STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
Date: September 5, 2008 TO: Honorable Mayor and council" ' FROM: City Manager
RE: PROPOSED RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO COMMENTS MADE BY THE GRAND JURY CONCERNING THE SOUTH LAKE TAHOE POLICE DEPARTMENT -GJ-07-003
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the proposed draft letter and authorize the City Manager to submit it to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court
ISSUE AND DISCUSSION:
The Grand Jury's report and comments have been reviewed, evaluated, and discussed and the following proposed response is a product of this review.
FINANCIAL AND/OR POLICY CONSIDERATION:
Work on this report is part of the City Manager's ongoing responsibilities.
DAVID M. JINKENS
Office orlhe City Manager' 1901 Airoort Road, Ste 203 . Soulh Lake Tahoe, California 96150-7004 City Manager' (530) 542-6045 . FAX (530) 542-4054
--------------DRAFT [9-05-08]
September_, 2008
The Honorable Presiding Judge of the Superior Court
Placerville, California
Re: RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO COMMENTS MADE BY THE GRAND JURY CONCERNING THE SOUTH LAKE TAHOE POLICE DEPARTMENT -GJ -07-003
Dear
I have reviewed the report of the Grand Jury and am providing the response below:
Methodology
This office reviewed the report of the Grand Jury, discussed the contents with trained local government consultants and advisors, discussed department operations with management and line personnel, reviewed the latest literature on police department operations, and discussed existing conditions internally with a selected group of Department personnel.
Overview and Comments
The City of South Lake Tahoe has a highly trained, highly motivated, and highly effective resource of men and women, both sworn and non-sworn, who serve the community with skill and care. It is evident by their performance that they are committed to providing the best service possible to the people of South Lake Tahoe. The effectiveness of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department is demonstrated by their proactive work on a daily basis to protect life and property in our community. In 2007 overall crime was down 4% in the City limits from data collected in 2006. The men and women of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department are to be commended for their commitment to serving the community in a professional manner. I believe that all men and women of the Department at their core have the best interest of the Department and the community at heart.
1
Response to Findings
Finding #1
"The Grand Jury interviewed several citizens of South Lake Tahoe who reported an altercation that occurred in September 2006. While having breakfast in a South Lake Tahoe restaurant, one citizen stated that he was approached by the Chief of Police who began to verbally accost and loudly berate him in front of two acquaintances. The citizen did not know what provoked the verbal tirade and felt the Chief of Police must have confused him with someone else. The citizen stated the loud disturbance in the restaurant was witnessed by patrons and staff alike, caused citizens to be fearful for their safety."
Response
I do not agree with the finding for the following reason. There is insufficient information provided by the Grand Jury in the report or in a subsequent written request by me to the Grand Jury on July 1, 2008 to draw any conclusions about the allegations made. The alleged conduct occurred in 2006. Had a complaint been filed with the City in regard to the allegations, it would have been impartially investigated and evaluated as are all complaints against police officers. Had additional information been provided to this office by the Grand Jury the matter could have been investigated, but no additional information was provided. In my experience, people living in South Lake Tahoe are not shy about expressing their opinions on matters of interest and/or concern to them.
Finding #2
"The Chief of Police, by losing his temper in public and verbally berating a citizen of South Lake Tahoe in a public restaurant, acted in an inappropriate manner and displayed conduct unbecoming an officer. All citizens of South Lake Tahoe should have an expectation of being treated fairly in a professional and dignified manner by ALL members of the SLTPD."
Response:
I agree that "All citizens of South Lake Tahoe should have an expectation of being treated fairly in a professional and dignified manner by ALL members of the SLTPD."
I do not agree that there is sufficient information provided by the Grand Jury for this specific matter to be investigated and evaluated in a manner consistent with the Law and the rights of police officers under the Police Officer Bill of Rights. Had complaints been made to the City about the alleged conduct of the Chief of Police near the time when they were alleged to have occurred, they would have
2
been investigated and appropriate action taken. There is no evidence in the record to support the claim and no opportunity for the Chief of Police to respond to the allegations. If the Grand Jury would provide the names of citizens who are alleged to have reported on this altercation in September 2006, the matter will be investigated.
Finding #3
"In the course of this investigation, the Grand Jury also learned of serious concerns among employees of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department on the state of the morale and cynicism that exists in the Department."
