Beaver Politics

This Oct. 31 my son, Noel, will be coming home on leave for a month. The day after Thanksgiving I’ll be taking my boy to the airport where he’ll catch a plane to Washington State and there prepare for a six month deployment in Iraq.

Despite my best efforts to safeguard Noel by guiding his military choice of enlistment in the Navy, before the year is out my boy will be boots on the ground. I shared with someone not too long ago that the knowledge that I fairly pushed my kids into military service will be weighing heavily on my heart while Noel is in harms way.

Many of those I have come to know over the last year as a result of a family of beavers do not share my feelings about our President, this war and our role in it. Many more have made a strong case that political fear mongering and greed was at the crux of our run up to war. I can only imagine how many more in our city feel this very same way.

For the sake of argument I will examine these and see if perhaps the citizens of Martinez can draw a corollary. An argument was made declaring eminent threat thus bypassing any further UN sanctions. An argument here in Martinez was made declaring eminent threat thus allowing for the bypass of any environmental impact considerations.

An argument was made that the no bid contracts were awarded to friends of the administration who would be the beneficiaries of billions of tax dollars. An argument was made here in Martinez that ostensibly awarded hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars to one beneficiary.

To borrow a term from Barack – folks when a politician is declaring there is an emergency that needs to be immediately abated – hold on to your wallets and your conscience because the purpose of fear is to create an immediate response in order to cloud the facts.

Frankly for me this has never been solely about beavers. Make no mistake I love animals; I have two dogs, four cats and two guinea pigs along with a koi and goldfish pond in addition to the bird feeders I hang outside. But even as much as I love animals I love the sanctity of our constitution and the rights of every day citizens more. And yes here in Martinez those would be the Joe Sixpacks and (with a slight twist) Soccer Moms.

That is why I am sickened by the transparent displays of influence peddling and naked ambitions that have been laid bare as a result of eight beavers. Its no wonder people hate these animals the way they do. I have heard stories of unchecked rage being leveled against Mark Ross for having the moral courage to take a stand. Last time I checked no one took umbrage when Rick Parker tore into Ross. My innocuous questioning of Janet Kennedy’s absence from the debates pales by comparison to the allegations Parker leveled.

Make no mistake I do not agree with Mark Ross on the issue of the formation of a redevelopment agency. Not because I have a dog in this hunt – I am not a home owner. But because as I have watched how much influence certain people hold over our politicians I know there will be corruption and misuse of public funds.

There’s already a precedent that’s part of the public record. Where the City’s own geologist mentioned that he did not see a need for any geotechnical solution for the now infamous retaining wall, that grout and backfill would suffice, that wasn’t good enough for the friends of City Hall.

Our city politicians are preparing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for one person’s property, not because it was necessary but because the property owner wouldn’t have it any other way.

November is right around the corner; our State’s economy is in the tank along with our Nation’s and here in Martinez our “public servants” are bellied up to the public trough and ladling up the slop.