These, indeed, are the times that try every pronoun’s soul.
Since the beginning of time, slogans, catchphrases, and, nowadays, memes worm into the collective consciousness of the masses. A good many of them are deliberate, purpose-driven creations meant to trigger a response. But what about the non-specific sayings and catchphrases that seem to come from the deep unknown?
Retail
These two may be regional, harkening back to my youth in The Bronx. Uttered mainly by older people, the expression “You can kiss my ass in Macy’s window!” was the button on any argument. This silly retort shares a memory shelf with another gem, tailor-made for a nosy or overly personal inquiry; “Does Macy’s tell Gimbels?”
I guess Macy’s was a bigger arbiter of neighborhood disagreements than I realized.
These well-aged anachronisms randomly pop into my head, loosing an amused chuckle that turns melancholic. An internal newsreel flickers with faded faces of neighborhood harridans, kvetching about nothing important.
Logic
Remember these silly pseudo-syllogisms? “If all your friends jumped off the Empire State Building, would you do it too?” Or “Finish your dinner; there are starving kids in Africa!!”
I don’t remember troops of kids defiantly rattling plates of uneaten lima beans as they leaped from the Empire State Building. I’m sure the New York Post or the Daily News would have covered such a sensational story.
Sadly, kids had only one universal retort – “You’re not the boss of me!!!” That defiance rarely had the outcome the put-upon child expected.
Who’s The Boss?
The nuns told us we were “bold as brass!!!” Really? Brass is bold? Who knew?
Parents and other authority figures growled, “Because I said so, that’s why!!!” or “I’ll give you something to cry about!” Way to open those safe, trusting discussions and teaching moments!
And then, when all patience is exhausted, the ominous “Wait til your father gets home!!!” Boy, that’s a lot of pressure to put on a patriarch who probably just wanted to chill out after a tough day. I can understand why some fathers decided not to come home, at least not straight away. On a positive note, this unsettling dynamic likely created an excellent source of income for generations of therapists who strove to unravel the eternal struggle between fathers and their children. Another profession that benefitted from this threat? – Bartenders. Same sympathetic ear but no couch.
Nope
In today’s age of hyperbolic claims, rancid with cries of “fake news,” wild, exaggerated, and blatantly false claims rain down sans fact or evidence. We all can reel off a dozen examples that illustrate this point. And guess what? We can all point to examples where what is “true” can diametrically oppose what is fact. And that is a problem. These, indeed, are the times that try my soul.
All I can say to the nonsense is, “Don’t piss on my neck and tell me it’s raining.”
The Cambria Community Services District has proposed retiring the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Commission (PROS) and replacing it with a Standing Committee. As vaguely defined in the Board discussion of July 20th, the objective is to bring PROS in line with the other existing standing committees. The benefits of this structure will be, uh, umm, er, – well, I’m not sure there are any.
As a critic and a supporter of the PROS Commission, I admire the passion of past and current Commissioners to protect and nurture the areas under the PROS charter.
However…
The problem has been the lack of tangible action that stems from the Commission not having a clear, easily understood charter supported by a set of policies and authorities linked to a primary mission.
Over the past year, new participants have brought momentum to PROS activities, barbering issues down to an identifiable set of actions and finding success despite the absence of a healthy organizational structure and governance.
Good, but not sustainable. Hence, the proposed change to the PROS raison d’etre.
What’s The Goal?
What changes with this realignment? What problems are solved? There may be some administrative improvements, but how will this conformity improve the practical operation of an unfunded, murkily defined, and under-resourced organization?
Is the cart being placed before the horse?
Clarity brings Clarity
The Board should invest in an organizational expert to address these complexities. Simply put, the rasher of maps, plans, documents, and rules and requirements built up over the life of PROS needs untangling, simplifying, and memorializing so everyone who wants to understand the rules can go to a single, vetted, accurate source. Create a simple, clean set of responsibilities, define an organizational structure to manage against those responsibilities, and implement a governance model.
A Road Map
A good start would be to take each component of the organization’s title and articulate a set of definitions for each subset.
What are Parks?
What is Recreation?
What is Open Space?
What exists today?
What is the desired future state?
What are the requirements for successfully managing each of the areas?
What are the funding sources for each practice?
Who functionally manages these departments?
Who manages all the interdependencies, complexities, and competing objectives of each function?
Who manages the critical knowledge base and oversight required by outside agencies, existing authorities, and future project opportunities?