Response:
I agree that there has been a morale problem and degree of cynicism on the part of some members of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. The genesis of the situation has evolved over time and was exacerbated in my view by protracted labor relations in late 2007 that were outgrowths of wages, hours and working conditions and low staffing levels within the Police Department. Outstanding issues must be addressed in the near term.
Finding # 4
"Although the Police Department is managed through a Participative Management Team (PMT) which was initiated in 1991-1992, the program has deteriorated over time and is currently ineffective. PMT is designed to allow all employees to participate in the decision making process of the Department. The Police Department leadership hired a consultant with the purpose of assisting in the PMT process."
Response
I do not fully agree with the finding with an explanation. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department is managed by a Chief of Police and management personnel who are responsible and held accountable for the performance of the Department. The Participative Management Team process was created in the early 1990's as a way of involving and including line sworn and non-sworn personnel in certain levels of decision making within the Police Department. During its early years, I am told, this process was useful because police department personnel wanted to provide the time needed to involve themselves in police management issues.
From interviews and disclJssions with Department personnel and management I have had, the PMT process has been less effective and desirable in the last few years. Some long-time members of the Department see benefits to it. Newer members of the Department have expressed more interest in a more traditional
3
model of police management and do not think they have the time to participate in "management" decision making. With the existing work schedule, shortage of personnel (vacancies, cuts, injuries etc), the demands of their jobs and the requirements for time of family life, many officers have little interest to devote more time to work on department management issues.
In the end, whether there exists a PMT or not, sworn and non sworn members of the Police Department must be assured and believe that they will be treated fairly and impartially by Department supervisors and leadership, that their suggestions and observations about police operations will be heard, evaluated, and that Department management demonstrates through its action that they care about the welfare of employees and the future of the Department. Perceptions of ill will can be corrected over time by consistent and sustained actions of good will.
Early in his tenure as Chief of Police, Chief Daniels sought to have evaluated the existing PMT model and employee attitudes at a time when labor negotiations over wages, hours and working conditions were intense. An assessment of employee attitudes and concerns was assessed, and the findings indicated that there were morale issues among many of those who participated in the evaluation process. Not all employees of the Department participated in the initial survey in 2007 and fewer participated in the follow-up survey.
The approval of the City Council of multi-year labor agreements with recognized police sworn and non-sworn bargaining units should help to improve the labor/management environment. The City Council's decisions to approve a change in the existing work schedule of the Police Department in the adopted MOU's, add two new police officer positions in this year's budget and the proposal to add a new police sergeant position in the proposed FY 2008-2009 budget to implement the new schedule by January 1, 2009 will help to address outstanding labor concerns with the work schedule.
Finding #5
"The evidence received by the Grand Jury paints a picture of a Department in crisis. Many of the statements made by members of the SLTPD and information gathered through documents can only be classified as troubling... "
Response
I agree that among those persons who responded to the initial survey and to the supplemental survey that there is a degree of cynicism and a degree of disconnect between the perceptions of line personnel and police management. The Chief of Police and police management acknowledge that there are communication and cynicism problems, and they want to correct them.
4
Maintaining employee self esteem, rewarding employees for their efforts in achieving Department and City goals, employees believing that promotions are based on merit, believing that all management cares about employees of the Department, and allowing a free exchange of ideas and opinions within the context of a police (quasi-military) organization without fear of reprisal are important and essential to the healthy functioning of the Department.
Based on my interviews with management and line personnel I believe that all personnel in police management care about the Department, the people who work there, and the future of the Department. Management showing department personnel on a day-to-day basis they are sincere and concerned about their personal and professional development is an area where work is needed. Department leaders and managers, while maintaining discipline and a chain of command in a police department, must demonstrate by their actions their interest in and concern for the men and women in the Police Department. There will always be levels of agreement and disagreement in management/labor issues. Management must approach decisions in good faith and consider and evaluate constructive suggestions, and I have been assured that Police Management intends to do so.
Promotions within the Police Department are based on merit. The Human Resources Manager and her staff work with Department leadership in the conduct of promotional testing and evaluation process. There is no evidence in the record indicating that promotion is based on any other basis. However, Human Resources will work with the Department to better understand specific concerns of employees with regard to promotions and better inform them on the process. To the extent possible and available, standardized and validated testing processes from organizations like the Cooperative Personnel Services (CPS), will be used for all appointments and promotions to build confidence in the system.
Finding # 6
"The Chief recognized the Police department had many problems, and initiated the review knowing it may be unfavorable. The Grand Jury acknowledges this proactive efforts (sic) in requesting outside professional advice."
