A RACIST? WHO, ME? (AMENDED)

DECLINING CIVILITY

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent economic collapse and the civil unrest as a result of George Floyd’s death under the knee of the Minneapolis police officer, I’ve seen a significant change in civility in our society.

IT’S NOT JUST FACEBOOK

I won’t use the shift of tone on social media alone for this observation.  Every single night for the last couple months on the news - any news - we’ve seen the breakdown of civility all across the country, which is certainly exacerbated by the fear of the illness and compounded by so many folks being out of work and all the stress that alone brings.

FRACTURING OF OLD RELATIONSHIPS

What I have observed, however, is the willingness of some people to engage in nasty, vindictive, accusatory discussions with folks who express a differing opinion on some of the pithy social issues of the time.  I admit that I base this largely on my own personal experiences recently, but also of experiences shared - or that I have observed - as it affected others.  Sadly, some of those discussions have been between me and friends - not just Facebook friends, (I expect rancor from some on Facebook - it goes with the turf) but actual, honest-to-goodness long-time friends.  These real friends are those with whom we have never had these kinds of conversations in the past.  Our bond has been based on a shared life experience - growing up together and maintaining close relationships over the years.  Never in the past have we found the need to sit down and have a serious discussion about race relations in our country - it just never came up.  The discussions we shared revolved around the fun times in our lives, our siblings and parents and shared friendships with others.  We enjoyed hearing with great joy about the lives of their children and their accomplishments and families.  Never did I find the need to say to any of those friends, “I don’t know any black people, nor do I understand what their lives are like.”  It just never came up…. until now.

DEVALUING MY OPINIONS

I have come to realize lately that, as an old white guy, raised in a life nearly completely devoid of contact with black people, my opinions are being challenged by friends and others for what they apparently feel is my inadequate background and understanding of  racial diversity issues, thus negating my opinion.  Since almost all of those people do not really know all of my background their condemnation of my opinions are, at the very least, disappointing.  We ALL are entitled to opinions on issues, whether we have lived them or not.

A SHORT PRIMER

So, let’s talk about my limited background with black people.  Although I have known many Latino and Asian people in both my personal and professional life,  never knew a black person until I entered the United States Army late in 1963 - shortly after John F. Kennedy was murdered.  In Basic Training I had no “buddies” that were black, although there were a few in my training company.  In my first duty station, in the Army Pictorial Center in Long Island City, Queens, New York, one of my very best friends for the short 6 months I spent there was Hayes Manning, a black man from California.  He had a college degree.  His father went to Harvard and his mother attended Radcliffe.  His Aunt Joyce was married George Wein, the producer of the Newport Jazz Festival.  We used to jump on the subway and go to their home on Central Park West and just hang out.  We met legendary jazz musicians who wandered through.  That was the first place I ever smelled marijuana.  During that summer of 1964 there were riots in Harlem so Hayes and I, ignorently, decided to jump on the subway and go see what it was all about.  Huge mistake!  We stepped onto the city streets, recognized this was like a pre-lynch scene in an old “B” western movie and immediately left - both of us petrified from the experience.  He became a lifelong friend until his death in his early 50s.

FLIGHT SCHOOL

During my time at the Pictorial Center I applied for, and was accepted into, the fledgling Warrant Officer Rotary Wing Flight Training program - the  Army was gearing up for the need for more “bus drivers” in Vietnam - and spent the last few months of 1964 and early into 1965 attending an abbreviated Officer Candidate School and learning to fly helicopters in northern Texas.  I had no black friends during that time.  Although an eye ailment eliminated me from flight school, I was reassigned to the Advanced School at Fort Rucker (one of those bases the angry masses now scream about re-naming) and spent the remaining part of my enlistment at that location as a company clerk while my classmates completed their training.  87 men in my class (of the 142 who began) graduated in July of 1965 and all of them, including the 80 assigned to the legendary First Cavalry (Airmobile) Division at Fort Benning, GA (another of those bases the screamers would have us rename), were in Vietnam by September.  Six of those men did not make it through their first tour, having been killed in action in Vietnam.

