On Tuesday September 20th, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors had the opportunity to place the Precautionary Principle into a governance committee to be studied for 90 days. The study period would simply allow us all to look at how the Precautionary Principle might apply to local government decision-making. This is the first step in having Mendocino County adopt a Precautionary Principle Ordinance.

However, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to NOT pass the Precautionary Principle into committee for discussion. Wattenberger, Delbar, and surprisingly Wagenet voted "NO." Reasons included that the Principle would be a "job killer" and "we do things differently than San Francisco." Wattenberger took offense to Precautionary Principle references to "participatory democracy."

What does this mean for Mendocino County?
The Board's decision today says our Board of supervisors does not even want to discuss the Precautionary Principle. They do not even want to hold a dialogue about how the Principle might safeguard the future of our county. This is simply unacceptable from our elected officials.

The Precautionary Principle would support a healthy future for our communities. It would allow us to make decisions with greater care than we have in the past. It is a guiding framework for decision-making that anticipates how our actions will affect the environment and health of future generations. And when it is apparent that an activity is a potential threat to the environment or human health, it asks that we examine the necessity of the action and seek safer alternatives.

According to the Board of Supervisors, the greater community will not have the chance to even talk about how we can make better decisions for our greater community be they related to the environment, health, or the economy.

What can we do?
Hal Wagenet can re-agenda the item for next week or the week after.

We need to encourage Supervisor Wagenet to do the right thing and re-agenda the Precautionary Principle. He needs to hear from folks within his district. And, he needs to know that we would like to have a dialogue and discussion of the Precautionary Principle IN COMMITTEE.

Call Hal Wagenet: (707) 459-0700 or (707) 459-6754

1. Urge him to re-agenda the Precautionary Principle
2. Encourage him to support the discussion and examination of the Precautionary Principle and its possible application in Mendocino County.

For further information on the Mendocino Partnership for the Precautionary Principle see: www.mendoprecaution.org or contact Britt Bailey, (707) 884-5002.