English
Flowers
The English have long been known for their love of
gardening and are absolutely passionate about flowers, so, when a friend bought
me the most beautiful hat for my birthday, I immediately thought, “I must go to
the Chelsea Flower Show.” I have heard about this flower show all of my life
and wondered if it would stand up to its reputation.
I can tell you unequivocally that the answer is yes, and
then some! We had very lovely weather, sun and small breezes, which only made
the displays more brilliant. The show is divided into outdoor “gardens” and an
enormous tent pavilion with a range of “gardens” and flower groupings that
boggled the imagination. Everything from the traditional English country garden
to pots of every color of tulip available to carnivorous plants to plants from
as far away as Jamaica to forests of trees — including arbors as disparate as
traditional English trees and coconut trees, complete with coconuts.
I don’t believe that I have ever seen anything quite like
the Chelsea show’s variety and breadth of plant life assembled in one place
before. I guess that is why this show has the reputation it does. I was even
able to identify a carnivorous vine that I have growing on my lanai in Hawi, Hawai`i. Someone else planted it, so I did not know
what it was, but now I do, as it was part of the Jamaican display complete with
name plate. It is an astounding plant, as it is very vigorous and has a deep
dark red flower about a foot across when opens with a hole about an inch across
where bugs are lured in for consumption.
If you are at all intrigued by plants and flowers, I
would recommend making the effort to come to the Chelsea Flower Show. It lasts
a week, in May, and on the first day the Queen comes. Next, the members of the
Royal Horticultural Society are invited to attend and finally the general
public. Plants are sold at the end but, of course, they cannot be brought back
to the States, so you just have to enjoy them at the show. It was a truly wonderous experience and I think it well worth the trip.
Water,
Water Everywhere
It never ceases to amaze me how shortsighted the majority
of our elected officials are, in general, and specifically with regards to the
residents’ basic needs. While they are busy “saving” fish and trees, someone
else is busy making plans to take our water away from us. The Santa Barbara
City Council just authorized spending $100,000 of your tax dollars on more
“improvements” for the eight original supposed steelhead in
the county. Of course, those rainbow/steelhead
were in the Santa Ynez River, quite a distance from the city, but, hey, what’s
a few dollars among friends? I don’t recall seeing any studies identifying
positively that steelhead exist in coastal streams these days but that doesn’t
mean that there haven’t been any.
What I am referring to here is the increased frequency of
Indian tribes suing local water agencies and the Federal government
for what some consider to be “historic” water rights. An 84-year-old
litigation over the Santa Margarita River, Southern California’s last
free-flowing river in Riverside County, has pitted the Cahuilla Band against
residents and public agencies and has had some serious ups and downs throughout
its history. The result to date is that the tribe has been ordered to supply
everyone who asks. In the meantime, the discussion is focused on whether to
spend the $1.3 million to study what water is available and how it can be
fairly shared among all parties. Right now everyone is being reasonable, but
that could change as expressed by some residents.
Recent news of a settlement in the House proposed by U.S.
Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, between the Soboba Band
of Luiseño Indians in the San Jacinto Valley will, if passed by the
Senate, have a huge impact, financial and otherwise. The agreement calls for
payment of $18 million from the water districts, $11 million from the federal government, and rights to 2 billion gallons a year from the
aquifer to the tribe with an agreement by them to use no more than one-half of
the allotment for the first 50 years.
In Sonoma and Marin Counties the government is turning
tribal water rights to “super rights” superseding any other water rights. I
believe that we will be faced with similar issues in the near future if it is
not already underway. It is clear that our elected officials have official
blinders on and will not stand up and support the residents, even if it means
that we lose the very things we need to survive. I am not intending to be an
alarmist here, but these are extremely serious issues to which, to date, the
powers-that-be have not seen fit to pay attention.
