Benj Thomas
To
Contact
Benj Thomas
E-Mail: Benj@ukiahguy.com"
Phone:
(707) 972-3949
Mail:
621 Capps Lane
Ukiah, CA 95482
|
My
priorities as a member of the
Ukiah City Council
1) Honesty and transparency – I am committed to
keeping the residents of Ukiah accurately and fully informed about
city business. I intend
to answer every question posed to me as completely and candidly as
possible, while respecting the need, and at times requirement, to keep
some matters confidential. I will also be ready to admit to my own
ignorance or lack of understanding, and I will attempt to convey the
complexities of issues when talking about them.
2) Availability to Ukiah residents –
my cell phone is 707-972-3949, my email is Benj@ukiahguy.com (ukiahguy@yahoo.com
also works), and
my mailing address is 621 Capps Lane in Ukiah. You can find me at Schat’s
Café on Perkins Street most Mondays from 4:30 to 5:30, and you
can call me between eight in the morning till about eight at night,
preferably on weekdays. You may have to leave a message. I welcome
all opportunities to hear from groups and individuals with concerns
about the City.
3) I believe strongly in the importance of community and collective
decision-making. As a Councilmember, I want to bring together diverse
groups to promote conversations on important issues. Those conversations
should not only inform Council decisions but also develop greater community
awareness of what’s going on in our City.
|
Benj Thomas and wife, Susan Baird Biographical
Highlights
• Elected
to Ukiah City Council, November 2006
• Retired school teacher and administrator (mostly middle school)
• Peace Corps Volunteer, in a teaching project in Ethiopia
• Two years on the Mendocino County Grand Jury (Foreperson 2005-6)
• Member of the Board of Directors VORP (Victim-Offender Reconciliation
Project) of Mendocino County
• Author of several articles published in educational journals
• Host of jazz show on local radio
• Married to Susan Baird, a free-lance writer and Chair of the Board
at the Ukiah Community Center
• Father of three sons (two Navy doctors – one
has served in Iraq and the other will go in 2007 – and one college teacher
in Ohio), plus two step-sons
• Proud grandfather of three grandsons and a brand-vew granddaughter.
|
4) At
this time (January, 2007), there are specific
issues that demand attention and considered action:
a) Infrastructure concerns, including water, sewage,
electricity, and roads.
b) Planning and development
c) Cooperation with the County on the above matters
d) Public safety, including recruitment and retention
of public safety workers, as well as the hiring of a new Fire Chief
and a new Chief of Police
e) A City Hall that is in many ways understaffed
and overworked, but also may be operating less effectively than it
might
f) The hiring of a new City Manager to replace Candace
Horsley, who is retiring after June of 2007.
Here are a few smaller things that I would like to see happen:
a) The County Library be given enough money to
stay open on school nights
b) There be more bicycle use as well as more
bike awareness on the part of drivers
c) Fewer cars (and more bikes and walkers) heading
for the High School from 7:15 to 7:30 each weekday morning
There is a lot more that I could say in this space. I have not addressed
my deep concerns for youth in this city, for the distressingly low level
of involvement of the Latino community in the political process, for
the effect of drug use and drug commerce, and the lack of planning for
worst-case scenarios around economic and environmental change. All of
these will require a community effort to address and ameliorate. I invite
and encourage all City residents to engage in an inclusive and hopeful
venture into our future through examination and action around these pressing
issues. The scenic beauty of this Valley mirrors the wonderful quality
of community that is constantly in evidence. There are so many individuals
who work tirelessly to make this a welcoming and nurturing place. Some
of them are paid to do so, and many of them are not. The gifts and the
bounty of that we who live in Ukiah receive come from nature and from
each other. I give thanks daily for them
|