THE WATTS RIOTS AND CHANGE

During my time at Fort Rucker the Watts Riots occurred back home in Los Angeles.  My very best friend in life was a rookie cop with the LAPD at that time and was involved in that chaos.  In fact, he was doubly involved because he was also in the Army National Guard and his unit was activated and assigned to riot control at the very location he had been working at with the LAPD.  Yes, I was interested.  And, I saw that societal event change things at Fort Rucker.  Before that event men of all races would mingle and enjoy each other’s company in our company Day Room - a place with television, pool tables and a library plus comfortable chairs - a kind of living room for our barracks.  When the Watts riots occurred I saw a polarization occur - blacks sat with blacks and whites sat with whites.  When the television showed blacks looting stores in LA, the blacks in the Day Room would stand and cheer.  When the National Guard fired  on them, the whites would cheer.  Nothing was the same on that post from that time forward in the summer of 1965.  In fact, three weeks before I mustered out in December, there was a cross burned on the lawn of a black sergeant, where he and his family lived in his on-post housing domicile.  Keep in mind that Fort Rucker is located in the armpit of the South, where the “N Word” was used in casual conversation by the civilian populace.  In Dothan - the biggest town near our post - there were drinking fountains marked for “coloreds” and black folks were required to buy tickets at the local theater on the outside of the ticket booth and take an outside stairway to the balcony - they could not sit with the white folks downstairs.  Yes, this was a tough time to be a black person in the South.

TENSION IN THE SOUTH

As my best friend from flight school and I drove from the Primary School outside Fort Worth, Texas to the Advanced School in Alabama we drove past Philadelphia, Mississippi, the location where, just a few months earlier, three civil rights workers were murdered.  Also on our route we crossed over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, the day before the big march.  We were clueless about that stuff, but did wonder why there were 200 State Police cars staged on the north side of that bridge.  We found out the next day after we arrived at Fort Rucker.

THE ’N-WORD”

Following my military service I worked for a national insurance company in progressively responsible assignments that took me to Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Hartford, Houston, Hartford and San Francisco over a period of seven years, until I resigned and we returned home to Southern California and bought the home we’ve lived in for more than 46 years.  During that time, and in subsequent jobs I’ve had, I had very limited experience working with black people.  I had no long-term relationships with any black people during that time.  The only significant experience I had with black people was during my time in Houston when we attempted to hire young black women - graduates with liberal arts degrees from all-black Texas Southern University - into entry-level clerical jobs to which they had applied.  We were unsuccessful.  These women showed up woefully unprepared for the jobs and it is likely that the societal chasm they found themselves in made it hard - impossible - to achieve success.  My first day at that office, where I held a senior management position, I heard the “N-Word” spoken in casual conversation by the woman who worked for me and did most of the applicant preliminary screening.  That was the last time the word was spoken in my presence.  Regardless, it was indicative of the systemically hostile environment that young black women were exposed to in that office.  I tried to overcome that terrible bias by working hard with supervisors and managers, but was unsuccessful in single-handedly buffing off a century of racial bias.

NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS

In my last assignment with the insurance company I worked in San Francisco and lived in Concord, in the east bay.  Our next door neighbors were a mixed race couple.  He was a black man and a Captain in the United States Navy.  We established a relationship that has lasted for nearly a half century.  Both parents are gone, but we still have a relationship with their kids.

RACIAL DIVERSITY WAS NEVER A CONSIDERATION

In subsequent jobs I had virtually zero exposure to black men and women.  The companies I worked with were mostly white, with some Asians and Latinos in the population.  I did not seek them out because of that lack of racial diversity - I just never considered it in my job searches.  Most of those assignments involved some part of the recruitment process.  We never specifically targeted any racial group when trying to fill positions, although occasionally we would hire black people.  When I struck out on my own early in the 1980s and created a consulting practice that specialized primarily in Executive Search, the issue of racial diversity never came up.  In no case did a client company charge me with finding a woman or man of color - nor did we sort any out that appeared as a result of that search.

