Letters (Jan 20, 2016)

• Prop 13’s Other Loophole
• The Anthropocene Age
• Up Or Down?
• Brace Yourselves, Girls
• How Key Mo Saw Be?
• Slimed
• Don’t Wanna Go To Rehab, No, No, No.
• Ted Says County Broker Than Broke

PROP 13’S OTHER LOOPHOLE

Editor

While Jay Nitschke's letter of 13 January concerning corporate tax payments post Prop 13 is accurate, it misses a major issue. Property rates for both corporations and individuals (including home owners) were rolled back and can only be raised a limited amount (1%/yr I think) UNLESS the property is sold or permits, building or use, are issued. As a result, corporations virtually never have their real estate holdings re-assessed, if the corporation is acquired, real assets are merely another asset and not re-assessed. Likewise, another massive negative force on state income comes from individuals who own multiple properties, especially apartment buildings. Those taxes are held at a 60s level while rents have risen astronomically.

I used to rent a flat in San Francisco for $75/month; it was one of six in a building and the owner got $450/month. Now any one of those flats rents for well over $1500, but if the building has not been sold the taxes are more or less at previous levels. The same is true for a huge apartment complex. It is also true for a house, using San Francisco (or Ukiah) as an example, that has an in-law apartment.

I lived in such a house in SF and the downstairs apartment rented for $90; lately the rent was $1550, but the taxes have not significantly changed. The landlords say they must pay higher income taxes which is true, but those taxes go into a different pile.

So yes, reform/amend Prop 13, BUT not just on the "evil" corporations. Exempt the primary residence of individuals only, not all property held for the long-term, particularly rental property.

Peter Lit

Elk

THE ANTHROPOCENE AGE

Dear Editor:

Human impact has pushed Earth into the anthropocene. Recently the Guardian newspaper published an article about a working group of scientists including members of the Subcommission on Quaternary Srtratigraphy's anthropocene. The question of whether humans' combined environmental impact has tipped the earth in to an anthropocene ending the current holocene which began about 12,000 years ago will be put to the International Commission on Stratigraphy for a determination if it should formally declared an epoch. Dr. Colin Waters leader of the group who wrote a paper that was published in the Science magazine made the following comments, "We could be looking here at a step change from one world to another that justifies being called an epoch.” What this paper does is to say the changes are as big as those that happened at the end of the last ice age. A number changes were cited as evidence for their action: Pushed Extinction rates of flora and fauna far above the long-term average; because of fossil fuel burning increased the concentrations of CO2 since the industrial revolution up about 120 parts per million (ppm) at around 400 ppm and increasing; testing of nuclear weapons has left traces of isotopes through out the mid-latitudes of the earth; put so much plastic in our waterways and oceans that microplastic particles are virtually everywhere: over the last 100 years doubled the nitrogen and phosphorous in our soils with our fertilizer use. There is research indicating it is the largest impact on the nitrogen cycle in 2.5 billion years; and left a permanent marker in sediment and glacial ice with airborne particulates such as black carbon from fossil fuel burning.

Dr. Waters did not discuss what the the next epoch will be like but rather obviously it will be a challenge for humans. By 2050 CO2 will reach 450 ppm which will be an all time high. There is a large concentration of excess CO2 in the ocean which will start being released as the oceans get warmer and warmer. As the ocean level continues to rise island nations will disappear and coastal area with large populations will be flooded. As the world's population continues to increase there will be mass starvation. Much of the land will be become arid desert. By the year 2100 it is hard to visualize a world that as we have now.

In peace and love.

Jim Updegraff

Sacramento

UP OR DOWN?

Editor,

Ever hike near a waterfall? You can feel the aerosol from hundreds of feet away. The science behind toilets shows that whenever one flushes a toilet, the toilet lid should be closed during flushing to minimize the aerosol from the toilet. E. coli bacteria has been found across whole houses where toilet seats are left up during flushing. If you're not closing the lid at home, just consider where your toothbrush sits in relation to your toilet. Public bathrooms should have lids on the toilet, and people should stop being sexist about something so mundane as a toilet seat.

James Masciandaro

San Bruno

BRACE YOURSELVES, GIRLS

Editor,

I'm going to weigh in here on the messy subject of unisex bathrooms and say what no one else has the guts to say: Men's bathrooms stink. Literally. It has nothing to do with leaving the seat up or down, it's where men choose to aim and spray. Women have their own issues in the bathroom but, as a woman, I can be reasonably assured that the toilet seat won't be dripping and the floor won't be a lake when I need to use a public restroom. I said "reasonably assured." And what's up with the "urine cake?" To take the nicest word in the English language and ruin it with that abominable adjective. Let the firestorm of indignation begin.

Madeleine DeAndreis-Ayres,

Fort Jones, Siskiyou County

HOW KEY MO SAW BE?

Editor and Fellow AVAers,

How, American Indian salutation.

Though Donald Trump may have no pets, it's said he pets his elephant. Trumpet. And though he is not Donald Duck, those of us in opposition to his presidency say: Let's Dump Trump, which could be the title of my latest punk song or, Trump Dumped in the Dump.