Response
I agree with the finding. The decision to seek an independent review by the Chief of Police is a mark of leadership, and he deserves that recognition and credit.
GRAND JURY RECOMMENDATIONS
5
1. "The Grand Jury recommends that the SLTPD leadership attend Strategic Management, Leadership, Coaching & Mentoring, Business Management, Anger Management, and Human Skills Development Training"
Response
I agree that leadership in the SLTPD should attend leadership training, team building, executive facilitation and coaching, change management and effective communication techniques. Team building exercises should also be conducted with line personnel using models provided by POST.
2. "The City Council and City Manager should take proactive measures in administering oversight to the Police Department. The City Council and the City Manager should assume the formalization of the Police Department oversight is established and fully implemented. The Grand Jury recommends the Chief of Police meet with the City Manager on a "monthly" basis to give a 'State of the Department' update to include performance measurement.
Response
Formal oversight of the Police Department exists, and will continue. The Chief of Police and City Manager are meeting on a more-than-monthly basis and will continue to do so. The functioning of the Department and issues the men and women of the Department face will remain an important topic of discussion and evaluation.
3. "The Grand Jury recommends the Chief of Police prepare a written three and five year Strategic Plan. A copy of that plan should be published and available to the public."
Response
I agree that a Corporate Strategy for the Police Department is desirable and shall be developed. The strategy will define values of the organization, identify emerging issues the Department will face in a three to five year period and address how effective and meaningful communication within the Department can and should occur. The development of this strategy will be facilitated and supported by professionals trained in the field.
4. "The City Manager, City Council and the Chief of Police should collectively agree on the type of organizational structure for the South Lake Tahoe Police Department."
6
Response
The Chief of Police is ultimately responsible for the functioning and operation of the Police Department, and he is held accountable for its operation. The Chief of Police and his management team must work more closely together and be in concert on Department goals and objectives and work as a team to achieve them. At this time, a more traditional model of Department organization is appropriate.
5. "It is recommended that the SLTPD 'revitalize' a form of Participative Management Team. If SLTPD agrees to continue with that program, then management needs to be trained in the PMT process to completely utilize the full benefits of the program. Additionally, employees of the SLTPD must actively participate in the PMT to generate the desired results."
Response
I agree that Department leadership should invite and encourage constructive dialogue with sworn and non sworn members of the Department about operations and this constructive dialogue must be nurtured and protected. In the final analysis, command decisions must be made by the Chief of Police and command staff. The concept of inviting participation and input that was contained in the traditional PMT will be encouraged, even though the Department will move to a more typical model of police department organization. Effective organizations including police departments invite and encourage constructive dialogue to vet issues and improve performance.
6. "The SLTPD's Strategic Plan should address clearly defined performance measures that include at a minimum the following areas of concern:
•
Confidence in Senior Management
•
Cynicism
•
Morale
•
Visions and Values of the Department"
Response
I agree that a corporate strategy is needed as defined in response Recommendation #3
7. "The City Manager and City Council should maintain an active presence in tracking the Strategic Plan progress."
7
Response
I agree and the City Manager and City Council will continue to maintain an active interest in the success of the Department and its fine men and women. It is important that the existing professionalism in the Department be supported and encouraged by Police management. It is equally important that the Department, while remaining accountable, not become a political football that compromises the professionalism of Department, the effectiveness of Department operations, and brings into question the fine work of dedicated men and women of the Department.
8. liThe Chiefs annual performance evaluation should include the progress of the goals set in the Strategic Plan."
Response
I agree with clarification. The Chief's annual performance evaluation includes addressing outstanding issues, building confidence and overcoming obstacles. Once the Corporate Strategy is developed and in place it too will become a measure of performance for all police management staff including the Chief of Police.
Sincerely,
David M. Jinkens, MPA City Manager
8
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Blue awards for Tahoe businesses
After years of promoting the Blue World in its advertising campaign, the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority is finally trying to get local buy-in into the marketing concept.
LTVA Executive Director Carol Chaplin said the point is to “try to bring us all together with one single focus, with a single message.”
The idea is for customers to see “blue” throughout the community once they get here, not have it just be in ad campaigns outside the basin.
Chaplin gave a presentation to the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association on Aug. 14. With little discussion, the association agreed to pony up $750 to sponsor the Blue Experience award. This is just one of the Blue Ribbon Awards.
