- Spineless
- Unrealized Gains
- Billionaire Math
- The Illusion Of Gun Safety
- Big Balloons
- True Cost Of Obamacare
- Easy Way, Right Way
- Spare The Turkey
- Ukiah vs. Trees
- A Reality Check On The Eel River Dams
- Lopsided Reporting
- Next Time….
- Prop 50: Back To The Future
- Patients’ Choice
- Racism As Mental Illness
- A Cautionary Tale
- To Aid Salmon, Preserve San Joaquin Watershed
- Verily, Verily
SPINELESS
Editor,
We didn’t need the shutdown to expose Trump’s mendacity.
The Democrats, for a short while, showed a spine by refusing to cave on the issue of extending subsidies for health insurance, a human right, and then, when they felt heat, they abandoned their principles and got absolutely nothing in return. The promise of a vote in the Senate (and not the House) is meaningless. The Republicans will never vote for health insurance relief. Even if they did, there is no way that Trump would not veto such a law. The only way to protect health care affordability was to hold out, but the Democrats got spooked, and they cowered and surrendered.
The takeaways are that Trump now knows he can always win against the feckless Democrats, and they cannot be counted on to protect the values they ostensibly espouse. Utterly pathetic.
David Wiseblood
San Francisco
UNREALIZED GAINS
To the Editor:
The unrealized capital gain on investments in the County’s “Treasury Pool” — a portfolio of tax receipts held by the County Treasurer — was created when the Federal Reserve Bank dropped interest rates. Bond prices and interest rates move in opposite directions — meaning when interest rates drop, bond prices go up. They have an “inverse” relationship. But these unrealized gains cannot be easily (or legally) realized.
The underlying securities of those investments would have to be liquidated for the gain to be realized., and the Board of Supervisors (BOS) couldn’t do it. Why? Because the County has hired Chandler Asset Management to manage that portfolio held by County Treasurer, and Chandler was hired for good reason. I’ll explain.
The portfolio is highly “structured” and empirically “structured”– meaning that the portfolio is structured not just to collect and hold taxes but to pay off liabilities with as liabilities come due. Remember that the County collects taxes not just for the County itself but also on behalf of Mendocino College, MCOE, and a host of other agencies and districts.
As of the close of last year, the portfolio had the following characteristics:
Average Modified Duration 1.44
Average Coupon 2.59%
Average Purchase YTM 3.12%
Average Market YTM 3.88%
Average Quality AA+
Average Final Maturity 1.55
Average Life 1.47
This structure is not easily toyed with. I know all this because I served as a public trustee at MCERA from 2012-2017. It was the timeframe when the County got into a lot of trouble with its so-called Teeter Plan — another name for “kicking the can down the road” with the County’s debts. The Teeter Plan was such an abuse of the County Treasury Pool it was almost criminal. It was an abuse of the public trust. It was former County Treasurer Tim Knutsen’s little secret until it wasn’t, and it took years for the BOS to fix.
Knutsen was also responsible for a little fiction at MCERA known as “excess earnings”. MCERA got into a lot of trouble with the IRS as a result and almost lost its tax-exempt status.
The County Grand Jury investigated the mess. Also, a guy by the name of John Dickerson investigated the mess. Mr. Dickerson published his findings in his blog, “Your Public Money”.
Let’s just say it was an era of creative accounting — always a bad idea with public money.
My advice? Leave the County’s Treasury Pool alone. The maturity distribution of the portfolio is designed to match when liabilities come due. It’s all about managing cashflow.
John Sakowicz
Ukiah
FORMER COUNTY AUDITOR STAFFER NORM THURSTON REPLIES:
Bonds that are traded in the open market may be bought or sold at any time. As you noted, when market interest rates drop, the value of bonds goes up. At that point the investor may decide to sell the bond, recognizing a capital gain equalling the sales price less the original cost. Bond traders will do this if they believe interest rates will go back up, and they can reinvest the proceeds in new bonds at a lower price. Alternatively, the investor may decide to keep the bond, and continue earning the higher rate of return until maturity.
I’m not familiar with the County’s agreement with Chandler Asset Management, but it could be that it gives Chandler the rights and responsibility to invest the investment pool within specified guidelines. In that case, it may be Chandlers decision to sell or keep the bonds. The County could not unilaterally sell bonds because that duty has contractually been assigned to Chandler.
