Sherman R. Frederick/Properly Subversive
I don’t know if I’d call it “amazing” how so many people claim to love and protect Marin’s environment, only then to shrug a collective shoulder at the Binford Road homeless encampment. “Strange” might be a better word.
Protecting the environment and accommodating the homeless are not mutually exclusive. We can do both.
Yet, Binford Road has been allowed to grow into a place where people drag trash to the side of a road near an environmentally sensitive area and illegally live in RVs, broken down cars and campers. It’s become an out-of-sight, out-of-mind stretch of human suffering and filth, prompting a group of concerned citizens to form “Friends of Rush Creek” and protest in front of a birthday fundraiser for Eric Lucan, the former mayor of Novato recently elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors.
Of course, Eric Lucan is no more responsible for Binford Road than any elected official in Marin. His fundraiser just happened to be a handy backdrop. (Happy birthday anyway, Eric.)
And, this new “Friends” group isn’t really new. It’s made up largely of the same folks – exacerbated Marin conservatives, I think it fair to say – who opposed the homeless encampment at a downtown Novato park during COVID. That encampment gunked up the creek running near the park.
Yet, the knee-jerk reaction is to criticize the “Friends of Rush Creek” for daring to point out the obvious on Binford Road.
“All of a sudden these climate-change deniers (have) become environmentalists,” writes one person. Another (a feces-denier, I guess) said: “Why doesn’t Ms. Toni Shroyer and her MAGA buddies bring the press along and show us the feces, garbage, fentanyl (on Binford Road.)”
Here’s a better idea.
Move Binford Road to Muir Woods. If the people living on Binford Road pose no environmental threat on Binford Road, they won’t pose any environmental threat to Muir Woods National Park.
My bet is the “Friends of Rush Creek” would still be upset. They’d just change their name to “Friends of Muir Woods.” And, no one who now thinks Binford Road is environmentally benign would dare speak the same silly rhetoric about hosting a 2-mile long homeless encampment in the most holy of holies in Marin County – Muir Woods.
I’m not saying we do that, of course. I’m only pointing out the hypocrisy of those who say Binford Road is OK environmentally. Look, we can do better dealing with homelessness. Binford Road is wrong in every way – from a humanitarian perspective and an environmental perspective. If we’re saying as a county that people can pull off to the side of a road and illegally live there, then why can’t the homeless do that in downtown San Rafael? Or in front of a local high school? How about the main drag in Sausalito?
Let’s stop being stupid to each other and start holding hands to end our shame on Binford Road.
POPULATION DECLINE
It is popular to point to the decline of California’s population and lay blame with California’s woke politics.
We do have weird laws and a bunch of politicians who lead with their feelings and not the facts. But it must be pointed out that this population loss isn’t large. We’re not talking about a “Grapes of Wrath” reverse migration back to Oklahoma. We’re talking about losses of around 1%.
Seems to me what we’re seeing is a common-sense out-migration based on economics. During, and now after, the pandemic jobs were converted to remote-work status. People realized they could live in less expensive states and still do their Bay Area job. So they did. It was like getting a big pay raise.
That’s how I’m seeing it.
ICYMI
– Novato’s finest will be glad to know that Jeremy Portje and Meg Brizzolara are no longer on the Novato police review board. Portje and Brizzolara’s terms were up. Portje did not re-apply. Brizzolara was not reappointed by the City Council. This is a good thing because police officers could be dragged in front of the review board and judged. There are better suited people in Novato to do.
– The latest Novato City Council meeting on the town’s financial problems lasted 6 hours. The best line from the marathon meeting came from Councilman Tim O’Connor who said: “We have a big deficit.”
– Martha Steward is on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. She’s 81 but thanks to the miracles of modern photography, she looks 31. Heck, maybe 21!
ONE MORE THING
– You thought I was kidding about Martha Stewart? Here’s the proof.
Thanks for reading. Until next week, avoid sore heads, laugh a little and always question authority.
(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
There is plenty of room at the dump
SHE LOOKS GREAT ! SOME OF YOU JUST HAVE ISSUES ABOUT EVERYTHING ! RACE: AGE; RELIGION; POLITICS; HEALTHCARE FOR ALL; MUSIC; THE KIND OF PEOPLE BUYING A HOME NEXT TO YOU !
WHATS WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE ??? SWEET JESUS !
I think he was referring to Binford Road, not Martha Stewart….
Why can’t the Homeless people and their RVs live on fireman funds parking ? in the back. No one would see them.
Moving the pestilence from Binford Road to Muir Woods is an idea so terrible, only a white “progressive” from Marin would think of it.
Are you present here in Novato, Sherm? Or do you live out of state? The SQUATTERS on Binford Road are not just “unhoused”. Criminals, drug addicts, mentally ill and thieves. Yes, there are a few who are truly down on their luck…but that is not the norm. We’ve seen overdoses, local mail found in possession of people there (stolen from our mailboxes) and an actual fire that started in a rig at 3:00 AM when someone was “cooking”. Friends of Rush Creek was actually started by someone who knows you and is surprised that you would write such lies and nonsense, without actually doing ANY research. License plates are from out of state – and expired! Did you know that clean ups at Rush Creek have identified human feces, used bloodied tampons, hypodermic needles, etc. Do you really think it’s OK to contaminate any space with those disgusting biological waste items? Really??? I suggest you come visit, to see for yourself BEFORE you start looking down you nose, judging the people who actually live here. Your tone is offensive and insulting! Try to be a real journalist, and actually research a bit before judging others!
Thank you for your article encouraging people to see the hypocrisy in some of the rhetoric surrounding Binford Rd. I agree, we can be humanitarian and protect the environment — neither of which is the current situation on Binford Rd. I would like to correct the general assumption that Friends of Rush Creek is a politically-conservative group. I am a part of that group — a politically diverse group of concerned citizens who agree that the County has been negligent in protecting Rush Creek for a myriad of reasons and want to see our public resources and natural environment protected. We don’t always agree on tactics, strategy or even the overall solution. However, we are united by a genuine concern and love for our local environment. I have lived in Novato most of my life (leaving Novato to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science.) I was here when the County and environmental agencies chose to protect the sensitive wetlands of Rush Creek from environmentally-destructive development, The contamination from the vehicle encampment is obvious to anyone who spends time at Rush Creek, especially if you’ve been a regular visitor to Rush Creek for the last few decades, like I have. The Department of Fish and Wildlife refuses to test water quality in the wetlands, claiming that the County would need to cooperate to let that happen. As you mentioned in your article, and as I’ve stated in numerous emails and conversations with authorities, the County and other government agencies who are tasked with protecting these areas are turning a blind eye to the environmental impact of the vehicle encampment on Binford Rd. I understand that this is a complex situation, but it is not unsolvable. I just wish that our County Supervisors were as interested in protecting Rush Creek as the Concerned Citizens of Rush Creek have been for years.. You’re absolutely right — this would never be allowed in Muir Woods. Or Tiburon. Or Mill Valley. Or San Anselmo.. Or Fairfax. Or Kentfield. So why has it persisted for years in Novato?