Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for April 15, 2025
Spotswood summed up ‘Hands Off’ protest well
Kudos to Marin IJ political columnist Dick Spotswood for his commentary published April 9 with the headline “For America to recover, bubbles must be burst.”
He did an excellent job of reporting on the recent “Hands Off” protest at the Marin Civic Center. It was a major event in our community and across the country.
Except for one large upside down flag being waved by a distressed participant, I also noticed the absence of our flag. At this event, we all stood as patriots. The flag stands for democracy and it belongs to all of us. Let’s take it back.
— Spencer Sias, San Anselmo
MWPA committee zeroed in on financial oversight
In a recently published Marin Voice (“Toothless citizens’ oversight committees should be dropped,” April 4), authors Ron Arlas and Stephen Keese claimed that the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority COC “chose to reduce its own scope and powers.” As the inaugural chair of that committee, I know that is incorrect.
I can attest to the various challenges we faced in the initial stages of this groundbreaking, new agency. In our early meetings, a few members believed that our powers extended far beyond the financial oversight expressly prescribed in the voter-approved language of the joint-powers authority.
Attempts to expand citizen authority were duplicative of the powers granted to the MWPA Board of Directors. As COC chair, I strongly objected to any attempt to exceed the powers previously approved by Marin County voters.
The authority’s structure already provides ample oversight. Proposed projects are vetted publicly at several levels. Before proposals reach the board, senior MWPA staff experts in mitigation strategies hold key stakeholder meetings to ensure full transparency through community engagement.
In addition, the authority maintains a comprehensive public-facing system, allowing access to review and comment on all matters, in accordance with the Brown Act.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the 17 elected board members to approve work plans. Allowing oversight committee members, with no expertise, to influence professional strategies would have set a dangerous precedent, undermining the work of fire professionals and elected officials.
The COC’s financial oversight has been crucial in ensuring public funds are spent as intended. Our latest report — the fourth — will be released soon. It describes the extensive and complex inquiries we performed during our review. I encourage the public to read it. The depth of our efforts is much greater than simply skimming the audit, as the Marin Voice authors erroneously suggested.
— Larry Minikes, San Rafael
Administration needs to change focus right away
What happened to the old version of the Republican Party? I grew up in the 1950s. Many of my friends did too. As children, most of us were aware that there were two political parties, Republicans and Democrats. I never heard any name-calling or bullying among the two parties. Our elected representatives appeared to be decent human beings behaving like educated and professional grown-ups.
I always felt a deep love for my country and the American flag. Each morning in school, we all said the pledge of allegiance. I enjoyed singing the anthem and listening to our country’s beautiful music. There was a bonding among the people. Now, it seems that this has mostly disappeared.
We are a hugely divided country. Many people show little respect for one another. Yes, it’s OK that we all have our own opinions, but what happened to behaving respectfully? Now we have President Donald Trump running our country and showing little respect for many living in this country. He has allowed the removal of benefits for veterans, as well as the restriction of funding for education and health care. That’s not the answer.
The majority of our population is represented by hardworking middle-class people. I am among that population. There are also people that work very hard and live from paycheck to paycheck, yet still do not have enough to support their families. Then there are the people who are homeless and have no money or medical benefits to maintain their health.
We should be addressing those problems now, not trying to collect more tax dollars (which I doubt will go to the people in need). We need to refocus and bring those important issues back.
— Jacqueline Louis, Greenbrae