LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 12-1-11

Colthurst appreciation
Editor: The following e-mail was sent to Sebastopol Chief of Police
Jeffery Weaver:
I just do not know how to express the respect and appreciation that
I have for Officer (Dennis) Colthurst and others in your
department. Few “civilians” realize the skill, experience, and
“cool” that it takes to face the personal risk, responsibility to
protect, and unpredictable nature of police work. Dennis does this
with intense community interest and involvement 24/7. I have had
many conversations with Dennis over the last several years (even
sharing the teaching of a Comms class) yet I can’t help noticing a
balance between his good natured presentation and an “eyes always
moving” awareness of the surroundings. A real pro.
A year or two ago I had the really revealing experience of
attending a special CERT class you ran at Windsor Academy. One
exercise, conducted by your department’s Mike Nielsen, another real
pro, used a video simulator and laser handgun to demonstrate how
fast things could happen in some situations. Of course I failed
miserably and was “hit” by both a thrown knife and, I think, a
bullet – all simulated thanks. The lesson I learned in that few
minutes led me to great thought about how any person can be trained
to make such rapid decisions – right in every way, in face of such
risk. (I asked myself, hypothetically, if I could ever be so
trained and decided probably not, that I don’t think fast enough.)
I also understood better how the stress and vigilance combines with
the responsibility, sometimes giving an officer the surface image
of over-toughness. Yet these are just smart, well trained,
intensely caring, and experienced people – like myself (in other
areas) – who can do this well.
I know there is a few days of “administrative leave,” normal
procedure for the incident, but I trust that Officer Colthurst
feels proud that he did what his years of experience has taught him
and that he will be back on duty soon.
With great appreciation for Dennis, yourself, and your whole
department.
Tom Boag
Sebastopol
An end to PDH crises?
Editor: I attended the special Palm Drive Health Care District
board meeting on Nov. 17 that introduced Marin General Hospital to
the public as the prospective new partner to Palm Drive Hospital.
The presentations were very impressive, and I want to express my
appreciation to the Palm Drive Health Care District board for their
proactive approach in adding new strengths to our hospital. This
proposed affiliation could be a very positive step in helping Palm
Drive Hospital and our physician community.
Everyone knows in this day of economic crisis that small hospitals
have a very difficult time financially. Many of the crises of past
years have been impacted by limited access to health care plans,
not enough physicians to serve West County residents, and migration
of patients to Kaiser and Sutter in Santa Rosa.
This proposed affiliation with Marin General Hospital could bring
additional specialists to our community, increase patient access to
health care plans and maintain the highest level of care at Palm
Drive Hospital. At the Nov. 17 public meeting, there was a strong
sense that Marin General Hospital and the Palm Drive Health Care
District board want to build on the solid foundation that
HealthTech has provided since getting Palm Drive Hospital out of
bankruptcy in 2009.
Managing a hospital and providing quality care in the community is
a big job than only works when people join in with positive efforts
and willingness to listen and collaborate. The dedication of the
five-member District Health Care board, including its two most
recent additions, John Canova, MD and Mark Inman, is demonstrated
by their diligence and hard work to bring forward a potential
contract with Marin General Hospital as early as the Dec. 5 board
meeting. In cooperation with physicians and hospital management,
the District Health Care board is working towards an affiliation
with Marin General Hospital to strengthen health care in our West
County communities.
I know I am not alone when I thank all those dedicated health care
professionals, like CEO Richard Polheber, the employees of Palm
Drive Hospital and our astounding physicians, for their excellent
work in maintaining their professionalism and dedication to the
hospital during the difficult past year.
Linda J. Johnson
Past Director
Palm Drive Health Care District
Something’s happening
Editor: There’s something happening here; what it is ain’t exactly
clear.
The Occupy movement has touched a deep chord in America,
particularly among young people who sense that the doors of
opportunity are closed to them and that capitalism has finally
vanquished democracy. But that is only the most visible face of
what is happening here, in Europe, in the Middle East, in Iran, in
China and Burma and many other places.
Pundits and politicians all have very clear ideas about what is
happening and they are all probably right; and all probably wrong,
at least, in the sense that the blind men meeting the elephant are
all right and all wrong. None of us can see the whole picture and
we would be foolish to imagine that we can.
An understanding of the history of popular movements can give us
some clues, but much of what is happening is unprecedented and,
therefore, unpredictable. In particular, this movement has no
defined leaders, no governing structure or ideology. Instead, it
seems to be self-organizing, more like living organisms than
machines. It belongs to no one and to everyone. It may be the
world’s first open-source social movement.
Many of us have a lot of certainty about where it is heading, but
we are all almost certainly wrong. It may be Yeats’ rough beast
slouching toward Bethlehem or it may by Sophocles’ moment when
“hope and history rhyme.” The unavoidable fact is that none of us
really can know. We are in a time of such flux as we have never
known in our history. All bets are off.
The science of complexity tells us that it is when systems are in
such disequilibrium that new levels of organization that were not
apparent or even possible before can emerge. It also tells us that
at such times initial inputs can have disproportional impacts on
the outcome.
What this means to me is that our actions and our choices right
now, both individually and collectively are vitally important. It
also means that our collective dialogue is critical, since we
probably have greater vision and more wisdom together than any of
us does individually.
To continue the conversation that Occupy Sebastopol has initiated
about economic injustice and the future or our country and
community, the Leadership Institute For Ecology and the Economy and
Waccobb are hosting a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 8 at the
United Methodist Church from 7 to 9 p.m.
I hope you will join us to share your own perspective on what is
happening here.
Larry Robinson
Sebastopol