Filed under: Issues
I personally believe that participation in a project requires a great deal of dedication and responsibility. To be an effective participant requires being well prepared. There might be reading or data analysis that is necessary to review and even question prior to moving into the decision making process. Participants must be motivated for the right reasons. By that, I mean that sometimes people participate on Boards of Directors or projects because it is prestigious. A perfect example of this is the demise of Merced County’s battered womens shelter, “A Woman’s Place”. I find it hard to believe that a Board of Director’s with as much professional experience as they have could not see that problems were developing. They accepted positions of fiduciary responsibility, not only to the funding sources (grantors and state agencies) but more importantly to the shelter employees and women they serve. Now the county is scrambling to assure that some sort of services are found to “fill the gap”. The executive director, in this case is negligent, but the ultimate responsibility belongs to the Board of Directors. It’s a very sad situation, and the solution is very unclear.
We need to remember to HAVE FUN! While we all feel the need for structure and stability, we must remember to not take ourselves too seriously. My wife is real good at that. I’ll come home talking about the great accomplishments of the day, and she’ll point to our grand son and say – “That’s great, but now you are on ‘diaper duty’”. He’ll look at me, with a fully loaded diaper and smile and laugh! It’s at that moment that I remember that happiness is our true destiny.
Filed under: Issues
I’m so glad someone is asking the question! Every person, everywhere is affected by air quality: whether they want to believe it or not. There are some tremendously successful (yet relatively small) programs in Merced County. The Merced-Mariposa Asthma Coalition is participating in the air quality flag program that lets students, parents, and teachers know when air quality is dropping and the steps necessary to protect our children. This is such a great first step, and we need to help them expand the program. But then we get back to my mantra: “What Now?” Again, we need to take the data that’s being generated on air quality and correlate it to health data, such as uncontrolled asthma attacks. Then we need to overlay that data with geographic information, such as proximity to freeways, aerial agricultural spraying, etc. Then create project partners from various groups (in this example, it might be farmers and parents of asthmatic children) to collaborate and work out a reasonable solution.
Filed under: Countdown
Tuesday, March 25th
Yep! I’ve got a cold, and it’s sucking all of the energy out of me. That’s enough feeling sorry for myself. It’s time to talk about the future: As we build this “non toxic” political infrastructure I’m always discussing, it seems to me that it needs to include a communication process that people are willing to use: one they don’t find intimidating or threatening. By that, I mean that if you have a problem with they way government works or you are unhappy with the system, there should be a means to communicate to the existing leadership in an environment where you feel you are being “heard without being judged”. If you are shy, poor, uneducated, undocumented, or just not “system savvy”, there is no real way to get your point across. We need to insure against “arbitrary leadership” (people that THINK they know what the problem is and how to resolve it) by building new pathways of communication.
This was a question I was asked in preparation for an interview on my candidacy. Responding to a question on crime in our community is a very sensitive matter. The root causes of crime are complex. As a businessman, I would like to look at baseline data that shows the type of crime and geographic location. Then, instead of trying to resolve the problems by adding more law enforcement officers at targeted areas, I’d develop a group of interested citizens to get the neighborhoods involved: but not only in high crime areas. Has any one ever asked why certain areas have low crime rates? What are they doing right? Can we turn their “best practices” into a new program to emulate in a high crime area? I certainly respect the job of the law enforcement professionals, but enforcement is a knee-jerk reactive response to a problem. We need to get pro-active and reduce or eliminate the environmental attributes that allow for crime to exist.
Filed under: Countdown
Monday, March 24th , 2008
A lack of sleep has made me groggy. I think I’m catching cold on top of everything else! Sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves to be everything for everyone. It’s been said that the best “leaders” are “servants”. I am here to serve, but we must choose wisely when we allocate our time.
I see the role of government as being the “parent” of the family. Government entities are created to develop communities that are strong, viable and self-sufficient. It is NOT the role of government to provide “everything for everyone”. Just as a parent provides a safe, nurturing environment for young children, it is also the parent’s role to mentor and educate a young person on how to be successful in life and take on personal responsibility for their future. Government SHOULD provide a “hand up” for people that have special problems or needs (within reason). Government SHOULD NOT provide a “hand out” that is not tied to some sort of deadline or accomplishment. Government should lead by example: taking their responsibilities to heart, and reflecting regularly on their vision for the future.
Filed under: Countdown
It’s Easter Sunday and my father is in the Hospital. We will be traveling out of town to see him. I hope you and your family are healthy and enjoying the day together.
We do a lot of studies and assessments about the problems that afflict our county. But I always wind up asking myself “What now? What are we doing to address the issue?” There are a handful of dedicated and caring people that are on multiple committees and organizations and they spread themselves as thin as possible to try to remain effective. If elected, my priorities would include enhancing collaborative efforts and creating new diverse groups of action-oriented people to (a) reduce waste and redundancy, (b) improve geographic and cross-cultural relationships in the county, and (c) help everyone play a part in the growth and success of Merced County.
Filed under: Countdown
Integrity is the characteristic that is essential in a “non toxic” campaign. Voters must be wholeheartedly convinced of the candidate’s integrity. Today we will be taking a day off to take my wife’s family to San Francisco for a double-birthday celebration, stay tuned as the election nears!