BILLIONAIRE MATH
Editor,
Smart NYC billionaires are definitely moving out.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he will tax 5% of the net worth of his city’s billionaires. He does not believe they will move away. Personally, I think billionaires are probably the easiest people in the world to move.
After all, if you are an entry level billionaire, 5% tax equals $50 million. Let’s say you keep your billion in the bank at 3% interest, that’s $30 million in taxable income, which at NYC’s 14% tax rate, that’s another cool $4 million in taxes for the city.
Considering all that, I suspect the least wealthy billionaire in NYC could drop $54 million on a new home in Florida and still come out better than staying in New York. Of course, he’d miss out on the free bus fare and government groceries Mamdani has promised for residents.
Craig A. Nelson
San Rafael
THE ILLUSION OF GUN SAFETY
Editor:
A Nov. 9 Press Democrat article describes much-needed programs to increase gun safety in homes with schoolchildren, but it fails to address one of the key drivers of so-called firearms accidents. One of the usual explanations why people want to have firearms in the home is for personal protection. That requires that the weapon be immediately available and fully functional so it can be used on short notice.
This directly conflicts with standard gun safety practices, which say that safe storage in a home requires that the weapon and its ammunition be stored in separate places and that the weapon either be locked up or rendered unusable by removing an essential part. These safety requirements render the weapon unavailable for immediate protection.
This illusion that firearms in a home can be both safe and protective is part of the common justification for opposition to many proposed gun control laws. What we need is to ignore spurious arguments like this and enact effective gun control everywhere.
Richard Peterson-Jones
Santa Rosa
BIG BALLOONS
Editor:
The Great Plains ballroom at North Dakota State University is 10,500 square feet and can accommodate approximately 1,000 people for speaking engagements or 576 for dining. That’s 10.5 square feet per person or 18.3 respectively. In theory then, a 90,000 square-foot ballroom should be able to accommodate 8,571 people for speaking or 4,918 for dining. That’s a pretty big party. I don’t know how often a president has a gathering that large, but I do know that American taxpayers will be paying to heat and cool and clean and do maintenance on our president’s proposed ballroom 365 days a year. I know how much that can cost for my modest home, so, yikes!
The president has said “they” have been wanting to do this for 150 years. I don’t know who “they” are, but the people who are donating money to build his ballroom are in business and have not been alive for 150 years. “They” apparently have enough extra cash laying around, thanks to certain tax cuts and government contracts, that “they” can donate millions to build something average taxpayers will be obliged to maintain.
Don Galloway
Sebastopol
TRUE COST OF OBAMACARE
Editor:
The real story underlying the government shutdown is an attempt by the Democrats to continue to mask the failure of Obamacare to reduce the promised cost of health care.
During the COVID crisis, the Democratic administration and Congress passed legislation temporarily authorizing health insurance premium assistance, to be effective through 2025. To force an extension of that assistance, thereby continuing to mask the additional cost of Obamacare, a timely House-approved clean resolution was sent to the Senate authorizing extension of existing spending levels until Nov. 21, which was blocked by a filibuster enforced by most Democratic senators. In the past these resolutions have routinely been accepted by the minority party and the government stayed open.
All congressional compensation or reimbursements should be permanently forfeited and adjournments prohibited during any shutdown.
Jim Haberkorn
Santa Rosa
EASY WAY, RIGHT WAY
Editor:
I’m thrilled that I don’t have to wash my clothes on river rocks or to go wherever I need to go on foot. But our quest for what’s easy is surely smoothing our path to calamity.
Professor Albus Dumbledore echoed many others before him when he told Harry Potter, “Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry. Soon we must all face the choice, between what is right and what is easy.”
What is right historically has not fared well, and today isn’t faring well at all against what is easy.
It’s easier to lie than to tell a difficult or unpleasant truth.
It’s easier to dictate and bully than to lead through collaboration and a free exchange of ideas.
It’s easier to parrot than to question prejudices.
It’s easier to surrender to, than to resist, the lure of corruption.
It’s easier to steal than to earn.
It’s easier to shop online than to patronize local retailers who enhance a community.
It’s easier to hand a child a mesmerizing screen than to devise a healthier way to engage her.
It’s easier to renege than to do whatever necessary to honor a commitment.
We could steer our actions and decisions vigorously in the direction of what is right. Sadly, that won’t be easy.