How will the existing plans and obligations be examined, integrated, tossed aside, or restructured?
How will budgeting and fiscal oversight be managed?
And on it goes.
Whatever structure – Commission, Committee, Legal and Defined Parks and Recreation department- must be thoroughly reviewed and put before the public before moving forward.
In The Meantime
Interested citizens can attend the next PROS meeting and see where current projects and activities stand. The session is Tuesday, August 1st, at 10:00 am at the Vet’s Hall. The meeting will also be accessible via Zoom. For Agenda and Zoom links, visit the CCSD Website HERE.
Upcoming August 10th and 17th CCSD Board meetings will have the proposed changes on the agenda. Board schedules appear on the CCSD Website under the Calendar section.
I’ve been thinking about our dear friend Cindy Steidel, volunteer and passionate supporter of all the good that makes Cambria a shining community. There is a long list of things that add up to the legacy of the person I came to know through her public service. Her fairness, diligence, quiet determination, and overall compassion, displayed under the pressure of her elected office, were at times inspiring, humorous, and occasionally aggravating but always thoughtful. She listened carefully and respectfully. I can think of no one more prepared, informed, and willing to engage in profound discourse on matters critical to the town’s future and all who call it home.
Cindy, to her credit, was not shy about identifying bad behavior and would occasionally push back against abusive comments and personal attacks against herself, her fellow elected Board members, and the staff that keeps Beautiful Cambria functioning. Though some found her adherence to order and decorum to be heavy-handed, she applied the guidelines equally, to the chagrin of some who enjoyed setting their own rules. Cindy had the temerity to tell me my three minutes of public comment time was up!
Outside the noisy bubble of public office, Cindy was hilarious, engaging in conversation, and a bit bawdy at times, but always filled with the insatiable drive to service. Every mutual friend I’ve seen since she left us has said similar things. Nobody shared anything but love for the woman who always showed up. Cindy didn’t have enemies, just friends with who she occasionally disagreed. She told me, firmly yet nicely, that the cake portion of the Memorial Day meal was self-service! A hug followed, then a whispered “I miss our conversations” and a promise to call.
And that was it.
Good morning! Where there is a community, there is Cindy demonstrating the values of service and caring. Even we old folks need role models, reminders, quiet leaders, and doers. Thank you for all you do. MC
Very generous words, Michael; thank you so much. Being an old folk myself and often in need of a “being quiet” reminder, your words are much valued. Best, Cindy
Our final email exchange.
Cindy has gone on her next adventure. I hope we share small bits of her character, loving heart, and passion for service wherever we meet.
In “Doubt, a Parable”, a seething Father Flynn delivers his weekly sermon from the Sunday pulpit. He adapts an old folktale to defend himself from those he believes are trying to destroy him.
A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew – I know none of you have ever done this. That night, she had a dream: a great hand appeared over her and pointed down on her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got the old parish priest, Father O’ Rourke, and she told him the whole thing. ‘Is gossiping a sin?’ she asked the old man. ‘Was that God All Mighty’s hand pointing down at me? Should I ask for your absolution? Father, have I done something wrong?’ ‘Yes,’ Father O’ Rourke answered her. ‘Yes, you ignorant, badly-brought-up female. You have blamed false witness on your neighbor. You played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed.’ So, the woman said she was sorry, and asked for forgiveness. ‘Not so fast,’ says O’ Rourke. ‘I want you to go home, take a pillow upon your roof, cut it open with a knife, and return here to me.’ So, the woman went home: took a pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, went up the fire escape to her roof, and stabbed the pillow. Then she went back to the old parish priest as instructed. ‘Did you gut the pillow with a knife?’ he says. ‘Yes, Father.’ ‘And what were the results?’ ‘Feathers,’ she said. ‘Feathers?’ he repeated. ‘Feathers; everywhere, Father.’ ‘Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out onto the wind,’ ‘Well,’ she said, ‘it can’t be done. I don’t know where they went. The wind took them all over.’ ‘And that,’ said Father O’ Rourke, ‘is gossip!”
Father Flynn’s sermon from “Doubt, a Parable” by John Patrick Shanley
Sometimes we are the feather, sometimes the wind.
We feel pain. We cause pain.
Fear, anger, ignorance, and cruelty. Love as resonance, or dissonance.
Our words matter. To each other, and to ourselves.
