Page 6 - SCG 11-15.indd

LETTERS cont’d from page 4
A second group to whom she turns for validation would appear to be three americans of caucasian european backgrounds (two of whom are no longer available to defend themselves) who she relies on to point out the absurdity of words being actually hurtful.. Well, yes, and if in the forty years since Lenny Bruce died the “N” word had stopped meaning what we think it means then by golly, there would be a point to be made.
I read with interest the article by Supervisor Carrillo, and appreciate the attention given by the Gazette to this important Coastal issue. Supervisor Carrillo underplays the fact that the Coast is a special place and that the so-called protections offered by the General Plan are inadequate for the Coast. In fact, they have proven to be inadequate for the inland areas of the County also; in the past seven years only two projects have been denied or scaled back (both in the last two years and only after huge outcry by neighbors).
There is an issue of lack of trust that has caused an upwelling of protest. Five meetings were presented on the Coast to present the proposed Local Coastal Plan amendments, but in the first four of those meetings the proposed Agricultural element was never even mentioned. Only after an outcry by residents did the PRMD present the Agriculture element at the Timber Cove meeting, quickly adding a few slides to their PowerPoint presentation to address this issue, which they had been silent on up to that point. The Supervisor representing the Coastal region did not appear at any of those five meetings. Somehow I don’t feel he is in a “protection” mode when voting on proposed language in the Local Costal Plan (LCP) or when approving projects that skirt around the General Plan provisions by using the wording “agriculture promotion” as cover for allowing commercial kitchens and overnight accommodations in areas where restaurants and overnights are prohibited.
In addition, public commentary is often a meaningless concept to both the PRMD and Supervisors. They listen and then do exactly what they intended in the first place. Witness
Ratna Ling industrial printing facility recently approved in the Coastal zone after huge public outcry (now there is a lawsuit having to be paid for by the neighbors), and places like the approved Paul Hobbs Winery next to a school yard where he has allowed application of toxic pesticides and ignored drift onto the school yard (again, after much public outcry).
much less north of San Francisco. On August 13th, Supervisor Gorin began Mike McGuire’s town hall meeting by stating that “We shouldn’t put our hopes in an El Nino year.”
California is in the fourth year of a severe drought and has had extreme and dangerous fires this summer. In Sonoma County rivers, streams and creeks are drying up. Fish are endangered. Twelve million trees died in California this summer due to lack of water. I have lived on a rural road in Occidental for twenty five years. This summer and fall, I’ve seen deer on the roads in broad daylight. Raccoons and opossums who normally shun people, drink water from a small bird bath on my deck. Animals are being killed at alarming rates on local roads in their search for water.
Lenny Bruce and George Carlin were comedians. Their job was to shine the light on what doesn’t make sense. What doesn’t make sense to me is the idea that there are only two options here.
Is it any wonder that trust has been eroded concerning the County process in amending the Local Coastal Plan and scrutiny of project approval of new winery/event centers in inappropriate areas? Preserve Rural Sonoma County is an organization that has been at the forefront of the push back against the County’s lack of vigilance that has already created destructive cumulative negative impacts in areas like Dry Creek Valley and Valley of the Moon.
The ostentatious and unlimited growth of the wine industry in Sonoma County is tragic and for lack of a better word, disgusting.The continuation of the expansion of the wine industry will be catastrophic. I doubt that Ken and Diane Wilson and countless others care about the drought and its effects on residents, animals and the natural world. Where does the buck stop?
“I don’t mean to be hurtful!” No, of course not. But you can’t trouble yourself not to, either. If you can’t be bothered to think and care about how your speech or behavior might affect others around you, do not ask me to care if some people think badly of you. I’m afraid I can see their point.
We are not opposed to the many good players in the wine industry We support the vineyards and wineries built to scale in appropriate areas, who contribute much to our communities and who play by the rules.
Pamela Singer Occidental
Ms. Tummillo makes a very strong point in her essay “politically correct – (Senior Mementum Oct. 2015) or just nonsense?” It is up to americans of caucasion european backgrounds to determine how their behavior should affect people who don’t fit that description.
I will leave you with exactly how a similar situation came up just this year. I have worked as a musician in bluegrass and country bands. One of my favorite songs was “Turkey in the Straw”, in part because of a silly last verse, in part because it is pure fun to play.
However, we want the PRMD to stop approving every project that comes their way, regardless of the negative cumulative impacts on neighborhoods, traffic and safety issues, and to start enforcing their own regulations of wineries holding events without permits.
Politically Correct?
This year my youngest daughter informed me that the song was racially charged. I looked everything up and sure enough, a set of hateful lyrics had been written to the tune and taken on tour through the early years of the last century.
Now the County wants to have us believe that these same regulations will protect our Coast. They are asking us to “trust” them in their process that has already shown itself to be inadequate on a number of fronts. This is why residents are up in arms; trust will have to be earned all over again before the outcry quiets.
It is important that everyone else understand that she doesn’t mean to be unkind, it is simply not important. She is socially sophisticated in a way that the rest of us just don’t get, and, really, we never will. It is so unfair that we might judge her unkindly. She makes such a clear point in her first paragraph. “Where is the line?. And, how important is it, really?” Exactly! Why should anyone from any historically marginalized group of citizens be allowed to choose what they find offensive:?
No player I know had ever known about this, but it seemed to be an historically accurate fact. I could keep playing that song and try to justify doing that because I meant no harm, or I could let it go. The people who really ruined that song for everyone’s enjoyment were long dead but the story lived on and frankly, rather than have one stranger I will never meet walk across a fairground and hear that and think about those dead a-ho’s and what america meant back then and feel compromised as an american, I will just not play it. That’s all, I make a choice, and if I had to name it, I’ll say I want to be socially correct, not politically so, and no, no, no, it is not nonsense. I see this as a third choice.
Respectfully submitted, Reuben Weinzveg, Sebastopol Preserve Rural Sonoma County,
Community Meeting on Mason’s Marina
A community meeting to collaborate on a clear vision for the future of Mason’s Marina, Bodega Bay, will be held on November 16 at the Bodega Bay Fire Station, 501 Ca. Hwy 1, Bodega Bay from 6:30 PM - 8:00 pm.
Co-sponsored by the Bodega Bay Chamber of Commerce and the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, representatives from Sonoma County Regional Parks will be on hand to discuss the required repairs to Mason’sMarina, as well as solicit community feedback on the county’s plans to upgrade and enhance the property to benefit the community.
According to Patty Ginochio, President of the Bodega Bay Chamber
of Commerce, “We are looking forward to the opportunity to host the Parks department and welcome everyone’s participation in discussing ideas for Mason’s Marina. The Chamber’s goal is to provide a forum for information and discussion so that all ideas and opinions can be taken into consideration.” The meeting is open to the public.
She is careful, as well, in choosing her references. Her parents, who appear to advise her against being observed as somehow insensitive (without telling her how there might be a social solution of which she could be a part) show up several times in the article. Their authority over, and contributions to, postive social change are not mentioned.
I see, as well, that she makes free with a joke about southerners. Well, blessherheart.
Michaela Hamilton-Heiman
6 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 11/15
LETTERS? Please send to vesta@sonic.net