Chris Smith
Santa Rosa
SPARE THE TURKEY
Editor,
‘Peace on plate’ of vegetarian meals should be considered.
Articles and advertisements for turkey dinners on the Thanksgiving holiday are flooding our inboxes and the media landscape now.
If you are one of many people who cannot imagine the day without eating turkey, how about all the days that are not Thanksgiving? During those 364 days, I urge everyone to try some vegetarian or vegan meals.
A web search on any recipe you like with the word vegan before it will yield thousands of possibilities. Try oat, almond or soy milk instead of cow milk in your coffee tomorrow. Try a bean salad or a chickpea salad instead of tuna for lunch today. Pasta primavera is always a delicious dinner.
The possibilities are endless. If we want more peace in the world, it has to start in our hearts. And peace on the plate is an easy way to open our hearts to animals any day of the year.
Patti Breitman
Fairfax
UKIAH VS. TREES
To the Editor:
The latest wisdom coming from City Hall is the “upgrade” of School Street — the only few blocks in downtown where you dare to walk because of the comfort and cooling the mature pistache trees afford when it’s 100F. For the proposed upgrade, 55 trees could be cut down.
For twenty years, while I was a member of Mendocino County Releaf and the Tree Advisory Group for the City of Ukiah, I urged the City to give the pistache more “breathing room”: ideally, pave the sidewalks, or at least, open up a strip between the trees and the curb and top with sand or crushed granite; this would allow more air and water to reach the roots, thus help prevent desperate roots from lifting sidewalks or foundations.
But the City’s tree “care” consists of waiting until problems arise, then cut down the “offenders”. Between 2012 and 2020, the City cut down 160 trees, of which only 60 were replaced, and the record has not improved since then.
Already late Judy Pruden, community leader and Main Street Program organizer, bemoaned that Ukiah is full of saplings that never reach their full potential because of neglect, abuse, and premature death. Of the 300 trees that the Releaf volunteers planted and cared for along State Street 20 years ago, about 100 were cut down for the 2021/22 remodel.
Looks like the City wants to do on School Street what they did on State Street, which they are so proud of (The new tree plantings look good now, but they will start declining once they reach the root barriers and have used up the potting soil in their small tree wells; they also will cause “problems” for awnings, signage, and traffic because they are not being trained/pruned to the correct height and shape).
A petition on change.org, urging the City to preserve the School Street trees, received almost 3,000 signatures and dozens of comments. Despite the outcry, the City will follow their usual playbook: give empty promises, hold meaningless workshops, hire “experts” to tell them what they want to hear —then proceed with their plans. This duplicity and disdain for the public continues because there are no consequences for their generous paychecks and comfortable retirement.
Bruni Kobbe
Ukiah
A REALITY CHECK ON THE EEL RIVER DAMS
Editor,
The century-old Eel River dams pose safety risks — Scott Dam is located along an earthquake fault line and adjacent to a massive boulder that is slowly moving, a precursor to a massive natural landslide; are unreliable (aggregated sedimentation surrounds and constrains the needle valve at the base of the dam) and expensive.
The dams have led to heightened invasive species incursion (e.g., Sacramento Pikeminnow) and hazardous levels of mercury toxicity. Fish from Lake Pillsbury Reservoir are inedible due to mercury bioaccumulation, something that impacts the entire aquatic food web.
Chinook, steelhead and coho native to the Eel River, and culturally significant to over a dozen Native California tribes in the region, are at 3% of their historic levels. Water diversions, excessive sedimentation, and ensuing poor water quality (low dissolved oxygen, high temperatures), lack of access to spawning habitat, and poorly designed fish ladders are the culprits: dam removal will address all of these issues.
Cape Horn Dam, one of the Potter Valley Project’s two dams. (Mike Weir/Cal Trout via Bay City News)
In other words, maintaining the Scott and Cape Horn dams is a highly risky and ecologically damaging proposition that costs taxpayers and ratepayers far more than the dams are worth.
We’ve seen how rapidly flora and fauna along the Klamath River and its tributaries are recovering following the removal of four equally decrepit and dysfunctional dams, exceeding scientific projections. Genetically unique populations of rainbow trout trapped behind Scott Dam could contribute to the restoration of the southernmost population of summer steelhead, but time is of the essence. The sooner we remove the dams from the Eel River, the sooner we can restore threatened fish populations in this river, too.