The awards are how LTVA is trying to get the local business person to see the relevance of the Blue World and to promote it.
Winners in all four categories can be any individual or business on the South Shore. However, the chamber of commerce based in Nevada has a big role in this event. Nomination forms are on its website at www.tahoechamber.org and the number to call for information is for that chamber’s PR woman at (530) 544-5050, ext. 220.
Danny Freemon who is on the lodging board and a member of the chamber of commerce based in California said his chamber has been giving out awards like this for the last six months.
“We have a whole list of people we have given awards out to,” Freemon said.
The winners will be announced Nov. 6 at noon at the Horizon. The deadline for entries is noon Oct. 3.
The awards include Blue Experience. The brochure says, “Think about a business that makes you feel special, welcomed and wanting to recommend and return.”
The Service award winner must be nominated by a peer, employer or customer.
The Entrepreneur award will go to someone who “has created a unique business, service or product that has already created a buzz in our community.”
The Green award is for the “person or business that has made an effort to significantly improve and protect our environment by implementing a green service or program.”
LTVA Executive Director Carol Chaplin said the point is to “try to bring us all together with one single focus, with a single message.”
The idea is for customers to see “blue” throughout the community once they get here, not have it just be in ad campaigns outside the basin.
Chaplin gave a presentation to the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association on Aug. 14. With little discussion, the association agreed to pony up $750 to sponsor the Blue Experience award. This is just one of the Blue Ribbon Awards.
The awards are how LTVA is trying to get the local business person to see the relevance of the Blue World and to promote it.
Winners in all four categories can be any individual or business on the South Shore. However, the chamber of commerce based in Nevada has a big role in this event. Nomination forms are on its website at www.tahoechamber.org and the number to call for information is for that chamber’s PR woman at (530) 544-5050, ext. 220.
Danny Freemon who is on the lodging board and a member of the chamber of commerce based in California said his chamber has been giving out awards like this for the last six months.
“We have a whole list of people we have given awards out to,” Freemon said.
The winners will be announced Nov. 6 at noon at the Horizon. The deadline for entries is noon Oct. 3.
The awards include Blue Experience. The brochure says, “Think about a business that makes you feel special, welcomed and wanting to recommend and return.”
The Service award winner must be nominated by a peer, employer or customer.
The Entrepreneur award will go to someone who “has created a unique business, service or product that has already created a buzz in our community.”
The Green award is for the “person or business that has made an effort to significantly improve and protect our environment by implementing a green service or program.”
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Gloria Steinen on Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin: Wrong Woman, Wrong Message
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that
even
the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the
Republican
Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female
vice
president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have
picketed,
gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can
vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the
"white-male-only"
sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in
there
through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.
But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time
a
boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him
and
opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never
been
about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for
women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are
too
many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is
no way
to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin
shares
nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and
deceptive
speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more
than
twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is
owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty
much
everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's
still
does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying,
"Somebody
stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even
on
issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do
the job
because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't
say
the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the
spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has
zero
background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37
years' experience.
Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last
month
about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that
question
until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every
day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much
on the
war in Iraq."
She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular,
and
she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to
give a
$1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's
campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state
income
or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long
that
he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not
lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration
habit,
as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on
"God,
guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is
filling
a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin
out
of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference
between
form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing
ideologues;
the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter
of
reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have
chosen a
woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about
Iraq;
someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of
Maine.
McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who
determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against
Women
Act.
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about
every
issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that
creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global
warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of
women's
wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only"
programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases
and
abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to
shoot
wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school
system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she
runs
with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million
in
subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports
drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for
the
lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only
younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle
Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she
does
it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil
fuels
but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't
just
echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs.
Wade,
she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or
incest,
she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as
a
human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that
it
also protects the right to have a child.
So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is
James
Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely
waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting
for
Palin's husband.
Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains
from
this contest.
Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and
most
women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist
majority
of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support
the
Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite
government
into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time
jobs
than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a
national
stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the
home
until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning
on
their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for
their
children.
This could be huge.
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the
Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now
supporting
Barack Obama.
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that
even
the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the
Republican
Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female
vice
president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have
picketed,
gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can
vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the
"white-male-only"
sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in
there
through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.
