Letters (May 27, 2015)

• Ms. Ranochak, White Courtesy Telephone Please
• Ageless
• Is Jeremy Freeman Protecting Someone?
• Mendo Veto
• Recall Mayor Turner
• My Personal Recall
• Bring It Back
• Juneteenth & Rastafest
• Lessons From A Long Life
• Dark Forces In Fort Bragg?

MS. RANOCHAK, WHITE COURTESY TELEPHONE PLEASE

Editor:

This is a letter on government and how they do things illegally and how they are not held accountable for their actions. Anderson Creek Winery asked us to agree to clear up some minor differences that did not match up as they were going to sell the property and to survey the fences that go back to 1932 when my father bought this place with minor differences. This was 2013. When we got our tax bill in 2014 from County Assessor Susan Ranochak, we were surprised that what was a single parcel turned into five parcels and the acres on the five acre parcel had gone down to 48 acres instead of the 54 acres on the single parcel and taxes on the five parcels have gone up $100. This was supposed to be a neutral transaction as no actual properties were being exchanged, only the description of the properties. All our property is in the Williamson Act since the 1970s and the Assessor proceeded to take these little parcels out of the Williamson Act and then who knows how she calculated the taxes?

The Williamson Act clearly states the Act goes with the land and only the Board of Supervisors can take it out of the Act if the land is no longer used for agriculture, plus some other goofy things we could not understand.

We went round and round with the Assessor and could not get any creditable answers. They suggested we file a claim which we did. It came back saying it had been rejected with no kind of explanation. We got no notification of when this was being heard. I think they call that a kangaroo court. I wrote this letter back to them:

Under the California Public Records Act, who were the exact people who turned down my claim and for what reasons? How did you come up with these parcels and what methodology did you use? What public records show you could change the Williamson Act language that the Act does not go with the land? How did you get 5.5 acres more or less? My deed says 2.5 acres more or less.

I got a letter back from County Counsel's office saying there were only three records and they did not pertain to what I asked and that I probably had those already. I went into County Counsel's office and said everything government does is recorded. She said, "Oh, you mean the minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting?"

I said, That's a record of our claim.

She said she would get them for me and send them to me. I'm waiting.

To be continued,

Emil Rossi

Boonville

AGELESS

Editor,

Summer is nigh! I still build a warming fire each morning and I am deep, way down deep, in my box of newspapers to be lit in the kindling. What should I find but the May 8, 2013 edition of America's last newspaper! I am here to tell you that yes, each day at the crack of dawn history does start all over again. In the two-year old edition the news is as fresh as the day it was printed. Enough of this pounding on the Post Office! The more things are different the more they stay the same. Prompt delivery is overrated.

I pass my copies of your fine paper on to a friend to further his enlightenment and I will wager he won't notice he is reading two year old copy.

Peace to the cottages! War on the Palaces!

Gary Durheim

Canine Beach, Oregon

IS JEREMY FREEMAN PROTECTING SOMEONE?

Dear Editor:

After Jeremy Jason Freeman had been sentenced, the Lincoln family was asked to write a statement about how this court decision has affected us individually.

Here is how I feel about the verdict:

Jeremy Freeman skipped the whole trial process and pleaded guilty for murdering Belle Rodriguez and he got 19-to-life.

I mean, come on! Why is he covering up for all of the others who were there?

Something more is going on here than meets the eye.

I mean nobody is gonna do 19-to-life to keep their friends' names in the clear.

Friends?! Yeah, right. Did they call him? Did they write? Did they show any kind of support while he was locked up? (Jeremy knows the answer to that one.)

His friends will let him rot in state prison as long as their names don't come up.

Would any one of them do the same for him if it came down to it? Hell no! But it is Jeremy's decision to keep their names out of the spotlight.

"Loyalty" is not the word for his choice. "Stupidity" would be a more accurate term. 19-to-life is the white man's justice. In state prison Jeremy will have to deal with Indian justice. What I hear is the "broz" in state prison don't take too kindly with Indians killing Indians.

