Uber Mobility

Prompted by a posting about Uber on Facebook’s Amador Political Discussion Group a dialogue ensued about the mobility situation of the elderly, disabled and drunk and our local options. We have a few expensive taxis, an excellent, but skeletal bus service, a limited Dial-A-Ride (DAR) service and a new and well functioning, but small, Volunteer Driver Program.

Among those transported by the Volunteer Driver Program are people going to dialysis in nearby cities. While this is vital, its contribution to county wide mobility and building a transit system is relatively small. However, they are acquiring a van and grouping individual trips together can add efficiency. Other social service agencies own vans, but often their use is limited by grant restrictions or other rules. So we do have some underutilized vehicles available.

The only for the ADA certified Dial-A-Ride, although recently vastly expanded, is still very limited in scope and the most expensive use of our transit money. The ADA certified can also request route deviations on the fixed route buses. Obviously, this slows the other passengers down and can inhibit developing a more thriving transit system.  Minimizing route deviations and DAR use through system design is the best alternative. The funds saved are better used for service that attracts more riders (and revenue).

Recent developments in our system are illustrative.  The service to River Pines was stopped due to negligible ridership, but some in River Pines and also Fiddletown would still benefit from a transit connection. The additional upcountry run has been successful because one can now run errands or make appointments in the Jackson/Sutter Creek county core without having to wait half a day for a return trip. Another situation, although seemingly unrelated, is the fact that the Ledger Dispatch finds it much cheaper to home deliver rather than mail. This supports the obvious that we have a surplus, certainly in terms of time, of transportation vehicles in the county along with unmet transit needs.  The success of the volunteer drivers program clearly points to this.

I am suggesting that we continue to build the trunk/backbone system. It is the best investment with the best return. Improvements in one area feed the entire system. No matter now many volunteer drivers or Dial-A-Rides we have, we still have a rural county with dispersed homes and the General Plan aside, most of us want it to remain this way. I can envision the Uber type technologies, the volunteer driver program and the bygone jitneys (peso cabs in some places) coming together into a workable bus stop to home system. After all, taxis at the railheads are as old as the railheads.

At each bus stop, or callable to your home, would be private individuals in their own vehicles. Over a short period of time it would become routine with the same passengers having the same drivers.  If a shuttle trip costs an affordable $2 someone working an hour a day could easily make about $2500 per year. This could be someone on their way to or from work or a retired person wanting added income. An enhanced system with this sort of passenger collection and distribution would make the proposed Grapevine route for those who shouldn’t drive as well as other services possible. While I don’t have the technology or the details, I can’t imagine that it can’t be figured out. If we did it here we would not only benefit, but be able to sell it to the world.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Unmet or Unseen?

At the Amador County Transportation Commission’s annual Unmet Transit Needs hearing on 12/17/15, I said the following: “I would like to tie some elements of the Unmet Transit Needs document together and make a modest proposal. Under 'Long Term' is increased service to Sacramento. This key link has good daily commute ridership and is partly subsidized by SacDot. They appear very pleased with the service, and I understand that they are buying us a new bus.

Increased service to Sacramento can benefit the overall system in several ways. People transferring to and from this service could lead to incremental system wide ridership growth. It provides a needed service to Calaveras County residents and should serve as an impetus for Calaveras Transit to extend its current route to our transit center. This interchange not only provides greater travel opportunities, but also and again, should lead to incremental system wide ridership growth.

The short term need of greater service to Ione could be met by routing an additional and non commute hour trip through Ione. Seat turnover, like table turnover in a restaurant, is one of the few ways to increase revenue without increasing cost. The question is not always providing for the need of going from A to B, but how many times can you sell that seat between A and B.

Added Sacramento service will also provide an incentive for the Casino bus and the suggested “Grapevine” service, both other recommendations, to operate from the transit center. Once again, this should lead to incremental ridership growth.

I have decided to speak on this particular need and the benefits of doing it because, and unlike other parts of the system, there is a significant and untapped ridership market for the Sacramento service. Senior citizens from Sacramento would enjoy a day in county for an affordable price. They would also fill the empty return trip seats.

Publicizing this travel potential could be done by the Amador Council of Tourism and other organizations within their existing funding. For that reason and all those that I have stated, I ask this body to support this idea and to inform the existing tourist and related organizations of that decision by whatever means seems appropriate.  Thank you.”

My suggestion was well received and discussed afterward. While I have no idea if this created enough forward momentum to bring this into reality, it seemed like a good start.  Also a plus for this proposal is the recent addition of full time staff at the transit center to assist tourists, and, of course, the money they would spend here. As noted above, SacDot (Sacramento County Department of Transportation) has purchased us a new bus because they are pleased with the service and the local service between Rancho Murrieta and Sacramento it provides. They subsidize part of this service, another plus for Amador County.

My statement was an expansion of the ideas I expressed in “Grant Dependent, or Under Our Control: Amador’s Transit Future” (8/11/14). If transit is seen as a business (public sector yes, but still a business) and less as a social service, it would require less subsidy. I also witnessed an irony at the ACTC meeting. Prior to the Unmet Transit Needs hearing, the board discussed raising the sales tax for road maintenance. If this meeting was a 100 years ago, they were probably discussing new taxes on the streetcar companies for road maintenance. Those programs of taxation were one of many factors in their demise.

Good Samaritans, Indeed

We all know the expression Good Samaritan, and many of us know the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans emerged as a distinct group of people following the exchange of populations caused by the Assyrian invasion of Israel in about 722 BC. They adopted their own form of Judaism and were later negatively portrayed by the Temple priesthood. Jesus objected, and said that the Samaritans are good people. Many believed that they were demon-possessed (John 8:28) and rejected Jesus because they thought that he was Samaritan. All this hostility led to their alliance with the Romans against Judea.

