Things that seem unseemly

It seems to me unseemly that our leaders object so strenuously to the State of California wanting to charge $8 for visiting the State Beaches along our magnificent coast while at the same time saying it makes sense for the County of Sonoma to charge a $7 fee for visiting its own parks.
Surely the leaders of our county would not want to do without the fees that keep the county parks going, so why is the state out of line for wanting to do the same thing? It’s hard to understand how our leaders justify this inconsistency, but they try.
Just a few months back, I remember the hue and cry that went up when the State of California was closing parks all over the place. Some of us, raised a hue and cry about the prospect of Armstrong Redwoods State Preserve being shut down. Oh what a blow to the local economy, we wailed. Thankfully that serene and wonderful place stayed open.
Are we willing to take a chance that State Beaches close because there is no money to service them? I hope not, but, like the County in these unseemly times, the State needs money too.
Admittedly, it doesn’t help that administrators of the State Parks squirreled away some precious millions as insurance against cuts in their budget. Still, I haven’t met an administrator yet who doesn’t like reserves, rainy day funds, and the like, but they shouldn’t hide funds in obscure accounts. That’s unseemly, and it doesn’t help my argument at all, and I’m trying to be on their side.
Why not try to be consistent? Let’s ding the state a dollar and allow it to charge the same amount as the county does for visiting a park. Or have the County charge a buck more. At either rate, it’s one of the best deals going.
I fear, however, that this flap is part of larger unseemliness. This is the unseemly attitude that we can have the good things we want and not pay for them. Or, more to the point, have other people pay for them.
Politicians at all levels seem taken by this attitude, but they are not alone. This notion seems to affect us all. Somehow we expect government to provide wonderful parks, good roads, effective schools, outstanding law enforcement, quick and ready protection from fires and other disasters, not to mention libraries and bike paths and who knows what else, but we don’t want to be taxed or pay fees that make these blessings possible.
To gain political capital by opposing fees and taxes is the easiest thing in the world. Because so many of our elected officials have made this the basis of being elected, we have bad roads, struggling schools, cutbacks in police and fire protection, and on and on. Courageous leaders would be telling us that their jurisdictions need more money to do what needs to be done, and they would make sure the money is raised fairly and spent wisely.
And while I’m at it, I’ll mention something even more unseemly. One of my heroes, the golfer Phil Mickelson, recently threatened to move out of California because his taxes are too high. Now this fellow grosses tens of millions every year. Playing golf and endorsing products, he can make more in a week than a teacher might make in a lifetime.
Furthermore, Torrey Pines, the dramatic courses on the ocean cliffs north of San Diego, where Mickelson played much of his golf while learning his trade, and where he played last week in the big pro tournament, are public courses. Taxpayers put them there. But now, after he’s made it big, he wants to turn his back on all that and take his money and run. Likely as not, with all his deductions and shelters, Mickelson’s marginal tax rate is something less than what our schoolteacher daughters pay, which is close to 30 percent all told. That is thoroughly unseemly and hugely unfair, but such unseemliness seems to be pervasive.
Until we come to appreciate the privilege of living where we do while enjoying the multitude of blessings we enjoy, and until we accept our responsibility to provide for all this out of fair and adequate taxes, we will have these unseemly manifestations of selfishness, shortsightedness, and greed that cause so much consternation and, yes, suffering in the land.
Bob Jones is the former minister of the Guerneville and Monte Rio Community Churches and is a columnist for the Tribune’s sister publication Sonoma West Times & News.