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City Council Faces a Taxing Problem

River City is no different than anyplace else: nobody wants new taxes, but everybody wants more services. In some quarters more government is the answer, nay, the holy grail. Unfortunately, government doesn't generate wealth - especially not with a "Smart" (e.g., limited or no) growth agenda. All government can do [...]

By | August 27th, 2014|0 Comments

How Dry We Are…Again

Water, or the lack thereof, is once again in the news as it was back in the drought of '06. Pity the mighty Petaluma River is actually a brackish tide slough.

By | January 22nd, 2014|0 Comments

Rainier Connector Again in the News.

Thanks to an approval for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the widely desired (by 72% of Petalumans) and rabidly opposed (by nimby's, "progressives," and the rest of the anti-everything minority) Rainier connector - between the east and west sides of river city - is once again in the news. Don't [...]

By | September 28th, 2013|0 Comments

Young People Will Foot the Bill for Obamacare.

The Achilles heel of the "Affordable Health Care Act," (written in haste, read by none before it was passed into law, and destined to be litigated for the foreseeable future) is the provision that mandates that young people who don't need health insurance will buy it so that older people [...]

By | June 23rd, 2013|0 Comments

Miss Petaluma Returns in the New Year

I guess rumors of my demise were exaggerated. I've been invited to appear in the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce monthly newsletter. Look for me in January's edition. Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. For those who don't celebrate the birth of Our Lord, or find [...]

By | December 5th, 2012|Comments Off on Miss Petaluma Returns in the New Year

Political Round-About

We've reached another year marked by the sense that we're stuck in a rut. We can blame politicians, people with different political or religious beliefs, or Wall Street, but in truth we must heed the words of that timeless sage, Pogo, who famously said, "I have met the enemy and [...]

By | December 31st, 2011|0 Comments

Predators Prey on Petaluma’s Seniors

As an official "senior," I can personally attest to at least a glancing awareness of this phenomenon. Recently, Colleen (who is not yet a senior) and I were looking for a home in Petaluma to rent and we came across this posting on Craigslist for a home in Victoria for $800/month. We thought this was way too low. But we wanted to stay in Petaluma if possible so we e-mailed the poster. However, when the poster replied, saying among other things that he would "mail us the keys" upon receipt of the first and last month's rent, he included a phone number from Nigeria. So, we contacted Timo Rivetti, the listing agent on the sign out front. Timo confirmed that it was indeed a scam. So, I guess we weren't actually scammed, but we sure felt foolish.

By | November 19th, 2011|0 Comments

The Smell of Jobs

No. Not Steve Jobs. I meant employment, hopefully the steady kind. Petaluma's a vital, agricultural town so, from time to time, we are going to smell the perfume of compost, fertilizer, dirt, grain, animals, diesel engines and many other aromas that attend farm-based commerce. It all smells like life, to my nose.

By | September 30th, 2011|0 Comments

Trash of Our Fathers

When I graduated from UC Berkeley in 1970,the progressive firebrands of my generation bragged that they were going to remake the broken, polluted, and corrupt world left us by our parents. Now, 40 some years later, a new generation hopes to do the same. Meanwhile, greying progressives in their faded, tie-dye Dashikis and worn out Birkenstocks, bask in rosy nostalgia for the good old days when they were "taking it to the man."

By | May 27th, 2011|0 Comments

Localvore

Full-disclosure: this cartoon actually appeared in the Argus-Courier. Not all the cartoons that I post on my blog do. The A-C covers local issues, not national ones. So, any cartoon that I post that reflects an opinion about national issues is MY opinion and not that of the A-C, or the NY Times. The sharp-eyed among you out there will note that the cartoons which appeared in the A-C have a different URL in the black box in the lower right-hand corner of the drawing than do those which haven't appeared in the A-C. And for those who feel that I have no business expressing ideas contrary to theirs, please look up the words, "dialogue," and "democracy."

By | May 12th, 2011|0 Comments