But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time
a
boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him
and
opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never
been
about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for
women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are
too
many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is
no way
to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin
shares
nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and
deceptive
speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more
than
twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is
owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty
much
everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's
still
does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying,
"Somebody
stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even
on
issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do
the job
because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't
say
the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the
spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has
zero
background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37
years' experience.
Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last
month
about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that
question
until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every
day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much
on the
war in Iraq."
She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular,
and
she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to
give a
$1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's
campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state
income
or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long
that
he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not
lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration
habit,
as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on
"God,
guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is
filling
a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin
out
of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference
between
form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing
ideologues;
the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter
of
reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have
chosen a
woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about
Iraq;
someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of
Maine.
McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who
determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against
Women
Act.
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about
every
issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that
creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global
warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of
women's
wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only"
programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases
and
abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to
shoot
wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school
system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she
runs
with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million
in
subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports
drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for
the
lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only
younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle
Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she
does
it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil
fuels
but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't
just
echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs.
Wade,
she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or
incest,
she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as
a
human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that
it
also protects the right to have a child.
So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is
James
Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely
waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting
for
Palin's husband.
Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains
from
this contest.
Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and
most
women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist
majority
of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support
the
Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite
government
into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time
jobs
than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a
national
stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the
home
until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning
on
their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for
their
children.
This could be huge.
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the
Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now
supporting
Barack Obama.
Eve Ensler speaks about Palin
Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for "The Vagina Monologues", wrote the following about Sarah Palin.
Drill, Drill, Drill (from Eve Ensler's blog)
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
posted September 8, 2008
Drill, Drill, Drill (from Eve Ensler's blog)
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
posted September 8, 2008
Sept. 28 road delays in Tahoe
PREPARE FOR LAKE TAHOE MARATHON ROAD DELAYS SEPTEMBER 28
(SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.)— Motorists should expect road delays on
Highway 89 Sunday, September 28 for the Lake Tahoe Marathon.
Residents and visitors on the West Shore traveling northbound should
plan to arrive in Tahoe City before 8 a.m. or wait until after 10
a.m. as traffic will be held at many West Shore neighborhoods for
runners. The Marathon starts in Tahoe City at 8:30 a.m. and the road
typically opens behind the participants at a rate of 11 minutes per
mile. Sunnyside to Tahoe City is usually open at 8:52 a.m. in both
directions, and Homewood to Tahoe City is open at 9:36 a.m. in both
directions.
In South Lake Tahoe, Highway 89 northbound traffic will be closed
three miles north of Camp Richardson at Spring Creek Road from 7 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m. Highway 89 southbound traffic will be open, however,
motorists are subject to 30 to 45-minute delays.
Runners and walkers have a host of events to choose from during the
Lake Tahoe Marathon Race Week (September 24-28), including the
Marathon, coined “a Sunday morning run you’ll never forget;” Tahoe
Triple (three marathons in three consecutive days); Marathon Relay;
Half Marathon; Three-Day Triathlon; 10K; 20-Miler Run, Jog and Walk;
5K; Kayaking events; Bike Races; Free Kids Fun Run and Speed Golf.
For more information or to register (fees vary for events), call
530-544-7095 or visit the Lake Tahoe Marathon website at
www.laketahoemarathon.com. The website is also home to a course map
and profile and event descriptions.
(SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.)— Motorists should expect road delays on
Highway 89 Sunday, September 28 for the Lake Tahoe Marathon.
Residents and visitors on the West Shore traveling northbound should
plan to arrive in Tahoe City before 8 a.m. or wait until after 10
a.m. as traffic will be held at many West Shore neighborhoods for
runners. The Marathon starts in Tahoe City at 8:30 a.m. and the road
typically opens behind the participants at a rate of 11 minutes per
mile. Sunnyside to Tahoe City is usually open at 8:52 a.m. in both
directions, and Homewood to Tahoe City is open at 9:36 a.m. in both
directions.
In South Lake Tahoe, Highway 89 northbound traffic will be closed
three miles north of Camp Richardson at Spring Creek Road from 7 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m. Highway 89 southbound traffic will be open, however,
motorists are subject to 30 to 45-minute delays.
Runners and walkers have a host of events to choose from during the
Lake Tahoe Marathon Race Week (September 24-28), including the
Marathon, coined “a Sunday morning run you’ll never forget;” Tahoe
Triple (three marathons in three consecutive days); Marathon Relay;
Half Marathon; Three-Day Triathlon; 10K; 20-Miler Run, Jog and Walk;
5K; Kayaking events; Bike Races; Free Kids Fun Run and Speed Golf.
