Commentary by Samuel Strait – March 24, 2023
Having attended most Board Of Supervisor meetings for some time, there
are almost certain “givens” when listening to Board members over the
course of time. What has become evident over the past couple of years
is the inevitability of District Two’s Supervisor, Valerie Starkey, and
her penchant to become involved in an obsessive fashion with anything
related to the local youth. Most often her advocacy is directed
towards, applying government solutions to problems, problems that should
be left to parents, or in many cases the simple notion that the youth
must be allowed the room to make mistakes early in life in order to
learn from them for the future. Somehow she has the notion that to
“fix” some societal problem the only solution is for her to bring the
power of the bureaucracy to bear. The idea that when she says, “we
have to do something”, quite often the best solution is to do nothing.
Clearly the concept that young people must be allowed the freedom to
begin the process of learning how to make correct decisions before they
can become an adult has escaped her. Not all parenting is a matter of
“words of wisdom” from some higher authority. Young people are more
likely to learn from the poor decisions made when they become invested
in finding solutions for their failures. Recently, at a Board of
Supervisor’s meeting, and now at the City’s Council meeting, Supervisor
Starkey became involved, as she was with the County, in advocating for
retail licenses for the sale of tobacco products. The intent being the
inclusion of vaping products as well.
Clearly Supervisor Starkey is not hearing the chorus when they say that
for nearly all cases, young adults do not get their tobacco or vaping
products from retail outlets, making any such ordinance immaterial and a
pointless burden on local businesses. Smoking or vaping is not something
anyone can do much about. I’m sure Ms. Starkey would be horrified to
learn that as a child growing up, tobacco products, for the steep price
of a quarter, could be purchased from a vending machine suitably attired
with prohibitions from purchase due to age. Compared to that era of
tobacco use, the world has come a long ways.
Needless to say, Del Norte County’s “Helicopter Mom” is unlikely to
change her ways in any substantive fashion and the young adults when
faced with difficult decisions growing up will be ill equipped to become
functional. Sad to say, that more often than not many youth learn
valuable lessons from their failures that pay dividends towards their
futures, something smothering with “good” intentions does not accomplish.
Of course Supervisor Starkey’s good intention do not focus merely on the
“youth” of our community, and is well represented in many other forms of
the County’s business. Clearly her time yoked to California’s probation
system for many years has created a certain blindness to limited
government and the cost to the citizens she is meant to serve.
According to the documents that formed this great nation, governance was
to be minimalist in nature and not the monstrosity it has become. Just
the burden of local taxes make for many a struggle. Senseless and
useless ordinances and licenses do not ease that burden. What made this
Country grow and proper did not include Helicopter Moms or the “nanny
state” that government at all levels has become. For centuries through
out history great civilizations have come and gone, mostly because
governments became “too” oppressive. Perhaps it is time to learn that
lesson before 2025 comes around when the latest “forecast” by the United
Nations has us all “doomed” by “Climate Change”.
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