Fair Politics

I spent three days at the Jackson County Fair, yesterday included, talking to folks who came by the Democratic Party booth. There was a variety: some interested in hearing about candidates and campaigns, some not real friendly ("Thanks for RUINING THE COUNTRY!" one 30-something guy shouted as he passed without slowing down), most not wanting to make eye contact at all, everybody HOT and on the verge of irritable.

One interesting visit yesterday: two women with their elderly mother in a wheel chair. They were extremely agitated with a story I couldn't quite follow that had partly to do with a Medicare snarl that was keeping the mother from getting chiropractic care and partly to do with the daughters' inability to find work. We recommended that they talk to Rep Walden's office about the Medicare problem. They said they'd tried but had received no satisfaction and, knowing that he's a Republican, had stopped at the Republican Party booth just before visiting us. There, they said, they were told that since the White House and Congress are in Democratic hands, all problems with federal programs like Medicare, and all unemployment, was the work of Democrats. If you walk down this aisle a ways, the Republicans helpfully told them, you can find the Democratic booth and demand that we fix things.

They were unhappy when we didn't. Very loudly unhappy. And they couldn't have been less interested in the issues the we can do something about.

Times are hard. People are frustrated.

What a great project...

There are some projects underway in our Valley that are so good they make you blink--and then wonder why more people don't know about them. One is Rogue Valley Farm to School. All this small non-profit is doing is reconnecting children to the source of their food (earlier in the process, that is, than the supermarket shelf or the fastfood drive-thru window), spark in them the natural fascination with growing food that all of us felt as youngsters if we were lucky enough to plant and nurture a few seeds, instill an interest in self-sufficiency and the work that makes it possible, establish healthier eating habits, provide schools with healthier food (some of it grown by proud students!) and generally re-establish a long-lost link between the younger generation and our food.

That's all.

Think they deserve your support? Me too. Here they are again.

Smart move

The County Commissioners made a fine decision this week. I'd like the opportunity to make more decisions like it.

They approved $50,000 in seed money for Sustainable Valley, a well-crafted proposal from a group of progressive business people to grow a cluster of environmentally & economically viable new enterprises. The founders themselves will tell you there's still a lot to figure out, but as I look around for practical strategies for generating high-quality, stable, environmentally healthy jobs in this ferociously tough economy, it doesn't get better than this. And the model of careful, modest infusion of public dollars to leverage huge accomplishments in the private and volunteer sectors is just what we've been talking about since this campaign began.

No, there's no exact blueprint. There never is with game-changing ideas. So out come the skeptics, smelling another pointy-headed fuzzy government boondoggle. I think that's way off track, and here's why.

We need more of this.

"Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting"

Can't remember who first said that, but he or she had plenty of history to prove the point. The wet spring that just ended might pull our attention away from the water challenge we're facing. Since increasing the Valley's food security is a core principle of our campaign, it looms even larger for us.

Here's a summary of my view on Jackson County's water future. If you've been working on or thinking about this issue, I'd really like to hear your views. What's completely clear to me is that we can't afford to punt on this issue until we hit the wall two, three or ten years from now. The stakes are too high. Your thoughts?

They're keeping their eye on the ball

Cheers to the Jackson County Local Action Coalition (JCLAC), a growing local group that's keeping their eye on the ball. Check this out--it's their draft mission statement. The core:

If our Coalition is to succeed, we must be transpartisan – beyond partisanship. We refuse to fall into the trap of being divided and powerless.Frankly, we don't have time for anything else. The urgency of the moment makes the divisiveness of partisanship foolish. It's not that political issues, and the moral principles upon which they are based are unimportant. It's simply that there is much about which we can agree. There is a deep reservoir of unity on the priority issues that affect the welfare of our families and our neighbors. It is upon that foundation that we will build a healthy and prosperous Jackson County [emphasis mine], even in the difficult times that likely lie ahead.

Yes. I'm running for JC Commissioner because we actually have a chance to pool our strengths and build a community that can weather what's coming. But NOT if we let ourselves get distracted by hot-button issues that have kept us divided and distracted as economic conditions get more and more desperate. If we can set aside some things we're flat NOT going to agree on --same-sex rights, religion in schools, evolution, in some cases the proper role for governmtent-- there's a realistic path to better days . The alternative is to fight the old feuds over and over again and sink into misery while a very small economic slice flourishes at our expense. Thanks but no thanks. More on JCLAC is at their website

One of Politics' Biggest Turnoffs

This just in: people are turned off by politics! Or so my highly scientific findings on the campaign trail seem to indicate.

Yes, there are lots of reasons. But one big, especially aggravating reason -- one that's easier to understand than most -- is the way political leaders carve out special privileges for themselves. Now there's a grassroots movement starting to spread, across normal political lines, for a constitutional amendment that looks like it could be a potent remedy. Read it yourself and let me know what you think.

It's not "the future." It's NOW

I'm sitting right now (Sat, June 19 afternoon) on the floor of the Medford Armory ( East side of Hwy 99 just south of Medford). I'm staffing a booth for something called the Green Jobs Council (more later on that) at the Oregon Green Expo.

Here's my tip: if you're in or near Medford, get down here before 6pm today or from 10-4 tomorrow Sunday. The concentration of smart, practical, sustainable projects, and people stubbornly working to make them happen, is just stunning. A big glimpse of the healthy future we can have is right here. Hope you'll come by today or tomorrow.