NORTH BAY BOH EM I AN | MAY 23 – 29, 20 1 2 | BO H E M I AN.COM
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BOHEMIAN
Rhapsodies Praise the Cobbler Sebastopol bootmaker stepping toeto-toe with U.S. Bank is a local hero BY REI BLASER
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want to acknowledge Michael Carnacchi, Sebastopol’s warrior for healing soles, who has a predilection for truth and integrity, and who adventitiously has become a torchbearer for financial reform. On Thursday, May 24, 2012, in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the counsel for U.S. Bank will attempt to prove Michael Carnacchi’s long enduring complaint against the credit-card company erroneous. The RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act charges U.S. Bank with collecting interest at a rate usurious under federal law, where the interest was more than twice the enforceable rate. Michael Carnacchi strives to exemplify living in integrity and is compelled to shed light on an overlooked shadow within financial lending—one that has been deep-seated in financial laws, like a dormant volcano immersed in the ocean. Carnacchi, with no prior study of law, cultivated himself to competently self-represent. With deep appreciation, he has had in his corner a 90-year-old mentor with 62 years of active law practice whom Michael refers to as “his trainer,” preparing Michael for the ring/courtroom to stand beside opposing counsel like a seasoned lawyer. The initial personal contest to U.S. Bank’s exorbitant credit card interest rate has turned Michael’s soles onto another path. It can be considered a path of selfless service, for the case now has a potential of becoming a class-action suit; conceivably affecting how financial-lending institutions presently operate, thus joining other ripples with the same intent, all to one day grow into the pulse of a tsunami, crashing with a force unbeknownst by many with a seemingly effortless charge. Michael Carnacchi had a choice when the events of his case with U.S. Bank unfolded: to have chosen a path that served his immediate needs and turned a blind eye to the fraud revealed to him. Whereas the path of indifference grows barren, the welltrodden path for raising consciousness leads to the horizon of a growing global majority. Rei Blaser is a resident of Graton and beyond. We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write openmic@bohemian.com.
Hot Summer Guide Omission
The Hot Summer Guide (May 16) was really pretty hot! However, there is something missing from the paper and that is the lineups for Sonoma County’s music in the parks. I would love to have the schedules for Santa Rosa (Juilliard Park?), Windsor, Healdsburg, Cloverdale and anywhere else in the county where cities are planning community events. Several years ago I created a spreadsheet with days and artists to plan my summer—it would be awesome if the Bohemian did the work for me! Thanks for being you!
SHARON Forestville Thanks Sharon—we, too, have noticed that those summer concert listings are usually buried and hard to find on various city sites. Visit our online music blog, City Sound Inertia, for a full list. Unfortunately, there were even more listings from last week that got eaten by the PDF monster and regurgitated as restaurant listings for San Jose, of all things. We regret the error, and readers can find the missing Hot Summer Guide listings in this issue on p38. —The Ed.
The Pacific Sun Endorses This Guy Michael Allen’s bill, AB 1962, would allow SMART to build a 20-story hotel/casino with a roller coaster on the roof in downtown Petaluma, and the residents could not do a damn thing about it, neon lights and all. This could be repeated in Novato and San Rafael, up and down the line. Why do you think so many politically connected people have bought land along the right-of-way? It’s a developers’ paradise. A Los
Angelization of the 101 corridor from Larkspur to Healdsburg and beyond. SMART is not a transportation plan; it’s a development plan. A taxpayer-funded Ponzi scheme that will wind up as a shabby Myrtle Beach/Atlantic City–style urban disaster.
ALEX EASTON-BROWN Candidate for Assembly, Lagunitas
Error Alert The Library Commission meeting on Monday, May 7, was remarkable for the commission’s inability—or adamant refusal—to listen to points of view other than their own, especially with regard to their pet project, selfcheck machines. The documents that were meant to inform an incisive conversation about the self-check equipment were over 58 pages long and did not include any information from the employees who have been the “testers” for the equipment. The documents were posted on the website less than two days before the commission meeting, and were still being revised hours before the meeting itself. A large number of employees and community people came to the meeting, and several commented on the self-check machines. According to the users, the machines frequently exhibit confusing error messages. They do not process CDs or DVDs as well as they do books. While Sonoma County materials can be piled on the scanner to be read, items from other counties (with whom the library has reciprocal exchanges) need to be separated and treated differently. Some employees prefer not to use the self-check machines at all, because they take longer than simply checking out materials as before. Many patrons have also encountered problems with the machines, but the library management is insisting on “100 percent usage of self-check,” prompting appeals to be reasonable from both employees and patrons. Worst of all for Rohnert Park employees and patrons, the self-check machines are constantly triggering the security alarms. According to testimony at the meeting, this occurs several times a day