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Xmas

Xmas 2004

Christmas 2004

 

Dear friends, neighbors, and foes,

 

May the Christmas Season find you happy and the New Year add good health and prosperity.

 

My sister Marlene enters the sixth year of her successful kidney/pancreas transplant, which “technically” has removed her from being a juvenile onset “diabetic”.   Her leg doctors continue adjusting her prosthetic leg and her prosthetic eye makers has promised to continue making her plastic eye, even though he is leaving the field.  When she can, Marlene continues going to the YMCA, but her newest pursuit reflects her deepening interest and study of current affairs, world health, and politics.  No, she is not a candidate for office, but she has been appointed to the San Francisco Grand Jury. Look out political hacks and cronies, Marlene’s about to clean house. And yes, she did vote for the thoughtful presidential candidate, who supported stem cell research, so that fewer Christian and non-Christian children entering this world need suffer through what she has with her decades of diabetes.

 

For me the past year saw a culmination of events that often happen to the 100,000 + mile automobile.  In jumping that odometer hurdle many cars suffer: a rock in the windshield – I got a basketball game poke in the eye that still hasn’t healed properly; a couple flat tires – I popped a hernia as a five year old and the same spot blew out traveling the bumpy roadways of life this year; worn down shock absorber — x-rays revealed that my continued one-sided, painful and lumpy ride resulted from wearing down my cartilage suspension system cushioning my left hip.  Replacing shock absorbers gets greasy while replacing a hip is bloody, so Chicken Little me is pursuing everything from pills, yoga, and workouts to prolong or fix the hip’s drivability. 

 

Hoping that hope is on the way, early stem cell cartilage re-growth is encouraging.   California’s voters were perceptive enough to bond $3 billion for stem cell research (120 times the $24.8 million this administration’s 2003 human embryonic stem cell budget proposed spending on prolonging and enhancing lives).  And yes, I too voted for the candidate who supported embryonic stem cell research that would save lives, reduce suffering, and allow folks like me to practice their Christian good works rather than just mouth hollow but well-marketed , repetitious phrases about helping the world.

 

Due to needed repairs, I will miss a fourth consecutive Habitat Build, right when the world so much needs Americans building homes and lives, and thereby help stem the unprecedented evil will an historically epic portion of the world is casting upon America due to our myopic policies.   So, in this Christmas spirit of giving, I hope you consider filling in for me and volunteer your time and or money to Habitat.   Volunteering for Habitat is as close as you will get, in a 2-3 week stint, to being a productive Peace Corps volunteer.  And if you are a fundamental Christian, you must have read those Biblical lines in which Christ asks us to walk in the sandals of the meek, humble, and suffering, which is the dusty path some Peace Corps volunteers and Habitat builders travel.  Had we had decades of a million yearly PCVs in the field, as Kennedy wanted, we would not have anything near today proliferation of terror cells, terrorists, and America hating erupting throughout today’s world. Habitat offers a chance to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, which seems to be what too many American believe is all the world’s declining super power needs to do to fulfill its responsibility to lead the world to a more adult, healthy, smart, and responsible future.  Habitat is a chance to win hearts and minds, so that tomorrow’s American soldiers are less exposed to maiming, killing, and its costly aftermath.  You can contact Habitat at:  http://www.habitat.org/getinv/

 

You can review more of my policy thoughts on Peace Corps and Habitat and Iraq at:  http://dwaynehunn.hypermart.net/peace_corps.htm

 

There are not many more Christmas gifts one can give that tops helping build a house for those in need of basic shelter.   Stemming hatred by performing works of good will and learning about the world’s true needs is what Christ and all other religious leaders I know of were all about, right?

 

Much of my work this year revolved around educating for the future development of the 85-acre Canalways parcel. If you are interested in the politics and headaches of land development in places like affluent Marin County, you can get plenty of information from www.canalway.hypermart.net

 

With political people involvement bubbling to historic levels, I had increased opportunities to become re-involved on discussions on the initiative, national initiative, and national policy issues.  Some of that work is listed at: www.peopleslobby.hypermart.net  and my web site:

www.dwaynehunn.biz

 

To all my Excel customers, thanks.  With increasing concentration in telecommunications, as in all our industries, Excel faces difficulties accessing today’s broad band telecommunications lines and, consequently, struggles to remain one of the leading telecommunication companies that forced down phone rates years ago.

 May you have happiness and good health through the coming year.

 “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be expected.”  (Luke 12:48)

 LaGrange. Georgia. Carter Habitat Build, 2003.

Previous pictures from Fiji and Sri Lanka.

http://dwaynehunn.biz/Christmas%202004.htm  old site

 

 

 

 

 

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AWSC, Coverage

An army of volunteers for peace

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Thursday, January 23, 2003

Marin Independent Journal – Marin Voice

Dwayne Hunn

Dwayne Hunn, IJ

Osama, Saddam and their followers are bad actors and will get what they deserve, probably mostly from our superb military.

In the meantime, it would be healthy to hear politicians, opinion leaders and parties lay out a  long-term solution to the terror these actors breed, before we get too deeply entwined in war’s bloody human and financial costs.  The solution lies in a Sargent’s quote:

If the Pentagon’s map is more urgent, the Peace Corp’s is, perhaps, in the long run the most important… What happens in India, Africa, and South America — whether the nations where the Peace Corps works succeed or not — may well determine the balance of peace.