What? We're supposed to be sad? (Those last words were borrowed from Jeremy's mother, Susan Britton as she was walking by my niece Rosy Azbill and her dad Lenny Azbill after Belle's murder. Does she feel sad now?

Jeremy's verdict is just the tip of the iceberg. The boat is sinking and hopefully he won't let himself be the only one going down with the ship.

Love you, Belle.

Eric Lincoln, a citizen for human justice and advocate for victims of a wrongful death.

Covelo

PS. A copy of this impact statement went to the District Attorney. He's the one who requested it.

MENDO VETO

To the Editor:

In regards to the Willits resident Mr. Parmenter’s letter. I found it interesting how he uses the word fear to describe the feelings of the residents who are against MendoVito. I did use the word “tremble” in my letter of Feb. 4 but I should have finished the phrase because I don’t tremble in fear, I tremble with emotion. We are not “scared” or afraid of this development. We are voicing our opposition to MendoVito because it is a grossly inappropriate development for this county. We do not have the problems he and the other proponents say this new city will cure. We were told at the meeting in November that “one person out of every household must work in MendoVito.” I know that this was said because I was at that meeting. It was said a couple of times. Now however, according to the website, and Mr. Parmenter, you don’t have to work in MendoVito at all. You can use technology and Skype. My, my how the stories change.

Once again this is looking to be more and more of an elitist community geared to the wants and needs of those who can afford the high price tag of “$490,000 a townhouse (for 75 percent of the homes)” to live in such a beautiful rural setting that is just a couple of hours away from the Bay Area. Guess who they are trying to attract? I don’t think it is the typical resident of Mendocino county. I have heard some people say this new development is trying to entice the “yuppies” from their world to come live here, and I am starting to agree with them. It is said by some of the MendoVito people that I fear change. I don’t think that fear of change is my driving force in this fight. It is how inappropriate this new city is for this county. It is about how I don’t trust people who talk in circles and change what they say. It is about ideas and flow charts that are being passed off as true engineering. I feel like we are having medicine shoved down our throat for a non existent illness. So remember if it does come to a vote, that will cost this county way too much money to execute. Give MendoVito a Mendo Veto.

Susan Poor

Hopland

RECALL MAYOR TURNER

Editor,

My name is Judy Valadao. I have lived in Fort Bragg for 51 years. I own my home here and raised my children here. I buried one of my children here. This is my home and I love Fort Bragg. I have no doubt that Dave Turner is a good Dad good Grandfather and good husband. Those are great qualities in any human but those qualities are not reasons for or against a recall. We all have our own reasons and in a democracy we have the right to express those reasons.

My reason for agreeing with the Recall Of Dave Turner is not because of how the Old Coast vote turned out but instead with how the vote came about. I realize there were probably no laws/rules broken with what went on behind the scenes of the Old Coast Hotel deal, but trust was certainly broken and once that is gone what is left?

The community of Fort Bragg wrote over 300 letters opposed to the Old Coast transfer and sent them to City Hall , a total of over 1675 signatures were gathered in opposition, about 51 of them from business people. Additionally, the community took the time to attend meeting after meeting. For what?

Two months prior to the public being informed about the purchase, it was a done deal. Two months prior to the first meeting on this issue it was a done deal. Two months prior to the public being notified Dave Turner gave "100% support" for the deal. Two months before the public was informed about the deal, Dave Turner attended meetings with Anna Shaw and her board to give "reasonable assurance" that the City would support the deal so the papers with Old Coast's owner, Mr. Carine, could be signed.

Yes, it is true the Council is voted in to represent the people, but in order to represent the people they must first listen to the people. Of course there will be votes that people aren’t happy about or disapprove of the outcome. Sometimes decisions that deal with the financial stability of the City aren’t popular but they have to be made in order to keep the City running smoothly.

The Old Coast Hotel was not one of those decisions. It had nothing to do with the financial stability of the City (except for whatever percentage of the grant the City got to pocket). Do the homeless in this City need office space or do they need a roof over their heads? Ask them and find out. A building with over 12,000 sq. ft. of space and over 8,000 of that being used for offices and (other necessities) while a little over 3000 sq. ft. is used for housing.