The Parks, Recreation, and Open Space ad hoc team continues to move forward with discussion and action on finding activities to enhance the recreation options in the area of the East Fiscalini Ranch designated for a community park. Though there have been many suggested uses, along with a well-researched Master Plan, not much has happened outside the development of the dog park.
The committee has taken an open and inclusive approach to revisit the possibilities for the land, actively engaging with and seeking input from every corner of the community. Over the past months participation in community meetings has grown, attracting interested and concerned residents into the discussion. The overarching philosophy of the ad hoc is – every voice matters, and every concern or suggestion is captured and discussed. The results, to my eye, have been terrific.
The forum takes on the concerns in a collaborative, positive way, with questions encouraged, responses backed with facts and data, with none of the harshness and pugnacious attitudes often seen in public discourse. I leave the meetings recharged, believing that things can happen without frivolous conflict.
Such was the outcome of the meeting held on Saturday, April 1, at the Chamber of Commerce building. Community members took the lead in further defining three main project opportunities. They presented what the projects are, what they could reasonably cost, and how they would fit into the footprint of the designated area.
Community member Shannon Sutherland led the discussion on exercise stations. Shannon did fantastic research, contacting various manufacturers and providers of such stations. Options discussed included everything from simple, pressure-treated, build-it-yourself stations to powder-coated metal fixtures and extruded, molded resin modules. Each option has plusses and minuses, and as the conversation moves forward within the PROS Commission, it will be refined and shared with the community and the CCSD Board.
Community members Mark and Susan Garman presented their work on the proposed Disc (frisbee) Golf course. The enthusiastic pair have invested a good amount of their time visiting systems around the county and brought a collection of photographs and descriptions of styles and materials used to build and maintain different-sized options. It was clarifying to see the pictures, as they demonstrated the ease of integrating this low-impact, environmentally sensitive, and accessible sport into the existing natural beauty of the East Ranch. The Garman’s research also included a first-pass look at potential costs for a course’s design, build, and maintenance. The figures are subject to change after a more detailed review by a course designer and all the appropriate staff to ensure compliance with the existing EIR and use conditions.
PROS Commissioner Kermit Johanson presented his findings and recommendations for enhancing the existing trails to accommodate runners and ensure ADA compliance. He shared a color-coded topographical map showing where the enhancements would fall within the existing footprint and a rough estimate of cost and effort based on configuration, materials, and labor sources.
Each presenter fielded questions and concerns and, in collaboration with the PROS ad hoc members, will present the information to the full PROS Commission, get input, and formulate a unified presentation to the CCSD Board and the public at an upcoming Board meeting.
After all the presentations and discussions, the attendees were asked – Do you support moving forward with the next steps for the proposed projects? Every hand went up in favor, including representatives of the CCSD Board, Beautify Cambria, Cambria Community Council, concerned residents from the surrounding neighborhood, members of the business community, and long-time residents and parents.
The PROS Commission will hold its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 4, at 10:00 am at the Vet’s Hall. The session will also be available via ZOOM.
Beautiful Cambria is home to a diverse range of people, from toddlers to seniors, long-time residents, new arrivals, and a healthy stream of visitors drawn to this special place and a community that embraces and protects the natural beauty and uniqueness of the environment. Cambria is also home to rare and sensitive species and habitats that must be protected. Balancing the needs of all, and using the resources and open spaces under the care of the Cambria Community Services District wisely, is a serious responsibility.
The Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Commission (PROS) advises and assists the Cambria Community Service District Board of Directors with identifying potential issues and opportunities to manage and advance the uses of Cambria’s open space.
PROS is looking for projects to increase Cambria’s outdoor recreation options. The current focus is on the East Fiscalini Ranch, which is home to Cambria Dog Park. The Commission has put together an ad hoc committee to gather community input on three options and drive community engagement through feedback and active participation.
The East Ranch
There are three potential projects for the East Fiscalini Ranch. Each option is low-cost, has a low environmental impact, and is accessible to a cross-section of the community.
The selection process has been thoughtful and deliberate, with PROS and community members sharing ideas on what would make good sense for the community and those who visit.
The three projects under discussion are:
Multi-use trails that loop around the east ranch, utilizing the existing paths. Upgrading the current trail system will give greater access to safe, easy walking, jogging, and potential light bicycle use.