In the 60’s and 70’s then New York Senator Jacob Javits proposed a peace army of a million young men. Labor leaders advocated an overseas service corps of 100,000. The Peace Corps’ first Deputy Director, Warren Wiggins, said a Peace Corps of 30,000 — 100,000 was needed.

The Peace Corps mean budget from 1965-69 was $108,000,000, with its mean number of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in the field numbering 13,947 with a mean cost per volunteer of $7,743.

On the other hand, for that same period the Vietnam War Budget was $16,260,000,000. The mean number of soldiers we kept in Viet Nam was 413,300. The MEAN cost per soldier was $39,370.

If just ten percent of the Vietnam War budget, $1,626,000,000, had been put into the Peace Corps budget to get Americans to work “the toughest job you’ll ever love that REALLY does good,” then an additional 209,996 mean Peace Corps volunteers could have served during that period.

Imagine if we had continued inspiring 55,000 American volunteers each year to serve in countries where clean water doesn’t run easily, chalk boards are luxuries, people house themselves in mud, clay and cow dung padded walls, education is treasured, health and food is too often wanting.

Instead, since its 1961 inception only slightly over 150,000 PCVs have served in over 130 nations.

Had our Army of over two million PCVs already served in the field, do you think international newspapers would be lambasting America on its pages?  Would readers buy it? Would Osama bin Laden and his cells have risen in such a world?

Maybe.  But having been a Peace Corps volunteer as well as a Global Village Habitat for Humanity homebuilder working near the struggling masses, I think not. Even most ivory towered policy wonks would probably agree.

Yet, where on the political hustings, on the forums provided for perceived leaders, do you hear even some of them planting visions of common sense, of marshalling good-doers to address the sufferings of the world.

The lines drawn between long suffering masses and terrorists and comfortable, arrogant Americans are short, and getting shorter.

The line eraser is not a stealth bomber or more technically armed Special Forces.  The eraser cleans when you build what an American Peace Army does – builds relationships, schools, sanitation systems, small farms and businesses.

Sarge Shriver was right, in the long run the Peace Corps map of the world is more important.  Today’s world reminds us how much more his words needed heeding.

Edwin Markham was one of John Kennedy’s favorite poets.  One of Kennedy’s favorite Markham poems was:

Why build these cities beautiful,

If man unbuilded goes.

In vain we build the world,

Unless the builder also grows.

Some brother-in-laws think alike.  Their vision of a vastly expanded Peace Corps is what today’s unbuilded global village needs.  Building a life for one’s loved ones forges a sense of pride, and that builds villages and cities beautiful.

It’s what two visionary leaders preached.  It’s what isn’t pushed enough today.

 

Mill Valley resident, Dwayne Hunn, is field director for the National Initiative for Democracy Campaign, a proposed process to empower all Americans with law making capabilities. Hunn served in the Peace Corps Mumbai, India.

 

AWSC, Coverage, Opeds, Peace Corps

Enlarged Peace Corps could change map

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Peacefully changing the map for decades?
Peacefully changing the map for decades?

Portland Press Herald    Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Maine Voices                               Forum

A Different Army

Enlarged Peace Corps could change the map

  • See what 10 percent of the Vietnam budget could have accomplished.

By Dwayne Hunn

Osama, Saddam and their followers are bad actors and will get what they deserve, probably mostly from our superb military. In the meantime, it would be healthy to hear candidates, politicians and parties lay out a long-term solution to the terror these actors              breed, before we get too deeply entwined in war’s bloody human and  financial costs. The solution lies in a quote from Sargent Shriver:

“If the Pentagon’s map is more urgent, the Peace Corps’ is, perhaps, the long run the most important. . . . What happens in India, and South America – whether the nations where the Peace Corps works succeed or not – may well determine the balance of        peace.”

In the 1960s and ’70s, then-New York Sen. Jacob Javits proposed a peace army of 1 million young men. Labor leaders advocated an overseas service corps of 100,000. The Peace Corps’ first deputy director, Warren Wiggins, said a Peace Corps of 30,000 to 100,000  volunteers was needed.

The Peace Corps’ mean yearly budget from 1965-69 was $108 million, with its mean number of Peace Corps volunteers in the field    numbering 13,947, with a cost per volunteer of $7,743.

On the other hand, for that same period the Vietnam War budget was $16.3 billion. The mean number of soldiers we kept in Vietnam was 413,300. The cost per soldier was $39,370.

If just 10 percent of the Vietnam War budget, $1.6 billion, had been   put into the Peace Corps budget to advertise “the toughest job              you’ll ever love that really does good,” then an additional 210,000        Peace Corps volunteers could have served during that period.

Imagine if we had continued inspiring 55,000 American volunteers     each year to serve in countries where clean water doesn’t run              easily, chalkboards are luxuries, people house themselves in mud-        clay and cow-dung-padded walls, education is treasured and health    and food too often wanting. Instead, since its 1961 inception only        slightly over 150,000 volunteers have served in about 130 nations.

Had our army of over 2 million Peace Corps volunteers already served in the field, do you think international newspapers would be   lambasting America on their pages? Would readers buy them? Would Osama bin Laden and his cells have risen in such a world?

Maybe. But having been a Peace Corps volunteer as well as a Global  Village Habitat for Humanity home builder working near the struggling  masses, I think not. Even most ivory-towered policy wonks would probably agree.

