Opinion B4 Wednesday, November 25, 2020 — DAILY REPUBLIC
This week’s question:
Should Fairfield police have arrested those who disrupted the City Council meeting? Go to www.dailyrepublic.com/pulsepoll to vote.
The other side
Wash away 2020 with shinrin-yoku
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Kelvin Wade, a former Fairfield resident, is the author of “Morsels” Vols. I and II and lives in Sacramento. Email him at kelvinjwade@outlook.com.
Solano Voices
The Color Purple: Sliding backward into Covid peril
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we enter the winter months. t seems like an eternity since we received the first We face a very sobering patient known to have consituation, a turning point. But tracted the coronavirus we have in our hands – each though community transand every one of us – the mission back in February. power to do what is right. It was disheartening to see That’s why I’m asking you to Solano County and 40 others be even more vigilant. in California backslide into the The last several months purple tier Nov. 16, reverting B. Konard Jones have given our hospitals time to the most restrictive level to increase inventories of that will impede businesses and personal protective equipment (PPE) everyday life for all of us. and create plans to flex our capacity. The trend was evident in the weeks What we cannot stockpile are the leading up to the announcement: highly skilled health care workers at Cases of Covid-19 were steadily rising NorthBay Healthcare. Our dedicated in our community, hospital beds were care teams, and all those who support filling, whatever we were doing was them, are exhausted. They’ve been at not enough to slow the spread it for 10 months. They work in of the virus. difficult conditions, putting on and So here we are again, much like in taking off protective garments, heavy the spring, when we believed the hoods, self-contained breathing virus had reached its pinnacle. apparatus. Solano County has experienced Some believe it is annoying – or less than 100 deaths so far, which worse, unconstitutional – to mandate relative to other counties is a low that we wear a face covering for number. That is little consolation, 20 minutes while in the supermarket however, to the families of those or hardware store. Consider what it is individuals who lost their loved one. like for health care providers to Now we are confronted with the wear PPE for an entire eight- or inevitable climb in the human toll as 10-hour shift.
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also disinclined to accept pleas roposition 15 would have been the largest from other Democratic tax increase in Calipoliticians, including Gov. fornia history and its Gavin Newsom, for higher defeat this month was, by taxes. any definition, a huge setback More importantly, voters’ for its sponsors, primarsour attitude about taxation ily public employee unions. isn’t confined to Proposition They had been yearning for 13 and property taxes. decades to crack Proposition “In addition, the poll found Dan Walters that an historically large 13, the 1978 ballot measure that limits property taxes, and proportion of voters (81%) now convinced themselves that singling feels the level of state and local taxes out commercial property for new paid by the average Californian is taxes would be a winner, especially in high, while just 19% consider taxes in a high turnout presidential election. the state to below or about right,” poll After Proposition 15 was defeated, director Mark DiCamillo said in its advocates tried to place a positive his analysis. spin on the outcome, hinting that they “In previous statewide surveys would try again to persuade voters to dating back to 1977, the only other pass new taxes of some kind on times that greater than three in four someone or something. However, the voters described the level of state and notion that Californians really want to raise taxes was destroyed last week in local taxes as being high were in 1982 and 1991, both years in which a new poll from the UC Berkeley’s the state was experiencing an ecoInstitute of Governmental Studies. The poll, conducted just before the nomic downturn. By a nearly 5-to-1 margin (78% to 16%) voters election, found that by 53% to 19%, also agreed that taxes in California voters still support Proposition 13, were already so high that they were which explains, in large measure, driving many people and businesses why Proposition 15 failed so badly. out of the state.” The opposition campaign’s own Proposition 15’s defeat and the UC polling obviously found the same Berkeley poll are huge headwinds for sentiment and used it effectively to warn voters that its passage would be those who earnestly believe that Californians’ tax burden, one of the only the first step toward repealing nation’s highest as a percentage of the 42-year-old property tax limit. personal income, should be increased. Thus, while California voters gave Additionally, when he endorsed Democrat Joe Biden a nearly Proposition 15, Newsom specifically 2-to-1 victory over Republican President Donald Trump, they were rejected an income tax hike. And last
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B. Konard Jones is the president and chief executive officer for NorthBay Healthcare.
Poll confirms Californians’ sour mood on higher taxes
DAILY REPUBLIC
Managing Editor
Our frontline workers are grateful for donations received since the beginning of this pandemic – from meals to PPE to free car washes. Now, what we need most is for everyone to wear a mask, wash their hands, social distance and avoid social gatherings during the holidays. It’s now a matter of life and death. A vaccine, which seemed in March or April a distant possibility, is on its way. But that is no reason to loosen our vigilance. Having two effective vaccines – Moderna and Pfizer, pending FDA authorization – is a huge step forward. Having them less than a year into the pandemic is a historic achievement. But getting enough doses and distributing them poses difficult logistical hurdles. We probably won’t return to anything like normal life until next summer, at the earliest. In the meantime, do the right thing. That will be the quickest way to reopen all businesses, get our children back to school, rebuild the economy and save lives.
