Marin County, CA November 2, 1999 Election
Smart Voter

WHY I AM RUNNING FOR SAUSALITO MARIN CITY SANITATION DISTRICT!

By Pete Romanowsky

Candidate for Director; Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District

This information is provided by the candidate
To long we have looked the other way and sat around watching politicians drink their Martinis, while the enviroment goes to hell in the face of over development. Where are these poltical leaders, when the real down and dirty work needs to be done. To keep clean, Richardson Bays waters and to prevent needless waste from going into our landfills.
Rev. martin Luther King was assassinated while helping sanitation workers organize and get a fair wage for their necessary labors. He was not assassinated while running for President of the United States. He could have run, and would have been the first black President, if he had lived and been chosen and called to do so.
After I thought an extra day whether I should run or not, I signed up at the Civic Center. As I was returning home I met a friend at a bus stop, who didn't even know where I was coming from or what I had done. He said that a famous beat writer named William Bennet was asked when he gave up his aspirations to run for president, the answer he gave was "When I learned that I could get my elbows deep in the flush fund, of the Sewer District". That is not why I am running, to wade in slush money (if any). But it goes to show that corruption can be found in any level of political office, and that even in a joke the seriousness of kick backs can be found anywhere.
The reason that I am running to to serve the community and help preserve the environment.I want to establish recycle stations for reusable goods such as wood, paint, chemicals, toxins, metals, compose,clothes, etc. I believe that we can act as a community doing this, and help people save money and clean the environment at the same time. I believe also that it will install a spirit of community in us all, not to waste so much.
I want to see cleaner water and less development of every square inch of property next to Richardson Bay. The Bay can only hold so much pollution and all the Sanitation Districts from beyond Sacramento to here, dump their sewage into the river and the bay. Which eventually ends up on our shore here because the Sacramento River Bed flows right between Angel Island and Tiburon. I went swimming once on the Golden gate Headlands when brown foam was present, and my eyes were irritated and mildly infected. We need a cleaner bay, blaming one group of people or another is not the answer. Run off toxins from automobiles, oil, preservatives from houses, dog fetuses, pesticides, over development are all causes and blames for an unhealthy bay. Even though the water is cleaner then ever before as far as mussels are able to grow again on the bottom of boats and pier pilings, as a result of diverting mill Valleys sewage from Richardson bay to Tiburon peninsula over these past years. Yet, still chemicals, heavy metals and even radio active materials are still present in the waters, not to forget to mention PCBS and God only knows what else, has been dumped into the bay. Much of this can find it's way through our drainage sinks, if we are not careful. Don't flush anything down your toilet, that you wouldn't want in you food chain.
I remembers thirty years ago when the whole west end of Richardson Bay stank to high heaven, before the diversion of mill Valleys Sewage. I still smells bad at low tide in Sausalito, due to all the marinas and yacht harbors, that have taken over the entire waterfront. it's not the few Anchor Outs that dot the bay that are causing all the pollution. It's the over development in general of the entire district, including the hugh marin City USA development, that has profited out of county white rich businessmen and residents from I don't know who knows where, that have moved in. I wish I could think of someone I know that could afford one of these town houses. Instead of providing spaces for black owned businesses and residences that local low income waterfront people of Sausalito could afford, as well as the historical population of Marin City, who is being squeezed into a corner, with not even a place to buy food any more.
There is a mad frenzy to over tax and over use the land around Richardson Bay, at the cost of the pastoral and serene beauty of the landscape and waterfront. The bay can't take any more run off without not only becoming more polluted, but filled in for that matter with silt.
To come down to earth more in a practical sense, I don't that we should just give away all our reusable and recyclable resources to refuse companies. Without hard fast data on your garbage bills, that the re-cycleables, like aluminum cans and redeemable glass and paper, are truly deducted from your bill. Otherwise why recycle for just another big corporation, when we can use the money here at home.
I have had fifteen years of recycling experience here in Sausalito, and have learned to live on this earth, without polluting it and making a living at the same time. I want to share this experience and profit with you all, let's work together and start getting away from this sometimes mad consumer mentality we have, in throwing so much away,after so little use.
The harbors can be cleaned up by monitoring sewage discharge better, and requiring harbors that have house boats to hook up to the sewer system. The heavy metals and toxins that fall from the bottom of the boats, and pollute the fish cannot be helped short of tearing them down.but a moratorium on new marinas will certainly help the situation. Now we know why there are all the no fishing signs.

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