Yet, where on the political hustings, on the forums provided for             perceived leaders, do you hear even some of them planting visions of  common sense, of marshaling good-doers to address the sufferings of the world?  The lines drawn between long-suffering masses and  terrorists and comfortable Americans are short and getting shorter.

The line eraser is not a stealth bomber or more technically armed        Special Forces. The eraser cleans when you build what an American Peace Army does – relationships, schools, sanitation systems, small      farms and businesses. Shriver was right: In the long run the Peace       Corps map of the world is more important.

Today’s world reminds us how much more his words needed heeding. Edwin Markham was one of John Kennedy’s favorite poets. One of   Kennedy’s favorite Markham poems was:

“Why build these cities beautiful,

If man unbuilded goes.

In vain we build the world,

Unless the builder also grows.”

Some brothers-in-law think alike. Their vision of a vastly expanded     Peace Corps is what today’s unbuilded global village needs. Building  a life for one’s loved ones forges a sense of pride, and that builds          villages and cities beautiful.

It’s what two visionary leaders preached. It’s what isn’t pushed              enough today.

– Special to the Press Herald

Copyright © Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

Portland Press Herald    Tuesday, November 5, 2002

 

Common Sense Opeds, Opeds, Peace Corps

Pitching in to help build peace

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Tuesday December 4, 2001              Marin Independent Journal

Marin Voice

Pitching in to help build peace

 Dwayne Hunn

In teeming Bombay of the late 60’s, he was a somewhat radical  Malaysian student journalist.  I was an Urban Community Development Peace Corps Volunteer.

The Bombay Gymkhanna had a rugby team that needed American footballers and a swift running back. The combination took us to the All South Asian Rugby Championship, and gave a few PCVs and a Malaysian student many meals we otherwise couldn’t afford.

Recently (about ten days ago), with him carrying a gimpy rugby back’s knee, I again tasted his renowned hospitality.

This time, however, Kadir was Malaysia’s Ambassador to Germany.  It is hard to imagine a more comfortable way to glean post 911 perspectives from Europe, ambassadors and Muslims.

None of them expressed hesitancy to America getting Bin Laden… “There is no one with an ounce of brains who would choose to live under the Talliban rather than with America… But you must do it carefully and not harm civilians… And if you attack other Muslims nations now you will be doing just what Bin Laden wants.  He wants you to strike out, so that he can rally extreme fundamentalists to bring those nations against you…And America must fix the Palestinian issue…”

Over and over it came back to America fixing this or that and Palestine….

When you are the toughest kid in the neighborhood even  grown-ups expect you to settle squabbles between foolish juveniles.  It’s not as easy as the strongest nation among nations that have centuries of wonderful civilizations intermixed with tragic warrings.

Nonetheless, so many point to young America as the world’s problem handler – militarily, diplomatically, economically.

At least when you were the toughest in the hood, you had experienced grown-ups who seldom hesitated to fill the roles you were learning.

In discourse, one hopes young America’s side is being heard.

No nation gives more aid to Afghanistan.

Who helped the Mujahadeen free their nation from Russians?

Who tried to nation build Somalia, perhaps the world’s poorest nation, and watched its Rangers lose 18 as they fought their way out of a downed helicopter and killed over 500 fundamentalist inspired warlords?

Who sent force to Kosovo, stopping Milosevic from cleansing Albanian Muslims?

Who, for decades and more than any other nation, pushed Arafat to control stone throwers and Israel to withdraw settlements

Yet who is constantly vilified for meddling too much – yet not doing enough?

No nation gives more aid to Afghanistan. Who helped the Mujahadeen free their nation from Russians?… Who tried to nation build Somalia, perhaps the world’s poorest nation, and watched its Rangers lose 18 as they fought their way out of a downed helicopter.

Yes, rich, strong America must do much.  But the world’s older, grown-up nations have a huge responsibility to take bold stands and implement solutions. They must educate against irrationalism. Aid and invest in needy countries.  Send  troops, food and foreign aid.  They should start their own Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity, Doctors Without Borders, so they too can help make the world more livable for the poor upon whom fanatics prey.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed, whose $10 million check to benefit  911’s victim’s families was returned because he said: “America has to face reality (regarding Israel) if they don’t want to fight terrorism for the next 100 years. What the Americans are doing now in Afghanistan is right. I’m with them all the way.  They have to take revenge.  And you can quote me. I – am – an – ally – of – America.  Exactly like Mr. Guiliani and the United States. I want to eradicate terrorism also.”

The Prince echoes most of the world’s embassies and capitals.  Perhaps, however, his check ought to be the down payment that eradicates terrorism’s seeds in the world’s seething cauldron while  addressing his concern that, “ Israel is doing a better job getting its message out.”

With his millions, he ought to offer to build state-of-the art UN staffed schools in a children labeled peace zone along Palestinian Israeli borders.

These peace zones would allow children from both sides to learn, play and build relationships that destroy hateful stereotypes – those too often seen in Middle Easterners’ eyes on TV.

You want a public relations coup that will win the world’s hearts?  A stealth missile to obliterate the dark caves of poverty and ignorance where terrorisms lurks?

Bring students together.

Education and its relationships are how struggles – or jihads – are overcome.