How many other projects were done deals before the public even knew what was going on? How many future projects will be handled in this manner?

A few angry people? I don't think so, and I'm sure those saying that know better also. Many disappointed people? Yes, the numbers are many. At the very least this recall has opened the eyes of many about what goes on behind closed doors and how decisions are made within the City. How many past decisions were made in this way and how many future decisions have all ready been made before the public is even aware of what is happening?

Just the fact that all this dealmaking is being brought out to the public is a huge win. After all it is the public that makes up this Community and lives with the decisions made by the Council.

Judy Valadao

Fort Bragg

MY PERSONAL RECALL

Editor,

My name is Charles Brandenburg. I live on Glass Beach Drive in Fort Bragg.

I’m not from Fort Bragg but I’m of Fort Bragg, for the past 13 years. My wife Mary and I came to Fort Bragg to manage the Super 8 on Main Street originally and now I am proprietor of Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn (Mendocino) and owner of Mendocino Peace Pipes (Fort Bragg). You’ve probably seen me in town or on our beaches; I’m the guy with two Corgis. I Love Fort Bragg/Mendocino. I Like Dave Turner and find him to be a good man. I have never been involved in local affairs and have pretty much appreciated what our city government has accomplished. I work out at our $27 million sales tax subsidized CV Starr Center, I walk My Corgis on our Multi-Million dollar “Noyo Harbor Park Path” (Glass Beach). I live in a great town.

I Support the recall of Dave Turner. My reasons are my reasons. Many other people have many other reasons. Some of these reasons are only important to the person whose reason it is, but many are important to lots of us and some are important reasons to all of us.

We all know what most of these reasons to recall Dave Turner are — reasons like causing a Great Local Police Chief to resign, Wasting $300k planning an unwanted merge alignment, funding a much needed but ridiculously located mental health outreach/homeless transitional housing program in a beloved historical downtown building against the wishes of 90% of the townspeople, Not hiring John Naulty (A LOCAL QUALIFIED HERO) as our Police Chief. Etc.

Most Important, Not respecting the wishes of the people who voted you in. So nothing personal Dave and I won’t take it personal if you resign.

Charles Brandenburg

In Fort Bragg

BRING IT BACK

To the Editor:

I hope the Palace Hotel is returned soon to it’s original glory and beauty of long ago. It brings sad memories to me because my stepfather Patrick Goodwin, died in the Palace Hotel. He stayed there regularly when hauling stove wood from the northern part of the county to San Francisco, and he wanted to get an early start the next morning. I can’t forget the grief it caused my mother when she was notified of his death. Before she passed away, she used to get me to drive into town and park in front of the Palace Hotel as though she expected him to walk out any minute. It could be said the Palace Hotel just made Ukiah.

Maxine Eden

Ukiah

JUNETEENTH & RASTAFEST

Dear Editor,

The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival begins Friday, June 19, 2015, in Boonville, CA. June 19, also known as Juneteenth, celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is celebrated in more than 200 cities, and is now a holiday in several states.

Susie de Castro

Fort Bragg

LESSONS FROM A LONG LIFE

To the Editor:

In the Navy during WWII my first girlfriend ran a Ben Franklin Dime store in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Any veteran my age will remember the warning by our shore patrol to only have liberty in groups. The zoot-suiters mugged me and took my shoes, my watch, my hat and my upper uniform. Again, in San Diego, the same thing, and they broke my collar bone. Still hurts to this day at 90 years of age. As a child in Chicago, each culture and race or nationality had our own neighborhood and church - all was peaceful. Then in 1948 after the war came television. The have-not people saw what the successful have-folks enjoyed. Today in 2015 the internet has aroused the have-nots again. The working have-folks versus the vast, more primitive cultures caught up in religions that promote violence. Evolution is a long ladder; my culture has evolved mental pursuits for justice. Down the ladder people more physical in behavior who like sports express a violent side when things go wrong at a game or on the street. They think the world owes them. The Romans enjoyed killing the Christians; the more blood the better. The human race has not changed. Parents, the child you created absorbs more in his brain in his first 6 years of life than he will the rest of his life - determining future behaviors. Day care, bought, is no substitute. Later college is just to fit in. He will be a follower or a leader. In the home you, his mother and father teach by example. Our young at puberty, filled with hormones, resist authority at home and on the street. Our police cannot physically fix what you had no time for. All the goodies in life come later; a reward for work. A free ride from government has no value. The human body, young or old is not strong so any physical fight in football or on the street the policeman or you will be hurt or die. I only finished High School, then the war. So through very humble jobs working 18 hours a day, I made it. I did not aim too high so I could reach the top; life is short. My choices were no smokes, no drinks, no drugs or gambling. Today’s pursuit of just “things” brings no happiness. You folks out there, each day say a kind hello to someone you do not even know. You will be truly richer.

