Byrne After Reading
It is election season once again, and Congressman Jared Huffman allowed the Bohemian to follow him around for a few hours on the campaign trail (“On the Road With Jared,” March 7). Overall, Huffman’s political positions have much to commend—with the exception of his strong opposition to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is having a positive impact on Israeli oppression of the Palestinians and deserves support. It’s an important topic that, sadly, did not make it into the story, which bordered on hagiography.
Nor did the story report that Huffman’s largest campaign donor this season is Honeywell International—yes, that Honeywell, the multinational conglomerate that pollutes our natural resources drilling for oil and gas and has billions of dollars in war industry contracts. And in fourth place as a Huffman donor is CBRE Group, the real estate behemoth with billions on federal contracts that is owned by the family of Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Is there a moral compass guiding Huffman’s career? Maybe, but as the Bohemian reported, his “childhood political hero” is Harry Truman, stalwart of the Kansas City Prendergast Machine, member of the Ku Klux Klan and the man who ordered the dropping of atom bombs on tens of thousands of Japanese children.
Petaluma
C Is for Conservation
We are very happy that Napa County’s Watershed and Oak Woodlands Protection Initiative has been approved for inclusion as Measure C on the June ballot. We particularly like that this was named Measure C, as “C,” to us, stands for conservation, which we favor because our natural resources are not infinite. Those of us who have come together now have a name: Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture. We want to communicate to the citizens of Napa County that there are many of us in the grower and vintner community who support this initiative. Our focus is on stewardship of our watershed, and we recognize that Measure C gives the voters the opportunity to ensure that our watershed is protected now and into the future.
The Agricultural Preserve came into existence in 1968. Its 50th anniversary is being celebrated in many ways this year. Though it was considered very controversial and legally uncertain, it has weathered all tests and has protected Napa Valley for agriculture for the last half century.
Measure C aims to offer protection to our agricultural watershed. Our watershed is the source of most of the water we use. We, as members of the vintner and grower community, understand how important a healthy watershed is to the citizens of Napa County, to our natural environment and to the perpetuation of sustainable agriculture. To the latter point, we know that we have a right to farm, but it is our obligation to farm responsibly.
As with the Ag Preserve, the question to be asked is: Will the Napa Valley itself be better if this measure is passed? We strongly think so.
Napa County
Write to us at [email protected].