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Sue Nelson remembers

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Nelson interview.  Contact suggested by Jan Tucker:  Sue Nelson. She knew the Lobby and Faith Keating from having stuff printed at People’s Lobby  for Save the Santa Monica Mountains environmental group..  Interview with Sue Nelson by Dwayne Hunn 10-26-01

Joyce and the  Koupals were important to me…  I worked with Saving Santa Monica Mountains organization.  Didn’t really work with the Koupals.  They printed our literature to Save the Mountains ….  They were such really wonderful people, way ahead of their time…

I was not person who participated in day to day Lobby work. I went and had them do newsletters; we’d sit and talk about politics, of Clean Environment Initiative.  Roger Diamond (lobby attorney) now doing well, living in Palisades, supporting it….  I remember that we held in great disdain Dorothy Green of Common Cause…  Green became anathema of mine… We did great work, and she (Green) was set up as diversion by (Mayor) Bradley.  She was set up to be a diversion….

I had long conversations with Ed about problems that they had..  Lobby’s Bike for Life was way a head of their time.. (Koupals) were working class environmentalists.. I began in 63… Met them at end of 60’s or early 70, don’t remember. Was attracted to their politics as opposed to arrogance of Sierra Club and others.  Nancy Pearlman, for example, was duplicitous….

They  (Koupals) were genuinely grassroots people….

(Supervisor) Baxter Ward was very important character in all this because he brought in first transportation referendum which eventually became blue  line and metro link.. Those things had nothing to do with Sierra Club.  The Lobby was genuinely environmental without phoniness.

He (Ed) was definitely in the tradition , even though I was from Republican family, of like the Townsend people, Upton Sinclair…..

I actually wore a Landon button to school as a kid. My parents were young and my father came here to get work.  Everyone lost their money and family all came here to get work. We were a wonderful Irish family and I got to love my neighbors and I turned out to be very political….  My aunt turned very right wing but they took me up to see FDR and I became aware of different economic movements from my family..

I saw the Friends of Santa Monica victory coming from the grassroots. It (the Lobby) had its own movement; it was outside money, it was really fresh. Joyce and Ed and I were sharing with each other. We – Ed, Joyce and I shared this anger at people who were trying to block us.  These forces were set in motion to stop us..

Not surprised that Faith and (Joyce) she had falling out.  I didn’t think she (Faith) was a very open person. Never was close to her.

As far as I am concerned they (the Koupals) were my mentors in grassroots work… Ed and Joyce epitomized grassroots environmentalist movement . They were my monitors…

Nader has lined himself with right wing environmental groups…

Larry Moss became paid director of Sierra Club..

So many were bought out and didn’t know what they were doing.  Too many became elitists and not grassroots.  Koupals remained grassroots.

What Lobby was doing was really advanced social change.  They were after issues that changes the politics of everything about them….  They were out there changing peoples’ way of doing things.

More about Sue Nelson at: http://articles.latimes.com/2003/may/22/local/me-nelson22

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John Forester remembers

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John Forester phone interview 10-23-01 with Dwayne Hunn

Initiative America was not People’s Lobby effort. It was Roger and I ‘s effort… We did it on our own…

I don’t object to Initiative American being off-shot of People’s Lobby or People’s Lobby’s project. When Ed died Joyce and Faith tried to continue keeping the People’s Lobby organization going, and we just kept doing the national initiative as we thought Ed would want us to do..

The focus of Initiative America was to get the National Initiative on national agenda.. It was the logical step after the Western Block campaign.  Western Bloc was 100% Ed’s.  Roger (Telschow) and I and Ed (Maske) did the groundwork for the Western Bloc…We were the Lobby staff going around the country doing the states.  Western Bloc could have been called People’s Lobby.  For all practical purposes, we were People’s Lobby staff members outside of California….

Remember getting first check of $99.  with $1 withheld for social security… I bought a $45 pair of boots and saved the rest because People’s Lobby’s, or the people where we worked, fed and housed me.  I thought I was doing real well, and that what seemed like lot of money…  And the Lobby gave me blue van…

In the beginning I was dropped off in Oregon at Doug Phil’s house..    Two weeks after graduated from college.  Ed drove me to Oregon and left me in Oregon. Ed said organize the state and get it on the ballot… To me it was “Wow, I’ve got a key job with People’s Lobby and this is significant to work this closely with Ed. It was an honor. It was a dream job for a kid out of college just to be on the road.    Every person who met me had a room for me to stay in and fed me. And Roger went up and did Washington state.

After I got Oregon rolling, there was then a conference in Colorado.  Ed was driving with Ed Maske, or Roger – I can’t really remember who was with him for sure, and we met in Colorado.  That’s where, I think, the blue van was given to me, and so I drove to Oklahoma and Ohio.

Remember how Ed loved numbers.  Well, I used Ed’s love of numbers to try to do that campaign.  I tried to use his Fanatic Fifty idea…  called it the Oklahoma 100 — dividing number of people to the number of signatures needed to get it on ballot…  Had to find 3-4 people in each town and ask them to get the numbers.

Then did Missouri after Oklahoma …  In the show me state, we used the slogan “Show me Safe Power.”  We didn’t push the anti-nuclear but we stood for safe power….  We wanted it to be safe and insured, the way other businesses conduct themselves in the state… We were different from the anti-nuclear power groups….

