Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 4

4-TUESDAY AUG. 1,2006 Editor: K.C, Meadows, 468-3S26 FORUM fhe Oklafi Diaity JdUfrtaf Letters from our readers In our opinion Just to clarify To the Kditor: Thank you for publishing my previous letter to the editor. I made it short both in the hope that a short letter would be printed sooner and in order to spare UDJ readers a long-winded diatribe. But as in cases where one tries to move too fast, there's always a price to pay. In this case I have gotten much feedback thai has shown me that my letter's purpose has been misinterpreted.

My intention was not to say "John Ball bad; Board majority good." My intention was to counter the Employers Council's simplistic public relations campaign that was saying "John Ball good; Board majority bad." My directing folks to www.whyjohnballwasfired.com (or, as John Ball called my previous letter, "pimping the web does not imply that I agree with everything in every article. My purpose has been to expose people to more information. I think this is a complex situation with plenty of blame to go around. I will take my fair share of responsibility, and I apologize if I have brought more heat than light to the discussion. John Ball was right in recognizing that our County government is in desperate need of reorganization.

Those who stall reorganization are doing a great disservice to the County. It is equally true that those who push for changes that are destined for failure, as did John Ball, serve to postpone meaningful reform with even greater certainty than those who stall. In firing John Ball, the Board made the right move, but only if a new and viable effort to reorganize is undertaken. The fault does not lie with Mr. Ball or with the majority on the Board.

The fault lies with the voters of this County. The political priorities of the voters appear to be loyalty, ideological purity, and commitment to protecting narrow interests. The voters appear to want warriors in the Board room, people who will not compromise. It appears that far less value is placed on electing people wilh political competency, policy acumen, and experience in organizational oversight. (OK, I'm a sore loser).

If we the voters wanl good County government, we the voters must change our priorities. 1 When I became active in Mendocino O.ounty civic life, the members of the lioarcl of Supervisors were Sugawara, McMichael, Eddy, Henry, and de Vail. Soon the'Board will be Delbar, Wattenburger, Pinches, Smith, and Colfax. know that I am not significant enough to take the blame for the lack of progress'in improving civic life here, but I certainly liave no bragging rights after 13 years of effort. 1 have my champions on the Board and others have Iheir champions.

While the bal- on the Board goes back and forth between liberals and reactionaries, the County just-keeps circling the drain in lighler and tighter circles. The next election will provide inland Mendocino County voters with an excellent opportunity to elect a couple of skilled problem-solvers. If any run, will the voters elect them? i Joe Louis Wildman 1 Ukiah Fuming about the flag To the Editor: To the Ukiah City Council. I saw a Report on a local news channel last night tlnd I was appalled. Visual blight? You've got to be kidding.

Don't you people have anything belter to do? I am ashamed of you claiming the one thing that signifies our freedom is "visual blight." I was born and raised in Ukiah and still have family there. Where are you from? Perhaps you should POLICY Daily Journal welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must include a clear name, signature, return address and phone number. Letters are generally published in the order they are received, but shorter, concise letters are given preference. Because of the volume of letters coming in, letters of more than 400 words in length may take longer to be printed.

Names will not be withheld for any reason. If we are asvare that you are connected to a local organization or are an elected official writing about the organization or body on which you serve, that will be included in your signature. If you want to make it clear you are not speaking for that organization, you should do so in your letter.All letters are subject to editing without notice. Editing is generally limited to removing statements that are potentially libelous or are not suit- for a family newspaper. Form letters that are clearly part of a write-in campaign will not be published.

You may drop letters off at our office at 590 S. School or fax letters to 468-3544, mail to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 749, Ukiah, 95482 or e- hiail them to E-mail letters should also include hometown and a phone number. JON EDITORIALS 'Daily Journal editorials are written by 'Editor K.C. Meadows with the concurrence of Publisher Kevin McConnell.