Following Judea’s final defeat by the Romans in about 135 AD, the Samaritans began their golden age.  They rebuilt their temple on Mount Gerizim, gathered over a million adherents. and established communities in Damascus, Gaza, Cairo and elsewhere. But their nation became ruled by the Byzantine Christians and, in a series of persecutions which culminated in the destruction of their temple in 529, decimated them. Their territory had consisted of what is now about two thirds of the area referred to as the West Bank, the other third being Judea.

Despite some cultural revivals over the centuries, the Muslim rule that followed the Byzantines proved even more brutal. The 800 or so now remaining Samaritans have been courted by the Palestinian Authority and persecuted by them at the same time. Most have fled to Israel where they now live in peace.

Because they observe only the first five books of the Bible, they are neither Christians nor Jews. But they are people of the biblical faith, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, like Christians and Jews. The word “Samaritan” means “keepers of the law” in ancient Hebrew. Many Bible scholars believe that their scriptures are the closest to the originals. Assuming that this is so, they are truly Good Samaritans, indeed.

End Note: John the Baptist is buried in Samaria. Saint Jerome (c.347-420) saw miracles there. Today the grave lies beneath the Nabi Yahya Mosque.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Breaking News! Stay Tuned!

How many times have we heard that or a similar refrain? Was it alarming news when Greece defaulted on its bonds? Actually it’s rather habitual; the Government of Greece defaulted in 1932, 1894, 1860, 1843 and 1826.

People were shocked by the Jihad attacks in San Bernardino last week, and Paris shortly before that.  But Islam has changed little over the centuries. Most notable were the conquest of Spain in 711 (does that rhyme with 911?), the Battle of Poitiers (or Tours) in 732 when Charles Martel defeated the Muslims, 759 when Pippin the Short, Charlemagne’s father, drove the Muslims from southern France and in 1683 when the Muslims reached Vienna. Beyond those few highlights I tried to summarize the history, but found it impossible. Anyone curious can internet search, however I found this site useful for the years 355 to 1291: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/islamchron.html

This constant conquest, or attempted conquest, has made enduring contributions. Count Dracula is based upon Vlad the Impaler, a 1400’s Romanian prince who defended his homeland against the Muslim Turks in a bloodbath unusual even for its time. He borrowed techniques from them, some of which he probably learned as their prisoner when a younger man. The Muslims conquered Sicily several times and each time the Sicilians liberated themselves. Usually they fled to the hills and fought a guerilla war. Because of that experience, they developed a warlord-style of organization that became the genesis of the Sicilian Mafia.

Many historians contend that the European Dark Ages began when the Muslims controlled the Mediterranean Sea and trade was cut off. Ironically, other historians of this period credit the Muslims with preserving the classical thought the ignorant Europeans had suddenly forgotten. This twist of history certainly reminds me of the usual role reversal of modern Muslim apologists and their cries of victimhood.

About 3,200 years ago, Arabians invaded Egypt, Canaan and Syria. They burned cities, destroyed artworks, razed the temples and mutilated their victims including cutting off limbs. These were the forerunners of the Muslims. Scholars such as Robert Spencer believe that the pagan Arabian tribes in later years felt inadequate to the surrounding Christians and Jews and therefore concocted a third “Abahamic” faith. But it’s rather apparent that their symbol is still the moon goddess.

Will Attorney General Loretta Lynch have me arrested for Islamphobia for retelling this history? Apologists for Muslim violence always note how history is full of religious violence. The Spanish Inquisition tortured people to death.  During Cromwell’s English dictatorship celebrating mass was punishable by death. But I have read and repeated numerous times the obvious. Christianity could heal itself by returning to its roots of a loving, forgiving Jesus. Mohammad, however, was a child rapist, misogynist and war monger.  The Holy Koran is full of hate and violence.

I have nothing against individual Muslims. I once hired one, and felt badly when he asked for time off for a religious holiday because he did not feel free to say "Ramadan". We all know that moderate Muslims are afraid to speak up within their own communities. The well financed and equipped fanatics are a huge percent of the world’s 1.2 billion or so Muslims. Do we face a 100 years’ war, or can Islam reform itself? I have no answer.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Residential Waste Burning

“The word on the street” is that Supervisor Lynn Morgan wants to regulate yard waste burning.  Any additional costs and prohibitions would unfairly fall on lower income people. Many feel that this represents the importation of city style into rural Amador County, and also assaults the reality and tradition of self reliance.

Lynn seems honestly concerned about the negative health effects for a limited number of people. And while undoubtedly some others will complaint about additional trash trucks rumbling down their quiet rural roads, there is nothing inherently wrong with a system of trash bins. She has the Air District Director involved. Certainly there are incremental costs already, plus the opportunity cost of not devoting time to something that helps more people. What percent of Upcountry residents really want to inhibit residential burn piles?

Even if the consumer doesn’t pay directly for the bins, someone has to. If the need or demand is sufficient, then the private sector would provide this service. Yard waste and slash can become salable compost, mulch, wood pellets and biomass electricity. A facility such as this has the perfect site, as many have suggested, at the former Pioneer cedar mill. The investment in high tension lines is lost, given its intended and prior use. The prior use as an organic tomato greenhouse came about not because there was a critical shortage of organic tomatoes, but because the grower got three government guaranteed loans each patching up the failure of the previous loan. They could not borrow themselves out of debt any more than we can directly or indirectly not pay a price for abandoning the high tension line investment. Wasted investment, however small, accumulates over time and contributes to economic decline and increased debt.

I see the broader picture here, and laugh to myself thinking that, undoubtedly, some progressives see the lack of a yard waste/slash facility as a “market failure”. But the opposite is true. Government involvement sealed the destiny of the cedar mill site. Are we creating or solving problems here? Will the approach of more government that probably hindered solving the problem once before solve it now?  Is there now no other way to look at a problem, real or imagined, than government involvement? I would bet that a businessperson risking their own money and doing a market study for unmet demand could tell rather quickly if this is an economic or subsidy endeavor.

