Reports show that the Spaceport America, currently under construction in the New Mexico desert, will employ 2,300 people with a payroll of $300,000,000 within five years and $1 Billion within the decade. Dammit, let’s change Concord’s slogan from, “The City where some families come first,” to “Concord, the Final Frontier!”

Incidentally, did you know that the State of California actually has a Space Authority? And it is already licensing companies beginning to do business with Virgin Galactic’s plans to become a viable commercial space tourist industry. How did we not see this one coming? Blame it on the stupid bullet train, I suppose. How 19th Century is that?

It’s not too late Concord. Let’s get a piece of this while we still can. City Council should appoint Helen Allen as lead conniver and beam her up put to work on this immediately. Between her connections with Shaw and the Navy, Concord could make the dream of an intermodal port located in North Concord an out of this world reality!

Chuck Carpenter is the 2009 Chairman of the Contra Costa County Democratic Party's Central Committee

At the gathering there was a youngster making a cameo appearance who was trying to organize a Democratic club in Northgate High, there was another youngster at U.C. at Davis doing a similar thing. There were also a retired fireman, some small businessmen like me, a young possibly African American woman (I am terrible at guessing people’s ethnicity coming from a family that long called itself an ‘other’ for generations on general principle) as well as some immigrants who had gone through the process to be citizens from possibly Eastern Europe and maybe some from nearer places as well as a collection of retired couples and community organizers who could clearly step in for Santa Claus and a rent-a-granny program if ever there was one.

On the table near the communal tables was the collection point for donations to the Monument Crisis Center which helps to distribute over 1600 food packages monthly to the Monument Corridor, mostly all going to the working poor of South Concord, the district where I also live and shop.

In this setting I had a series of discussions or table talk that one might not typically associate with a gathering of Democrats if you were to go by the divisiveness and biases of the talk radio and trash blogs that abound the net. Here is a smattering of them:

“I hope we can get something done on the health care in a practical sense, I run a small business and it costs me $14,000 for me and my 2 kids.”

“I know what you mean I am in the same situation as a small business and at 59 with just my wife and I, it is $16,000 a year. Remember that as a small business I am paying both sides: as the employee and employer.”

“A single pay system or anything that gets that cost down is fine by me. It is absurd that the costs that are charged at hospitals for those with insurance and those without are so greatly different. Basically it is a rip off of the government who picks up the bills for those without insurance.”

“Even if the preventive stuff: shots for the kids, yearly or semi yearly exams and basic tests were taken care it could cut down on the overall costs…”

” We have to do something but how do we find the balance between providing the coverage for everyone and keeping the money down?”

“These different plans for the Re-use of the Weapon Station, don’t they get it that we should be increasing the value of the homes we have and the neighborhoods we have before going out an making whole separate ones?”

“We can’t be tossing in 6000 people just north of Concord Road, the traffic is going to kill us all.”

“People have got to get their gas cars under control, we need to get into a transportation mindset

“We need to stop demonizing the Republicans, if this victory is to mean something it is that we cannot take it as a time of payback for the all the Karl Rove vicious division that has been cast on us. We have to remember that the Republicans are also the old couple in our bowling league, the couple walking their kid along with us to Church; they want clean air, and clean streets just like us. They are our neighbors not the enemy.”

“Yeah but you look in the eye of their legislators in Sacramento who spit at you on ‘no taxes’ and then who spends a trillion dollars on banks and car companies?”

“Their failed leadership is not the people we have to deal with locally. We deal with our neighbors, ‘one people, indivisible with liberty and justice for all, as the line goes.’”

“How are we going to get these kids to college without going bankrupt?”

“How do we find the balance between helping people like those getting these handout things and creating an enabling system to perpetuate it?”

“The future is transportation without gas cars.”

“The city is changing and we need to have a place to retire to so that our existing homes can be used by the next generation.”

“We need more cops on the street, not more government telling people what to park in their back yards.”

“The real problem with government cost is going to be the retirement benefits that the civil service has. Retirement with full pay is eat us alive as people live longer and retire sooner.”

“But what is a reasonable retirement package?”

There were not a lot of resolutions of the issues of the day, but certainly there was a broad range of views and a genuine desire to look at those issues from all different sides. After a two year campaign for President in which there was a lot of mishandling of the focus of the national debate by all parties involved, it was a most refreshing atmosphere of honest plain talk by regular folks around some excellent cakes that made the diabetic in me wish for the olden days of unrestricted diets.

by Edi Birsan
Easy Does It even in Democratic Party Party…who would have thought?

I have my people take me there early in the mornings on weekends, and we try to leave before the assholes show up with the gangsta dogs, attitude and hangovers. There’s a nice group of dogs that have their people bring them in the afternoons before sunset. Very nice.

Now I hear (finally) that Concord City Council is considering again the request to install lighting at the Paw Patch! At first I thought this was great idea, but then began to think about it. It just doesn’t smell right and here’s why:

1. This just isn’t the time to spend money on such a luxury. Only police dogs deserve that kind of respect.

2. Sadly, spending money on lights for the Paw Patch won’t keep the idiots out and the only thing it will do is better expose the ton of poop that negligent owners don’t bother to clean up. Watch your step.