Opposition to dam removal is largely based on unfamiliarity with watershed dynamics, leading to dramatically misguided fears regarding future water supplies. Constituents fear the loss of Lake Pillsbury and Lake Mendocino, and the lack of water availability during drought or wildfires.
Yes, if Scott Dam is removed, Lake Pillsbury will transform into a small valley filled with wildflowers and other native plant species, creeks, and various types of aquatic habitats such as ephemeral wetlands. But Lake Mendocino—which is a flood control project (vs. Lake Pillsbury which was always a hydropower project)—will remain, and the quantity of water diverted from the Eel to the Russian will stay the same: it is the timing of the water flows that will change.
Currently, releases into the Eel River mirror the natural hydrographic cycles; thus, when the dams are removed, the river level highs will be a little higher, and the lows a little lower.
It is also important to note that the specifics of future water diversions will be worked out through a separate CEQA process involving water users along both the Eel River and Russian River.
As an ethnoecologist, I’ve resided and worked in Mendocino, Lake, and Humboldt counties, and have worked as a consultant for all three counties, joined the board of the Salmon Restoration Association of Fort Bragg, served as the secretary of the Mendocino Fish and Game Advisory Commission, and volunteered as an ambulance driver for Anderson Valley.
I fish. I swim. I hike. And I can’t wait to see those dams brought down.
Dr. Jeanine Pfeiffer
Ukiah
LOPSIDED REPORTING
Editor:
Day after day, Associated Press articles focus on Hamas returning remains of Israeli hostages. The authors never forget to mention Oct. 7, 2023.
If only once in a while these pieces would include that the International Court of Justice and numerous international human rights organizations have called Israel’s assault on Gaza a genocide or that Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of war crimes. Nor have they educated their readers on what constitutes genocide.
Any report should include the number of Palestinians killed by Israel since the ceasefire (241, as of this writing). That of the 600 aid trucks per day pledged, only 100 have been allowed in. Tents and medicines languish in warehouses, denied by Israel to families who return to their homes after forced displacement to find nothing left. Israeli soldiers continue to occupy large portions of the territories which are no-go under penalty of death.
The U.S. media rightly condemns people going hungry because entitled SNAP and WIC benefits have been denied. Yet imagine going without adequate food for two years.
Why, as in no other conflict zone, have international journalists been denied entry so that what is really going on in Gaza cannot be accurately documented?
Jennie Orvino
Santa Rosa
NEXT TIME….
Editor,
Even the stone faces on Mount Rushmore are scowling at the government shutdown that just ended. You can almost hear, “I said government for the people, not government for punishing the people.”
Yet each day of the shutdown, the federal workers who keep our country functioning went without pay. Meanwhile, members of Congress continued to receive their paychecks. This was hypocrisy and a breach of public trust.
The shutdown even threatened public safety. Air traffic controllers, the unseen guardian angels who guide millions of passengers through our crowded skies each day, worked without pay. Some couldn’t afford groceries, rent or childcare. In a job that requires total concentration and flawless judgment, financial stress can be an enemy of safety.
If Congress believed the shutdown was worth the pain, then let its members live under the same terms. Next time there’s a shutdown, let them forgo their own paychecks, and better yet, redirect their money to the air traffic controllers and other federal workers who are keeping us safe.
The government is supposed to serve the people, not punish them.
Curtis Panasuk
San Francisco
PROP 50: BACK TO THE FUTURE
Editor:
Well, the results are in: Proposition 50 has passed, handing congressional redistricting back to the Legislature. After fighting for eight to 10 years to give the power to an independent citizens committee, the voters have let their hatred of all things Trump give the power back to legislators. This just proves the old axiom of legislators picking their voters, rather than the voters picking their legislators.
The law includes a clause about returning redistricting power back to the independent commission after three elections: 2026, 2028 and 2030. Does anyone really think that the legislators will willingly give it up in 2030? They will find some mealy-mouth excuse to keep the power in their hands.
Remember, folks, you voted for this.
Joe Gaffney
Rohnert Park
PATIENTS’ CHOICE
Editor:
When my mother was hospitalized, an ICU doctor told me, “Your mom is suffering.” I asked her, “Mom, are you suffering?” She answered, “No.” That moment exposed something deeply wrong in how we approach end-of-life care. Treatments are sometimes withheld, reduced or discontinued — not because they’ve stopped working but because someone decided that a patient’s life no longer met a certain “quality” standard. This quiet discrimination against the elderly, disabled and vulnerable must end.
