Monte Rio Musings by Chuck Ramsey — April 2020

RUSSIAN RIVER ALLIANCE

March 25, 2020

What a difference a month makes. We’ve been through 9/11 and the stock market housing crash of 2008. We still have businesses not even re-opened from the floods last year, not even recovered from the PG&E shutdowns and evacuations, and yet here we are on shutdown again.

I’m in the camp of we are creating an economic crisis in response to a healthcare crisis. The financial impacts will be long lasting. I have worked for the Federal government responding to disasters, so I know that money does come through to help rebuild communities, but this time it just seems overwhelming. I’m afraid for our unemployed, I’m afraid for our businesses that were already struggling, I’m afraid more people will lose their homes, their savings and their retirement.

I’m cautiously optimistic that maybe going forward we will have better leadership in our government and that the world will start working together as one planet, one people. It certainly hasn’t been that way for a long while. Perhaps in the short term we can move from hoarding toilet paper for ourselves, to practicing social distancing for ourselves and for others. One positive outcome might be businesses will see the value in tele-commuting for more employees going forward. Another outcome might be the acceptance of more remote teleconferencing for meetings. Maybe there will be less hate, selfishness, and divisiveness going forward. People working together for the greater good. Last month I traveled for the 4th time to Cuba. You know part of the “Troika of Terror”, yet Cuba is the country sending doctors, nurses, and medicines they developed to Italy as well as other countries. Talking with them one on one about politics and their families, and you quickly learn that they are more than our neighbors. They are family. We can accomplish so much by reaching out through the fear and misconceptions and working together. We all have fear. Breaking through the barriers to find common ground and humanity is the only way to live, and the only way to make a difference for our planet.

Speaking of our Hate Free community, I want to thank Monte Rio Chamber for putting up our Hate Free Community sign on the Triangle gateway. In addition, I want to thank Ed Brochu for the tulips. Small efforts can have large impacts.

I also want to thank Jeniffer Wertz, workforce housing fund manager for the Russian River Alliance. Once again, we are first on the streets helping workers that lost jobs and businesses that were closed and lost income. Especially thanks to those that generously contributed to make this assistance possible. Much more help will be forthcoming from other government and private sources. If you would like to help, please go to www.RussianRiverAlliance.org

Not much on the what’s happening this month in Monte Rio. Please do what you can to help others, whether it’s practicing social distancing or reaching out by supporting your neighbors and our local businesses.

Together, we will get through this.

Vacation Wonderland, we just keep getting better.

Chuck Ramsey has resided in Monte Rio for 15 years. Building community is his passion. He currently serves on the boards of the Monte Rio Alliance and Russian River Alliance.

If you would like to learn more about the Lower River Area Community Alliances, become involved as a volunteer, or if you have some community concerns or solutions you would like to share, you can “like” our Guerneville Community Alliance and/or Russian River Alliance FB pages, or visit our website at www.russianriveralliance.org. You can also contact Jeniffer Wertz at 707-483-7038 (Guerneville), or Chuck Ramsey at 707-239-1639 (Monte Rio).