Gene Hoggren

Redwood Valley

DARK FORCES IN FORT BRAGG?

Dear AVA,

If you all would ever get beyond your knee-jerk reactions w/re to Fort Bragg's politics, you might discover the elements behind the recall of the Mayor are much more sinister than you currently appreciate.

An indicator of your superficiality? The Mayor's name is Dave, not Ron, Turner, as published in your May 20, 2015 issue in your Off The Record column.

Roanne Withers — were she still among the living — would really give you all an earful about what's really going on up there. And, believe me, it has so very little to do with the Coast Hotel's disposition.

Can you guys wake up? Or have the intoxication of your self righteous sanctimony finally blinded you, preventing your reporters from looking behind the curtain?

There's a lot more going on behind the scenes in Fort Bragg's governance than you seem to be able to see. Smugness blinds you.

Roanne and Ron Gunther must be spinning in their graves because you are so far off base here.

I rely on your paper to report the news, not knee-jerk diatribes about the “establishment”; which in Fort Bragg's case is a study in honest good governance. What exactly is your gripe? What are the recalls?

I challenge you to move beyond your mere opinion into the realm of factual reporting about what's going on up there in Fort Bragg. It's bigger, deeper and darker than you currently are able to realize. It has to do with good old boys and the bad old times and land use and money and power that certain factions lost in the Clean Sweep campaign and now they — and others — want the power back. And these dark forces are relying on your preternatural anti-establishment bias to further their efforts to usurp a democratically elected government and install instead a Koch brothers inspired group of interests that would make Dominic Affinito proud.

Your paper is doing a grave disservice to investigative reporting in this matter and you should be ashamed.

From a very long time reader and supporter who buys your paper locally every Thursday and has for many, many years.

Print this if you must.

Lee Edmundson

Mendocino

Ed Reply: If you wouldn't mind doling out a specific or two, we might have something to go on, Lee. Near as I can tell, you're saying that all that stands between us and the Koch Bros is Dave Turner? Please. As a faithful viewer of Mendocino TV, I attend all the Fort Bragg City Council meetings, and all the meetings of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors. I think I'm as qualified as the next person to comment on them. I think recent decisions by the Turner majority on the Fort Bragg City Council are not defensible and, worse, were made out of the view of the public and, in the case of the Coast Hotel, were made by staff, not elected people, all occurring against what I see as the criminal back-drop of the Supervisors' massive gift of public funds to the Ortner Management Group of Yuba City in a deal so corrupt it's thrilling. OMG clearly sees both Mendocino County and Fort Bragg as easy pickings. Additionally, we have the Fort Bragg city manager hiring a personal friend and handing that friend a big raise along with a hoked-up job title. And we have the Turner majority presently trying to off-load a $5 million new trash transfer station, and the inevitable increased garbage rates to pay for it, on Coast people when a perfectly serviceable transfer operation exists at Pudding Creek. I know that Turner, like you, is an active Mendo Democrat which, to me, inevitably translates as a comfortable person who considers him or herself as not only infallible, but muy cool, while the rest of us look on and see nothing more than a lot of insider hustling and a breathtaking arrogance unrelated to any visible ability. PS. I know you and the rest of Mendo's white wine libs are gearing up for a return of Billary, but have any of you considered that the Clintons are merely the flip side of the Kochs?