And if nothing changes what is the cost? None of us are perfect, and we all define our activities thus. If a few people have to stay indoors a few days of the year, how horrendous is that? How important is efficient, low cost yard waste/slash destruction for fire safety? How important is local tradition that’s the smell of fall to many? What was once an individual response and perhaps adaption is now a public demand. What does this change in attitude signify for today and for tomorrow?

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Free Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico is bankrupt. The machinations currently underway in Washington and on Wall Street will be the subject of many books over the next few decades. Because Puerto Rican bonds are the best deal, both tax and income wise, large numbers of middle and upper middle class Americans, especially retirees, depend on them for income. But that income is in for severe reductions given the likely outcome of a Chapter 9/Detroit style bankruptcy. This all conveniently fits into the globalist elite/George Soros plan to destroy the American middle class. Not surprisingly, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama support this alternative. Given the uncertainty on the island, many Puerto Ricans have fled to Florida with the assistance of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. This may tip Florida’s electoral votes to the Democrat party.

Since the late 1960’s, when a friend of a friend of mine was injured by a terrorist bomb while shopping in a “bourgeois” department store, I have followed events in Puerto Rico. These terrorists, the FALN (Armed Forces for National Liberation), killed five people in well over a 100 bombings including the historic Fraunces Tavern where George Washington delivered his Farewell Address. They were eventually caught and given long prison sentences. But the Clinton crime family came to power and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder granted clemency to what he called Puerto Rican Nationalists. They overruled everyone else in the Justice Department, all other concerned Federal agencies and Congress. The vote was 95 to 2 against in the Senate and 311 to 41 against in the House. The entire process was irregular, but President Bill Clinton claimed executive privilege when questioned. This travesty was intended to gain the Puerto Rican vote for Hillary’s Senate campaign.

Puerto Rico was acquired from Spain in 1898 and in 1917 Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship. They could have easily become the Hong Kong or Singapore of the Caribbean, but Roosevelt’s Washington had a different idea. Following a junket at Joseph Stalin’s invitation and extolling the new soviet economy, and after running several failed early New Deal experiments Rexford Tugwell became governor of Puerto Rico. The welfare state he helped created is so “benign” that today a Puerto Rican can collect disability for the disability of not knowing English as a US citizen in a Spanish speaking semi autonomous Commonwealth.

Partly financed by the Government Development Bank, entities such as the Electric Power Authority, the Highway and Transportation Authority and the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority underpin the Puerto Rican economy. When these authorities borrowed money from the development bank they recorded the loan proceeds as revenue. Their books look good and they then borrowed more money usually by issuing bonds. Losses and inefficiencies were covered by more borrowing. The inevitable collapse finally came.  But Obama sees the solution by issuing a new “super bond”.

One has to admire the fulfillment of Tugwell’s utopian vision. Today in Puerto Rico the poverty rate is 45%, unemployment is over 12%, Medicaid is available to 46% of the population, 27% of the population is on welfare and just 60% of Puerto Ricans over age 25 have graduated high school. Only 32% of Puerto Ricans are employed with about 25% of those working for the government.  Despite all of this, a tax incentive package from Washington helped to hold things together before its termination. This attracted mostly pharmaceutical companies and helped lay the basis for the new growth industry of medical tourism.  The supply of organs for transplant is plentiful given the island’s murder rate 400% higher than the United States.

Free Puerto Rico! and an end to US colonial rule declares the Party for Socialism & Liberation in Puerto Rico. I agree, and know they are right about some existing and historic colonial trade regulations. In the world of real politics, some bailout/subsidy deal would probably be passed by Congress. But if it’s a once-only deal I would support it and find it far better than the Democrat movement of make Puerto Rico the 51st state. How many welfare monsters do we hard working taxpayers need support? I hope this experiment in dependency doomed to fail doesn’t foreshadow possible outcomes on the Mainland.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

The Loyal Opposition Is Degenerating

She is a liberal feminist suing for “…assault, battery, false imprisonment…"because she"…went through channels…to block a hate speaker. Most of the involved faculty agreed with her. But two, perhaps only three faculty members who wanted Peled to speak bypassed all appropriate channels, and used their own faculty ‘turf’ to pay him $2,500. Now that the left has control of our universities, they have suspended democratic process and substituted physical violence. Violence only begets violence. Part one:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260607/jewish-professor-hounded-california-riverside-phyllis-chesler

Here is part two: “I… found myself in the middle of my four opponents in a yelling match, and one of the men grabbed my arm. I tried to yank my arm free, could not, screamed 'TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!!' I tried to yank my arm free, could not, and screamed 'LET GO OF MY ARM!!!' I finally yanked free, though he never loosened his grip. At least 100 people were in the room… … but no one came forward… (the) assault left a very large and ugly bruise.” The professor who yanked her arm was also noted for treating his female students “… in misogynistic ways and … was scornful of feminist ideas.” 

So we have a left-wing professor who won awards for her diversity training and who is pro Israel subject to mob violence on a “free inquiry” college campus. The Muslims have moved in and trained the left to their techniques. So-called liberal professors now cover up for misogyny. To paraphrase our national anthem: We must be brave today if we want to remain free.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260648/installing-jew-hatred-americas-campuses-phyllis-chesler

Is It All Just Made Up?

I once heard a disk jockey say that the text he had contained a typo because it said Johnny Cash was from Dyess Colony rather than Dyess County. But Dyess Colony was the New Deal community for the poor where Johnny Cash started picking cotton at eight years of age. I had just observed history being rewritten or written, I’m not sure.  Like everyone else for 500 years I believed that the Roanoke Colony failed. But it has been recently proven that Secretary of State Francis Walsingham intentionally sacrificed the colony to politically defeat Walter Raleigh. The American Pageant, our local high school American History text, defines Roanoke as “… hapless… mysteriously vanished, swallowed up by the wilderness.”  But not mentioned is another “failed” colony, the French Huguenot Fort Caroline, burned to the ground by the Spanish with the inhabitants slaughtered. But I can’t fault the authors for summary or omission, since they had so much material to condense.

