Commentary and Opinion by Samuel Strait – October 29, 2023

Another club meeting and another train wreck.  While I really
appreciated the likeness of the County’s supervisors to that of potted
plants, in this case a more apt description is that of “folding like a
cheap suit in the face of a dozen or so virtue signaling local
progressives”.  It is not as if they had a reason to complain about a
previous Board action, nor even was the contentious item particularly
important or relevant to much of the County’s population.  In fact, it
is likely none of the County’s population of uninsured and low income
individuals were the least bit disturbed by the lack of a “bridge
program to get the COVID shot at the expense of others”. So there you
have it, three of the County’s finest, with the backbone of a limp piece
of spaghetti elected to look foolish, similar to a six year old who
can’t make up her mind about what shoes to wear, in full view of the
public. And were applauded for their indecisiveness after being bullied
into acquiescence by a crowd of enablers who only appear at Board
meetings in the pretense that they are doing something noble. Sorry to
be the bearer of bad news for those virtue signalers and Supervisors
Starkey, Howard, and Short but you all have just bowed before the alter
of enablement.  So Sad.  Seems the County already has its fair share of
dysfunctional people.

In any event on to the slicing and dicing of the Board of Supervisor’s
train wreck, as it no longer represents in even the remotest fashion
that of a legitimate government meeting,  Sure the basic framework still
exists, but the reasons for it’s continued existence vanished with a
call for a truncated meeting of the County’s business by 11:45 am for a
bit of Board frivolities to begin at noon that superseded the less than
importance of the County’s business.  Kind of puts a sharp point on what
is important and what is not, don’t you all think? Following that folly
authored by Chair Short 5-0, the unseemly haste to move on took a
frenetic pace, for decorum’s sake the opening ceremonies before quickly
moving on to Board Member reports.  For once in her loquacious life
Supervisor Starkey deferred to her “Web Page” and barely another word
was uttered, Gasp!  Other than that surprising turn of events, if
anything, pardon the familiarity, Ms. Valerie rarely misses an
opportunity to extol her virtuosity before public employees since very
seldom are members of the regular folks present in any numbers.  The
other Board members were similarly mute.

The Consent Agenda, a mere eighteen items of government pork, ladened
with all kinds of goodies for Health and Human Services. Nine items
featured and more than one quarter of the business to be rubber stamped
5-0.  Then what has become a regular feature at recent Board meetings
with several items being “pulled for discussion” before the theater for
the public and passage 5-0 is inevitable.  Thank you for that, because
it now appears that even when one particular item died for lack of a
second, it merely postpones the inevitable revisit and passage at a
future date. What classy “potted plants” we have in charge of the
County’s fortune.

Got through that before Public Comment at 10:25 am, so on to Budget
transfers 5-0, and a bit of the “regular stuff”, also known as some of
which might actually be important for more than a microcosm of the
County’s “Walmart Shoppers”.  A raise for the Ag Commissioner 5-0, money
for non maintained County roads, heaven forbid we use Measure “R” money
for infrastructure, approval for more incremental governing by committee
to “aid” the Sheriff, tabled due to lack of participation by the
Sheriff, a look at penal code section 933 that didn’t engender any
discussion 5-0, with a time out for “public Comment”.  Saving item #25
for the real bit of “governance”.

Most of the meetings conducted by the Board merit veeeery little
attention from citizens, but when you place an irrelevant bit of non
action before a largely partisan, virtue signaling, and ignorant bunch
of leftists, you suddenly find yourself sitting through a dozen or more
sound bites in a theatrical performance that escapes sanity and logic by
people who ordinarily would NOT attend a Board meeting if it actually
was extremely important to the County’s welfare.  Go figure!  I have to
laugh when I witnessed the performance by Pastor Dana Gill and was
wondering where her medical issues and mask wearing was when she
performed in a previous Board meeting over the “plight of the homeless”.
The “Super Mask” was a nice touch by the way. 

I also wonder just where
the Board’s predilection for ignoring the public had evaporated when it
was on full display when the approval for the Tri Agency was
resurrected?  I would suggest that three times or more of the public
against the Tri Agency reforming was too much of a load.  Phew, after a
half hour of virtue signaling, claims of uninsured being given “No
Choice”, as well as the tired slogans of for the “safety” of the County,
nobody learned anything.

Now for the lesson.  The group of unfortunates are not “unknowns” to
many in the real world.  They consist of largely young, healthy people
that CHOSE not to pay for insurance, not get vaccinated, and still have
income that they prefer to spend on other things. Most can afford to
“Pay” for a COVID booster if it was that important, budgeted for it, and
were functional people that “CHOSE” not to make their neighbors PAY for
it FOR THEM.  For the few that remain in that group,  Health and Human
Services is mandated to keep a couple hundred shots that others pay for
so that the shot will be “FREE” for those that choose to remain
dysfunctional.   There also appears to be many other avenues for the
“Bridge” program to exist in the County where other health organizations
and private businesses can apply to participate; however, it appears
that this community has gotten too use to the idea that government “must
provide”.  And NO, health insurance is not a “RIGHT” and no where
mentioned in the Constitution of this Country.  Nor is the government
expressly mandated into looking after anyone’s HEALTH.   Look it up if
you don’t believe me.

As the 11:45 deadline was rapidly approaching the “potted plants”
quickly moved on to the item breathlessly awaited item #25 where all
members of the Board quickly fell on their collective sword 5-0 and
voted to revisit the September 26th “outrage”.  More virtue signalling,
ignored hard cold facts, and the clown show was on.  3-2 for the County
to use “other people’s money”  to enable the County’s dysfunctional
adults yet again.  Then the virtue signalers left.  I hope the potted
plants are being watered.  More money from the County to throw into the
Black Hole, AKA the Tri Agency 5-0.  Passed on the Treasurer’s report
and the Law Library until next time.  11:45 after all,  And the
remaining items on the Consent Agenda not addressed or tabled.  A final
item on the legislative Agenda, maybe later and we are done again. 
Whew! Going on vacation but I will watch and report, just not comment.
Wait a minute, not comment…….