A great service Kudos to the members of the Mendocino County Co-op Aerial Fire Patrol who today mark Iheir 57th year in the skies. Besides being (he oldest operating airborne citizen fire patrol in the nalion, these pilots are protecting our private and public lands by being a continuous fire season eye in the sky, spotting fires so thai firefighters can get to them as quickly as possible. Working closely with the California Department of Forestry and Fire, this has often helped stop a wildland fire from gaining ground and turning into a uncontrolled blaze. In its 57 years, the Co-op has spotted more than 900 fires. Landowners voluntarily pay 64 cents per acre to this volunteer organization and this year' the Co-op has 80 subscribers, and they're covering more than 400,000 acres of land during this fire season.

All landowners in the rural areas of the county should consider pitching in for this important service. Since the slate shut down its fire towers with their round-the-clock watchers, this aerial fire patrol is even more critical. Sixty-four cents an acre is not much to pay to keep these spotters in the air. To find out more or become a subscriber, call them at 462-6102. read the Declaration of Independence and while you're at it read the lyrics to our National Anthem.

Then go outside and look up at that flag and be thankful for what it stands for. You should be proud to have that flag waving over your beautiful city. Think about it a little more before you decide to start a war. Jon Franz Sacramento And more fuming To the Editor: Having reviewed the news account of the prohibition of patriotism in the city of Ukiah, I determined it was not a political issue, since I am a lifelong registered Democrat, and the decision was based on law not affiliation with a party. My organization shuns political involvement, but plunges zealously into matters of love of country and belief in God.

When our national emblem for which I and nine of my brothers fought (one of whom died in combat), is referred to as a you are not talking law, you are expressing unvarnished contempt for our country. You are wrapping your anti- Americanism in observance of the law. As to that law. It is man made and rather than hide behind it, it can be changed by man. As a former Vice-Mayor of the City of Simi Valley, I looked to the intent of the laws we ordained and if it were not creating the appropriate results we allowed special use or permission to accommodate justice.

We never got caught in what the philosopher, Albert Burg described as, "the tyranny of words." Mr. Baldwin, who, by his own admission, appears to be a one issue political winner, may be misunderstanding what got him elected. Was it hillside development or anti-American flag hating radicalism? One of the most difficult evaluations you endure, as a legislator, even city level, is to arrive at your vote as a matter of principle or a matter of cow-towing to the majority. If we all obeyed the majority, we would still have slavery and native- American genocide. The news account revealed to me that the Planning Commission made-a decision based on common sense and recognition that the intent of the law was not to prohibit a symbol of beauty but, rather, structures that detract from the value of the community- Come with me and my comrades to the cemetery on Memorial Day when we decorate the graves of fallen heroes and speak to us of the American flag as being a visual blight under any circumstances or any law! It is craven to claim the law allows your anti-flag effort when you absolutely know you collectively can honor the flag's glorious display.

I suggest, Mr. Baldwin, that same hillside that elected you is now calling upon the Americans in Ukiah to reject you. Long may she wave! Rick Ostler Clearlake THOMAS D. ELIAS WHERE TO WRITE' President George Bush: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Washington, D.C. 20500; (202) 456-1111, FAX (202)456-2461.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; State Capitol, Sacramento, 95814. (916) 445-2841; FAX (916)445-4633 Sen. Barbara Boxer: 112 Hart Senate Office Washington, D.C. 20510; (202)224-3553; San Francisco, (415) 4030100 FAX (415) 956-6701 Sen. Dianne Feinstein: 331 Hart Senate Office Washington, D.C.

20510. (202)224-3841 FAX (202) 228-3954; San Francisco (415) 393-0707; stein.senate.gov Congressman Mike Thompson: 1st District, 231 Cannon Office Bldg, Washington, D.C. 20515. (202) 225-3311; FAX (202)225-4335. Fort Bragg district office, 430 N.

Franklin PO -Box 2208, Fort Bragg 95437; 962-0934; www.house.gov/write rep Assemblywoman Patty Berg: State Assembly District 1, Capitol, Rm. 2137, Sacramento, 95814. (916) 319-2001; Santa Rosa, 576-2526; FAX, Santa Rosa, 5762297. Berg's field representative in Ukiah office located at 104 W. Church St, Ukiah, The office's fax number is 463-5773.