There wasn’t a single nuclear power plant built after People’s Lobby’s, after we got the signatures…  We made an apparent national difference.. We always assumed our signature gathering effort was a contributing factor in what utility companies were or were not doing ….. Sure, we were educating nation like you say, but we thought it was more powerful than just education.. We inserted initiative into the media.  We gave citizen the power to present their issues to the public.  We always thought that since there is so much money, so much cost in building nuclear power plants that by creating the uncertainty with the initiative of the utilities being able to do nuclear plants, that some utilities probably factored that in to their decision making.  They’d look at our initiative and say maybe we should wait. We were a factor in their decision making process over whether they would order another nuclear plant.

People’s Lobby’s elections happened and all lost, (but we still stopped the construction of nuclear plants).

We joined up in Ohio, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio’s biggest county.  We met Pat Quinn in Ohio, where we helped him do an open primary.  We collected 33% of the voters in Cuyahoga County as signers on our initiative…  Roger an I figure we collected about a million signatures personally through all the initiative campaigns.. We had3 tables side be side at Cuyahoga Fair and every table had three people waiting in line. We had four issues on ballot at same time with one petition, with one signature… One was for RUCAG – ”Sing her for lower utility rates..”  Another for a  life line rate structure and to establish consumer watchdog utility groups – right when the energy crisis was going through the roof…

Then Ed was ill… It was the end of campaign, and we were on our own. We went back to see Ed in hospital.  It was sad.  Then we went back on campaign trail and all the initiatives lost…

We went back to continue doing the Western Bloc campaign for the  76 ballot….  Western Bloc included Mass and Maine, but I don’t think we got Mass on ballot, not sure…

Then our jobs were over and we were supposed to go back to LA to return the van.  Roger and I drove it back to LA, but in Ohio we were operating on our own, that ‘s what Roger and I were thinking.  We were asking ourselves, what did we want to do and what would have Ed done at this point.  We were 25 years old and with no job… We went to DC to check in with national groups. Instead of west, we went east to NY and DC, I think we also went to Key West, to see New Orleans and Florida.  Made some neat contacts in DC and then drove to LA.  Somewhere in here the Lobby stopped payment and boy were we pissed.  Don’t even remember why they stopped paying us. So we returned to LA.

I went home and Roger and I were communicating by phone and he said, ‘We have no money.”   And by now we didn’t believe you needed money to accomplish People’s  Lobbyish things.  The Consumer Federation of American had a symposium in DC and he was there and we wanted to form an organization.

Ultimately, we formed a national organization and call it Initiative America.  We created a logo that had  Mobil’s red, white an blue colors and a great name… People’s Lobby would have created this if Ed had been around.  Faith and Joyce had nothing to do it.  But it was  done by People’s Lobby staffers working for themselves, that was Ed Koupal reincarnated… We were going to keep doing what Ed had us doing but it was all now our work…  Roger went to Consumer Federation and said you ought to have Forester come and speak on initiatives.  Consumer Federation had a tight budget and could only pay for ticket out there and we’d pay for the ticket back..  We thought it was funny since we had no intention of flying back, and they funded the start of Initiative America by flying us out there.  Then we started working furiously on Initiative America at that point.  We met Bill Harrington who had moved to DC, and we liked Harrington’s address 1346 Independence Avenue. We thought that address sounded impressive, so we used it as our office address.

We knocked on Senator Abourezk’s door and met Kevin Murphy his aide. Staff at Abourezk’s office thought Initiative America was great idea… Then we developed this two-shift program to give us access to a real office.  At 5:00 Abourezk’s staff would go home and we would use his office after his staff left.  We’d get on phone and call all across the country. Get support from across the country and get others to get other country support.

Focus number two was to help the states who didn’t have the initiative process to get the initiative.  We kept it squeaky clean by just working process. Initiative DC was formed at the same time to get initiative , referendum and recall into the DC charter….  In time, we did amend home rule in DC, so they now have initiative, referendum and recall.  We wrote it and lobbied it through Congress, It had to be ratified by Congress and we got it passed,  in 78, I think.  So 18 months after hitting DC we amended their home rule charter…

Abourezk was on the Senate’s Constitutional Committee.  No proposed amendment to US Constitution ever got hearings faster than we did.  The Bill was proposed and we got hearings faster than anyone else ever did.  Two guys got an amendment to US Constitution sponsored, then got hearings and the hearing were well attended. That was in record short time from when Roger and I arrived in DC.  Two guys, no organization, no connections. We did that knowing what we could do with political bravado, which was instilled by Ed … His instinct was instilled in us for the rest of our lives… He made you think big and if someone said it couldn’t be done — you knew it could be done. We had a great time.

Then we started Initiative News Service which Dave Schmidt worked on, intended to be national clearing house for initiatives and we got lots of  people paying it, especially corporate entities who wanted to stay on top of legislation.  Literally called them and said citizens are also creating legislation, and they signed up for initiative news service. Initiative America, Initiative DC and Initiative Press (where do you think we got that idea from?) Since Roger had a natural affinity for mechanics,  we started a print shop.  We stole the model from  People’s Lobby.. We bought a press for $800. and found one on the street for free…. (Now they’re in same building we started in — Shoal’s Diner, a cheap place to eat.)  the free one came from an evicted print shop,  and Roger and I picked up a free printing press,,,

We got the school bus and put the printing press in it. Later from printing presses we bought a house and put printing press in it.

