George Rebane
Just returned from a very significant meeting of the Grass Valley City Council. The council chambers were packed – SRO. Mayor Johnson opened the session with some well deserved citations and 
proclamations recognizing local organizations doing good. Then he opened up the meeting to public comment. Howard Levine, Exec Director of the GV Downtown Association, stepped up to the podium and delivered a prepared statement that correctly and succinctly framed the proposed anti-growth initiative that has been announced by a nascent group calling itself Friends of Grass Valley.
Howard outlined the divisive and strangling future that this initiative, if successful, would impose on Grass Valley and Nevada County in general. At the end of the statement when he came to the “we stand together” to oppose this inititiative, with a few exceptions, the whole chamber stood in solidarity to make their feelings known. A very impressive statement lost on none.
After Howard Levine finished, Steve Enos stepped up to the mike and delivered a similar statement of opposition. In short, what impressed me was the broad political spectrum of support that was present tonight. I saw Jeff Ackerman of The Union, Martin Light ED of CABPRO, Gil Mathews CEO of the ERC, Peter Van Zant former Supervisor, and many other community notables were there to make this statement on an issue that was not even on the Council’s agenda. It was simply the timely thing to do. Everyone understood that such an initiative would drive jobs from the county and board up windows on Mill and Broad Streets.
Mayor Mark Johnson concluded that segment of the evening with appropriate remarks that recognized the sentiments of the folks who showed and gave all hope as to which way the Council would be leaning on this when push comes to shove. As Pogo once famously said to Porky, “Yep, son, we have met the enemy, and he is us.”
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More perspective on this meeting and issue is available from Russ on NC Media Watch here. Also, I was a bit amused by this morning’s report in The Union where it was reported that “about 100 people stood up” at the meeting in support of Howard Levine’s statement. Since almost everyone was standing and the chamber holds a little more than one hundred, it reminded me of the story of Abe reporting on a footrace that he had lost to Ben. Abe truthfully recounted that he had come in second in a competition in which Ben had placed next to last.
rebanesruminations.com 
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