For more information or to register (fees vary for events), call
530-544-7095 or visit the Lake Tahoe Marathon website at
www.laketahoemarathon.com. The website is also home to a course map
and profile and event descriptions.
USFS seeks comments on aspens
South Lake Tahoe, Calif. -- The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public
comment on a proposal to restore aspen stands in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The Aspen Community Restoration Project would restore approximately
1,115 acres of aspen stands over the next ten years. Aspen stands
provide important habitat for many plant and animal species, yet they
comprise only two percent of the landscape on the LTBMU.
The project would target aspen stands that are at moderate or higher
risk of loss and are not included in another project. Fire suppression
efforts have increased fuel loading in aspen stands, which can lead to
increased burn severity and duration, resulting in the loss the aspen
stand.
Aspen stands are adapted to frequent, low-intensity, low-duration
wildfire. Once treated to desired conditions, aspen stands often act as
natural firebreaks. Conifer encroachment can suppress the water table
locally and accelerate invasion by other conifers, which prefer drier
conditions than aspen do. Restoring aspen stands to desired conditions
can help restore the local water table.
Treatments would focus on creating stands in which the upper canopy is
dominated by aspen, with less than 25 percent of the canopy comprised of
conifers. Treated stands would experience vigorous aspen regeneration.
The project would use several types of treatments to restore aspen
stands – including mechanical or hand thinning of conifers, removal of
aspen trees to promote root stimulation and stand regeneration, aspen
root separation and prescribed fire.
Aspen root separation consists of physically separating roots from the
nearest trees to stimulate aspen suckering, either mechanically or by
hand. Prescribed fire could be used as a primary or subsequent to
thinning treatments. Fire intensity would be light to moderate surface
fire and duration would be limited.
Much of the project would take place in stream environment zones, and
the proposed project contains numerous features designed to reduce any
short-term impacts to these areas. In the long-term, the project would
benefit these areas by restoring them to a more natural state.
The LTBMU expects to complete National Environmental Policy Act analysis
on the project by the end of the year and would begin treatments as
early as January 2009 using Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act
funding available for the project.
Complete project information is available on the LTBMU web site at
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/projects/ or by calling project leader
Victor Lyon at (530) 543-2749. Comments on the project will be most
helpful if received by October 7, 2008.
###
comment on a proposal to restore aspen stands in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The Aspen Community Restoration Project would restore approximately
1,115 acres of aspen stands over the next ten years. Aspen stands
provide important habitat for many plant and animal species, yet they
comprise only two percent of the landscape on the LTBMU.
The project would target aspen stands that are at moderate or higher
risk of loss and are not included in another project. Fire suppression
efforts have increased fuel loading in aspen stands, which can lead to
increased burn severity and duration, resulting in the loss the aspen
stand.
Aspen stands are adapted to frequent, low-intensity, low-duration
wildfire. Once treated to desired conditions, aspen stands often act as
natural firebreaks. Conifer encroachment can suppress the water table
locally and accelerate invasion by other conifers, which prefer drier
conditions than aspen do. Restoring aspen stands to desired conditions
can help restore the local water table.
Treatments would focus on creating stands in which the upper canopy is
dominated by aspen, with less than 25 percent of the canopy comprised of
conifers. Treated stands would experience vigorous aspen regeneration.
The project would use several types of treatments to restore aspen
stands – including mechanical or hand thinning of conifers, removal of
aspen trees to promote root stimulation and stand regeneration, aspen
root separation and prescribed fire.
Aspen root separation consists of physically separating roots from the
nearest trees to stimulate aspen suckering, either mechanically or by
hand. Prescribed fire could be used as a primary or subsequent to
thinning treatments. Fire intensity would be light to moderate surface
fire and duration would be limited.
Much of the project would take place in stream environment zones, and
the proposed project contains numerous features designed to reduce any
short-term impacts to these areas. In the long-term, the project would
benefit these areas by restoring them to a more natural state.
The LTBMU expects to complete National Environmental Policy Act analysis
on the project by the end of the year and would begin treatments as
early as January 2009 using Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act
funding available for the project.
Complete project information is available on the LTBMU web site at
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/projects/ or by calling project leader
Victor Lyon at (530) 543-2749. Comments on the project will be most
helpful if received by October 7, 2008.
###
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