NO RACIAL EMPHASIS ON THE BLOG

During the past couple of decades when I wrote this blog and wrote commentaries elsewhere, none involved specific issues of race.  During this time I got to know a couple black Costa Mesa officials.  Judge Karen Robinson was a terrific leader, our mayor for a time and is an effective judge.  Rick Francis was a really good Assistant City Manager and just a good guy.  But that’s about it.  My focus has not been about racial issues.  Is that good or bad?  It is what it is.  

NOTE: A couple days after I published this piece an old friend, who has followed this blog from the very beginning, reminded me that I did, indeed, address race.  He reminded me that in my frequent jousts with another blogger in town who has written extensively on racial issues - I called him a racist, but he defined himself as a "racialist" - I did take the issue on to refute some of his putrid prose.  He has shriveled into insignificance locally, but still fouls the ether with his drumbeat of intolerance.  Sorry for the misstatement - he is something most are happy to push back in to the corners of our memories.

A LACK OF DEPTH, BUT NO REMORSE

So, as I read back over this essay I realize that, although I’m a pretty smart fella, I DO NOT have a background with any depth of experience with black folks.  I DID see how blacks were treated in the deep south in the 1960s - a pretty awful experience for them.  I have had a solid relationship with a couple black friends, but none lately.  A friend asked me the other day if I had any black friends - my answer was NO - not counting the Concord neighbors mentioned above since we only hear from them once a year.  As I contemplated that fact I realized that I don’t have any particular remorse about not having any close black friends - I don’t have feelings about it one way or the other.  Does that make me a racist?  If you think so I’d like to hear about it.  Because I’m ambivalent on the issue, am I considered a racist?  Because I’m VERY angry about the behavior of the current crop of demonstrators, those who are threatening to burn down our society, do you think I’m a racist?  How is it wrong for me to want to protect those I love and their personal wealth?  I don’t get it.  Is it wrong for me to refuse to just step back and say to those rioters “Go ahead - take everything I’ve worked for just because somewhere in your history - four generations ago - there may be slavery in your ancestry.”?

I LEARNED, BUT NEED MORE

Recently I listened on the radio to an excellent discussion moderated by my friends, John Stephens and Tom Johnson, with four black men of a variety of backgrounds, but each with a local connection to my city, and came away with a much better understanding of their plight.  I have a better understanding of “systemic racism” and want to learn more.  I understand a little bit better about how things like red-lining and inequitable school funding have so adversely affected black men and women in this country and I want to learn more - to more fully understand the issue and what possible solutions there might be.  If you feel the urge to educate me on these issues, go ahead.  I’m a good listener and sometimes actually ask good questions.   Otherwise, please keep your caustic, holier-than-thou comments to yourself.  If you don’t like what I write, just don’t read it.  If you think you can offer constructive observations, go ahead.

…BUT, DON’T THINK YOU CAN JUST TAKE IT!

But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to have my state, California, decide to use my tax dollars to pay billions (trillions?) of dollars in reparations to every black man and woman in this state for alleged mistreatment of people of their race generations ago.  There is a move afoot to create a commission to study that very issue and I don’t like it one bit!  I didn’t do it and I don’t want to pay for it.  If that happens it will be the final straw.  It will mean to me that California - the state I love for her natural beauty and as the home to so many of our relatives - will become unlivable for a guy with conservative values.  I will just pack up and move elsewhere - look out, Texas!  

IS CHANGE NECESSARY?  PROBABLY…

Do I want to see that systemic racism eliminated?  Of course!  Do I want to hand the fruits of my lifetime of labor over to someone who just wants it because he thinks he’s entitled to it?  Nope - not gonna happen!  If a mob shows up on my porch demanding possession of my home and all I own, I will do all within my power to resist that criminal act.  When I say all, I mean ALL!  