That’s why I’m proposing the Life Preservation Act — a policy to protect every patient’s right to continued care, transparency and respect. This is not about prolonging suffering or rejecting medical judgment. It’s about honoring each person’s right to choose — the same right we uphold in every other aspect of health care. When a patient wants to preserve life, they shouldn’t face resistance from the very institutions meant to heal.
If you believe patients deserve the right to decide how their life ends — not a rushed or pressured decision made for them — contact your state legislators and urge them to sponsor or support my proposal, the Life Preservation Act.
Kathy Alexiou
Pacifica
RACISM AS MENTAL ILLNESS
Editor:
I imagine the first interactions between humans were physical. If not inspired by lust, I would guess anger fueled the alternative. Both enterprises were most likely crude and probably violent. Tact came much later in human development. We, in fact, are still underdeveloped in emotional intelligence.
Many humans, especially Americans, prefer fighting to admitting they’re wrong. I say this because of the Civil War. Some southerners portray themselves as victims of the anti-slavery movement. It is as if hatred is an addiction, denial a default. Unfortunately, no one wants to label hatred as a malady, but the syndrome is obviously malignant and contagious, insidious and systemic. We should reclassify racism as a mental illness. If so, mental health specialists could administer psychotherapy techniques such as cognitive behavior, coping skills or examining one’s childhood.
Like any character in the throes of an addiction, denial perpetuates the obsession. It’s been 160 years since the Civil War, and some southerners still idolize racists like Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. The South cannot end this conflict unless it accepts that the Confederacy was wrong.
Tom Fantulin
Fort Bragg
A CAUTIONARY TALE
Editor:
I was recently involved in a tragic accident that could have been avoided. On Oct. 31, my dog Scout and I were waiting at a crosswalk in downtown Sebastopol. When the light turned to “walk,” we entered the intersection. A van driven by an 87-year-old woman barreled into us. Scout suffered horrific injuries. After two vets examined her, I had her put down.
Witnesses and one angel who drove us to the vet, as well as the police officer who followed us there, were compassionate and kind. I am eternally grateful. The driver offered no explanation to me.
I’m 78, and I gave up driving a year and a half ago because my vision is deteriorating. If you are an elderly driver with compromised vision or spatial awareness, I beg you to give up your pride, as I had to. Consider the consequences if you harm a person or animal. You will affect a whole circle of people in seconds. Scout was an ambassador of love, treasured by our family and the community. She did not deserve to suffer a tragic end. My heart is broken. It didn’t have to happen.
Morgan Hewitt
Sebastopol
TO AID SALMON, PRESERVE SAN JOAQUIN WATERSHED
Editor:
Tom Philp’s Nov. 10 opinion article about the salmon in the Sacramento River was excellent, but he did not address two major areas affecting the Northcoast. First is the San Joaquin River watershed, which is just as important for salmon survival. Currently flows from the Sierra can get down to 10% of natural flows, with the rest diverted mostly to farming concerns, letting fish swelter and die in the warm water.
Why do we care what happens with water from Central Valley rivers? How often do we love to go to Bodega Bay and visit the wharves? The salmon that support our local fisherman are being decimated. The solution is higher flows. This is currently being decided in Sacramento. Look at the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan. For more information, contact your local salmon fisherman and Yosemite Rivers Alliance.
Mark Gonzalves
Sonoma
VERILY, VERILY
Editor,
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attacks on President Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans can perhaps best be summed up by Ezekiel 16:49: This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
True, MAGA is turning the U.S. into a great big Sodom.
But the Bible is a two-edged sword. Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17 — thou shalt not kill — clearly prohibit abortion, which Newsom promotes and has the state fund.
Something that Trump and Newsom prefer to ignore is Matthew 19:9: Whoever divorces his wife, here not upon fornication, and marries another, commits adultery.
Has Newsom obtained an assurance from his bishop that his union with Kimberley Guilfoyle constituted fornication within the meaning of this utterance of Jesus?
If not, how is he better than Trump? People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
John Wills
Oakland
Ethnoecologist Pfeiffer: How many badly deigned fish ladders are on the Eel?