3. Among the soccer players and seasonal Bocce player sightings, there is enough activity at Newhall to make strolling on leash with your people at dusk a relatively safe and enjoyable experience. Lights not required.

4. One concession Council ought to consider, though, is unlocking the gate so dog owners could park in the gravel area past the Bocce courts to accommodate the many senior pets that visit the Paw Patch. How hard could that be? And it won’t cost anything!

Woof.

Denise Oyama Miller, a transplant to Fremont California from Baltimore Maryland, began watercolor painting in 1992 when she “immediately became hooked on the beautiful transparent colors that are possible in this medium”. Since then Millers works have won many awards and are now in numerous private collections. She presently paints representational images from nature with lush jewel like clarity. Besides Gallery Concord, Miller’s work can be seen at Alexander’s Fine Art in Pleasanton and with The Artist 7, which show as a group throughout Northern California. Check out more at www.deniseoyamamiller.com.

Chloe Trujillo, a world traveler, musician and artist, grew up in an artistic family in Paris France. She studied mathematics, music and art at University. Her art expresses her passions, her memories, and her connections with emotion and spiritual healing. She presents images through dream or personal experiences, some beautiful some dangerous. Her art flows with a style that is musical, sometimes heavy, sometimes classical, but always mysterious. Trujillo’s work can be viewed at: http://chloeinart.com

The Gallery is located at 1765 Galindo (at the corner of Clayton Road), Concord, CA 94520. Free parking is available behind the gallery off Clayton Road. Gallery Hours are Thursday to Sunday, 11 AM to 4 PM (except Holidays). The gallery phone is 925 691-6140. More information about the gallery and it’s artists is on the website www.galleryconcord.org

$50 includes crab, 50/50 raffle, prizes, and DJ Wategate. Proceeds support sports programs at MDHS. Support and recognize the efforts of student athletes from past and present. Provide additional opportunities for local athletes and assist in building school spirit and pride. Call to reserve tickets 671-0703 or RSVP by e-mail. Send Checks made to MDHSSHOF to 1532 Maynard, Concord 94519; Tickets held at door.

From a corporate level, Athens committed cash and staff time to support these causes throughout this holiday season. As individuals, all employees of Athens Administrators are able to participate in several different ways: food, coats or toys. Athens employees also will help box up food at the office located on Stanwell, and in person at the Monument Crisis Center. Athens employees will be caroling at Bayberry as well as bring gifts for the residents.

About the Organizations:
The Monument Crisis Center: Has been helping folks in need for three years. They provide food boxes to around 6,000 individuals a month in the Concord area. This number has risen significantly over the past few months. MCC also provide childcare services, tutoring services, senior citizen activities and domestic violence services. They are always in need of donations and volunteer hours, and we will continue to work with them throughout 2009.

To help the Monument Crisis Center, Athens will be collect food and coats. Group activities will incude boxing food and to send small groups to the Monument Crisis Center to box food there.

Toys for Tots: Established in 1947, and ran by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. Over the years the Marines have distributed more than 370 million toys to more than 173 million children. This is a very worthy cause that we are thrilled to support.

Bayberry Care Center is a local convalescent facility. The committee’s goal is to make this a more festive Holiday season for the resident Seniors. Athens will be caroling at the facility one afternoon in December. Volunteers will collect gifts for the residents including warm socks, lotions, sugar free cookies, etc. So far the response has been tremendous.

President James Jenkins is generously allowing the employees to take time during the work day to participate in these activities. Athens Community Group will continue in 2009 to find ways for our employees to continue the momentum created by this holiday donation drive. Finally, Athens salutes all volunteers supporting Concord’s critical non-profit community service providers this holiday season!

A Constitutional Convention presents a double-edged sword for both California Democrats and Republicans. Once the politicians stop using code words, the two shibboleths in the room, whether elephant- or donkey-sized, are Proposition 13 and 98. These are the prickly issues that get stuck in the throat of any call for reforming the fiscal mess that California budget and finance has become.

On the one hand Republicans could place Prop 98 on the table claiming it locks in unreasonable spending requirements, while Democrats would counter by placing Prop 13 on the table to match, saying it’s a stranglehold on much-needed revenue.

This is the classic unstoppable force v immovable object dilemma and Gordian Knot all rolled into one Constitutional nightmare brought on by plummeting revenues and ever growing expenditures.

Could there be a compromise that pares back education spending to some acceptable baseline and rewrites Proposition 13 as a realistic tax on business property? These are the heavyweight issues standing in the middle of the ring.

Conservative Republicans will still squawk about unchecked spending and Democrats will bemoan the failure of Republicans to “compromise on taxes” but never opt for compromise themselves on spending. And round and round it will go.

California needs to find a Solomon or some other adult in the room that can lead the all Californians to some breakthrough before truly Draconian measures must be put into place.