LIKE IT OR NOT, THERE IT IS.

So, that’s a couple thousand words about how I feel on this issue.  I don’t really care if you like it or not - it is what it is. You cannot comment here - comments are disabled.  If you want to rant about it you must go to my Facebook page HERE.  Or, you can communicate with me privately. It’s your choice.  

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, MY FRIENDS

In any event, I wish you all well and hope you are having a wonderful Independence Day holiday.  How’s that for irony - Independence Day in the middle of a catastrophic pandemic, economic collapse and social unrest not seen in this country for more than 40 years?  Oh, well…

Stephens Holds Fireworks Discussion Tonight

LET THE ROOKIE KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS
Just a quick reminder that rookie councilman John Stephens is holding a discussion on Fireworks in the City of Costa Mesa tonight beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers.  He's looking for input from the community on their thoughts about Independence Day fireworks in the city - a controversial subject, for sure.

CITY PRETTY EVENLY SPLIT
The last time the residents were asked to sign in officially on this issue was a couple decades ago, when the vote was nearly a dead tie, for and against.

OUT OF CONTROL
Youth sports groups have lobbied long and hard for the continuation of this "tradition" in our community.  It allows boosters to gather plenty of funding over a very short period of time to support the activities of their youth groups.  Of course, in recent years, this tradition has gotten out of control, with Fireworks being permitted, not just on Independence Day, but for many days and nights before the actual holiday.  That practice - approved by the previous City Council - has caused pet owners throughout the city to become angry because of the trauma it causes their pets.  Seniors and Veterans have also registered their complaints.

MASKING ILLEGAL FIREWORKS
And, of course, the so-called "safe and sane" fireworks often mask the use of illegal fireworks - those that make our city sound like a war zone for several nights.  And there's no denying the potential danger of misuse of fireworks, both legal and illegal.

Y'ALL COME!
So, come one, come all to express your views to a new council member, eager to take the pulse of the community on this issue.

Independence Day Holiday After Action Report

PUBLIC SAFETY AFTER ACTION REPORT

The "after action" report, prepared by the Costa Mesa Police Department and the Costa Mesa Fire Department, covering their activities and the results thereof over the multiple-day Independence Day holiday this year is available at the City website, HERE.

CHARTS SUMMARIZE
The following two charts summarize some of the activities over the holiday.  Click on the image to enlarge if necessary.

READ THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Please take a few minutes to read the comprehensive report.  It provides not only a clear overview of this year's activities, but also a list of 13 recommendations for future years.  That list appears here (click on the image to enlarge it):

KUDOS TO OUR PUBLIC SAFETY FOLKS

Thanks to the men and women of the Costa Mesa Fire Department and the Costa Mesa Police Department for their diligence again over the past Independence Day holiday.  The fireworks exploded for a couple weeks before and a couple weeks after the already too long period allowed by law.  Pets were terrorized and, I am told, veterans suffered, too.

MAYBE, JUST MAYBE...
Perhaps, one day the residents of this city will come to their senses and celebrate this holiday with one, big community fireworks extravaganza instead of permitting the so-called safe and sane fireworks to be fired-up for several days.  Next week the holiday falls on Monday, so I won't be surprised if we see a week of safe and sane fireworks, culminating on that day.  Too bad for us all.

And The Rockets Red Glare...

INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Tonight, as the bombs are already bursting in air, I want to remind you all that illegal fireworks are a major problem in our city and those caught using them are subject to fines or imprisonment.

ZERO TOLERANCE
The Independence Day holiday is fast approaching.  Today, June 30th, residents of Costa Mesa could begin purchasing so-called "safe and sane" fireworks from the many booster booths throughout the city.  Those sales will continue through 9:00 p.m , Saturday, July 4th.  Here is a flyer to remind you of the rules for using fireworks in Costa Mesa.  (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

 SAFETY TIPS
And here is a message from the Costa Mesa Police Department outlining more important information for this holiday. (Click on the image to enlarge it)

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEFS
And, here's a video message from our new Police Chief, Rob Sharpnack and our Fire Chief, Dan Stefano.


