Page 17 - Sonoma County Gazette January 2017

CHOICES cont’d from page 16
And while it might not be your favorite way to spend an afternoon or evening, consider attending a meeting of your local city council or Board of Supervisors.
People tend to wait to engage with local government until there’s something on the agenda that directly a ects them – say, until they are upset with a potential land use project down the street, or an ordinance that directly a ects their business. It’s important to speak up then, of course. But consider coming to a meeting during the budgeting process. O er your elected o cials advice on how you’d like to see your tax dollars spent. Suggest initiatives that might make a di erence in your local community. Share your passions with your representatives.
Are you a parent, and worried about childcare? Bring your children to the meeting. We owe it to our children to involve them in community decisions. And the community owes it to our children to be tolerant of them as they learn their way around public life.
If attending meetings isn’t your thing, consider attending a rally or protest. Volunteer for a cause, like Ceres or Food for Thought or the Redwood Empire Food Bank. That’s voting with your free time for a more just and equitable world.
I admit that none of this is easy. Many of us work long days, and are tired
at the end of them. Free time is precious – but there are actions, like signing petitions or drafting a quick email to a local o cial, that don’t take much time.
I will also admit that many items that are made well – in ways that bene t the environment, and a ord decency to workers – cost more than items that aren’t. We can’t all a ord to purchase perfectly all of the time. But don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. You’d be surprised at the deals that can be found at local businesses. And remember, this isn’t just a purchase: this is a vote. Cast your ballot wisely.
We OWN our Future
By James Gore
The national election is over. But the ripples continue. Many of us are still
raw, struck by a persisting political hangover. Outcome aside, we can all agree that this was the most uncivil, disrespectful, and outright nasty campaign season in memory. Instead of an adult conversation, it was a never-ending, negative version of the reality TV show, Survivor. A spectacle set up for scheming.
But you know what? It’s time to move on.
It’s time to get to work.
And I for one am inspired about continuing Sonoma County’s commitment to leadership on the social, environmental, and economic fronts.
Tip O’Neill, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives coined the phrase, “All politics are local.”
I prefer to substitute the words, “Our future is local.”
Consider for a moment that no matter what happens in Washington D.C., we in Sonoma County have created a movement to forge a future based on a healthy community, environment, and economy.
We are forging our local future by relentlessly advancing our time and money into Sonoma County’s water, land, energy, small businesses and ecology.
We are forging our local future by ceaselessly devoting our sweat and tears into our communities of need, and doubling down on our commitment to compassion.
We are forging our local future by ceaselessly investing in the economies of the future to deliver living-wage jobs that can build our middle class, build the homes we need, and rebuild our belief that sweat equity is the only true equity.
Do we need to track what happens at the Federal level?
Absolutely.
The potential repeal of the A ordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare) could have
huge consequences for our most vulnerable neighbors. The erce denial of Climate Change and rolling back on environmental protections could threaten the resources that make Sonoma County so beautiful and rife with life. And the potential of privatizing entitlement programs could unravel our social safety net.
However, I have to admit, I often found that thriving communities were self- reliant, whereas declining communities were government reliant.
The true challenge for all of us is to own our future by acting in the most visceral place we can, our very own community. Anytime we nd ourselves despondently looking at the newspaper or the TV, we must acknowledge that focusing on distractions will only distract our focus where it is needed, right here in beautiful, thriving, abundant, imperfect, Sonoma County.
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Please join me. Let’s own our future together. Happy New Year.