are dedicated to serving and protecting our community with such proffessionalism, kindness and understanding.
Thank you once again for your hard work and dedication. You are doing a great job, and I sincerely appreciate all that you do for our community. I would like to especially thanks to The Mendocino Co Sheriff's Dept.
Warm regards,
Tona Harden
Ukiah
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