Author: pattymooney

I'm a video producer and editor with an appreciation of the arts, music, poetry, people, fine meals, books, photography, nature, business, fine food, beer, wine, and social interaction, both virtual and physical

Mission Trails When the Days are Short

San Diego does not exhibit the kinds of blatant seasonal changes that you see in Vermont, Oregon or Michigan; we have a more subtle shift in the weather.  Here is what it looks like when winter comes to Mission Trails.

The sun goes down sooner…

Moon rise on a crisp blue sky is common.

Oak leaves turn orange and then drop off at their leisure.

The dam swells from occasional rainstorms.

Note:  Our iconic Mission Dam will turn 200 in the year 2016, which is the same time Cogentrix would construct their Quail Brush power plant in a spot that could be seen from just above the dam.

This is where many of us come to escape the distractions of civilization and the work-a-day life.  We all need Nature to balance us.

Have you ever sat on a rock and looked closely at the colors and patterns?

The sky flaunts drama.

Sunset signals our time to say goodbye until the next time.

Photographs copyright by Patty Mooney

Zombies Arise Near Proposed Quail Brush Power Plant Site

Is this what we want to have happen if we allow Cogentrix to steamroll us and get their way with an already-archaic fossil-fuel power plant which is slated to spew over 200,000 TONS of toxins into our air?  The Quail Brush Power Plant would be located just behind these zombies.

 

 

All kidding aside, we must continue to be vigilant on this important issue, or we will wake up to a humming, whirring, belching, farting power plant right on top of our beloved Mission Trails Regional Park, and we will belatedly wonder if there is something more that we could have done to prevent it.

 

Does Jane Dumas Know Cogentrix is Trying to Ruin Mission Trails?

Jane Dumas is a respected Kumeyaay elder who was honored on April 28th by having a day named after her at Mission Trails Regional Park.  Kumeyaay is Jane’s first language and she remains one of the last living fluent speakers of the Kumeyaay language in the world.  And she has spent the last 60 years of her life educating people about Kumeyaay history and culture.

After I came across this heart-warming story about Jane Dumas Day, and learned about all she has done in support of Mission Trails Regional Park, I wondered if she had been apprised of the fact that Cogentrix and Sempra Energy are trying to ruin Mission Trails by placing their unsightly, noisy power plant right next to the Equestrian Center, just north of Kumeyaay Lake.

What I have appreciated about various tribes, after having studied their history for the last 45 years of my life, and contributing to various American Indian charities, is that their spirituality is rooted in Nature.  Does anyone remember the commercial featuring an Indian man weeping at the sight of pollution in the river?  I am afraid that Jane Dumas will have a reaction very similar to that, when someone informs her of what is happening now, just a few months after the day she was honored at her beloved park.

“. . . WHEREAS, Jane Dumas was inducted into the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002 and is recognized as the catalyst for Mission Trails Regional Park acquiring a Kumeyaay-Diegueño Nation flag to fly proudly at the Kumeyaay Lake and Campground in her honor from here on out; AND

WHEREAS, Jane continues to share her expertise in medicinal plants by teaching Ethnobotany classes at Sycuan’s Kumeyaay Community College.  It is her hope that the knowledge and traditions of her people will continue to be passed down from generation to generation and never be forgotten; NOW THEREFORE. . . “

. . . Jane Dumas we need you to stand with us now as we struggle to save Mission Trails Regional Park.

Related articles

“Our Prayer for Mission Trails” – A Poem by Bonnie Jean Flach

 

Come along with me
let’s have a talk
about the land of the
coyote and the hawk
let’s soak it in
as along we walk
We say our prayers
and ask God to grant
this land to be
forever free with
no polluting
power plant

by bonnie jean flach
copyrighted – all rights reserved

“This is a Beautiful Place. Why would you want to ruin it by putting up a Power Plant?”

“This (Mission Trails) is a beautiful place.  Why would you want to ruin it by putting up a power plant?”  In a “David versus Goliath” moment, Barbara, a brave and poised ten-year-old, stands up before San Diego’s Planning Commissioners on June 28, 2012, to speak out against the Quail Brush Power Plant which is proposed to be constructed right alongside national bio-gem, Mission Trails Regional Park.  Sempra Energy/ SDG&E has awarded a contract to Cogentrix out of North Carolina to build a power plant featuring 11 100-foot smokestacks that would forever mar the beauty of Mission Trails, which features habitats and animals that exist nowhere else on the planet.  This meeting was held to approve or oppose rezoning Open Space land to “Heavy Industrial.”  Opponents of the power plant packed the room.  The vote was 3-2 against initiating the rezoning process.  A majority vote of 4 was needed and therefore the session will be revisited on July 19, 2012.  Ironically, a nay vote was made by a Commissioner whose last name is Smiley.  Before voting, he commented that he saw nothing pristine or scenic about the proposed area.  Those of us who frequent the park beg to differ and suggest that he actually visit Mission Trails  before making another uninformed vote the next time.

Cogentrix Rep Presents Plan at Navajo Planning Committee

Lori Ziebart, Cogentrix Project Manager, appeared at the June 18th Navajo Community Planners meeting to present the Quail Brush Power Plant plans and answer the board’s questions.  It was at the request of Council Member Marti Emerald that the board be apprised of the power plant issue.  Chairman Allen Jones repeated several times that board had no intention of voting one way or the other on the issue and seemed perplexed (and peeved?) that the issue had come to their table.  It didn’t seem to occur to him that it would be a good gesture to stand in solidarity with fellow San Diego communities, and our Santee neighbors by opposing the Quail Brush Power Plant which calls for a rezoning from Open Space to Industrial.

As you can see, the room was filled with people opposed to the power plant.  Ziebart took eight minutes to present her case.

The Navajo Community Planners council, led by Chair Allen Jones (center in orange striped shirt) granted eight minutes to four members of the audience to speak out in opposition to the power plant.

Although the room was full of people who wanted to ask questions or make statements regarding the power plant – many of them Navajo community members – Mr. Jones ended the meeting claiming that everyone had to vacate the premises by 9 PM.  Community members who had been silenced (in violation of the Brown Act) would have been fine with standing out in the parking lot to deliver their comments.  When I mentioned this, I was told to “Be quiet and sit down!”

The woman in the white tee-shirt to the left of the flag (Lynn Murray, the Treasurer) verbally spanked me when she saw me writing comments in their “Sign-In” book.  She pulled the book out of my hands saying that it was “highly inappropriate” and that the group opposing the power plant had “all acted inappropriately.”  In her role as a host, she could have been much more sensitive, welcoming and kind.  The same goes for the rest of the board.  After all, isn’t that what a “community” group is all about?  Or am I missing something?