It took me a while to
understand the Democratic presidential campaign. The candidates, with their
trash-talking, were acting like Karl Rove’s saboteurs. Finally, at the last New
Hampshire debate, the Dems turned their attention to the common foe, and I
could begin to see which one of these men could do the job we failed to do in
2000.
Now the stakes are higher,
the choices clearer. I changed my registration from Green to Democrat, to help
shape this historical race. I don’t need to be a Green to get a Green
candidate. Kucinich is Nader with political experience and campaign skills. But
while his program would most quickly replace corporate imperialism and
flat-earth economics with just and sustainable governance, he is still years
ahead of his time. So, then, Dean? As much as I love his unabashed
truth-telling and pioneering work with internet-based campaigns, I see his role
as Paul Revere to the mainstream Democrats, showing them it’s okay to challenge
a naked Emperor. That leaves Kerry-Edwards, who, with the combined support of
all the others, will unseat the impostors in November.
Turning to
the home front…what was Lynn Woolsey thinking? She asked a Marin judge to
consider that a convicted young rapist, a personal acquaintance or hers, had a
good, supportive family, apparently in hopes the judge wouldn’t throw the book
at him, which he did anyway. Bad judgment, especially during election season,
when she’ll be attacked for being soft on crime. Well, Lynn made a mistake,
she’s apologized, and that’s enough for me. Frankly, I wish we had more leaders
who, when they erred, fell towards compassion and forgiveness rather than
bloodlust and revenge.
It’ll be a while before our City Council election, but it’s not too early to notice an important vote coming before the Council. This Monday they will take up the Factory Outlet expansion. Here’s what I wrote about this project last April, just after the new downtown theater proposal was announced: “Perhaps it’s time to probe Chelsea’s interest in selling a part of their property to the City for playing fields. What if we could relocate the baseball fields from Kenilworth to this “Corona Reach” area, allowing the School District to bring in a higher price for the Kenilworth property? It would be a perfect use for floodplain.”
I suggested
the acquisition funds might come in part from the County Open Space District,
who was preparing to spend $15 million (roughly $100 per county household) on
the Tolay Lake project. Soon thereafter, the Petaluma Parks Commission asked the
District to provide us a tour of the property. We were told such a tour was
"premature". Even today, a rare few Petalumans have seen much of this
property, and many of those who have consider the purchase of a distant,
low-elevation, barren, windswept landscape a mistake. Who provides the funds to
plant the trees, the water to keep the lake usable through the summer? Why
can’t we visit the site before the check is cut? Does the District fear
informed public opinion could jeopardize their deal?
It’s not
that there aren’t better-cheaper alternatives, even excluding Lafferty. Just
down the hill from Lafferty is the Mastrup property, several hundred acres that
has been on the market since last summer. It’s comparable to Helen Putnam or
Crane Creek, with a seasonal stream and riparian forest, a pretty pond, and
nice views. In addition, an open space “angel” has offered to pay for a
substantial part of the acquisition. We’ve written about it to OSD Director
Andrea McKenzie and Supervisor Kerns, yet the answer is a resounding silence.
What will
it take to get the OSD to move on Mastrup, or explain why not? With County and
OSD goals clearly supporting a park closer to town and higher on the mountain,
why hasn’t the County and OSD met with Petaluma to work out the problems that
prevented them from supporting the City’s request for help on Lafferty in 2001?
Why shift the focus away from Sonoma Mountain Road?
If
Supervisor Kerns were up for re-election, how might he answer these questions?
Why not insist on answers anyway?