OT - A Different Perspective

(this one's long and Off Topic -

Got a call Monday morning from an old friend who told me "we've lost
another one", the founder of David . Powers and Assoicates, an
environmental impacts consultancy. If you intend to do any major
development proect here in California , the Califronia Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA aka See Qwah) requires that you have an Environmental
Impacts Report (EIR) prepared that identifies - what else - the
environmental impacts of your project. The intent is to infrom decsion
makers (no,not "deciders" - that's Dubya) and affected parties of the
environmental impacts your proposed project will have on them and others
- noise, traffic, water, flora and fauna, etc..

Now the folks who prepare EIRs, as they're known out here, have a tough
job, if they're honest and have integrity. Telling your client, the one
who writes you the check for doing the document, things he or she may
not want to hear, or have anyone else know about, can be pretty tricky.
But if you try and hide a significant negative impact on the environment
which your project will likely have, the people who review the document,
citizens, home owner associations, various agencies and organizations
will probably catch the problem or the Not Mentioned impact - and THAT
will raise Red Flags that trigger much closer and more thorough impact
analysis. And THAT can end up costing the proposed development to
either cost more money, or may kill the project completely if the
environmental impact is great enough - and can't be mitigated.

Now I know there will be some who will rant and rave about "government
interference" with "The Free Market" and Beauracratice Red Tape. I
dealt with Developers over my 31 year career In The Business, starting
just before CEQA was enacted and then afterwards. With a precious few
exceptions, my experience with "developers" led me to conclude that most
are the type of folks who would defecate on your doorstep, ring your
door bell, and DEMAND toilet paper. The good ones are part of the
community and try and be a good neighbor. The others - well they want
to make as much money as they think they "deserve", then take the money
and run, leaving their messes for others to live and deal with. And I
was one of the people who got to try and fix some of those messes, by
identifying the mitigation measures required. If you've wasted years of
your life sitting in traffic congestion caused in no small part by
unconstrained development that doesn't pay for impacts they cause -
welcome to just one effect of an unregulated system. And if you think
there's no need for anyone to keep and eye on "the private sector", I
give you the current "Sub Prime Mortgage Fiascon", Enron, Charles
Keeting - and suggest you read The Jungle or The Octopus. Checks and
Balance is, despite the views of some, a good thing, human nature being
what it is.

Anway, Dave created a very successful, well respected company. And he
went out of his way to find highly qualified women and other minorities
(at the time), brought them into The Business, dominated by the Good Old
Boys system, mentored them and then helped some set up their own
businesses. And he did that with a wonderful sense of humour and a
great respect for people and the environment.

On the side - he climbed mountains - Kilimanjaro, Fuji, Denali, Everest
and many only known to hard core climbers. One morning, in Maui, after
breakfast, on a whim, he decided to go for a walk - up Haleakela -
that's 10,023 feet tall - a bit under2 miles UP - at a 45 degree slope.
Repair/maintenance people are required to stop TWICE on the way up - and
then sit for half an hour BEFORE attempting doing any maintenance or
repairs - and that's after DRIVING up there. Dave just "went for a
walk" - to the top. He did accept a ride down - he was after all, a
Climb Up aficianado, not a Climb Down enthusiast.

So - it didn't come as a surprise that he died - right after a 2 hour
roller blading session - getting ready for a 26 mile marathon - in
either New Zealand, or Australia - sitting outside the store drinking
some orange juice he'd just bought. A fire truck full of fireman were
just going into the store to get groceries for the firestation and they
noticed he was in trouble. Despite their best efforts, and those guys
are really good at helping people in trouble, Dave died, roller blades
at his side, just having done something he loved to do in preparation
for something he really was looking foreward to.

When I was younger, and lost a good friend, and the world had lost
another truly good person, the kind that are so rare and so sorely
needed, I'd rant and rave and shake my fist at an unfair, maybe even
manevolent, god. Now that I'm a bit older, and maybe wiser, my reaction
to such apparent tragedies is "I, and so many others, were truly lucky
to have encountered a person like this, for they are, unfortunately,
becoming more rare by the day." And in a week or so, we'll get together
and celebrate a life well lived - and maybe try a bit more to follow the
example Dave showed us, taking up some of the slack left by his death.

Care to grab the rope closest to you?

charlie belden

There are far more angels - than assholes.
And THAT's the truth, despite what The Media
would have us believe.