cALmatters commentary
IMPORTANT ADDRESSES
ow is it possible to be thankful in 2020, the year that’s seen the death of an icon in Kobe Bryant and many other musicians and celebrities. It is a year with a global pandemic infecting millions, killing hundreds of thousands, a lockdown, a recession, panic buying, small businesses dying and food insecurity? We’ve had another year of calamitous California wildfires and other climate-worsened weather-related devastation. We’ve seen the horrible murder of George Floyd and the tremendous protests for social change, armed militias, incredible social division and a nation in political distress. What to do? In 1982, Japan’s forest ministry made “shinrin-yoku” or “forest bathing” part of it’s national public health program. What is forest bathing? It’s taking a Kelvin Wade walk or sitting in the woods among the trees and meditating. No, it doesn’t involve removing any clothing. Researchers have found what humans have known for centuries: Being in nature surrounded by fresh air, trees, grasses, plants and wildlife enhances tranquility, de-stresses the mind and rejuvenates mood. In 2016, the Bay Area Forest Bathing Club formed with guides taking groups through parks and woods to meditate and recharge. Now I’ve never been the outdoors type. I’m usually far more comfortable inside at a desk, in front of my laptop with my iPad Mini in my hand and a glass of Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey nearby. But 2020 has caused all of us to tire of being indoors. And last year, Cathi and I escaped to a campground in the foothills that was a game-changer for us. That’s where I’m typing this from. Yes, I’m inside an RV in front of a laptop with a glass of whiskey beside me, but outside this trailer are towering redwoods, majestic oaks and prickly pines. There are lakes nearby teeming with fish. There are fat squirrels scurrying about while geese honk overhead. And there’s the ever present deer; bucks, does and fawns strolling right through your campsite. When I go out, I always have apples and cabbage in a baggie to hand-feed the deer. The silence is unlike anything you can experience in a city. And at night, the landscape is unpolluted by human light so it’s inky black. And stars one could never see from your driveway stretch across the night sky. And here there is no WiFi. No internet. No cell service. You have to drive to find a signal so this place has a way of forcing one to let go and embrace nature. In this setting is where I let go of the wretchedness of 2020. In this garden of Eden is where we will celebrate Thanksgiving. No, I’m not roughing it. We’ll cook a Butterball turkey. Cathi will make her famous sage, sausage and raisin stuffing. We’ll do a nice spread in our 38-foot travel trailer. I haven’t been able to spend much time with my family or friends this year but that just makes me more thankful for them. It’s a reminder to never take them for granted. It’s easy to be thankful if you’ve managed to avoid Covid-19, if your refrigerator is full, if you’ve got a roof over your head and an income that pays the bills. If you come home to people who love and care about you and you have a loyal dog or an inquisitive cat that adores you and keeps you company then that’s something. If you have enough to share with others, to give back to people who are struggling then that’s one of the greatest ways to give thanks this holiday season. If you don’t have enough and you still share, you are a gem among humankind. You don’t need a fancy RV or a faraway campground to forest bathe and dispel the bad vibes of this fustercluck of a year. You can do it in a park. In a backyard. Sure it helps to be away from the noise of a city. But if you’re mindful and you let all that extraneous baggage we carry with us every day go for a little while and just focus on nature, you’ll be surprised the calm you’ll feel. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Peace.
Gov. Gavin Newsom State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814 Congressman John Garamendi (3rd District) 2438 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Fairfield Office: 1261 Travis Blvd., Suite 130 Fairfield, CA 94533 707-438-1822
Assemblyman Jim Frazier (11th District) State Capitol Room 3091 P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0011 916-319-2011 1261 Travis Blvd., Suite 110 Fairfield, CA 94533 707-399-3011
week’s unexpected projection of a $26 billion state revenue windfall undercuts pro-tax increase advocates even more. The UC Berkeley Poll didn’t probe further into why voters believe taxes are too high, but a contributing factor may be the seemingly endless reports of official incompetence. The managerial debacles at the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Employment Development Department are spectacular examples, but certainly not the only ones. Just last week, the state auditor, Elaine Howle, issued a report that said lack of coordination between the state’s four housing agencies and other administrative failures had squandered $2.7 billion in funds meant to build affordable housing. Two days later, she issued another report that added to the employment department’s image as an agency that is failing to provide timely benefits to millions of unemployed workers. The new report said that despite warnings, the department is still putting Social Security numbers on communications with clients, putting them at risk of fraud. If Californians believe their taxes are already being misused, they’ll never be inclined to shoulder more. CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary
State Sen. Bill Dodd (3rd District) State Capitol Room 5114 Sacramento, CA 95814 916-651-4003 Vacaville District Office: 555 Mason St., Suite 275 Vacaville, CA 95688 707-454-3808 Fairfield City Hall
1000 Webster St. Fairfield, CA 94533 707-428-7400 Suisun City Hall 701 Civic Center Drive Suisun City, CA 94585 707-421-7300 Vacaville City Hall 650 Merchant St. Vacaville, CA 95688 707-449-5100
