Marin Maven » california politics

My Dear Joe Letter

marinmaven — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:08:50 +0000

Maven loves getting mail. Especially, if it has to do with something I wrote and even if a person disagrees with me. So I got and email from Joe Nation. Here is what I wrote back.

Dear Joe,

Joe you always know where to find me and you are always welcome to share your thoughts as I write on a public forum.

If you read here and here, I keep my criticism to my legitimate complaint about these fliers coming from the “Common Sense Coalition” or PG&E. Like I said, these fliers are no better than the fliers that were going on about you in Spring 08. I wrote against those hit pieces that were against you, and I remain consistently against these fluffy appeals to fear now. You were once a grand benefactor of my disdain of hit mailers, now you are just going to have to take your lumps.

I also wrote, “I understand that even the best ideas like Community Green Power, the devil is in the details. How the program is ultimately executed is important. It is easy to sit up and take notice when our own Marin County Controller, Micheal Smith from Sausalito says, “don’t do it” or when a Marin Grand Jury agrees. As with any public agency, citizens need to educate themselves and hold those who run any agency, including the Marin Energy Authority accountable.”

I do not ignore that 2 out 5 Supervisors voted against it, but I also saw that same body rejecting many of the claims made by the that Marin Grand Jury. Here is the MEA’s response to the Grand Jury. Then there is an investigation about how PG&E got the Grand Jury findings before it was released? While I have no evidence to PG&E’s suspected influence on the Grand Jury and with the rhetoric used I can see how people might get suspicious.

From The Ross Valley Reporter, “The MEA’s contract was reviewed by MRW and Associates, which was commissioned to study the contract to assess financial risks to member cities. The only risks identified in the report were potentially high PG&E exit fees, for which MEA was encouraged to assume responsibility.” Which is odd, because on the latest flier from your Common Sense Coalition it warns us, “and if you don’t opt out of the MEA’s system during the initial opt-out period, you may be charged exit fees” for leaving the program. In the Grand Jury, one of the biggest identified risks was that PG&E was promising to sue municipalities that elect to leave or lobby for laws that will obstruct them (ie. Prop 16). The problem wherever I turn is PG&E, not once is there an affirmative message why we should stay with PG&E. This campaign of PG&E is employing fear, uncertainty, and doubt and that always raises my suspicions.

Another problem is PG&E is not really a disinterested party in this. There may be legitimate issues with financing risks or issues of where we get power, but the messenger is the problem.

Joe, as I wrote in my blog PG&E did this to themselves and if they lose they will have only themselves to blame for their heavy handed way. The best way to keep customers with you is give them a reason to believe in you. If you have to sue to keep your customer, perhaps you need to work on your customer service skills.

Matier & Ross weigh in. Here is not a mindless, but very well reasoned blog on this topic.

Don’t even get me started on Proposition 16. Well, at least you guys are not trying to spin it as some “voter’s rights” proposition. Wait! Really?

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Joe Nation Breaks Maven’s Heart

marinmaven — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:48:04 +0000

nation

Two years ago I covered the Senate District 3 race between Migden, Leno, and Nation. It was an exciting time because rarely do we get political races that capture attention of the State. In my little corner there was an interesting race with colorful candidates. From time to time, I plan to get out my old notebook and share more about that time and other moments from being Marin Maven.

Out of the blue, I get a call on my cell phone from Joe Nation. He was endearing and appreciated his North Bay focus. One of my concerns in the Senate spot is that San Francisco often gets the lion-share of the attention because it is just a force of nature to itself. By the end of the election cycle and after following them all and talking with their supporters I ended up liking them all for different reasons.

I gave Nation points for being against the death penalty. He didn’t seem nearly as bad as all my fellow liberals were saying he was. Joe is more to the center than I am, but so was perhaps, Dennis Kucinich.

There were times I would found myself sticking up for him. When Leno supporters pointed out that Mark Leno is just like Obama. I merely pointed I out that I can’t imagine that Obama would call an opponent “A Corporate Tool”. The campaign piece came in the mail and called Joe Nation a “Corporate Tool” and I thought it was too much. At risk of being seen as a tool of a tool, I called Leno’s folk because it was the right thing to do.

Now I feel foolish with a broken heart with all the voices of all the activists who “told me so” about Joe Nation in my head. Joe Nation is working for PG&E against the Marin deciding to have their own power. He is their consultant and he is trying to convince Marin and Sonoma county cities to keep the PG&E monopoly going. According to the North Bay Business Journal, Nation will be representing the PG&E backed “Common Sense Coalition” on Thursday, March 11th at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael. Registration begins at 8 a.m., and the program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Tickets are $39 per person or $390 for a table of 10 and include continental breakfast.

The “Common Sense Coalition”who put out an earlier “Risky” flier that I wrote about, but another came in the mail today. This flier screams, “Watch Out!” Of course, it brings out the boogey-man of “government-run energy bureaucracy.”

Joe is quoted as saying of Community Choice Aggregation,

I think this is a very risky business. It is complex and complicated.

Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.

Joe, is that you? I truly hate to say this, but this whole business is sorta “toolish.” Sigh.

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Maven’s Happy Birthday Edition

marinmaven — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:04:47 +0000

happy birthday

Add Glitter to Pictures

Today, is our Assemblyman, Jared Huffman’s birthday. So we made a special Birthday Blingee. We likeys him even though he has not made hedgehogs legal in California yet nor has he allowed me the ability as an adult adoptee to access my original birth certificate (even though I can trace my birthroots to the 1400s.)

Jared Huffman is a prime example of how bad and stupid term limits are. Huffman represents us well in Sacramento and we would love to keep him as our Assemblyman for very long time, but those darned term limits get in the way of districts being able to keep good representatives. Without term limits, representatives have time to tackle problems with long term perspective. With term limits, representatives are often dependent on unelected career staffers and lobbyists. Term limits never made sense. Marin maven has always rejected term limits as a symptom that voters are too lazy to get off their rear ends to vote. Don’t like who is in office? VOTE THEM OUT. We never get anywhere close to even 95% voter turnout. THAT IS THE PROBLEM.

So what will happen in 2012? Huffman will probably be in line to be our State Senator and we will have to share him with San Francisco if Mark Leno steps into another office.

More Marin reports that today is also Marin County’s 160th Birthday. Are you thinking what I am thinking? Huffman’s birthday is the same day as Marin County. This is a sign people.

How are you going to celebrate Assemblyman Huffman’s and Marin County’s birthday? Binge Drinking, perhaps?

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Republican Rival to Boxer Speaks to Marin Republicans

The Maven — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:05:31 +0000

Richard Halstead from the MarinIJ reported that Carly Fiorina recently spoke to Marin Republicans.

“Quit talking about tax credits for small business owners if you hire someone. If you want a small business owner to hire somebody, cut their taxes.”

Maven would argue that hiring decisions are solely based on whether you have enough business to add another employee, not whether you are taxed. Reduction of taxes would merely go straight to the owner’s profit margin while they would make due making the employees they have work harder and more efficiently. What creates jobs is funding infrastructure improvements, energy efficiency projects, and research and development of technology. If we cut taxes, what we do is cut services which will lose jobs because projects and services will be cut. If we cut taxes, the infrastructure that business depends on getting their goods to market will be compromised, effect bottom line, and would lead to further job losses.

Maven has witnessed how government has created business opportunities for small and medium private companies through various contracts.

Fiorina, and the rest of the republicans did not get pushed into irrelevancy because they weren’t tax cutters. Republicans lost because their ideas are bankrupt and made us bankrupt. They cut taxes way too much, spent recklessly, and did not care about our country’s future enough to invest in infrastructure – as evidenced by the broken bridges, levies, and lack of public security and medical infractructure.

If Democratic office holders have a flaw it is that they have yet to internalize that Republican ideas represent failure clusters. Republicans lost power because their ideas failed over and over. Democrats need to ignore republicans and believe in ideas that work for the people.

Why do we still listen to Republicans?

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Warblogging Saturday

marinmaven — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:46:33 +0000

Today Maven is in the mood to fight the good fight and there are many battles.

First of all, congratulations to Marin Mommies for being nominated for the Nicks ParentConnect Best Local Blog in the San Francisco area. It is time to take up arms and vote as many times we can for them. Even though they are ahead now, we must not rest until our mouse fingers bleed and Marin Mommies competition has zero hope of winning. After you vote for them visit their site and read about this terribly sad story of a nine year old who was killed by a drunk driver in Novato. There is a memorial fund for the family since the father is still in serious condition with an amputated leg. The motorcyclist who hit them had SIX prior DUIs. Let’s hope THIS time something is done to take this person off the streets. Maven wrote earlier that she enjoyed two cocktails at Boca, and she did so with her husband driving home. Maven has said many times here that if you drink, get a ride home.

Save Our Parks

For every dollar California spends on our parks, $2.35 is returned to the state’s General Fund through economic activities in the communities surrounding the parks. Beginning July 1st, the Governor will cut the parks core funding in half and then eliminate all core funding in twelve months. A total of 220 parks would be effected. Without this money, the majority of our parks will be closed, which would result in $350 million dollars in revenue. Tourism around the state would suffer, because people from all over the country and the world come here to see our world famous parks. Last year our state parks hosted 80 million visitors and the state parks expect even more this year. State parks get Californian’s staycation dollars. Since state parks receive accounts for less than 1/10 of one percent of the entire state budget, cutting parks will do nothing to solve this financial crisis. Visit the site for the Save Our Parks campaign. We have saved our parks in the past, I know we can do it now.

Here are the local State Parks that will be closed:

Angel Island SP
China Camp SP
Mount Tamalpais SP
Olompali SHP
Petaluma Adobe SHP
Samuel P. Taylor SP
Sonoma Coast SP
Sonoma SHP
Tomales Bay SP
Jack London SHP

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