Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for July 5, 2022

Concerns about Pt. Reyes beaches revealed by report

As the founder of Audubon Canyon Ranch and the Environmental Forum of Marin, I urge every family visiting Point Reyes National Seashore to enjoy its beaches to read the California beach report card at healthebay.org/beachreportcard2022. They may be exposed to dangerous bacteria and not be symptomatic until they return home.

I read the report of all 700 beaches from Tijuana, Mexico to the Washington border. This amazing scientific study by Heal the Bay measures pollution inputs and oil spills county by county. It graded hundreds of pipelines discharging contaminants to the ocean and bays.

Marin County citizens should be warned. There are six beaches in West Marin that all graded F for failure to comply with wet weather fecal discharge standards. They include Drakes Estero (the ecological heart of the California coast), Millerton, Chicken Ranch, Shell Beach, Hearts Desire Beach and Lawson’s Landing.

Heal the Bay should have examined the cause. Clearly, overgrazing of rare wetlands by some 5,000 cattle in the park is having an impact. About 5.2 million cattle graze and defecate in California grasslands. The state has the nation’s densest cattle operations and is the largest dairy producer.

Life on the coast is tied to the beaches where people relax, swim and wade. Our beaches are beautiful but there are times when the waters can make you sick. Our coastal waters are often contaminated with chemicals, oil, trash and fecal matter harmful to human health, the coast and the ecosystem.

Heal the Bay created the report card. It is a valuable public health tool. It provides weekly and annual reports for about 700 beaches. Its goal is to improve coastal water quality and spur counties and the nation to protect our irreplaceable coast.

— Dr. Martin Griffin, Belvedere

Guards at schools are a costly, misguided mission

After we place police officers in every school hallway — wearing body armor and cradling a weapon — perhaps then school officials across the country will have enough time on their hands to “pass the hat” to buy pencils for the kids.

— Charles Kelly, Fairfax

Nation’s Electoral College needs to be reformed

In her letter published June 20, Basia Crane asserted that the Electoral College, in 2016, properly prevented four California counties from deciding the presidency for Hillary Clinton. She further pointed out that it was intentionally designed to prevent the heavily populated states from dominating those of much lower population in determining the presidency. In that, she celebrates the wisdom of the founders for so providing.

However, the founders themselves did not think that they could predict the needs of the nation for the 234 years that it has been since ratification. They provided for an amendment process, which has been completed 27 times since 1788.

The question today is not whether a popular majority can infringe on the rights of a minority but the reverse. Does the Electoral College permit, beyond reason, an entrenched minority to permanently block reforms and legislation needed by the majority?

It is unfair for the vote of each citizen of Wyoming to have as much as 30 times the influence of that of a citizen of California, Texas or New York. I think that even the founders would have had second thoughts since the disparity in representation between the most populous and least populous states today is far greater than it was in 1788.

For me, it is clear that the Electoral College, as it is today, goes too far in suppressing the representation of the majority. It is also clear that, as the committee examining the attack of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 has shown, that some members of the Republican Party tried to prevent the votes of electors who were pledged to Joe Biden. I consider that an attempt to destroy the democracy we currently have.

The Electoral College needs reform to make it more representative. But first, it needs to be protected from interference by those in power at both the state and federal levels.

— Chet Seligman, Point Reyes Station