“Exercise stations.” These popular, low-profile systems provide simple, easily accessed stops for walkers, runners, seniors, and children to stretch, do simple strength/resistance exercises, and other low-impact opportunities to enhance outdoor time.
Disc (Frisbee) Golf is an increasingly popular activity that requires minimal equipment and offers a self-paced, casual, or competitive activity that most people can enjoy. Options include an environmentally friendly course that offers different challenges to the casual enthusiast or more advanced player.
These three options under consideration will take advantage of the beautiful outdoor environment while being sensitive to the unique environmental characteristics of the East Ranch, as well as the concerns of the surrounding community.
Your Input Is Valued
Community input is most valuable and influential at the beginning of any project. This engagement helps get a true sense of what the community sees as beneficial and viable. It also provides an opportunity to voice concerns and objections. All feedback is welcome.
Here are a few ways to engage.
The Ad Hoc team welcomes everyone to attend an in-person meeting. The in-person gatherings have been lively, open, and very productive. The next session is Saturday, March 4th, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. in the Cambria Chamber of Commerce Conference Room, 767 Main Street.
Volunteers are manning the Farmer’s Market with information, maps, a simple, informative petition, and, most importantly, open ears.
The next PROS meeting will be held via ZOOM and at The Veterans Memorial Hall on March 7th at 10:00 a.m. Public comment is encouraged and welcomed. Find Links and Agendas on the Cambriacsd.org website.
Updates
PROS will provide updates and information regularly through cambriaca.org
Social Media platforms will be used sparingly, generally for meeting notifications or critical updates. The goal is to foster robust community discussion without the challenges faced by unmoderated and often misinformed social media exchanges.
Once the project selection process is complete, the team will focus on the detail. Design, cost, impacts, and benefits – all the parts and pieces needed to be defined before anything moves forward. Again, the current objective is to reach a consensus on the “what” before diving into the “how.”
Consider how you would like to help shape the discussions and decisions for Cambria’s outdoor recreation. Your voice matters.
In the 2003 film “The Last Samurai,” Captain Nathan Algren is asked by the young Japanese Emperor to tell how the titular character, the Samurai Katsumoto, died. Algren responds, “I will tell you how he lived.”
How do we spend our last days and hours, especially when we know they are just that? Do we die as we lived? Are deathbed conversions a spiritual revelation, or the chemicals of the mind and body boiling together in one final fire of life? Do these fading moments reveal our true hearts?
I have seen the last hours of family and friends who knew the show was about to close. The masks dropped away, leaving the bare face that is the soul. In the last light of life, they revealed who they were across all the days they lived.
Mother
My mother’s life was very confusing to me. I can recall moments of tenderness, of humor, of fleeting kindness. But never joy. She suffered from significant physical ailments that ruined her body and her mind. She seems, in retrospect, to have been an always-angry person, bitter from multiple children and the exciting life dreamed but not lived. The diseases that tortured her were mental, physical, and spiritual. She tried to cope with prayer and alcohol, incense and cigarette smoke, and with rage, her constant accomplice. Her body twisted, and her mind followed along. Things meant to soothe her demons only excited them, letting physical and emotional violence rain down and run amok.
After many false endings, time wrote her final chapter. Facing the unknowable, she was in her last hours as she had been at her worst hours. Raging and loud, angry beyond reason, lashing out with more fierce energy than her rapidly failing body should have been able to muster. Her last breath, drawn just hours before her sixtieth birthday, did not call out to God but rather goddamn you all. So, for all the mercy and understanding, the darkness won.
Sister
My sister followed my mother a few short months later. Anne Marie was a funny, kind, beautiful soul who, at the young age of thirty-two, was stricken with an unusual and cruel illness that appeared suddenly and relentlessly stole her body, but never her spirit. Her last weeks were a torture of desperate treatments and experiments intended to heal but instead just delivered more destruction. She fought as she lived, not passively but not with the outward rage shown by our mother. Her concerns were for her family, especially her two young daughters. She knew her passing would be unbearable for them. And for the brothers and sisters that stood by her bedside, fighting to make the right decisions. Though most did not believe in miracles, we wished for one.
Through it all, there were moments of great conflict, terribly unfair decisions asked of those tasked with making them, and pure dread. But from Anne Marie, there was gentle humor and compassion for we who suffered and mourned her passing.
In her last minutes, she lay peaceful, quietly breathing until there were no more breaths. I stood, with our sisters and brother-in-law, holding her hand, and felt her let go. It was devastating and beautiful. There was no darkness, just the light of a gentle soul. Nothing in my life, before or after, changed me more than that moment.