If you will recall, a group of civic-minded citizens were
forced to pay for their own attorneys (and still are) to get to have a say on
what happens on land use issues in District 3 because the Board of Supervisors
acted too little, too late, on our behalf. In fact, if it were not for some
very vigorous lobbying on the community’s part, even that small action would
not have happened. It is pretty pathetic that the future of the district was
not of enough concern to its representative to act definitively on behalf of
constituents, kowtowing instead to non-taxpaying residents. As a result of
inaction, increased tension has resulted when we could have had discussions
between all parties to come to mutually acceptable solutions instead of the
current standoff.
Death
and Taxes
I have found no one who would not claim that both of
these are inevitable at some point. It is almost amusing, if it weren’t so
serious, to watch the politicians come up with new schemes to make us pay our
way out of their spending habits. Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed in his
fiscal 2009 budget a “fire fee.” Lest you think you will not be included in
this new “tax,” let me tell you how you will be impacted. This is a surcharge
on all commercial and residential insurance policies, and it is called a
“disaster fee.” This is based now on the perceived risk of flood, earthquake
and fire damage. If you are an urban dweller, you could conceivably not be affected
by the flood and fire problems California experiences every year in the less
populated areas bordered by forests. However, no one can escape the earthquake
clause — very clever in my mind! For those at the highest risk, the tax will be
1.4 percent and those in the lowest category will pay .75 percent extra. If you
want to track this, you can look at the Senate and Assembly Budget
Subcommittees on Resources on-line.
I hear that, locally, the board of supervisors is
considering a crude oil production tax. That means your price of a gallon of
gas will go up again, and it will be their responsibility. Yes, let’s make gas
more expensive; that will make things better. How about this radical idea?
Let’s reduce the expense of county government by spending less with cuts in
every department except health and safety, which is legally mandated, starting
with management — including the Board’s salaries. Don’t we all have to tighten
our belts? Or is it just us citizens?
Now the governor wants to expand the lottery somehow,
even though it is predicted to produce 8 percent less in revenue next year. He
wants to float $18.4 billion in bonds to help pay down the $17.2 billion budget
deficit, which could cut funding for public schools that already are ranked
46th in the nation. This is a disgrace. Not only do we pour billions into our
educational system, but we also are getting farther and farther behind in
teaching our youth how to succeed in life. It has been suggested that this
latest scheme to balance the budget on the backs of our already strained
students will make it worse. Did we not learn our lesson? Isn’t this stupid
overspending the reason we recalled the previous governor?
Now, in the valley, Caltrans is going to spend the months
of July and August putting in another “improvement,” a passing lane from the
river bridge to Highway 246 on Highway 154.
Just what we need — more opportunities to speed, pass over the double yellow line and endanger the
lives of more people. I thought the state was broke, so how can they afford
this?
Oh yes, I forgot. It set aside money ahead of time to
“reserve” it for specific projects, absolving itself
of having priorities when times, such as now, require adjusting priorities.
Priorities
I noticed an unfortunate email this week slamming 3rd
District supervisor candidate Steve Pappas for his ads talking about his
efforts saving a public park, a parcel slated for high-density housing,
agricultural projects, and dealing with land use issues including casino
expansion. I don’t recall any of the other candidates being involved in any of
those or other similar projects. I was surprised at the tone: obviously, the
author was not a fan of Steve’s, because the writer clearly does not recognize
the value of leadership. Efforts of that kind do not take only one person to
accomplish, which everyone knows, but they most certainly do take leadership.
It takes a leader to inspire people to get involved,
producing a desired result. That is what is meant by a community — people
working together for a common goal. It takes a leader to be able to listen to
all different people and ideas and help formulate a plan of action. It takes a
leader who has the experience of realistic solutions, not just feel-good
schemes.
It takes a leader who can draw from practical experience,
who has his own values, not dictated by others, who isn’t tied to the past, who
has the strength of character to avoid the usual “at the trough” syndrome. It
takes a genuine leader to avoid the backroom deals we have had in the past that
served not the public at large but an individual and his friends. It takes a
leader to stand up for what is right, and the strength of character to refuse
the offers of personal wealth and status.
I believe that there is only one person running for supervisor
in the 3rd District who has those qualifications, and that is Steve Pappas. If
you have not already done so, I would urge you to consider him for your next
supervisor.