HAVE A GREAT INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Have a wonderful holiday.  Be safe.  Be respectful of your neighbors, their pets and those with military backgrounds for whom the explosion of illegal fireworks might cause significant discomfort.  And, remember what we're celebrating...

Happy Birthday, America

Fireworks, Veteran's Museum, COIN Hearing And More

A RIGHEIMER-LESS MEETING
The Costa Mesa City Council will meet again on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 for their most recent attempt at governing our city.  This meeting, I'm told, will be short at least one member.  Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer will be vacationing.  As a result of his absence, the 2015-2016 Municipal Budget WILL NOT be on this agenda.  Instead, I'm told it will be discussed and voted on during a Special Council Meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2015.  The appropriations element will be on the agenda this time, though.

READ THE AGENDA
So, here's what we can look forward to at the meeting, which begins at 5:45 - before too many people can make it home from work to show up for the Public Comments segment.  The full agenda can be found HERE.  For the first time in a very long time there is no Closed Session preceding the regular meeting.

CONSENT CALENDAR
I'll bounce through the seventeen (17) Consent Calendar items, only mentioning the ones that interest me, or that I think might interest you.  As you know, these could all be voted upon with one vote and no discussion of the items.  If anyone wishes to discuss any of the items, they may be pulled and trailed to the end of the meeting.

THE WARRANT
Item #3 is Warrant #2537, HERE, and includes expenditures of nearly $4 million.  Here are a few items that caught my interest in the order they appear on the Warrant:

• Clean Street - $58,524.98 - Street Sweeping Svcs, Apr. 15
• Complete Landscape Care - $58,891.00 - Landscape Svcs May 15
• G4S Secure Solutions, Inc. -$60,901.18 - Jail Facilities Svs - Apr. 15
• Jones & Mayer - $152,468.94 - Legal Svcs, various
• Mobile Home Specialists - $25,489.00 - 1750 Whittier #73 and #16
• Newport Mesa Unified School District - $153,774.90 - Developer Fees for April 2015
• Newport Mesa Unified School District - $16,782.30 - Rental Jim Scott Stadium (13 times)
• Government Staffing Services, Inc - $8,833.75 - Temp svcs, Proj Mgr and Mgnt Analyst
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $14,505.28 - Legal svcs
• Quickstart Intelligence - $5,095.00 - IT Prof. Dev. plus server class
• Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth - $8,119.00 - Legal, various
• City of Huntington Beach - $19,530.00 - Helicopter svcs Apr. 15
• Civil Source - $16,300.00 - Staff Sprt Park Proj. 2014 (!), Industrial Way Staff Support
• Christine Prada - $15,000.00 - Settlement
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $15,144.10 - Legal
• Lilley Planning Group - $25,400.00 - Planning Consultant Svcs Apr. 15
• Dougherty + Dougherty Architects - $14,600.00 - Int. Design Consulting Apr. 15
• Government Staffing Services, Inc. - $4,317.50 - Temp Svcs. Proj Mgr
• Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. - $12,455.00 - Bldg Insp. Svcs, Apr 15

That amount for Jones & Mayer includes a few Rehab. Home issues and much more.  That, plus other legal services on this warrant run to nearly $200,000.

AND MORE...
Item #10, HERE, is the extension of agreements with five consulting firms for Building Safety and Fire Prevention Plan Review and Inspections Services for a little over $500,000.

Item #12, HERE, is the adoption of plans and specifications for the Greenville-Banning Channel Improvement Project to the tune of $5.6 million.

Item #15, HERE, is the recommendation by staff for the council to appoint both the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce as members of the Bikeways and Walkability Committee.  Each organization would appoint a member.

 Item #16, HERE,  is the request to cancel the August 18, 2015 City Council meeting, as has been done the past couple years.

