Comments to the Council

In case we have some readers drawn by Ken King’s letter in the Gazette today, I thought I’d repost the video about our Double-Sheet-Pile-Palooza.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=rQefxDQemaA]

Sadly my favorite part of Ken’s letter was edited: but I’ll run the full version here. See if you can guess what it is.

In his latest issue of “Man About Martinez,” former resident Rick Parker, set out to clear some, “air”, which, as best I can tell, referred, at least in part, to some assertions that I had made in a previous letter to this same space, which essentially pointed out the sycophantic relationship between Dunivan, and other downtown stake holders and the city council as it relates to beavers and a redevelopment agency. While ignoring the main thrust of how business got done in Martinez, he chose to defend only the “emergency”, the motivation regarding the beavers and Dunivans character.

First, Mr. Parkers Palinesque reading of the engineering reports showed an imagination fitting of the great attorney that he is. But it turns out, as my hard earned experience as a general contractor has taught me, engineers are a lot like attorneys. You can always find one to support virtually any point of view. Mud sliding away from the wall is a bit different than a wall (and presumably the entire restaurant behind it) up and sliding eight inches east away from the mud. Those are some pushy beavers! But for real hoot, check out Heidi Perryman’s website www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress

for some actual chronologically interesting pictures of previous work done in the exact same place! Seems the reason they put their new spite wall out in the channel is because they were trying to drive pilings down on top of existing pilings. Oops! Oh well, what’s a half million among close friends? I hope this second wall works. We don’t have a lot of creek left!

Secondly, his “bullet in the head” theory has some holes in it. It may be true that if one were put into the head of the first beaver that swam up the creek, forgivness would have, no doubt, been easier to obtain than permission. But that ship sailed the day the first baby beaver hit the internets.

As for the Dunivans character, the previous observations should say plenty, however, in real life, few people are one dimensional. The fact is that, not only have the Dunivans been generous to the Parkers, contributed to the Joltin’ Joe, (as have I) and many other things, I would go even further to say that almost all of the major downtown property owners and RDA supporters, have contributed mightily to upgrade the quality of life in Martinez somewhere along the line. Even when Sniedly Turnbough was not busy tying baby beavers to the railroad tracks, he found time to literally clean-up the old city hall and provide a place for Starbucks. But enough about him, I don’t want to get sued for saying to many nice things.

I believe that even the nicest people are not immune to powerful motivation. What we are talking about here is the basic financial motivation to continually subdivide every parcel into ever smaller parcels for the greatest profit. Recent experience has shone that the city council will not hesitate to issue variances to roll back virtually any rule. Setbacks, height limits, parking requirements, density, you name it, they’ll squeeze it in. The very charm that we enjoy here in the downtown area is the result of steady progress by these same people, over time. A RDA is designed to fast track this process via shifting local monies to state coffers in hopes that it may some day return. Meanwhile look for low-cost, high density housing to flood downtown north and south of the tracks.

No I’m not talking about the elections, but rather the water that falls from the sky onto our houses and through our streets before rushing back to the creeks. Beaver observers last year were stunned at the amount of oil and debris that high flow produced.

Half of U.S. water pollution comes from storm water run-off. In Seattle, it’s responsible for more than 70 percent of the zinc and copper that winds up in Puget Sound, heavy metals that are toxic and kill Sockeye, King and Coho salmon, protected under the Endangered Species Act.

So last year, some smart lawyers from Earth Justice convinced the Washington State Pollution Board that this was a violation of the federal 1972 Clean Water Act and demanded more regulation. Guess what? They won.

Now, in a landmark decision, a Washington state pollution board has ruled that flow of polluted water must be reduced. And to do that, the very way that new homes and neighborhoods are built must be changed. The ruling requires developers, like Linda Pruitt of suburban Seattle, use low-impact development strategies, or LIDS, on the homes they build, strategies that limit how much rainwater flows off of them.

There has been alot of talk about impermeable surfaces and additional housing in Martinez. Did you know the roof of your home actually contributes to water pollution? And the bigger the house, the bigger the roof and the more damage it does to the runoff. Think about that when you consider some of the monster homes built in Martinez over the past years.

Now developers in Kings county and beyond are scrambling for the brightest and best inexpensive technologies, like rooftop gardens or the downspout leading to a thirsty swale of plants. These are long-term solutions with immediate benefits. Remember the parking lot project the ESA students are working on downtown? The idea is to hold and filter water long enough to clean it up before it gets back to the creek.

Here’s my favorite part of the news story from the PBS newshour:

The new ruling, for now, applies only in larger cities in western Washington. But as it’s an interpretation of the federal Clean Water Act, there’s a chance it could be required in the other 49 states, as well.

Lets hope, eh? It would be great for beavers, and their humans protectors too.