But editing such as this has consequences since these frequent judgment calls are often influenced by one’s ideological goal. Along with experience we all make decisions or hold political viewpoints based upon what we know. So what we know and what we don’t know takes on great importance. Not surprisingly French philosopher Voltaire said: “History is the lie that everyone agrees upon”.

Is the New York Times going to run an article about the exemplary record of the National Rifle Association helping blacks arm themselves against Klan violence? The 1960’s play, The Deputy, paints Pope Pius XII as indifferent to the Nazi horrors of his time. Everyone I knew believed it to be true. But after the Cold War it became known that it was an East German/KGB effort to divide those in the Western World. In the late 1920’s the Muslim upper classes told the Palestinians not to trust the Jewish settlers because they were helping oppressed Muslim tenant farmers organize unions.  Is this a bit different that the Crusader narrative we’ve all been fed? Most people believe that an item is priced at $2.97 because they think that the merchant is trying to fool them about a $3 item. But the opposite is true. The $2.97 price forced the clerk to ring the sale and make change rather than just slip the $3 into their pocket.

We all see the world through our limited lens. While this is nothing new, it has taken on critical importance today as Common Core and allied endeavors change our history before our very eyes. Future generations may inhabit these shores, but they won’t be Americans as we understand it. There is even a movement to tear down statues of Thomas Jefferson. As John F. Kennedy said at a White House dinner for Nobel Prize winners: “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”  As much as we owe to Jefferson and others, they were flawed humans. But do we want anyone else in charge, then or now, that isn’t?

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

The Formula for Economic Freedom

I spoke at the 7/28/15 Board of Supervisors hearing regarding Lynn Morgan’s urgency ordinance to ban formula businesses in District 3, an action prompted by the soon to be Dollar General store in Buckhorn. My remarks follow:

“I am absolutely opposed to this proposed ordinance. While there is much I could say, I will limit myself to two issues. First, this proposal makes everything more complex, adding to what I consider a disturbing trend pervasive throughout our society in big and small ways. Often in the name of an improvement, real or just imagined, more rules are made. In the end this added complexity creates more problems than it solves.  Once upon a time, we Americans achieved economic greatness by simplifying machinery. 

Formula stores include franchises. These opportunities allow ordinary people to start a business without having to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel. There are almost 3,000 franchises available with a dozen or so around $10,000 or less.  These include cleaning services, glass repair, travel agencies and exercise studios.  Given this situation some people will request that the ordinance include exemptions and appeal procedures.  Aside from the additional expense, this creates another huddle for a beginning business by someone who still probably has their day job. It could cancel someone’s dream. To add to their difficulty and to inhibit the country’s economic health for someone’s subjective aesthetics and personal preferences doesn’t seem like a fair deal to me.”

Her proposal was defeated on a 4 to 1 vote, but many people spoke in favor of the ordinance. They all wanted to pick and choose through new regulations what businesses can locate upcountry. While I understand their sentiment of not wanting homogenous structures that look the same as everywhere else, their willingness to trade away economic freedom for cutesy buildings seems unbalanced and naïve. Don’t they understand that it’s their own economic freedom that they are destroying? Aren’t they shooting themselves in the foot with perhaps a few year time delay before realization?

When one looks around the world, they discover that a country’s amount of poverty is directly proportional to the amount of economic regulation it has. “It takes 2 days to start a business in Australia, but 203 days in Haiti and 215 days in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Additionally, the more rules there are the greater the incentive there is to avoid them and consequently the greater amount of regulation the greater the amount of corruption. These fine examples illustrate how we can regulate ourselves into unfairness and poverty. But here in Amador County, it’s slow, incremental steps so that it may be too late when we experience their cumulative impact and wonder how this happened.

There were valid claims, at the hearing, about the traffic flow on Meadow Vista Drive. But that is a factor for the existing building permit process. If that somehow doesn’t work than that process needs changing, not the creation of a new layer of regulation however temporary it’s proposed to be at first.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

More Musings & Observations

One advantage of aging is a longer perspective.  Food companies have been under pressure for decades to reduce the preservatives in their products. One doesn’t have to take a logic class to figure out that anything that prevents food from decaying would also make it hard to decay (digest) in your gut. Those on the left charge that corporate greed demands a long shelf life. The food producers have argued that consumers asked for longer shelf lives. The purer food people denounced that as pure bunk. But one of those requesting consumers was my mother. She was a liberal sticking it to big corporations to sell what she considered a better, longer lasting product.

Some years ago, Greece was too much of a fiscal mess to join the EU so they hired Goldman Sachs to cook their books for a multi million fee. After they did that they then shorted Greek debt and made another bundle. Today Greece is collapsing. I'm sure Hillary Clinton must feel horridly guilty every time she takes another donation check from Goldman Sachs. 

But no matter what happens its always business as usual in Washington. The Department of Agriculture recently received $17 million to inspect catfish despite the Food and Drug Administration already spending $7 million inspecting catfish. Please remember that although outside lobbyists play a major role in closed door Washington, the right of government agencies to lobby for themselves was part of FDR’s new deal for America. Now the two agencies have agreed to work jointly and to, over time, separate their respective seafood turfs. So there’s no need to worry that anyone will lose their cushy job or pension on our dime. It’s easy to understand that those in power want to maintain regulatory pressure on the population of catfish raising rural southern areas similar to what Obama did when reducing the number of auto dealerships during the car companies’ brief nationalization. “Coincidently” many big Republican donors lost their dealerships then. But catfish and similar type fish enter the USA from Southeast Asia with hardly any inspection. If this gives you shivers about the Trans-Pacific Partnership you are probably not alone.