We got the school bus to drive around and educate the country on the initiative and put printing press in it to make our money, First print job was for National Organization of Women.  They order millions of 3X7 cards in favor of equal rights amendment, . and we got the job to print all their millions of cards to help them get their proposed constitutional amendment.. We made lot of money because we had zero overhead.. We had no idea how to bid so we’d call regular printers, get their lowest bid, and take 10% of their lowest price. We got jobs without knowing how to print.  We ran an extension cord into friends’ apartments to get the power to print the cards…

We wanted paper delivered to us on credit to a wheeled school bus and we had no credit..  Somehow we convinced suppliers that it was ok.  We convinced banks to lend us money to buy a house when we had none. Convinced Senators to introduce legislation when we were no body.  That’s how we funded our activities.  We became printers.  Roger figured out how to make print presses work. We ran what we called the world’s smallest conglomerate.  Printing, news, lobbying division which was basically People’s Lobby’s people — was exactly what Ed would do if he were 24.  It was People’s Lobby  model,  but when Ed died there was no Lobby, so we just did it like we thought he would do it….…

Me: “Did you know that Faith Keating was compiling a report on changing the Lobby into a Common Cause type organization with moneyed funding base and ‘professional’ staffers and that Joyce was livid against that and defending Lobby workers like yourself as being the workhorse ‘pros’ who made the Lobby what it was?”  (Dwayne’s question to John)

No, I didn’t know that was going on.  DC is just full of non-profits like that .. That was the conventional wisdom way of doing non-profits, but it was not the  Koupal’s hobby and Koupal’s guerrillas way.. We were not doing it the traditional way.  We were doing it in the Koupal’s guerrilaist way.

It thrills me no end that Joyce was fighting  for us.. When Ed died it never occurred to us to work with PEOPLE’S LOBBY anymore because the Lobby was grieving into Ed’s loss… grieving over who should be the leader?  We had no interest in that. We are in DC and are the national organization. In fact, we invited them to the hearings.  Joyce was viewed in some way as an adversary since she didn’t want to allow the Senate to override.  Congress can change own legislation, courts can veto.  We merely wanted to have power to legislate…  We viewed that as meaningless, we didn’t care about the override argument.

We got everybody there (to 1977 Senate Judiciary Hearings)….  Roger and I were a little defensive because we know what we had done… We kind of felt like kids who were about to be scolded by the parents (Joyce Koupal) based on what we had done……  Truly didn’t care, we just had this agenda….

We calculated that in a certain period of time that we got more press than Common Cause.  We really felt that we were getting an unbelievable amount of press.

But then it ended.  Both of us were 30.  we were at the point where to carry it over would take a lot more energy. After doing this for 3-4 years we just closed shop, because at that point it would have required full time lobbying staff… We needed money.  We were more or less getting a life.  We were very realistic and recognized we had already gotten the most bang for the buck up to this stage.  The results to efforts ratios would have to turn on its head.  We’d have to work a lot to get a little done. Schmidt went with the newsletter… Roger kept the print shop and we basically checked out.  We left political action for the next generation.  We were proud that we took it further than others did… Proud we took it to Washington…. At age of 30 we both wanted to get on with our lives.  We didn’t’ t want to work for another organization.  Now both of us were pretty well working for ourselves…

Now I’m very active in trying to get voting rights for DC, On the board of Committee for Capitol City… Trying to have Maryland and City of DC merge.  Have DC become home grown city of Maryland.  In our proposal there would be voting rights for DC citizens by being part of Maryland.

(On my resume) I list myself as having a long term interest in voting rights,  without mentioning PEOPLE’S LOBBY and Initiative America.   We (in DC) are the only Americans who have taxation without representation.  Congress has exclusive representation …. Congress ordered the DC board of election not to count votes on marijuana initiative.. or spend money on that issue.. yet the people put the issue there.

After 15 years (of relative political inactivity) I’m getting back into politics a little.

Ed used to say  don’t talk about problems, fix the problem…. Identify the problem and identify the solution….   Capital city groups want to put itself out of business. Solve the problems by getting voting rights and put us out of business…  The other proposed solution is statehood for DC.  We decided union with Maryland was the better solution…. better to be a city rather than a state. Looking at the  big picture it shouldn’t be a state it should be a city…   Appeals to PEOPLE’S LOBBY spirit that perfect solution is to be a city in Maryland… As a city, I will get service and have  Senator and also participate in Maryland…. City hood within state of Maryland.  Our next campaign to have Maryland acquire DC as City….

People’s Lobby got to DC….We were the People’s Lobby staff members….   Roger came to the Lobby from NORCAL PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) …  I was the Lobby’s San Luis Obispo County Board member and both of us didn’t have jobs. Everything we did in Western Bloc was 100% for Ed…

Then after he passed away and he wasn’t there to tell us if it was a good or bad idea. Then we weren’t on salary.  If Ed were around it would have been People’s Lobby Initiative America and would have been staff members of People’s Lobby.  If Ed were alive he would have done Initiative America… We were doing what we thought he would have asked us to be done….

ME: IF HE would have had a radio form heaven, I said. You would have been listening to what he told you to do,

‘Exactly, yes.” John replied…

All the ideas of Initiative America originated with Ed’s concepts from what Ed had done for People’s Lobby.  After Ed passed away it wasn’t People’s Lobby’s.  It  was us doing it and with no conflict with the Lobby.

