Friday, October 17, 2003

The morning newspaper headline says:

"Prosecutors filed murder charges Thursday against a man police say helped kill a 15 year-old girl this week in an attack likely linked to a feud between two Laotian-American street gangs."
He was nineteen.

End of story.

Leaving soon to attend a workshop for environmentalists on Prop. 40 funding opportunities. It's often difficult to readjust my psyche from one area of responsibility to another. Yesterday it was the Oakland Museum where we toured with the execs, then listened to their legitimate case for funding for their collection that represents "90% of what we are holding in a warehouse without climate control -- and that cannot be displayed." Today -- at the State Building in Oakland, it will be the other side of Prop. 40 and the equally legitimate concerns for funding for creek restorations, parks and recreation projects, etc.

In a state and nation with a Congress considering a gift of $87 billion with which to "wage the peace," with shrinking resources and a stubborn resistance to raising taxes, how on earth do you allocate what little revenues there are? And -- how do you do it while avoiding increasing homelessness and a deteriorating infrastructure? How do I deal with the fact that Dorian's 30-day supply of meds now costs $70 (her income is $1093/month and her rent is now $1025). I cannot imagine why anyone of sound mind would want a career in public service in these times.

And when do we get to even talk about the escalating body count and the suicidal lifestyles of so many of our young?

When?