Each of us sees what we want to see
And we are blind to that which we cannot see.
Whether the truth lies in plain view or not.
Our rods and cones are uniquely aligned.

A blink, or a squint, at the truth may open our view, or not.
Like dust in the eyes the view can be rubbed out.
Tears may flow to clear away the distortion.
The impressions from a peripheral glance may bring it into focus.

For those of us with blind spots, which means everyone,
The things we trip over were obvious to those around us.
Just as we see their tripping hazards that they don’t recognize.
But there’s no denying, denial is an effective filter.

How come I can’t get you to see what you will not see?
Perspective is both point of view and position
The glare in the eyes may be the reflection of a vision we have not shared
Or the view is seen together after a long thoughtful gaze.

Do you see what I mean? Can you? Do you want to?
Without insight a beam of light flashes on steel
and bounces off in another incredible direction
Never illuminating the space the steel reflected.

The Sacramento Bee has a city manager comparison. I derived a chart of amount per citizen which shows that Santa Rosa is well within the norm and smaller cities pay more per citizen.

Thanks to Phillip Reese et al preese@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Sep. 10, 2010 – 12:21 pm

“The average pay for a city manager in California is roughly $190,000, according to a just-released survey from the League of California Cities. ”

I extrapolated Sonoma County communities and cities comparable to Santa Rosa in size to see how pay rates compared. I included San Bruno and Beverly Hills because they may be of interest. Anaheim, as a larger city, is also for comparison.

With the average @ $190,000 the smaller communities appear to have to pay more to get competent managers.

(I apologize for the chart layout – coaching is welcomed)

City, Population, City Manager, 2009 Pay then dollars per citizen (pay/population) =

Anaheim 348,467 Thomas J. Wood $293,017 dollars per citizen = $0.84
Oceanside 187,000 Peter Weiss $174,000 dollars per citizen = $0.93
Pomona 163,683 Linda Lowry $223,500 dollars per citizen = $1.37
Santa Rosa 161,716 Jeffrey C. Kolin $231,010 dollars per citizen = $1.43
Ontario 174,536 Chris Hughes $253,500 dollars per citizen = $1.45
Salinas 150,000 Artie Fields $225,638 dollars per citizen = $1.50
Santa Clarita 177,641 Ken Pulskamp $293,760 dollars per citizen = $1.65
Corona 150,416 Bradly Robbins $265,044 dollars per citizen = $1.76
Pasadena 151,576 Michael J. Beck $270,730 dollars per citizen = $1.79
Torrance 149,717 LeRoy Jackson $268,382 dollars per citizen = $1.79
Rancho Cucamonga 178,904 Jack Lam $324,582 dollars per citizen = $1.81
Palmdale 152,622 Stephen H. Williams $367,518 dollars per citizen = $2.41
Napa 75,515 Michael Parness $237,703 dollars per citizen = $3.15
San Rafael 58,822 Ken Nordhoff $191,018 dollars per citizen = $3.25
Petaluma 58,401 John C. Brown $208,721 dollars per citizen = $3.57
Rohnert Park 43,020 Gabriel Gonzalez $169,080 dollars per citizen = $3.93
San Bruno 44,294 Connie Jackson $205,832 dollars per citizen = $4.65
Windsor 26,500 J. Matthew Mullan $180,000 dollars per citizen = $6.79
Beverly Hills 33,784 Roderick Wood $438,571 dollars per citizen = $12.98
Healdsburg 11,700 Marjorie Pettus $158,012 dollars per citizen = $13.51
Sonoma 10,078 Linda Kelly $146,507 dollars per citizen = $14.54
Sebastopol 7,800 Jack Griffin $126,307 dollars per citizen = $16.19
Cloverdale 8,454 Nina Regor $164,285 dollars per citizen = $19.43
Cotati 7,409 Dianne M. Thompson $145,580 dollars per citizen = $19.65

God is an old man all dressed in black

He sits in a wheelchair holding a cane in his gloved hands.

God is a young mother who drove with her husband from the Valley.

The kids are with her mother. They don’t know mommy is scared.

God hovers between a middle aged couple,
blessing them as they savor every moment, taking it one step at a time.

God is a mystic, challenging the world to change and
to accept that the present moment is as close to heaven as we need to be.

God is a young man, now in an old man’s body, all dressed in black

He sits in a wheelchair holding a cane in his gloved hands.
Waiting for a miracle.

Gerry La Londe-Berg
February 5, 2008