E-mail to; assemblymember.berg@assembly.ca.gov Senator Wes Chesbro: State Senate District 2, Capitol Building, Room 5100, Sacramento, 95814. (916) 445-3375; FAX (916) 323-6958. Ukiah office is P.O. Box 785, Ukiah, 95482, 468-8914, FAX 4688931. District offices at 1040 Main Suite 205, Napa, 94559, 224-1990, 50 Suite 120A, Santa Rosa, 95404, 576-2771, and 317 3rd Suite 6, Eureka, 95501, 4456508.

Email: senator.chesbro@sen.ca.gov. Mendocino County Supervisors: Michael Delbar, 1st District; Jim Wattenburger, 2nd District; Hal Wagenet, 3rd District; Kendall Smith, 4th District; David Colfax, 5th District. All can be reached by writing to 501 Low Gap Road, Room 1090, Ukiah, 95482, 463-4221, FAX 463-4245. Why protests over English self-destructive There's something innately self-destructive about Latino protests over a section of the U.S. Senate's proposed immigration reform bill that would declare English the national language of this nation.

Nothing in that provision would prohibit anyone from speaking Spanish or Italian or Chinese or Vietnamese or Russian or Tagalog'or Hebrew or Armenian or any of the 87 non-English languages listed as nalive tongues by California residents in the most recent Census. In fact, the more Americans can speak those languages and the more they are taught in public schools, the letter for this country in its efforts to remain the world leader in commerce and technology. But when you have 87 native languages in a single state, when you have children with 83 native languages in a single school district the case today in Los Angeles it's hard to develop any sense of unity. From the earliest eras of immigration to America, learning English was the great unifying force, the single skill 'that most distinguished "greenhorns" from others. Yes, there may be outright bigotry among some advocates of making English the national language.

But just because some bigots like an idea does not make that idea immoral. In fact, learning English is the best thing today's immigrants can do for themselves, and they apparently know it better than many of the politicians who pose as advocates for them. That's why thousands now have their names on waiting lists to learn English at public adult schools around California. "We already know English is the language of commerce and success," says Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, perhaps today's most charismatic Latino politician. Villaraigosa.

who flat-out laughs at the notion that Mexican immigrants would like the American Southwest to revert to Mexico, insists that "We or our parents came here because it's not Mexico; we don't want it to become Mexico." But he nevertheless opposes the notion of making English the national language. "There's no need to do this right now," he says, noting that the official-English amendment offers no funding to let local schools teach more English classes to immigrants. So the idea is a waste of time, he says, as it would not change a thing. But he's wrong about that. For one thing, it would put all immigrants on notice they must learn English, because at any time governments could cease providing election ballots or other materials in foreign languages.

In fact, that might not be such a bad idea. With English literacy an alleged requirement (obviously not well enforced) for naturalization of new citizens, there be no need for 'ballots in Spanish or any other foreign tongue. If everyone eligible to vote is already supposed to know English, why spend the time and money printing materials in other languages? The reason for those ballots is a 1975 amendment of the federal Voting Rights Act, and no one in Congress wants to risk being called a bigot by questioning its provisions. But why should people be assisted in voting, if they in effect say in requesting a non-English ballot that they don't understand the language in which public policy is almost exclusively debated in this country? By definition, English-illiterate citizens will be casting uninformed ballots; 'Some will cry "racism" when they hear this point debated. But it's the very opposite.

Encouraging immigrants to learn English well enough to vote and discuss policy in it would have the ancillary effect of increasing their employability and participation in other aspects of American life. What's more, it will make them feel more American and less a exile from whatever land they came from. If there's anything this country needs a lot today, it is a sense of unity. Historically, learning English has been the most certain way immigrants have acquired a sense of being one with this country, part of its flesh, and of disavowing political loyalties to their countries of origin. All of which means that so-called immigrant advocates who oppose declaring English the national language are really working against the interests of the very people they purport to represent.

Elias is author of the current book "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It," now available in an updated third printing. Email him at Thomas D. Elias is a syndicated columnist. Visit our w.eb site at likiahdailyjournal.com email us at The Ukiah DALY JOURNAL Publisher: Kevin McConnell Editor; Meadows Advertising director: Cindy Delk Office manager: Yvonne Bell Circulation director: Cornell Turner Group systems director: Sue Whitman Member California Newspaper Publishers Association.