Much of this product has been banned in Russia because it contains E. coli and listeria. But why worry? Certainly California will require a vaccination against those germs soon. And if you can’t wait, you can always become someone you are not. Two billion dollars of the world’s economy are Botox sales. But if the morality of extreme vanity bothers you, again why worry? The government is always there to lend a helping hand. When first quarter gross domestic product figures came in lower than expected the San Francisco Fed suggested changing the seasonal adjustment factors to create a higher number so we could all feel better.

D. Norman recently posted a discussion about entitlements here where in he calls for “complete and factual information.” Then this must include things he didn’t mention such as illegal immigrants who may have never worked a day in this county receiving benefits and the huge benefit provider industry. This includes J.P. Morgan EFS, Affiliated Computer Services, and eFunds. Since 2004 JPMorgan has been paid almost $6 million. The more they enroll the more they make. So there’s an incentive to get people on the dole.  As with too many government programs it’s not the cost of the benefit but the cost of and style of administration. Nobody in America wants to eat diseased fish or let the poor to starve.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Shadow Government and Socio-Economic Consensus

A “Request for Proposals: Socio-economic monitoring baseline data and data collection methodology and template” was recently issued by the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group. Not understanding why this data is necessary, what the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group really does and how consensus groups came into being I started investigating.

In the 1880’s Karl Marx and Frederick Engels propagated the idea that hunter-gatherer peoples lived communally and made decisions by consensus.  This was called primitive communism, a romanticized state of being to which we all could blissfully return. While this probably happened to some extent, the evidence is scant even today relying mostly on some scattered oral tradition and isolated observations. With the thousands of hunter gatherer groups that once existed, any honest generalization is impossible. Theories about these early human societies seem to flip completely with every new discovery. But the mythology persisted and has since flourished in various circles. 

It merged with Quaker sentiment and morphed into Sociocracy guided by the principle “…that the interests of all members must be considered, the individual bowing to the interests of the whole.” These feed into the Movement for a New Society which believed in “sensitivity training… (and to) challenge members to excise oppressive aspects of their traditional patterns of behavior.” This group influenced many in the 1960’s and that set the stage for its later adoption by the environmentalists.

While I don’t know how they started, the “Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group is a community-based organization that works to create fire-safe communities, healthy forests and watersheds, and sustainable local economies.” (Sustainable is their favorite word) They support projects we all like such as fire breaks, forest cleaning, biomass plants, etc but are also concerned with spotted owls, greenhouse gases and wildlife corridor connectivity. Their members include the Foothill Conservancy, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Sierra Forest Legacy, PG&E, forest service, firesafe councils and many others with John Hoffmann representing Amador County. Supervisor Lynn Morgan attended a recent meeting.

Their decisions are made by consensus. “If consensus cannot be reached, the person or persons expressing concern are responsible for proposing an alternative which meets the same end goal. If alternatives cannot not be defined immediately, the person opposing a decision is responsible for convening a meeting with relevant persons to clearly define the alternative for consideration at a subsequent meeting.” Many people may find this process not that dissimilar from reeducation in Maoist China. But despite extensive study I couldn’t find the consensus for Daniel Boone crossing the Cumberland Gap or inspiring those for the long journey on the Oregon Trail. They appear to be a shadow government ruled differently than the concept of majority rule and minority rights I learned in what now seems to be an archaic America.

The prosperity we all enjoy, including the poorest among us, was undreamed of 250 years ago when the free enterprise system began. Private enterprise and the human spirit it harnesses, despite its imperfections, is the best way to get things done. However, I am not categorically opposed to consensus groups, non-profits, governments sponsored enterprises or a host of other organizational forms.  We are a big, diverse nation and should have a variety of venues to choose from for the task at hand.  But we need to choose wisely and be aware of where we are trending.  And while I wish it began by other means and had a less elaborate structure, I strongly support the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group’s participation in the Wilseyville biomass plant proposal. If they could have received the waste how many of the recent out of control burn pile fires could have been avoided?

Adding more layers and complexity to decision making has its cost. When a group of architects and such were discussing where to pave walkways between new classroom buildings at Columbia University then university president Dwight Eisenhower stopped them. He suggested letting the students walk between the buildings and then paving the paths they found convenient. Sometimes expertise lacks the simple elegance of common sense.

But micro management, at the very least, must have motivated the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group to issue “Request for Proposals: Socio-economic monitoring baseline data and data collection methodology and template”.  This proposal involves “sustainable local economies” and “will comply with the mandates of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program”.  It is concerned with “community development challenges …to better monitor socio-economic conditions in our communities” and requires a “recommended frequency of data collection”. But the Demographic Research Unit of the California Department of Finance estimates and forecasts population, school enrollments, etc by county. Washington’s Bureau of Labor Statistics issues quarterly employment and wage data by county. The General Plan, the General Plan EIR, the separate Housing Element, the various transportation and transit plans and the plans of social service agencies contain reams of socio economic data.  The benefit this proposal could contribute to what is already available is very marginal at best and hardly seems sufficient to justify additional expense.  

Most people are aware of what is happening in their local community by daily observation and experience. The more curious ask those they encounter. The well being of a community is hardly obscure. A few decades ago the dollar rose or fell based on the monthly balance of trade figures. Software was primitive then and one investment firm spent a million dollars to produce projections slightly better than the others. But no matter how hard they all tried, one investment firm always beat them.  After this phase of investing ended they revealed their secret: they went down to the docks and asked about upcoming ship arrivals and departures. 

Aside from the more frightening social control aspect of consensus groups’ shadow government and the proposed even more elaborate monitoring of daily life, this is just another example of pencil pushing rather than beneficial production. How much do the fire safe councils spend on promotion, study and overhead versus projects like the firebreaks that we created them for? As I have stated previously groups like these and especially the EIR process serve a primary purpose to create employment for those interested in archaeology, for example, who would otherwise be unemployable.  Having more people producing less and less tangible result is creating a downward economic spiral that will engulf all of us.

