[Occupymendocino] [Fwd: Agnes -- you can post this Op-Ed on your Occupy Movement list-serve]

[agnes at mcn.org]

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Subject: Agnes -- you can post this Op-Ed on your Occupy Movement list-serve
From:    sako4 at comcast.net
Date:    Thu, April 25, 2013 4:39 pm
To:      agnes at mcn.org
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Dear Editor:


Recently, I got into a rather ugly email exchange with a county official .
We seemed to disagree on a basis premise. We disagreed that c ontested
elections for County Treasurer and County Auditor -- at lease once in a
while -- is a good thing, a healthy thing for the government and its
people. I said yes. This public official wasn't so sure.


But such is the nature of a democracy, correct? Contested elections.
Debates. Public discourse. At least, that's what I was taught in grade
school civics class. I was taught that no job in public office is a
lifetime appointment...not even t he jobs of County Treasurer and County
Auditor.



Indeed, we should encourage contested elections, if for no other reason
than to have a public debate about the issues that most concern us.


For the occasional citizen, highly committed to run for public office, and
with the time and money to run for office, it is healthy for county
government to run against any incumbent, including Treasurer or Auditor.







For most other citizens, it is healthy for county government to be
informed, to bring critical thinking to the issues of the day, to form
well-reasoned opinions, and to be public and outspoken about their
opinions.


And be outspoken! Be outspoken in op-ed pieces at newspapers, at public
affairs shows on the radio , at community television in Ukiah and on the
Coast, at the bi-monthly Board of Supervisor meetings, at the monthly
meetings of the Retirement Board, at the quarterly Treasury Pool meetings,
which have finally opened up to the public, and at the various other,
often obscure board and commission meetings throughout the county, which
have always been open to the public but which are rarely well-attend,
i.e., Local Area Formation Commision (LAFCo), Mendocino Council of
Governments (MCOG), school districts, water districts, the college
district, and other special districts.


And what of my opinions?


This is what I believe: I am adamant in my belief that socially
responsible investing is a good thing . I am equally adamant that public
banking is a good thing . And I am adamant that a county-wide moratorium
on robo-foreclosures is a good thing.


Some may disagree with those beliefs, but would they disagree that a
public discussion on these issues and other issues of public finance is a
good thing?


Bear in mind, disagreement with public officials is not a public
referendum on them. They shouldn't take disagreement personally. Public
comments are almost always motivated to make our beloved Mendocino County
a better place to live, work, and raise our kids.


Years ago, I, among other critics of county government, weighed in on our
undocumented Teeter debt...very little was disclosed, and even less was
documented, not even a promissory note of Teeter debt.


I also weighed in on the undisclosed and improper diversions of county
contributions from the pension system, and on the abuses of our excess
earnings policy...to the detriment of county workers and taxpayers, alike.


Much has changed, of course. Things got better. But there's still more
work to do. I'll explain.


We are a poor, rural county, with no population growth and no tax revenue
growth. Our underground economy -- the engine of our economy -- is
collapsing as neighboring states decriminalize marijuana, and, hence, the
wholesale price of that commodity is falling like any other commodity
where there is an over-supply. Our poverty is real. We live in a county
where one out of every two residents is eligible for Food Stamps, and one
out of every four or five residents are Medi-Cal recipients.


The health of our county suffers as a result of this poverty. There is a
direct link between our county's poor finances and our county's poor
health, particularly mental health, and drug and alcohol abuse.


At the April 23 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, we heard that the
rate of substantiated child abuse or neglect here in Mendocino County is
19.1 kids per 1,000. This is twice the State of California average of 9.0
kids per 1,000. We heard that during the last year alone, five kids have
been either killed or seriously hurt while "in the system" at County
Health and Human Services.


Indeed, it is my guess that in the closed session of the April 23 meeting
of the Board of Supervisors that the Board settled at least one of those
cases quietly out of court.


What remains "unsettled"?


What remains unsettled is the direct link between our county's poor
finances and our county's poor health, particularly mental health, and
drug and alcohol abuse.


Hence, we need responsible, committed, civic-minded people to run in what
would be otherwise uncontested elections.


Run to stimulate public debate. Run to bring the obscure workings of
government into the light of day.


Run to help relieve the poverty and suffering of Mendocino County through
right-sizing government, containing rapidly escalating county pension and
health costs, public banking (a county-owned bank), sustainable economic
development, transparency and accountability in financial disclosure,
socially responsible investing, a moratorium on robo-foreclosures, and the
realignment of state and federal resources to the county, particularly in
the areas of law enforcement, corrections, probation, drug and alcohol
treatment, child protective services, and other key health and human
services.


I pray these candidates come forward.


John Sakowicz
Ukiah



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