James Conaway has done Napa County a favor by publishing his new book, The Far Side of Eden, at this time. Along with the defeat of Guy Kay's bid to succeed Mel Varrelman on the Board of Supervisors, the book, its reviews, and the public debate that has followed, particularly as set forth on page B1 of the Napa Valley Register of November 15, have focused everyone's attention on the divisiveness caused by the extremist positions of the local Sierra Club and some of its members.
Reviewing all that has been said, it appears that there has been a recent shift in the political alignment within the County, with the wine industry, the slightly left-of-center environmental moderates, and what Bill Dodd describes as "the community at large" on one side, and the environmental extremists, as exemplified by the local Sierra Club, on the other.
Earlier, the wine industry was somewhat aligned with the Napa's moderate environmentalists, as both supported agriculture over urban development, large lot zoning, and strong land use restrictions in the agricultural preserves. These County land use restrictions and the international success of Napa Valley wines lead to an enormous increase in the market value of these agricultural lands. But the extremists within the local environmental movement failed to reign in their extremism, and were not satisfied with the open space miracle resulting from the wine industry's success, considering that these agricultural lands, only an hour away from San Francisco, remained relatively undeveloped while Northern California's population was doubling.
It now appears that the old left-leaning majority on the Board of Supervisors got blind-sided by the extremists within the local environmental community they believed to be their allies, so it now appears that they have realigned themselves with those who have long believed that the local Sierra Club was the enemy. What has turned the attention and distrust of the public against the local Sierra Club, is the way that a small minority lead by Peter Mennen, its "guilty-rich" financier, Chris Malan, and Harold Kelly (Peter Mennen ran Chris Malan for Supervisor in 2000 and got but 10% of the vote cast.), have high-jacked the local Club, showing a complete lack of concern for the hundreds of "family dreams" they are trampling on. Mel and his majority on the Board appear to have trusted these Sierra Clubbers and their motives for too long and are now embarrassed by their prolonged association with and tolerance of them (Mel blames the Sierra Club for Guy Kay's defeat, for Guy, a long-time member of the Sierra Club, had to direct his campaign away from the positions of that organization, but lost anyway).
All this suggests that rather than accommodating the enviro-extremists any longer, the full political force of the County should be turned against them. The Supervisors should be persuaded not to pass any stream setback ordinance at this time, but instead to do a detailed study of the effect that the Sierra Club's stream setback Initiative, already assured of a place on the March 2004 ballot, will have on the County, both culturally and economically. If those in the new political alignment make the Sierra Club the focus of their scorn over the next 15 months, the Initiative should go down in flames, and the extremists along with it.
Since the Sierra Club can still use the courts to frustrate further vineyard and winery development here, the Supervisors must also use the next 15 months to do an Environmental Impact Report on the cumulative effect of additional vineyards and wineries to be established in the County over the next decade. It also must develop a housing element to its General Plan that will pass State requirements. Only by adding these positive steps to a negative campaign against the Sierra Club and its Initiative over the next 15 month period can the County hope to free itself from the negative affects of the environmental extremists, reunite the County's residents, and set the course for harmonious prosperity in the future. - Anonymous
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