Endnotes: Katherine Evatt recently asked me to join the Amador- Calaveras Consensus Group and I turned her down. It was not because of anything I’ve said above, most of which I didn’t know then, but because I don’t have the time. That hasn’t changed. Also I am a pension board trustee and we generally make decisions on a consensus basis. This is because no one individual wants to be on the hook for a multimillion dollar blunder. And do not confuse the primitive communism discussed with spiritual communism, an obscure late 1800’s French group that utilized repetitive work to induce meditative trance. But the primitive communism concept still remained as exhibited by the oil field workers’ homes in Baku being between the oil derricks due to their alleged mystical attachment to their work. Needless to say they all died prematurely from cancer.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett  

Smart Growth means Our Style Growth

Recently Smart Growth principles were posted on Facebook. What follows is my brief take on them.

 “Mix Land Uses” is conceptually a good idea.  Certainly it’s a reasonable response to the extreme city antiseptic planning of a century ago. While it creates convenience it also requires tolerance. I remember working in an office building where the air ducts picked up the cooking smells from the restaurant next store and people felt olfactory assaulted. And remember than our General Plan EIR goes to extreme lengths to prevent or regulate noise pollution, an obvious problem outcome of mixed uses.

“Take Advantage of Compact Building Design” negates one’s freedom to live as they want. It’s not the government’s role to design buildings except for basics such as safe wiring, etc. North Natomas was developed as a smart growth area and the homes are too close together. They are like the homes I lived in that led me to leave for Amador County. They are the style of our prior less affluent society being sold as a new idea. Is this planning for a possible decline in the standard of living?

“Create a Range of Housing Opportunities and Choices” sounds nice, but when it’s not done in the free market but rather administered it becomes arbitrary. Ask people in Stockton about the required mini apartment ghettos in each new development. They hate it.  While this glib principle often means a contrived “statutory” diversity, apartments that fit into a neighborhood’s character are essential for the elderly to remain there. When one leaves their single family home they should be able to stay put and continue ties and affiliations.

“Create Walkable Neighborhoods” again sounds nice, but it often means “stack and pack” housing. I would submit that neighborhoods became less walkable when we gave up the grid pattern for the current curvilinear pattern along with cul de sacs. This is not about density, but rather just design.  But the other side of the curvilinear argument is the number of dwelling units than can be fit into an area and in some cases preserving the topography an environmental plus for many. Also some people prefer the privacy and lack of pedestrians (strangers) in curvilinear areas.  Doesn’t the reality of create walkable neighborhoods contradict creating a range of housing opportunities and also choices for people with preferences deemed politically incorrect by those in power?

“Foster Distinctive, Attractive Communities with a Strong Sense of Place” sounds yummy. If this is done over time by many individual people, it creates the charm and character we all cherish. But if it is administered by a committee the result is often contrived. In only a few seconds one can decide if the business they just entered was designed by a corporation or grew out of the unique experience of a person or family. Does anyone remember the old joke: What is a camel? A horse designed by a committee.

“Preserve Open Space, Farmland, Natural Beauty and Critical Environmental Areas” What is so smart about assigning subjective judgment calls, open to abusive interpretations, of natural beauty and critical areas to government seers or stacked consensus groups? This is only smart if you want a preconceived ideological outcome.  An example I have cited before is locating a restaurant or gas station along the Hwy 88 scenic corridor.  While most people would consider such a facility as convenience, it would mar the Sierra’s beauty for an esoteric, but empowered, few. As an example of this attitude a recent photo posted on Facebook claiming to represent the intended Newman Ridge project was regarded as disgusting by those who find any productive enterprise as ugly. This is a problem attitude best dealt with by psychologists, not planners. 

“Strengthen and Direct Development towards Existing Communities” This premise compromises the principle that people are free to live where they want. The government is here to serve us, not to make us accommodate their intellectual desires of social design divorced from our traditions. American land tenure, in rural areas, is your home near the middle of your property. This pattern made America freer and different from the Europe of crowded villages most of our ancestors left behind. Divorced from reality and tradition, this statement appears to be the product of isolated intellects with the hidden agenda of homogenizing us to look like Europe along with their roundabouts.

“Provide a Variety of Transportation Choices” How many potholes do we tolerate to placate the few, but vociferous bicyclists? Resources are not infinite. Or was my mother wrong when she told me that money doesn’t grow on trees? Public transit is a vital opportunity that allows people to help themselves, just as public education does. But given the prevalent patronage and social welfare model rather than a public sector business model, throwing money at most big city transit agencies is grossly wasteful without a revolutionary change in their planning and management.

“Make Development Decisions Predictable, Fair and Cost Effective” Fair is a buzzword for social justice, the rebranding of failed socialism. How stable is a society based on entitlements compared with one based upon what you have earned?  Cost effectiveness can be judged by whatever unrealistic ideological assumptions are in charge. My prior discussion of a twisted and rather extended concept of externalities is a perfect example. While nothing can make life predictable, this desire requires at the very least an acceptance of stagnation.

“Encourage Community and Stakeholder Collaboration in Development Decisions” depends, of course, on who is a stakeholder or community member. Certainly people without children and with extra time and means are most likely to appear at meetings as participants. Community groups often are multipliers of the same people appearing as more numerous than they are.  Sometimes I wonder if the number of groups concerned with the Mokelumne River equal the number of fish or frogs there. Caltrans found that neighborhoods often change more rapidly than project timeframes and only chaos and discord ensue. 

Smart Growth is an advertising slogan that can’t help remind me of “You can sure if it’s Westinghouse”. Remember that great company that dissolved with some parts now owned by foreign companies?