Father
My father, emotionally battered and broken by the loss of his wife and child, somehow managed to find a way forward, though his body, scarred from years of bad health, stuttered and faltered occasionally. He continued being a dad to me and pappy to his grandchildren, finding bits of happiness in the warm sun of his new home in Florida.
When his systems began to fail with greater frequency, he struggled to live in a way that didn’t upset the individual bonds that extended from parent to child. It was difficult to do, impossible really . So, in the end, he chose to fight no more and let the natural process come to him.
He lay sedated in a hospice bed, two of his daughters and I, his oldest son, sharing the watch, each of us urging him different things. In our last minutes alone I said, “You’ve done enough, so you decide when to let go.” His face, still handsome till the end, transformed from the one I had seen throughout my life into my brother’s face, revealing a familial lineage I had not recognized before. It was the only moment, aside from the sadness of the circumstance, that genuinely unnerved me. As he was shutting down, his brain, soul, spirit, whatever one believes, expressed his final protests in muted groans and fleeting grimaces.
I stepped out, realizing I needed to dash to the airport to pick up another sister who had flown down to be with him in his final hour. As I got to my car, my phone rang. He was gone. I drove to the airport, greeted my sister’s flight, and shook my head as she came down the jetway. It was over. Dad died as he lived, trying to make everything okay for everyone. He realized the impossibility and chose what was right for him. Not passive, not angry. Just accepting.
An accurate telling of how he lived can only be found through a kludged kaleidoscope of memories and interpretations. I saw, at the end, the person I always knew.
Friend
My friend and colleague Janice and I were not related, though our parallel Bronx Irish Catholic upbringings and shared values could argue that we were a part of a much larger family. Janice was smart, funny, bossy, and overly loyal to her co-workers. She was also one of the most tenacious people I have ever known, made so by the battles she fought in her unfairly short lifetime. A young widow raising three daughters, a breast cancer survivor left with lingering physical issues from that battle, Janice was ultimately thrown into an unwinnable war with pancreatic cancer. We often spoke as she underwent treatment and a brutal surgery that tortured her body and spirit. Her sadness and fears were not solely focused on her destiny. She was all about her daughters Denise, Susan, and Megan—her girls.
Janice fought on for what seemed like forever, moving from Connecticut to Boston to be with her family. On a cold and grey day, Denise, whose home became the gathering place, let me know the time was near. I drove north through an endless traffic jam and reflected on our unlikely friendship. Denise and her sisters welcomed me, and I joined them and other family members who had come together, as families do, to comfort and support each other in the fading hours. I was able to spend a very few minutes with Janice. We sped through ” I’m so sorry” and “I love you, my friend” and got to Janice’s core—her girls. She was worried for them but also sure that they would be fine after she was gone. She raised them with her spirit and courage and left them with us all after her eyes closed and her pain dissolved into the universe.
At her funeral Mass, I had the opportunity to give a short remembrance. I practiced my piece so I wouldn’t stumble too badly. I did okay until the end, when I looked up and saw her family, her girls, and choked up on my final line, “I will miss my friend.”
Unwritten Endings
In the years since these passings, I have experienced the loss of other friends, some gone quickly, others after great, almost heroic battles against an unbeatable foe. I found myself confused about my responses, often profoundly emotional for friends not seen in years. We shared a time when we couldn’t contemplate any of us dying, wandering through our lives intact until we were not so young. And then they were gone.
At the wakes, the funerals, the memorials, and the reunions, we squint to find traces of our missing friends and families in the faces and voices of the children they begat. Will they need someone to tell them how we lived? Or will they know us by how we passed?
In his last moment, surrounded by the horrors of war, the destruction of his tribe, and the end of the Samurai, Katsumoto attained the peaceful beauty of perfect cherry blossoms. Birth, death, beauty, and violence. He died as he lived.
I woke to a sad message today. “Hi Mike. I want to reach out to you personally before we post on FB that Richard Dunne died last night. His heart gave out. Sumus was a joy in his life, as were you guys.”
This news was not unexpected, but still a bit tough to absorb. Richard and I go back to our very young days in the Bronx. We were passionate about the same thing – music. Richard was a gifted singer, actor, and guitar player with the look and charisma that made him the center of attention wherever he performed. In our early teens, we joined together with a couple of other local kids to form the band “Sumus,” where we all began our life-long habits/hobbies/professions/passions.
