-Advertisement-
Friday, April 26, 2024
-Advertisement-

Letter Writer Asks What the Fort Bragg City Council is Doing to ‘Address the Absence of Essential, Core Services of This Community’

Welcome to our letters to the editor/opinion section. To submit yours for consideration, please send to matthewplafever@gmail.com. Please consider including an image to be used–either a photograph of you or something applicable to the letter. However, an image is not necessary for publication. 

Remember opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of MendoFever nor have we checked the letters for accuracy.


The Noyo River Grill in Fort Bragg’s Noyo Harbor [Photograph by Judy Valadao]

MendoFever—

Over the past 30+ years…since I moved to Fort Bragg in 1986..I’ve loved this town and all that it represented (past tense).

However, as of late..what seems like almost overnight….Fort Bragg has become a town in crisis!

All the institutions that we came to depend on and respect are for all intent and purposes GONE!!  I raised my son here in great schools, acquired my AA at the local JC, received caring and supportive medical/emergency services for my rescues, was on the receiving end of dedicated and devoted medical health professionals, and more.

- Advertisement -

But, these and too many other institutions that I’ve come to depend on are no longer available to the residents of this community.  

The JC is a ghost town, the hospital struggles to entice doctors to the Coast. Emergency and even regular veterinary care services are all but NON EXISTENT!!  We are forced to seek services elsewhere…off the Coast, and for those with limited resources, they do without.

Fort Bragg city council members, I ask you…what is it, exactly, that you are doing to address the absence of essential, core services of this community…that elected you?

What exactly have or are currently doing/planning to address the absence of the most basic needs of this community?  

What are you doing or plan to do to put an end to the ever-diminishing services that once were available to this community.

It’s a long time since 1986, but I would ask you…Council members…are we, here on the Coast, here in Fort Bragg, better off now, than we were 10 years ago? 20 years ago?   That answer is abundantly clear….NO!  Not even close!

And now, you talk about dissolving the Mendocino Coast Health Care District?  Why?  Because you’ve already accomplished so much in providing for the needs of this community?   My guess?  Pure arrogance?  Another agenda?

Your inbox is overflowing. Start doing what you were elected to do!

-Fort Bragg Resident Rosemary Mangino

- Advertisement -

4 COMMENTS

  1. The Mayor of Fort Bragg is, however, keenly interested in dissolving the Mendocino Coast Health Care District with an eye perhaps of having it come under the wings of Fort Bragg.

  2. The town has became a total shit hole moved out about a year ago and don’t miss it. Thais town used to be Full of working people that support of the American dream. Now it’s full of dipshits from the bay area that have destroyed the fabric of this little town with their crazy a ideology. My best suggestion is to get out of there move your kids to a better school an a better future There’s nothing there for our younger youth no good paying jobs or any kind of future unless you’re a part of the elitist group that’s tied to that town. Every out of that town when Cove it was hot and heavy, came to a community that didn’t believe in Covid we didn’t mask we didn’t do shit and didn’t get Covid but back in Fort Bragg everybody masked And was scared from these county health hacks that called them selves doctors best suggestion get the hell out This town has been run by bureaucratic bullshit best Suggestion is to vote out all these county fools and start voting some good people in that have The best entrance for the town if not the place is doomed

  3. The schools and hospital are separate districts. They are run by elected Boards within those Districts. The City Council has no say on how money is raised, spent or what programs need to be kept , cut or initiated. So to blame the City Council for things completely out of their control is a specious argument that only contributes to today’s high level of government mistrust. I guess you don’t like the Coastal Trail? The CV Starr Center? The Community garden? Your Police protection? The new Danco housing project? The way we handled the PSPS events? These are all done by your City Council. What are these “ most basic needs” you are accusing us of withholding from the public? Be more specific if you are tearing down your neighbors and your community.

    • Lindy, I made that clear. The JC is a ghost town…there was a time when the halls bubbled over with students, young and old rushing to their classes, the library to study and/or that sorely needed break before the next class begins. Veterinarians opened businesses here with promises of complete pet care, never needing to drive to Santa Rosa but now withhold those very services they promised to provide. Staff at the hospital…Doctors!! especially are in short supply. Now, more and more people have to travel out of the area for their health, veterinary and education needs. Not wants!…I’m saying NEEDS!! There was a time when you were secure in knowing that a veterinarian was just a phone call away in times of need. A student graduating from high school was assured that the classes they needed in taking that first step toward acquiring their college education was accessible to them. The coast saw medical practices that flourished with doctors committed to their practice and this community. Remember those times, Lindy? But, sadly, that is not the case at present and you cannot deny that. So, where does this leave us? Leave the residents on the Coadt? We now HAVE TO go elsewhere for these services. We have to travel hours to get the educational, veterinary, healthcare that we need. And, for those who are not able to travel…they lose it all.
      I believe the City Council has a responsibility to assure services like these are guaranteed to its voters. The City has the power to set standards, to tax, to establish parameters for businesses who want to operate here.
      Lindy, you misunderstand. You are not ‘withholding’ these services from the public. Rather, you are IGNORING the challenges that the community faces day after day in trying to secure them.
      The biggest obstacle for hiring police has been lack of housing, medical professionals pass us by because there’s they see no prospect for growth here.
      The Council, as i see it, needs to put a real effort to bringing businesses here. You need to track a business that pays a living wage. You have the resources to incentivize.
      “Tearing down your neighbors and your community” you say? Let me direct you to the old fable, “the emperor has no clothes”. It’s easy to attack the messenger because then you don’t have to deal with the message.
      You reference the Council’s contributions. I would ask you, how do these contributions translate to development of opportunities for this community to grow and to assure a living wage?

Leave a Reply to Johnny s.Cancel reply

MendoFever Staff
MendoFever Staff
Editor's Note: Whenever an article's byline reads "MendoFever Staff", the contents of that article were not composed by any of our reporters. Types of writing that will be attributed to "MendoFever Staff" include press releases, letters to the editor, op-eds, obituaries— essentially writing that is not produced by a reporter.

Today's News

-Advertisement-

News from the Week

Discover more from MendoFever – Mendocino County News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading