7/2/2024

JRB,

I love our new place but am disappointed that imperfect concrete floors are creating some tensions. May this dissonance serve as a learning opportunity for WSWC to grow as we try to form a more perfect union (AMPU).

Don’t you love that line? AMPU suggests on-going improvement while acknowledging perpetual imperfection, a healthy combination of optimism with humility.

I see that you are off to visit Sec Alejandro Mayorkas at Homeland Security today. As you know we are entering an 11-day stretch of 100+ temps here. Please talk about what we should do for our houseless neighbors on Thursday, when most of the public cooling centers will be closed for the July 4 holiday. Here in West Sac (WC) only one of the four air-conditioned public spaces will be available. In 2022 the Yolo County Homeless & Poverty Action Coalition identified 99 unsheltered homeless people in WS. The # must be higher now. I’m not sure if the City Hall can accommodate 100+ folks. I’d suggest we open our lobby, but that would freak out some WSWC members. Maybe someday.

I noticed that the regulations you are publicizing today are aimed at protecting workers during these heat events. I hope bosses follow those recommendations, even though they don’t have to. It’s only common sense to provide breaks of 15 minutes every two hours & monitor workers for symptoms of heat illness. You might mention Wilmer Vasquez’s death at age 29, caused by working as a roofer in extreme heat in FL last summer. NPR ran a story about him last week that really hit home for me.

Do you know about rice in Burma? Several news sources report that the junta is detaining people for price gouging, including a Japanese businessman. A government that can’t feed their people will eventually fail.

Please support folks at the state department in figuring out how to engineer a power-sharing arrangement among the many factions fighting the junta. It’s easier said than done but is necessary peace to prevail.

BYBS,

RCA