The band’s lineup changed a few times as we went through the joys and aggravations of learning how to make music together, and how to grow up in the changing era of the 1970s. We spent countless hours causing the living room chandelier to sway in drummer Richie Wood’s parent’s house on Loring Place. We enjoyed the good-natured bemusement of Mr. Wood’s New England – accented question, “how much more shit ya got in there?” as we struggled to load and unload band equipment, dragging it up the steep, narrow alleyway next to the house.
We spent a ton of time learning the songs of the day. Each member had a bit of a preference for different styles. Drummer Woody had studied under a jazz teacher, and his style of play showed that influence. Richard was a fan of the popular vocal groups of the time – notably Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. His pure tenor and great musicality gave him the flexibility to tackle even the most complex parts, and his stage training let him hide any vocal shortcomings with theatrical flair. As the band grew and changed, new members added new voices, colors, and musical skills to the collaboration. Singer Frank Roman, guitarist Michael Cunningham, guitarist/bassist Mike Monaco, pianist Jim Phillips, Hammond player Jim Tiernan, percussionist Allen, and maybe a few more that came and went. The band was always supported by the free-spirited and passionate Victor Ferrara, who never met a speaker cabinet he wouldn’t carry or a long drive in awful weather he wouldn’t make.
Some of our best times were summers spent in Fort Salem, New York, doing shows and playing gigs at the funky Fort Salem Summer Theater. So many memories, I think! Rich also included the band members in the productions he was involved in while attending Fordham University, another learning experience for us. He stayed close to many of the young actors he mentored and inspired.
Richard continued his theater career, performing across the region and later spreading to different parts of the country. He enjoyed a stint on the soap “Another World,” earning him the snarky but endearing title of “DDOG – Dick Dunne, Ordinary Guy.” Some of us still used that term over the decades, even though most of us only connected at funerals or reunions.
Over time I worked in a duo with Richard, he on guitar and vocals, and me on bass and bad vocals. We had some fun, made some pocket money, and met some new folks. One of the most consequential outcomes of this collaboration led to a life-changing event for me.
Richard was doing a show at a theater in Millbrook, New York. The theater had an after-show cabaret, featuring a great band led by singer Toni Glover. The group was looking to grow and expand, and Richard mentioned I might be a good fit. We played a few sets, and I auditioned for the band. I guess I passed because I was learning a whole new repertoire a short while later. I was also learning the names and personalities of the band members, which had grown with the addition of two female singers. After a rocky start and a lot of road time, I became close to the singer who, as I write this over forty years later, is upstairs, playing the piano. So, thanks, Rich.
I last saw Richard in person a few years back, playing at the LA dive bar The Oyster House with his group “The Drinks.” Over thirty years and three thousand miles from the dive bars of the Bronx, nothing had changed, at least not atmospherically. I walked into the bar dressed in a sport coat and slacks – not the usual attire for this establishment. I got the eye, the one we all probably gave to strangers who came into our local spots, and a very intoxicated and hostile guy asked me if I was “from the studio.” After talking to this odd dude, I decided to wait outside until the band took a break. I must note that I stopped drinking long ago and was out of bar shape. A few minutes later, a group of characters tumbled out the back door and approached me aggressively. Richard was among the mob and did not recognize me until I said, “I see nothing much has changed!” But in truth, a whole lot had changed. Me, older, fatter, balder. Richard older, balder, and minus a leg lost to diabetes.
He spent the last years of his life still singing and playing his heart out. The heart that finally gave out after years of illness and abuse.
Thanks for the music, the memories, and the friendships we share.
When we were young… Me, Richie Wood, Richard Dunne, Mike Monaco
One of Cambria’s biggest mysteries keeps me wondering: Where do people get their information? Not their opinions, but facts? There is quite a bit of chatter and an occasional swell of public participation in the things that local government organizations do. Still, active community participation through “official” channels is statistically negligible.
PROS
A discussion at the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Commission meeting raised this question again. PROS is doing its best to move recreation projects forward and is looking for ways to get public input. The question is, how to do that effectively?
