Friday, April 17, 2020

Time for "Wait and See" is over at the CSD. An Open Letter









Are you convinced yet that we won't have "business as usual" this Summer?


Since I last wrote you 

1.) School has been canceled for the remainder of the year
2.) Marin County Fair has been cancelled.
3.) Fourth of July parade in Novato has been cancelled
4.) The Assistant Medical Officer at MHHS has warned us that we will not return to "normal" for the rest of the year or several years in the future.https://www.marinij.com/2020/04/14/marin-county-to-extend-coronavirus-stay-at-home-order/
5.) Marin orders mandatory masks for everyone.

All is not lost. There is much positive news too.  The curve is flattening, Marin has far fewer cases than expected , new drugs will be coming to market and a vaccine may be ready in 2021. Coronavirus often disappears during the warm weather and returns in the Fall.

Good news but far from normal.

Everywhere cities are revising their budgets but we have still haven't heard a peep from Marinwood CSD.  You didn't meet Tuesday, April 14th because you had "nothing to discuss".

It seems like there is much to discuss and fast.   

Will the Marinwood CSD 1.) postpone the pool season 2.) mothball summer programs and 3) postpone the Maintenance Facility project ?  

All will be necessary to weather the storm of a $2 million dollar loss.  At some point, we will return to normal but it is obviously time to "trim the sails".  A hurricane is upon us.  Let's do the right things now to protect "the ship" and know that better days are ahead.

I look forward to hearing from you.  I expect you must meet soon.  Please let the public know what the CSD is doing to preserve our future.

Hope all is well with you and your family during this shut down.

All the best, 


Stephen Nestel


P.S.  Keep in mind that any sacrifices made by the CSD at this time are just a fraction of the catastrophic losses suffered by workers and owners of small businesses.  Many of the decisions will be tough for the CSD but nothing to compare to the totality of the losses experienced by some.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Armchair Expert on COVID19 gives opinion

FABLE: The Monkeys and the Bell



Once upon a time, there lived a robber in a village. One day, he stole a temple bell and ran towards the forest. A Tiger heard the jingle of the bell and became curious to locate the sound. As soon as, he saw the robber, he jumped upon him and killed him at once. The bell fell on the ground. After a few days, a group of monkeys passed through that way. They spotted the bell and carried it to their home.
They found the jingle of the bell very interesting. Subsequently every one of them became very fond of the bell and started playing with it. After every tiring day, in the night monkeys would sit on the top of the hill in the forest and enjoy the melodious sound of the bell. The people of the village were afraid of the noise. Soon afterwards, the people from the village found the body of the robber and proclaimed, “Certainly there is an evil spirit around here that kills human beings and then rings the bell to celebrate”.
When the people heard this, they thought that some demon was haunting their village. Without giving any second thought, People started leaving the city in terror. There was an intelligent and bold woman in that village. She thought to herself, “I don’t believe that some demon is haunting this village. I will find out that who is ringing the bell”. At late night, she went into the forest bravely and found that a group of monkeys were playing about and ringing the bell.
Now as the woman knew the secret about the bell, she went to the King and said, “Your Majesty! I'm sure this evil spirit can be conquered by worshipping the Gods. But this will cost money. If you can grant me some money, I will kill the demon and bring happiness to the village”. The King, who was too afraid to get rid of the demon, granted the request of the woman.
On receiving the money, the woman bought some peas, groundnuts and fruits. She arranged a worship of the Gods. She made a circle on the ground, placed all the eatables and started worshipping the Gods. After the ritual, she picked up all the eatables and went into the forest. She placed the fruits and other things under a tree near the hill. She kept a watch of the monkeys from a distance.
As and when the monkeys saw the eatables, they dropped the bell just as the old woman had expected out of them. They ran to pick the eatables. The woman picked up the bell quickly and rushed towards the village. She gave the bell in the court of the King. The King was happy with the brave woman and everyone in the village admired her bravery. The pleased King rewarded the woman for her bravery. Since that day, there was no noise and people lived happily ever after.
Moral: One must not be afraid of trifles. Intelligence and courage succeed against all odds.