Western Bloc could have been called People’s Lobby for all practical purposes….    We were PEOPLE’S LOBBY staff members outside of  California doing the Western Bloc campaign.

Library

Diana Fleetwood O’Brien remembers

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Diana Fleetwood O’Brien remembers Ed & Joyce:

I don’t really have anything worthy of being in the book. But I’ll tell you what I remember. I have a fond memory of sitting next to Ed at a meeting, and him passing me a note. I don’t remember what it said, but I responded by cribbing something out of National Lampoon and wrote back, “Phuc Yieu.” He looked very amused and wrote back in the same vein. Then for the rest of that meeting we amused ourselves insulting each other with fake Vietnamese obscenities. I know you had to be there, but Ed was always such a hoot. And I think you are conveying that quite well in your treatment.

Also, a few little additions, on pg. 6, I also worked with and knew the Koupals in the early days, in 1972 & 3. Dwayne regularly trucked in his high school students to do Lobby work and I was one of those. I’ve gathered many a signature and remember Ed’s signature-gathering orientation. I remember he said as the momentum got rolling to hand the person a pen; that once the pen was in their hand the signature was pretty much in the bag. I remember gathering signatures one day with him and Joyce at a Gemco. I got sent to the snack bar for coffee and was having trouble carrying it. Ed advised me not to look at it, and I found out that’s the trick to carrying drinks. I was 17.

I also did typing at the Lobby headquarters on Western, and I recall Ed had a TV on downstairs during the Watergate hearings. A handful of us heard it live when Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the White House tapes. I remember Ed saying, “Do you want to know what a sick Republican looks like? That’s a sick Republican.” I can’t remember who that was though, maybe Lowell Weicker. Was he a Republican?

I recall hearing Ed and Joyce saying that during the Recall Ronald Reagan days their house had been shot at. Does anyone else remember that?

Also, I remember Ed used to call Evelle Younger “Evil Younger.” That was Ed. And Ed appeared at some debate or talk show or something with Pete Schabarum, who mispronounced Koupal in some way. When it was Ed’s turn, he called Pete Schabarum “Mr. Shooboomboom.” Really, no one ever got the upper hand of Ed in a public appearance.

 

Common Sense Opeds, Land Development

Collected wisdoms on why Marin housing is so expensive:

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…… because the opposition to any more housing is so well entrenched politically – as aides, on committees, trained through self-proclaimed environmental groups….

……. because there is little concern for costs that the well executed political actions of housing opponents force upon developers and thence onto those hoping to buy…..

For example, from the Marin IJ of June 11, 2001:

… After Kress’ (Marin Supervisor) departure, the group began talking strategy for the fight ahead.

Sitting in the chair occupied by his boss just a few minutes earlier, Kress’ assistant, Rick Fraites, offered advice to the group. He served on the steering committee for the Citizens to Save Bahia, the group that last month successfully blocked expansion of the Bahia subdivision project in Novato.

“Anything you can conjure up to get the developer to look at and spend money, throw it out there,” Fraites said. “That’s my advice, having just gone through this with Bahia.”

“That’s one of the reasons housing is so expensive in Marin County,” Schwartz said about Fraites’ comment. “If frivolous studies are asked for by the community and included in the environmental impact report, the cost of those studies get reflected in the cost of each home.”

Of Fraites’ comment, Leland added, “That’s probably good advice if your objective is to stop it. The classic paradigm in Marin County is an antagonistic one and we are going to do our best to make it a collaborative one, to work with the residents there.”

Source Marin IJ of June 11, 2001. For the whole story on a Santa Venetia development fight against 28 houses on 30 acres, click Development fight in Santa Venetia.

From Marin IJ Page C1 of August 26, 2001, “Center could hold key to ferry parking woes.”  In this section a paragraph reads:

Earlier this month, GGBD (Golden Gate Bridge District) officials said they had to delay plans to restripe and reconfigure the existing 1,370-space parking lot because the sole bid for the job was almost double the amount budgeted.  Ghilotti Brothers Inc. of San Rafael bid $1 million for the work, which officials had estimated would cost $520,000.

Beneath the more obvious points of this Larkspur Ferry area story that parking is dreadful because we failed to deliver a train and nearby workforce housing is this important point.  Contractors such as Ghilotti do not strenuously compete for Marin jobs because they have closed shop here.  Ghilotti has to bid high on these jobs since he must pay his employees either enough to buy homes in Marin or to commute long distances from where Marin provides its workforce housing – i.e. from Sonoma and the East Bay.  We are losing moderately priced workers since we force them to live elsewhere.   f

More collected wisdoms to be added….

Land Development

Federal bay refuge simply is too much

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Editorial

Marin Independent Journal July 29, 2001

 NO ONE should be surprised by the chilly welcome the National Fish and Wildlife Service’s Marin baylands refuge proposal is receiving from local landowners.

Those landowners feel as if they are the target of a bureaucratic sneak attack, where local environmentalists quietly invited the feds and our tax dollars to Mann to coerce landowners into selling their land for a baylands refuge.

Public concern for and protection of the bay’s remaining wetlands is warranted.  Local, state and federal land use regulations, decision makers and, most importantly, voters are already doing a good job.

Local and national environmental groups are already doing a terrific job coming up with the financial resources to save and preserve Marin wetlands.