The PROS Commission faces some tough and unique challenges as it strives to meet its charter. The organization has little to no budget and authority yet keeps finding ways to move projects forward. Among the challenges, the East Fiscalini Ranch looms large. As it currently stands, the ranch segment to the east of Highway 1 has a dog park, a few picnic tables, a sizeable graded, gopher-holed open field, and a basic walking path around the perimeter. Under a covenant with San Luis Obispo County, which contributed $500,000.00 to purchasing the Fiscalini property, this section calls for developing “active recreation.” A devil’s bargain, perhaps, but a reality that needs managing.
Best Laid Plans
So, what is active recreation? A Master Plan developed in the project’s early days identified a range of possible uses, from baseball and soccer fields to golf facilities and more. For each project, a slew of regulations, studies, and permits need to be addressed. Moreso, there are environmental concerns for both the physical locations and the surrounding neighborhoods. In reality, each idea brings significant challenges and low probabilities for implementation. One hurdle to the further development of the proposed recreation area is the requirement for bathroom facilities. This condition is on the way to being met, with all the critical study, design, and approvals completed. Now, it needs to be funded and built.
The issues all add up to a nearly unsolvable condition. PROS has been struggling to either let go of or redo the original Master Plan, which doesn’t reflect the practical realities of today. Interestingly, the struggle to come to terms with today’s realities has surfaced another serious and weighty question – What are PROS’ Purpose, Mission, and Operating Principles? How can this unfunded, volunteer-staffed and led Commission effectively provide input to the CCSD Board?
Big Hearts, Small Steps
In the face of all these challenges, the good-hearted and committed members of the Commission have been pressing ahead. They have identified three simple, low-cost projects that will add incremental functionality to the park with little fiscal or environmental overhead. In simple terms, the goals are to better structure the existing paths that run around the perimeter, design and add several exercise stations adjacent to the course, and build a few additional picnic benches and trash receptacles to provide areas for people to sit and relax. Each of these projects will be examined by an Ad Hoc committee to identify the required next steps to bring them from idea to reality.
Contribute
This Ad Hoc committee and the PROS Commission are looking for public input. So how does that happen? Given the low level of participation in the process, it seems new avenues of communication are needed. Go to the PROS page, find a member, and reach out with your thoughts. Attend a meeting. Submit a comment through the Board Secretary. Think about what you are for, rather than what you are against.
Change the conversation from Action/Opposition/Outrage to Input/Discussion/Refinement/Implementation.
COMMUNICATIONS
Attendance at official public meetings is dramatically low. For example, at the PROS meeting today, November 1, 2022, there were two attendees from the public. The number of attendees over time ranges between zero and, on a great day, maybe eight attendees. Most participants seem to be “frequent flyers,” with the occasional surge of folks who log in to speak on a specific issue that they support or, more likely, oppose. The recent discussion around the leash ordinance on the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve drew some passionate commentary from the public. Still, even that was limited to a tiny – one handful, perhaps, number. This pattern repeats at the Policy Committee meeting, with many of the same regulars in attendance.
Paying Attention?
The past year has been full of difficult and complicated discussions that cut straight to the core of an issue that touches every member of the community. Rate hikes upon rate increases have left many reeling, angry, and a bit fearful of what may come next. But why were so many people surprised by what happened? Why is the first reaction so often an assault on the honesty, integrity, and competence of our elected officials and the professional staff that keeps our agencies running?
Vote the bastards out! Give us all new heros! Wait a minute, those folks were our heros last time. They must have somehow gotten dumb, corrupt and greedy – no way they are honest! Really? A quick roll call of the Directors who have served on the CCSD Board since 2012…Clift, Thompson, Sanders, Farmer, Wharton, Pierson, Rice, Robinette, Bahringer, Dean, Stiedel, Gray, Howell. All of these fellow citizens are no good SOBs? Really?
Transparency – A Shared Responsibility
Our local agencies provide very good access to information to the communities they serve. The Cambria Community Services District website is an public portal that leads to detailed current and historical data across the departments that make up the District. Navigation is fairly easy, though as with any information repositories, finding things sometimes requires careful consideration on how one forms a query.
The CCSD website offers a simple, consistent method for citizens to get information on meetings, agendas, relevant updates, and news releases. Users can opt into any or all categories offered and receive timely information delivered to their email addresses. Yet, the data shows that only a small percentage of the CCSD customer base utilizes this feature.