Item #17, HERE, is the extension of helicopter services with the City of Huntington Beach for three more years for a maximum of $300,000 per year.   I thought one phrase in the staff report was interesting.  It said, "Since 2011, the ASU has provided Costa Mesa with acceptable coverage by responding to and assisting on calls for service when appropriate."  Somehow, "acceptable" seems like a low bar.

That's the end of the Consent Calendar... I really don't expect any of the items to be pulled, but you never know.

COIN HEARING ON CMCEA CONTRACT
Next up are Public Hearings, which are supposed to begin by 7:00 p.m.  Public Hearing #1, HERE,  is the COIN hearing - the first of two required by that ordinance - for the adoption of the side letter agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding by the City and the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA).  Both items are attachments to the staff report.  The second hearing will take place on July 7, 2015.

EXPEDITING ROOFTOP SOLAR PERMITTING
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is the Expedited Permitting Procedures For Small Residential Rooftop Solar Systems, apparently required by Section 5850.5(a) of the California Government Code and provides municipal codification of the procedures already being followed in Costa Mesa.

APPROPRIATIONS LIMIT ADOPTION
Public Hearing #3, HERE, is the Adoption of Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Appropriations Limit.  Normally, this item would be hear simultaneously with the adoption of the new budget, but since the budget will NOT be
heard and discussed Tuesday night because the Mayor Pro Tem will be absent, this mandatory issue will be heard this week.  This action is required by state law and the City is well below the maximum limit established by the formula.  It's a no-brainer that will likely take five minutes or less.


GROUP HOME ORDINANCE CLEAN UP
Public Hearing #4, HERE, cleans up some technical issues involved with our Group Home Ordinance - 14-13.  This shouldn't take much time and shouldn't generate much discussion, but one never knows with this issue.  It's such an incendiary subject that we just never know what to expect when it's discussed in public meetings.

FIREWORKS SAFETY LETTER
New Business #1, HERE, is the discussion of the July 4th Public Safety Letter from the City Council and the Public Safety Departments to the community.  Most readers know I'm not a fan of fireworks in our city - unless in the form of a professional fireworks show.  And, once again, pressure from youth sports groups for cash outweighs public safety, so we will apparently have pet-terrorizing fireworks in our city not just on Saturday, July 4th, but on the 2nd and 3rd, too.  Below is the flyer that will be distributed.  It will also be distributed in Spanish. Click image to enlarge.

PLEDGE FOR VETERAN'S MUSEUM
New Business #2, HERE, is the discussion of Nick Berardino's recent request to the City of Costa Mesa to provide $25,000 toward a New Veteran's Museum on the Orange County Fairgrounds.  Most of the funding will come from the OC Fair Board, but Berardino asked the City to match a pledge by the Orange County Employees Association for $25,000.  Personally, I think that amount is low, but that's just me, a veteran, talking.

OUTTA THERE BEFORE 10 P.M.
Unless there are lots of Public Comments trailed to the end, or somebody pulls something from the Consent Calendar, that will be it for the evening.  So many variables - including the fact that Righeimer alone usually sucks up an hour during meetings with his little pontifications - so it's hard to guess what time this meeting will end.  I KNOW it won't be like last weeks Planning Commission meeting, which ended at 1:40 a.m.   So, closing my eyes and aiming at the dart board, I suspect this meeting will end at 9:32 p.m.!  Hold me to it.

My Independence Day...

HOPE YOUR HOLIDAY WAS FUN
We here at A Bubbling Cauldron hope you all had a safe and sane Independence Day this year.  We spent our holiday where we could grab a taste of small town Americana and not have to worry about a week of illegal fireworks ruining our sleep and causing neighborhood pets to become apoplectic.

NO FIREWORKS, PERIOD!
We journeyed to the small Central Coast community of Cambria, where being found even possessing fireworks - "legal" or illegal - carries with it a MINIMUM $2,000 fine!  As a result, during our several-day visit we heard NOT ONE firework being discharged - except on the evening of the 4th, when the entire community gathers to watch a professional fireworks show being shot off from the beach.