This proposal to draw a federal boundary around 17,300 acres is simply overreaching, both politically and bureaucratically. Its size is too sweeping, encompassing a giant slice of the eastside of the county, from Tiburon to Novato, and its chilling effect on future development is significant.

Backers of the proposal (and those who initiated the refuge proposal) say this is “a golden opportunity,” where Mann can protect the bay’s eco-system from the pressures of development by giving the property owners a potential buyer —  us, the taxpayers. They add that landowners will never be forced to sell. Refuge backers say landowners won’t even be stopped from developing their property. But they make no promises that they will support development.

In addition, a Marin Baylands National Wildlife Refuge would have tremendous tourism and recreational benefits for this county, they say.

But realistically, the picture is not that rosy.

By simply being within the boundaries, landowners who want to develop would be faced with the Goliath-sized political hurdle of trying to build in a wildlife refuge in a county where development is not often welcomed. The designation alone will be a huge club no-growthers could swing to defeat any proposal.

For the same reason, landowners are worried that by simply being drawn into the refuge they will lose potential buyers who aren’t interested in becoming a ripe target for environmentalists.

In particular, the promising potential of the open lands of St. Vincent’s and the Silveira Ranch in San Rafael of being developed and designed in a way that both answers the community’s need for workforce housing and is sensitive to its landscape would be lost. No doubt, once included in the refuge’s boundaries, development opponents would use its designation as a rallying cry against building anything.

What could happen to the potential of St. Vincent’s/Silveira could become a pattern for other sites.

Worse, landowners feel they’ve been left out of the process; that this regulatory train started and is moving ahead without care for their interests.

The Fish and Wildlife Service cautions it is only in an exploratory stage, that it is studying the physical and political lay of the land. It will be preparing an environmental study that assesses the benefits of various boundary scenarios.

But unfortunately the trenches have been dug deep and a pitched battle has begun. Because of the way this debate has taken form, there is now little room or promise for compromise.

Marin over the years has done an impressive job of increasing public awareness about the environmental value of the baylands and has become a model for protecting them.

We’ve done that without a federal boundary and we should continue that local initiative.

 

Land Development

 A ’golden opportunity’ for whom?

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Marin Voice,  Marin IJ July 22, 2001

DWAYNE HUNN

RECENTLY THE IJ ran a column entitled “A golden opportunity for Marin,” supporting the federal government in acquiring 17,600 Mann acres that are being studied as a proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge (USFWS).

The four authors wrote of the refuge program being voluntary, USFWS management applying only to properties acquired, the government paying fair market value, and of available funding.

Sounds reasonable. The devil, however, is in the Marin details.

As explained by exemplary USFWS officials, their programs should be lauded and supported — yet everyone of the so-far notified property owners strongly wants out of this voluntary, fair-market-value program. Why?

How would you feel  as a farmer, rancher, land holding Catholic organization, raw landowner, bay front rod and gun club, or homeowners association — if you learned that for ten years, self-proclaimed environmental groups pushed the federal government to include your land in a Baylands Refuge and supplied them with the initial maps that started this process?

Or that the first few meetings were held without you, the property owner, being notified?

Might you skeptically see this as a strategy to overlay your land with a government program that causes costly headaches later? Ah, then you feel the pain of those 17,600-acre holders.

Most of these landowners know something about Marin. They know that 85 percent of the county is undevelopable, only about 4 percent of the land remains to meet community needs, housing and population growth has been minimal and for decades our transportation and workplace housing system is hemorrhaging.

Most of them also know about land and development.

They know the hardest part of doing something with the land lies not in the can-do building, but in politics and regulations.

The authors, who for decades have had the time to swap leadership roles in their respective organizations, know politics much better than the fanner, rancher, home and landowner. They have learned and acted on setting the political table to their advantage innumerable times, such as:

Ø     Having the Marin Supervisors rule out a train stop at the St. Vincent’s /Silveira properties in Marinwood so their organizations could design the owners’ properties;

Ø     Forcing developers to constantly spend money on arguments, studies and referendums, thereby wasting affordable housing and transit-solution resources;

Ø     Hoodwinking the USFWS and the initially unknowing landowners a governmental overlay that could drain more time and money from landowners. A brilliant political bleeding strategy.

The authors imply that only they and the government can properly care for Mann’s lands. Yet, Tony Silveira’s family has for 100-plus years taken better care of his cherished land than any agency will.

Developers have turned toxic-sludge ponds into thriving pools. Shoreline homeowners have assessed themselves to dredge spoils and keep their bay thriving with wildlife. Farmers have monitored their land and runoff to keep their production clean, safe and profitable. Most of them have also supported the pollution reducing, community-building train plans and supported providing more housing for Mann’s tapped-out and increasingly bussed-in  work force.

Why do all the property owners oppose being included in even the mapping study? Because they have learned enough politics to not trust anything that has – the blessing of Marin groups who mouth myopic environmental phrases but do nothing creative or imaginative for families, housing, traffic and pollution and energy conservation.

Our local agencies, groups and property owners are good at protecting Marin lands. Putting any of the 17,600 acres in a federal refuge is not a golden opportunity for families, housing, transit, pollution or energy conservation.

Dwayne Hunn of Mill Valley was part of a team that tried to build a 237-unit, solar-energy retirement community in an old quarry near downtown San Rafael.