Email Subscriber List
Subscribed 9/15/2022
Subscribed 11/1/2022
Board Agendas
365
369
PROS Commission Agendas
290
293
Finance Standing Committee Agendas
304
305
Resources and Infrastructure Standing Committee
332
336
Policy Standing Committee Agendas
335
336
Water Conservation
417
424
Annual Water Quality Report (CCR)
335
342
Affordable Housing Program
291
297
Fire Department News and Updates
361
366
Water and Wastwater News and Updates
403
407
Facilities and Resources News and Updates
349
353
Administration News and Updates
319
321
Emergency Notifications
351
355
Current News
331
336
Notices
313
317
Press Releases
309
CCSD EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Data Redeux
The Waste Management rate hike caught a lot of people off guard. Even though it received all the required public hearings, it did not generate much public involvement until the reality of the actual increase became clear. Much of the awareness was driven by active community members, who banged the drum and rang the bell to alert fellow community members. The resultant outcry, and poorly executed public hearing, was an epic example of a community in action, good and bad.
The CCSD website had a section dedicated to the issue. The statistics – 254 users, 311 unique page views.
I reached out through a Public Records Request to see how many ratepayers contacted the CCSD for information and feedback before the September 15th Protest date. In addition to my request, four other document sets matched the inquiry. One emailer asked detailed questions about the issue. A second ratepayer asked for a protest form; the third was a fellow citizen who, upon request of the clerk, provided said protest form. The fourth was a string of correspondence between the trash company, the CCSD staff and GM, and the consultant who did the rate study.
I also asked the Directors individually about their contact level with the public. Two responded; the first said, “Two people, and you are one of them.” The second replied, “One came to me through my participation with another community group.” The remaining three Directors did not respond.
I highlight these data points to illustrate how few community members use the official tools available versus how many voice opinions across the spectrum of channels that make up today’s Town Square. There are influential and trusted community members who do the hard work to gather and share information. Some approach issues as a hammer in search of a nail, and others have deeply held principles that frame their positions in support of those beliefs. Then there are the “fighters” who just like to go to battle—democracy in action.
Why is so little interaction with the people and resources best suited to provide factual information?What can the CCSD do to drive more fact-based dialog?
Making an Effort
Want more heated debate? I offer the Cambria Community Healthcare District’s ballot initiative – Proposition G-22. The ballot measure is a big ask for a community tagged with significant rate increases for critical services and infrastructure. In simple terms, the CHD is asking voters to approve a tax on properties within the District’s borders to fund a replacement for the existing Ambulance and District office complex. The measure seeks to raise $8.5 million to remove the existing buildings and construct a modern facility that will meet the current and future needs of the communities served by the CHD.
The documentation provided on the CHD website is more talking points than details, leaving room for interpretations and assumptions, and unanswered specific questions. Further exchanges have continued in the online Town Square, with little movement or resolution, and everybody is a little guilty of intractability.
To the District’s credit, Board members and Staff leadership have been out at the Farmer’s Market every Friday, ready to engage in discussion. A public information forum on a recent Sunday afternoon drew a small crowd to the Joslyn Center, joined by some Zoom attendees. While not a great success, an effort was made to have a fact-based dialog. Unfortunately, the dialog part was less than positive. Though less than totally convinced, I left the meeting as a public supporter of the measure.
Rust Never Sleeps
I have visited the existing facility twice to see the issues up close and spoke with multiple members of the Ambulance Corps. They walked me through the challenging logistics of living and working in the existing building complex. My view (and yes, my gut feeling) is that the conditions are pretty poor, the footprint does not lend itself to modernization, and the domino effect of trying to renovate will lead to significant and impractical hurdles. I am not an expert, but I trust the professionals who have put this project together. And I trust the employees who know better than most the challenges the existing facilities present.
I am reminded of a discussion with a friend about keeping an old car for a few more years versus replacing it with a new vehicle. Would the old car last for a while? Probably, but it would still be an old car that would require more and more service.
VOTE!
We have three capable candidates running for two seats on the CCSD Board of Directors. Use your mind and your heart. Ask questions rather than make assumptions. Review their platforms. Call them. Email them. Challenge them. Encourage them. And remember, they are our neighbors, friends, and fellow citizens volunteering to take what can be a very unpleasant yet rewarding four year ride. They all deserve our best wishes.
We also have a serious decision to make on the future of our Healthcare District facilities. A decision that will have real impact on all of the community, whether wealthy, poor, or just an average citizen doing the best that can be done to live a decent life.
Think about what you are for, rather than what you are against.
Thoughts From The Back Of The Room 