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Everyone Loves the Circus

On 6/9/15 the Board of Supervisors had a public hearing on a possible referendum about the Newman Ridge project. I made the following statement:

“Not too long ago on my way into a local market I was approached by an agitated man. At first I thought he was a carnival barker in an old B movie. But he wasn’t tempting me to see the bearded lady or the five-legged frog. Instead, I was informed that our ranchers and farmers water was in danger unless I signed here.

It is a sad day for Amador County when dishonesty triumphs.  Deciding to rescind the favorable decision is to cave into a megalomania of well financed deceit. The other option, to have a vote in what will probably be a year and a half, could suspend the benefits of the project at best, and also subjects this County to a continued derisive debate with a group devoid of integrity.

I have followed this project since its public inception and have often publicly commented upon it.  I devoted a week to reading the EIR, including an independent study of the alleged air pollution. Since this project already has remediated old mines and will recycle old roadbed and will be critical to saving our railroad, the alternative to diesel trucks, I consider this project to be an environmental winner.

While it is easy to understand this shrieking abuse of environmentalism, it becomes sickening to consider what appears to be the nihilism involved and enviable outcome of economic suicide.”

At the hearing, however, we all learned that there were not the simplified two, but given the various consequences there were six options including a new consideration. Since the referendum petition contained the reclamation plan which is ministerial, not legislative, it may be invalid. As an example my recent reroofing permit is ministerial and could not be denied by a referendum of people trying to drive me out of the county. This problem arose despite the attorneys for both the county and the anti project LAWDA organization engaging in prior discussion.  Apparently for LAWDA, their fanaticism overruled legal tradition.

The Board of Supervisor voted unanimously to ask the court for clarification via an action for declaratory relief. Perhaps the referendum decision will be revisited later. At the very least this will delay the employment opportunities and cause us taxpayers an unnecessary expense.

Once again the anti project contingent portrayed the situation as if they were quoting a century old muckraking novel, seeing the supervisors as oppressors. And they present themselves, buttressed by their dishonest petition and referendum campaigns, as representing “the people”.  This hallow claim has been repeatedly shown as prosperous at every public meeting I have attended."

After my presentation at an Ione City Council hearing, people lined up to thank me for speaking on their behalf.  It was a very gratifying experience.

 Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett    

Something Deeper Happening?

They say all politics is local. Here we have Newman Ridge. In Calaveras County a similar battle is unfolding over a proposed asphalt plant. The tactics of the opposition appears to come from a similar playbook. Is this all more than coincidence?

Marketwatch.com recently ran a story that stated: “The number of drugs in short supply in the U.S. has risen 74% from five years ago, to about 265... They range from antibiotics and cancer treatments to commodity items such as saline.” A recent article in Barron’s said that as of 2013: “…no new landfills have been permitted in the U.S. in 18 years, and no new hazardous-waste incinerators have been built in the past 15 years.”

Maintaining our roadbeds, having essential pharmaceuticals and disposing of our waste are not economic growth projects, they are staying put projects. Without them, we fall behind and enter a period of decline...and this is without even adding in population growth both natural and from legal and illegal immigration. While we debate social issues like gay marriage and some see a moral decline, the economic decline is most often only witnessed locally. I believe most people think that their town is in trouble, but that things are pretty good elsewhere. Everyone in Kansas feels relieved that they don’t have to pay the rents in San Francisco. The new media may have exploded, but most people still see their limited, habitual sources. If it’s not a crisis yet, it isn’t news.

This may well be the Chinese century, but the United States doesn’t have to sink into oblivion. How close to sinking into a deep hole are we? Our illusionary life is sustained by debt. The Federal Reserve buys about half the debt of the US Treasury. Most of the other half is sold to unknown entities in places like the Grand Cayman Islands. This is less stable than a house of cards. Some say a collapse is being engineered and that recent domestic military maneuvers are preparation. But others say this is total paranoia. Clairvoyants say the USA will break apart into a series of regional republics. We all know that movements such as the State of Jefferson are now occurring.

I don’t know what will happen nor can I predict the future. But I acutely observe what is happening, find it alarming and struggle for optimism.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Do we share the same reality?

Following and participating in many recent heated and sometimes hateful dialogues on local Facebook, I asked myself the following question: Is there a sharp contrast between a difference of opinion and a lack of grounding in reality? The line is sometimes gray, so I won’t venture an absolute definition, but rather share some observations. Many people here feel that our future is an economy based upon boutique shopping, wine tasting and white water rafting.  As they promote this vision they also oppose the Newman Ridge project.  But a sound economy is a diversified economy, more resilient to enviable change. Because I support this project many consider me to be an ideological conservative, but 50 years ago I would have been considered a liberal Democrat. I don’t care about labels; I rest my case on common sense and thousands of years of economic history.

I was born in 1947 in Buffalo, NY at a Sisters of Charity hospital. As my mother approached the end of her pregnancy the doctor asked if she wanted me strangled if I wasn’t “right”. It was then commonplace for the disabled newborn to be killed with the doctor telling the parents that their baby was born dead and then forging the dead certificate. The hospital staff was complicit, which presumably included the nuns, and they all carried this secret to their grave. A disabled child would have consigned the family to poverty; some siblings would have forgone marriage to care for them while others would have given up the possibility of college and upward mobility. There was no welfare state as we know it today, and back then it was a badge of shame to say I can’t take care of myself and my family. These people had their pride, hopes and dreams, these would be off spring were the children or grand children of those who left the spent fields of Sicily or the imperially ravaged landscape of Poland. The doctors and hospital staff knew the families and lived in the same neighborhoods. They all knew life was a bitch.

I won’t be sitting on a golden throne on Judgment Day and I can’t answer the question of whether this was right or wrong. I know God gave us freewill and I know that we have to make decisions within our limited confines and restricted circumstances. It is not always easy, nor do I suspect it is supposed to be.  Life is a gritty experience of hard choices.

