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Dear Editor,
The January 9, 2024 Board of Supervisors will vote to adopt agenda item (3H): “RESOLUTION NO. 24- RESOLUTION OF THE MENDOCINO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RENEWING A DECLARATION OF A LOCAL EMERGENCY RELATED TO CLIMATE CHANGE”
This resolution is ironic given that Dr. Jenine Miller the Interim Public Health Director, has informed staff that all Public Health meetings are now to be held in person and not over Zoom or Teams. Is the Board aware of this?
In a county as geographically large as ours, this technology has been instrumental in allowing employees (and community partners) from all corners of the county to efficiently do their jobs. Dr. Miller’s decision means that employees not only from north county, the north and south coasts, but those working in even greater distances including out-of-county, must travel up to 3-4 hours one way, wasting the better part of the day and your taxpayer dollars. This is not only a waste of time and money, but also directly opposed to the spirit of this resolution. It is not ‘green’.
Why Dr. Miller made this decision is not known, but I suspect it has to do with control over Public Health employees, many of whom disagree with having a psychologist instead of someone experienced in public health appointed as Interim Director. Since her appointment, there have been 20 senior, experienced, long-term employees who have left public health. This has created a serious loss of institutional knowledge that is dangerous to the public and will take years to remedy. The public health system is like your computer’s operating system that runs in the background. It must be up-to-date so that if a (literal) virus attacks, it can defend us.
I will say this again, Public Health needs a qualified, experienced Public Health Director. Trying to save money by appointing Dr. Miller as Interim Public Health Director is another example of the short-sighted, penny-wise but pound-foolish approach to problems this Board likes to adopt.
Julie Beardsley, MPH
Mendocino County Senior Public Health Analyst
President, SEIU Local 1021
In the same way that the County’s (and CA’s) overreaction to Covid was not based on sound science, neither is this emergency declaration regarding a climate “emergency.” What it continues, however, is the now familiar practice of our state and local governments just declaring an emergency for the purpose of “justifying” new and likely draconian restrictions on how we live. For those who need perspective, Mendocino County and indeed the state of CA can never put a dent in worldwide CO2 levels nor is there any reason to believe we can control the world’s temperature by moving a non-existent CO2 switch. But our governments can cause a lot of destruction by trying to do so. Please, don’t be fooled.
well, you are right about one thing (and probably only one thing). Nothing any individual does in Mendocino county will make a bit of difference. People get mad when you point this out, but that’s the truth of the math.
For clarity – I am the retired Senior Public Health Analyst.
Julie Beardsley, MPH