SELECTING THE AREA most distant from his many critics, and the paper least critical of his poor performance as Supervisor, Supervisor Dan Hamburg announced that he was “retiring” from politics at the end of 2018. (Over 13 months to go, for those of you counting.)
HAMBURG'S announcement was front page news in last week’s Independent Coast Observer, Gualala. The paper reported that the announcement was made at the Gualala Municipal Advisory Committee (GMAC) meeting the week before. Hamburg told the ICO that the GMAC is “a very comfortable place for me,” adding that he has “worked” on “enough issues in Gualala that it seemed like a good place to make the announcement,” not specifying what those “issues” were or what his “work” was.
A DEMOCRAT when he isn't a Green, Hamburg was first elected Fifth District Supervisor in 2010, following in the undistinguished footsteps of J.David Colfax (Boonville) whose sole accomplishment in his twelve years was getting a raise (and pension increase) for himself. Colfax held exactly two community meetings in Anderson Valley over his twelve languid years in office, and at those two meetings he said nothing could be done about anything.
HAMBURG hasn’t even held one community meeting in Anderson Valley, although he does drop by now and then at meetings hosted by others, offering nothing, saying very little — except for the time he loudly berated locals who complained about the traffic interruptions and negative message of the filming of the cretinous movie, “Need For Speed.”
VEERING OFF into pure delusion, Hamburg also told the ICO that, “One of my most important attributes [sic] is that I defend and protect the environment. I’ve taken very strong positions on the environment.” No particulars, of course, because there aren't any. Hamburg cited his tangential and ineffectual involvement with broadband access, telling his ICO stenographers that he was “heartbroken” about the recent fire disasters. Hamburg concluded wistfully: “I hope there are some good candidates out there.” (So do we, we’re long overdue for a good supervisor, and doubly hope we aren't force fed one by the oppressive and reactionary Democratic Party organization from which Mendocino County "liberals" select people to hold the best paid public jobs in the county.)
THE TERRIBLE NEWS that Logo Tevaseu remains in the Sonoma County Jail on charges of vehicular murder didn’t reach us in time for last week’s paper-paper. ‘Logo,’ as we all know him, has a DUI prior, and because the CHP believes he was driving under the influence on Highway 37 when his Dodge Ram pick-up crossed over into the oncoming land to strike the smaller vehicle driven by Paulette Quiba, 21, killing her, the charge is murder, bail set at a million dollars. I’ve known Logo for a long time, back to when he was a kid at Anderson Valley High School. For me, and for everyone who knows him, his present situation is painfully distressing. Logo is 35. He is married to the former Madelin Gasaway of Anderson Valley. The couple has two small daughters. Logo and his brother, Martin, both work at Santa Rosa JC as football coaches. I find it hard to believe he'd be this careless and, knowing him to be the conscientious person he is, a big part of him has also been killed. But he's blessed in having a strong family, and he has a large community in Santa Rosa standing with him, too. If the facts are as reported, he will need every bit of support his family and friends can muster.
FOR YOUR cryptic communique files, this one from the Boonville schools: “Anderson Valley Elementary School will have a delayed start and open at 10:20 on Monday, November 13. All elementary students will be picked up at their normal bus stops exactly two hours later than the scheduled time. Anderson Valley High School will open at the regular time and all junior and senior high students will be picked up at their bus stops at the regular scheduled time.” I asked why the one-day schedule change. No answer. Have to wonder how many of the little ones got the word.
THE FIRST REAL RAINS used to bring out the little frogs newly evolved from their brief lives as tadpoles. They'd cover the backroads in such numbers you'd want to turn around rather than crush them. Chemical run-off from vineyards and up-country pot grows has pretty much finished off Anderson Valley's frog population. The only ones left are in the areas far from the possibility of poisons. This morning (which was last Thursday) I counted exactly two baby frogs on Anderson Valley Way, Boonville, and both of them were dead, run over. There was, however, a noticeable spike in Con Creek's flow, and it's encouraging that last winter's rains were sufficient to keep Con Creek flowing all summer as this season's rains commence.
MARSHALL NEWMAN tries to shape up the National Weather Service:
“I e-mailed the National Weather Service today to say its Boonville rainfall gage was either broken or seriously compromised. We will see if anything happens. Meanwhile, with only 0.02 inches of rain officially recorded in Boonville in the last 24 hours, the Navarro River has gone from approximately 17 cubic feet per second to 42.5 cubic feet per second. That is a pretty prodigious jump and one virtually impossible based on the recorded rainfall.”
MARSHALL NEWMAN, still struggling to reconcile the rainfall figure, notes that "as of 3 p.m. today (Monday), the recorded Weather Underground Boonville rainfall total is 0.49”, the recorded Ukiah National Weather Service rainfall total is 0.24”and the recorded Boonville National Weather Service rainfall total is 0.00”. According to NOAA, Boonville had NO Rainfall today. Really?????? Even the Navarro River knows it rained. As of 3 p.m., the river has stopped dropping. It likely will rise slightly later this afternoon as the unrecorded rain heads downstream."
A LARGE GATHERING of friends and family of the late George Lee turned out in Yorkville over the weekend to honor the man who did much to establish the Yorkville Highlands as its own wine appellation. Lee died suddenly last month. He and his wife, Kit, revived the old Chatham Ranch on Haehl Grade, Yorkville, where they grew wine grapes and olives.
THE GOOD NEWS: Dan Kuny has applied for the Potter Valley football coach job. He hasn't been hired. Yet. Kuny left his job in Boonville after several years of disputes with AV AD Robert Pinoli. Kuny said he was tired of the aggravation. Boonville's loss is Potter Valley's gain. Assuming he'll be the only applicant for long hours, little to no pay, nagging parents and fans, four hours on a school bus to Covelo and back, Kuny is one guy who knows exactly what he's getting into, having done it in Boonville for years. But the kids will learn some discipline and have fun absorbing the lessons.
FROM HOWARD DESHIELDS, Mendo’s road guy: “Mendocino County’s top FEMA site is Peachland Road, where we still await NEPA [Environmental] clearance but we are poised to advance as soon as we can.” Deshield’s announcement seems to mean that one way or the other, that washout on Peachland road from last year is going to be fixed.
FROST FANS clamored on after midnight a week ago Tuesday morning in various areas of the Anderson Valley, and probably malicious on the wine industry’s part since insiders tell us there’s no industrial ag imperative at 3am this time of the year. The noise was especially intrusive in the SOBO neighborhood of South Boonville. The fans are so loud you can't sleep through them, even with ear plugs. They are also clearly in violation of the County's unenforced noise ordinance, but the grape juggernaut does what it wants. If these fans were posted in marijuana fields we can be certain the county would demand air strikes to silence them. It occurred to us that perhaps the fans went off in the early hours because SoBo’s wine moguls think we still live in the neighborhood. But wherever you live in the Anderson Valley, you can hear them. They hadn't been activated this season until this morning, never were used this past harvest as there were no freezes.
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