And although he's not Donald Duck he tends to quack as he struts. Then for happiness, peace and prosperity shall we elect sweet Hillary?

I don't watch TV. Where is Washington, Jefferson and Franklin in American suburbia? Trumpets have a flared mouth.

Diana Vance

Mendocino

PS. Farina bangs her dish about American politics. In Mendocino she tells her friends, "I'm one quarter Native American Indian." — Farina Bangladesh and Fort Bragg I, Key Mo Saw Bee.

SLIMED

Editor,

Among the many untruthful claims in the article you posted on your website on Monday, the most destructive and annoying is this: "Thanks to outside funding from the Sonoma County non-profit hoping to take over management of the Ukiah shelter, the Care A Van spay and neuter operation was restarted this summer. It's a valuable service because, Shelter critics say, the Shelter takes forever to spay and neuter dogs and cats."

Where on earth you learned/heard this delightful tidbit sure would be interesting to discover. This is completely and utterly without validity. You should really be ashamed. This is above and beyond the AVA at it's most slimey. And again, the "one volunteer" you mention — the same one who has written her own fact-free letters and posts, has not been banned from the shelter.

It would behoove you to actually get this stuff right, instead of enabling folks in their undermining of an agency that has done lots of great things for many years.

Kathy Shearn

Ukiah

ED NOTE: Who did fund the Care A Van?

DON’T WANNA GO TO REHAB, NO, NO, NO.

Editor:

Rehabilitation? What's that?

How strong do you have to be to survive decades in prison? Not just physically but psychologically and emotionally. Believe me: the latter two are much harder to build and maintain than the former. They are also easier to fake and there's thousands of California prisoners with serious mental issues who are undiagnosed for various reasons. A person may fear appearing weak for seeking help or they may not trust the government doctors. If you've ever met a prison psych-tech you'd understand. Everyone of them has serious mental issues of their own. How are they going to help someone else? Plus, there's no confidentiality. Anything you say — and how the crazy psych-tech interprets it — will be viewed and held against you by the Board of Prison Terms. Five seconds of "venting" could kill your chances of ever seeing freedom. It's much safer to ignore the voices in your head (if you can) and learn to like nightmares. You have to accept the fact that nightmares are a part of sleep. And they are not even the worst part. The worst part of sleep is waking up in prison. Still. Every fucking time I wake up here I am again! Can you see how you can come to accept having nightmares every night? There's nothing as bad as waking up to this shit. Needless to say I'm not really a "morning person."

The state has budgeted $14 billion to the CDCR for prisoner "rehabilitation." The odd thing is neither myself nor anyone else I've talked to has noticed. $14 billion? California has a ridiculous 70% recidivism rate every year. It also holds the record in prisoner suicides and homicides. (I wonder if Guinness would accept that entry?) On a probably related note, California's prison guards are the highest paid in the world. Maybe the legislators don't know what "rehabilitation" means. Or they've confused it with another word like "reallocation." Because it seems like the "rehabilitation" money has been "reallocated" to somebody's wallet!

The CDCR is more committed to breaking the spirit of prisoners than rehabilitating. And the guards never miss an opportunity to make clear their stand: "It's not my job to rehabilitate you." So many of these "civil servants" feel it's their job to punish prisoners but no citizen in California was ever sentenced to prison to be punished. They've all been sentenced to prison as punishment. The state has taken all of our rights, our relationship with our families and our kids, our citizenship, etc. The only right prisoners really have is the right to remain silent. How magnanimous of them! It's really just the right to shut the fuck up! What are the repercussions of paroling prisoner unrehabilitated and with suppressed psychological disorders like PTSD? Well, to start with it's that 70% recidivism rate. The rest are obviously not going to all instantly become "productive members of society." After fighting through the brutally long sentences that state so freely doled out and being tormented by the wonderful people who are employed by the California Department of Corrections and Revenge, along with the joke of the $200 "gate money," how many of these nearly unrehabilitated "citizens" have a chance in hell of reintegrating into society?

While I'm on the subject of the rehabilitation lie, let me say a word on another lie: the CDCR claims that they "provide jobs for prisoners to earn money for their basic hygiene and dignity." The reality is that most prison jobs are without pay and even if you are one of the "fortunate" ones and manage to land a paying job, the average pay is about 9¢ an hour. And that is automatically taxed 55% for any so-called restitution that really goes into the state coffers. So what does Big Bank Hank buy with that 4¢ an hour? His hygiene or his dignity?

The state has to provide indigent inmates with 20 "indigent envelopes" per month but if you have any money ($1) in your trust account you are not eligible and must buy your own postage with the average inmate monthly pay between $4.80 and $5.40 after restitution? Basic hygiene items are pretty expensive, and I hear dignity ain't cheap either. So say I forego my dignity because it just isn't in the budget and I buy the most basic hygiene items. That's $2.40 for small tube of toothpaste and $1.30 for a cheap deodorant for a total of $3.70. Now say I'm at the high end of average at $5.40. That means I'll be able to buy three stamps this month. Like I said above: Dignity just isn't in the budget.

To live in prison with the basic bare minimum toiletries and be able to stay in contact with your loved ones there's only one thing to do whether you have a "paying" job or not: steal shit. Stolen supplies from the state get traded for the basic necessities — trashbags, cleaning supplies, tape, paper, extra laundry — all get traded for soap, toothpaste, stamps, deodorant etc.. So that's what the CDCR's rehabilitation smells like. It's not hard to imagine what happens to a man when he has to steal to survive. It becomes normal to him. You may come to prison with good morals and ethics and some people do, but the state will quickly cure you of that! In prison you must maintain basic hygiene or you are in violation of the rules and regulations. So to follow the rules you must break the rules. After years of oppression this all begins to seem normal.

The CDCR does the opposite of rehabilitation. It's a farce and the only beneficiaries of the system are the civil service employees. Not the prisoners, and most definitely not society. The current system of "lock them up for ever and for everything" only makes good men bad and bad men worse. I think it's important for people to know that most first-time prisoners haven't committed violent crimes but most violent crimes are committed by people who have already been to prison. People become products of their environments and this environment sucks! No matter how hard the state tries I will not let them "rehabilitate" the dignity out on the.

Scott Peterson

Lancaster

TED SAYS COUNTY BROKER THAN BROKE

Subject: Sedition?

Happy New Year to my Farm Bureau Friends!

The joint meeting between the BOS and MCERA has moved around a bit. I believe the time is now settled. It will be this Tuesday, Jan 19, at the Ukiah Conference Center (200 So. School St), 2 to 4PM. Our MCERA meeting will be the same day, the same room and it starts at 8:30 AM.As a side note, as you may know, the county audit report is out and the county financial position, measured by net worth on the balance sheet, has gone from a positive value to a deep negative value due to the govt. accounting rules forcing the pension debt to be accurately reflected on the statement. The negative net worth means our county assets have no value; the debts are larger than the value of our assets. I believe some would say we are technically insolvent or bankrupt as we would be unable to pay off our debt with the assets we have. The county pension plan did this to us. John D and his reform group will have several comments on this at the joint meeting.The main purpose of the joint meeting is to present the actuarial valuation report for the year ended June 30, 2015.I have written a short summary of my thoughts on this that I have attached for your perusal. I have done this as the protocol is for the chair and administrator to speak for the retirement board and they would rather not have someone like me spoiling the fun. Usually it is the standard “we are improving,” “everything is fine,” “don't worry, no problem,” “our experts have it under control.....” In reality, while I have tried to be patient, work with the board and learn all I can about these complicated plans, the problem just keeps getting worse.The actuary, Segel, will be at the meeting presenting their report and telling us we should be more patient. In our last MCERA board meeting I was the lone vote against approving this report. I voted against it as it is the same flawed process that has produced the pension debt that has financially ruined our county. It hasn't only created the negative net worth situation, it has also absorbed every available dollar in funding to the detriment of all the other services in our county. It might sound funny to say “we have a really screwed up county with no services, but we have great pensions,” but I am also very worried about the plan's ability to pay the benefits we have promised. Not a single employee dollar or employer ever makes it into the plan. In fact, we also have to sell plan assets every month to make benefit and administrative plan payroll. As you will see in my attachment, while we had the most remarkable market recovery, our plan has continued to deteriorate.Under the same flawed actuarial process, in 1996 the county borrowed to refill the pension plan telling us to trust this system. In 2002 the county borrowed again to refill the pension plan telling us this time it really is okay, just trust the process. These are our pension obligation bonds (POBs). When I started looking at this I was told it was all the market, when the market came back it would fine...At the date of the report they are presenting, June 30, 2015, the market had recovered more than any of us could have ever imagined. It is not all okay. Since 2008 the unfunded liability is up by 9 times. Since 2010 the unfunded liability has doubled. I don't think you have to be too smart to figure out something is seriously wrong here. What you will hear at the meeting is trust them again; it is really okay this time. Or, that by reducing the target rate it increased the underfunded amount. The truth is we only went about half way with where the target rate should be reduced. They will not tell you why they missed it all the times before; they will tell you trust us and send lots more money. Sometimes I dream our citizens will find the courage to stand up and tell them “JUST STOP IT!, No more of this hooey. We need to get to the bottom of this!.” Every time I hear these reports now I have either “what a fool believes” or “won't get fooled again” playing in the back of my mind. Call me an actuarial science doubter, but the county numbers seem to speak the truth.

Ted Stephens

MS-Taxation, MBA-Finance

Santa Rosa,/Yorkville

PS. MCERA Meeting Locations for Tuesday There has been some confusion as to where all these MCERA related meetings will actually be this coming Thursday, Jan 19, so here goes it as I know it today: Normal MCERA meeting will be at MCERA office, 625-B King's Court, at 8:30 to 11:30AM. Investment training will be at the Ukiah Conference Center, 200 So School St, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM. Joint meeting will be at the Ukiah Conference Center, 200 So School St, from 2 to 4 PM.

PPS - Should be fun; we even have a “Joint Meeting Agenda” published! In our county when you tell folks you are going to have a “joint meeting” never know who will show up!