THEY MANAGE WITHOUT THEM
I couldn't help but contemplate how this little community - right at 6,000 permanent residents - manages to get along without so-called "safe and sane" fireworks when we here in Costa Mesa seem to be unable to even contemplate life without them.

ONE DAY OF CELEBRATION
They condense the celebration into one day - July 4th.  They have an all-day party in a large municipal park right at the beach.  Thousands of residents and visitors to this tourist-oriented town gather for food, music and fun.

FRIENDLY COMPETITION
There are waiter/waitress races, where teams from local restaurants have a great time competing against each other for bragging rights for a year.

PIES
There are pie-eating contests sponsored by a local establishment famous world-wide for their Olallieberry Pies.  These contests are a hoot!  Contestants must eat a pie hands-free with the ten-minute time limit with no assistance except from a "scraper", a person who helps keep the pie stacked in front of the eaters.  So, it's face-down, gobbling the pie until not a morsel is left on the table.

FACE DOWN AND FURIOUSLY EATING
The boys and girls and the women eat small pies but the men must devour a full-size FOUR POUND Olallieberry pie.  The record, set last year, is five minutes, eleven seconds - set by the fellow who finished a distant second this year.  The winner this year finished well over seven minutes.

QUEEN COVERED IN PIE
In the women's competition, contestants from the Miss California Mid-State Fair competition - including the the recently-crowned Queen, Sabrina Dunn from nearby Templeton - participated.  In fact, Dunn won the pie eating contest!  Last year's queen, and a runner-up this year, Eloida Moore from Cambria, also competed.  When was the last time you saw a beauty queen with pie jammed up her nostrils?

FOOD
There were stands selling hot dogs, hamburgers, tri-tip sandwiches, drinks, strawberry shortcake, corn on the cob, pies and Independence Day baubles as fundraising events for a variety of community needs.

FUN
There were families making a real celebration of it, with pop-up shade shelters, coolers full of food, beverages and lots of fun and games.

MUSIC
There was music from the permanent bandstand from 9:00 a.m. until the fireworks began more than half-a-day later.

A PERFECT DAY FOR A FIREWORKS SHOW
The highlight, of course, is the discharge of the professional fireworks show that begins after dark - this year it started at 9:15 - and continues for around 45 minutes, or until all the shells have been fired out over the ocean.  Friday was an overcast day - as is the case most days on the Central Coast this time of the year when the intense heat inland Paso Robles environs pulls a blanket of fog ashore along the coast.  Sometimes that fog lingers into the night and the fireworks are just colorful puffs in the clouds.  This year, though,  at sundown the fog - right on cue - withdrew a few miles offshore and the celebration proceeded under a cloudless sky with a chunk of moon looking down.

INCREASED SAFETY PRESENCE AT HOME
In the meantime, back here at home our public safety folks were out in force, trying to protect the city.  According to sources, Fire Chief Dan Stefano had a few extra staffers on duty for the day and night.  He had three arson investigators teamed up with police officers for much of the night.   I'm told we had approximately half our police force on duty on Friday - including Chief Tom Gazsi, who was in uniform, on the streets trying to maintain peace on a day when the combination of patriotic revelry, safe and sane fireworks masking the use of illegal stuff and too much alcohol created some difficult times - including a tragic event where an allegedly-drunk woman crashed into two people who were in the middle of West Wilson Street setting off fireworks, HERE.  According to sources, both those young people remain in a trauma unit with serious injuries.

GOD BLESS AMERICA
So, neighbors, I hope you paused to recall what this holiday is supposed to be all about.  Remember the sacrifices that men and women have made over the years to create this wonderful country, and to defend it when challenged.  Now take a moment to watch this short video of Kate Smith singing God Bless America, a song written nearly 100 years ago.... watch as the video plays - you'll likely see some familiar faces.  Ms. Smith...