A cousin of mine killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Japanese. If the Marine Corp pinned any more medals on his chest he would have fallen over from their weight. But after the war he was a person that dreaded uncertainty and never fully embraced life. Beyond his job and family, he devoted himself to helping other veterans which probably aided his own struggle for inner peace. He chained smoked, was plagued with bleeding ulcers and died young. In his heart he was never a hero; just a man caught in a kill or be killed situation.

While it may surprise many people here, I once worked on a project for a former Sierra Club lobbyist. It was a great project and I am proud of its accomplishments. I mention this because I was guided by what I believe was reality based common sense, not a preconceived ideological stricture. Some people would like an economy of cutesy tourist towns, and others say we are justified in spending a quarter of a million dollars or so keeping brain stem babies alive for a few months and some oppose the Dollar General store in Pine Grove because they believe that we are a more affluent community than we really are. I wonder what reality some people live in and what their concept of reality is based upon. It is not always just what we would like to happen.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Remembering Bunker Hill

I observed this Memorial Day by rereading Daniel Webster’s Bunker Hill Oration. In 1775 trying to prevent the British from fortifying the hills around Boston we fought for control and lost, retreating when the gunpowder gave out. (Woe is the nation without an industrial base.)  Causalities were high, especially for the British. (Those good old boys knew how to shoot.) This taught us that a citizen army, a militia, could take on the trained troops of a foreign empire.  (Is it a coincidence, or historic irony, that this past week the Oath Keepers just stared down the BLM in Josephine County, Oregon over a man’s gold mining rights?)

In 1825, the year before both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, a monument was dedicated on Bunker Hill. The first generation of free Americans paid homage to those who made it possible and celebrated with those Revolutionary War veterans in attendance. What follows are selections from what Daniel Webster said that day:

“This  uncounted multitude before me and around me proves the feeling which the occasion has excited… a day on which all subsequent history would have poured its light… a point of attraction to the eyes of successive generations… to foster a constant regard for the principles of the Revolution…  God has granted you this sight of your country’s happiness… he has allowed us, your sons and countrymen, to meet you here, and in the name of the present generation, in the name of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you!..  Wheresoever among men a heart shall be found that beats to … patriotism and liberty, its aspirations shall be to claim kindred with thy spirit… May the Father of all mercies smile upon your declining years and bless, them!.. look abroad upon the whole earth, and see what … you have contributed to give to your country, and what a praise you have added to freedom…we are assembled to commemorate the establishment of great public principles of liberty Heaven saw fit to ordain that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted, through you, from the New World to the Old…

 …It is owing, perhaps, to this truth, that the interesting struggle of the Greeks has been suffered to go on so long… to wrest that country from its present masters… the barbarian Turk… let us indulge an honest exultation in the conviction of the benefit which the example of our country has produced… on human freedom and human happiness. Let us endeavor to comprehend in all its magnitude, and to feel in all its importance, the part assigned to us in the great drama of human affairs… that with wisdom and knowledge men may govern themselves… The principle of free government adheres to the American soil. It is bedded in it, immovable as its mountains.

The great trust now descends to new hands… Let our object be… by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration for ever!”

It’s noteworthy that in 1825 we Americans desired aiding the Christian Greeks against their oppressor, the Muslim Ottoman Turks. In the name of full disclosure, my parents took me to the Bunker Hill Monument as a child, and my mother recited parts of Daniel Webster’s oration from memory. She later gave me her copy. As an adult, I once donned a Daniel Webster costume and delivered part of this oration. But soon it sadly seems that my generation and I could become a pre-Common Core anachronism.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Transparency or Crime?

What D. Norman called lack of transparency would be, in fact, a crime called: “Intentional interference with prospective economic relations” and includes as a cause of action: “timing alone may be sufficient to prove causation” (https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/2200/2202.html). In non-legalese, one’s business plans are one’s business.  Was the blueprint of the new iWatch posted on the internet a year ago? Apparently, he finds it appropriate to emulate the distortions and worse of The Ione Valley Land Air and Water Defense Alliance (LAWDA).

LAWDA is a LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), just like Newman Minerals. Where does LAWDA’s money come from? They seem to have unlimited funds. Who paid for their petition gatherers? Unlike organizations such as the Foothill Conservancy or Friends of the River that have frequent fund raising events, paid memberships and required 401(3)c  funding records on the internet, the true nature of LAWDA is unknown.  Apparently D. Norman’s concept of transparency applies to only one side of the equation. This sounds like a definition other than "democratic".

He asserts that it is some sort of subterfuge that part of the former Howard Ranch may become home sites. Aside from a business’s legal right to keep their plans private, homes would only be built if there is a demand for them. And if people want to live in that area, that is their right. Traditionally, Americans have called this freedom. Unless D. Norman was born in Amador County, he freely chose to move here. Why should others be denied that right?

Another area that bothers Mr. Norman is that the capital for Newman Ridge is coming from outside the county. Completely ignored is the obvious. There is not enough capital here to finance this venture. We don’t even have a locally-owned bank in Amador County. At one time most people invested locally. This proved to be disastrous since often local people’s life savings and their entire community got wiped out when a local industry went under. Advocating this lack of investment diversification today would cause a financial adviser to lose their license. Also, capital could not easily move to where it was needed. For this reason the Federal Home Loan Bank Act was passed in 1932 to provide for “…home mortgage funding on a nationwide basis…”

While he takes issue with the out of county origin of the published petition that he cites, he ignores that the signers are local, unlike like LAWDA’s moveon.org petition that requires a world atlas to understand. He ignores that the andesite to be mined is a different substance than at the other local quarries. His mentions of possible water and traffic problems have all been already litigated and refuted so many times I hardly need to repeat them even if D. Norman needs to reread them.  But while I feel obligated to rebut these recent assertions, I am very pleased he has written this since I now have a better understanding of the “progressive viewpoint”. It really means viewpoint and little else.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett