The Way Things Are Done In California

As a RF engineer working for a national wireless phone carrier, it is my job to design, build, and optimize cell site towers and most particularly the associated radio equipment for each cell site.  I currently work in the politically and culturally conservative state of Utah, and although I am not a member of the predominate religious faith here, I find myself liking the area quite well.  Most of the people are courteous and the culture on the whole tends to celebrate traditional American values. 

A part of my job is to continuously improve our wireless network, and that will sometimes entail adding new cell sites to accommodate customer growth or fill in various coverage holes.  With zoning in some jurisdictions becoming rather onerous, we always try to co-locate our antennas on existing towers or taller commercial building rooftops first.  Unfortunately when we try to cover larger swaths of residential areas, existing towers and tall buildings are sometimes very hard to come by.  We thus have typically found a good solution to this problem for many residential areas.  We speak with local school principals and the associated PTA etc. as necessary and request to build a tower on school properties.  This usually works out quite well.  We are able to provide needed coverage to our subscribers in their homes, and the always cash-strapped schools are able to get a monthly lease amount of money.  Additionally, once a carrier goes to the trouble of leasing and zoning such a tower in a residential area, it usually isn’t too long before other carriers come along and ask to co-locate on that tower too thus providing even more rent to the school.  The school wins, the carriers win, and everyone is happy.  Or not.

About five years ago I proposed building a new cell tower to an elementary school principal who’s school lied directly in the middle of a dense residential area for which all carriers had trouble providing adequate coverage to their subscribers.  The principal was enthusiastic and on the verge of giddy over our proposal as he would only have to give up a 20 by 20 foot unused corner of his playground in exchange for a much-needed influx of cash to be used by the school as he deemed necessary.  He even negotiated for us to provide a new marquee sign at the front of the school as an added bonus for them.  We had completed a draft lease and agreed on all of the terms in theory.  The only hurdle was to get approval from a parent advisory board.  I showed up at the meeting and presented my case and answered all of their questions accordingly.  Everyone seemed well pleased with the proposal and were preparing to vote on the issue, when a middle-aged professional-looking lady arrived late to the meeting. 

I could tell right away that she was going to be a problem.  Her tone to me and others on the board was adversarial and condescending.  She proceeded to ask me many questions that had already been asked by the crowd.  I found it rather interesting and quite telling that neither the principal nor anyone else reigned her in and told her so.  Her biggest complaint was regarding the “safety” of my proposed tower.  She was certain that such cell towers, particularly ones placed at schools, would irradiate her precious little child and undoubtedly lead to cancer.  It was a question that had already been addressed.  Nevertheless I calmly and patiently presented her my independent studies AGAIN and explained that the site operated at frequencies and power levels that were orders of magnitude lower than what was required to even begin causing any health risk whatsoever.  In fact, the 1996 Telecommunications act even made it illegal to reject a new site based on RF safety concerns accordingly.  Of course, the lady began to pontificate on what a liar I was and that I was just a shill for the industry that wanted to make money and to hell with the consequences for the kids.  I could see that her ranting diatribe was irritating many of the other parents and making others rather uncomfortable.  When it appeared that most of the parents and staff weren’t buying her hysteria, she pulled out her trump card.  “As many of you already know, I am a lawyer who moved her from the San Francisco Bay Area last year, and I stopped many of these sites from being built out there.  The fact that you people would consider putting such a dangerous site in the middle of our school ground is ridiculous.  That is not the way we did things in California, and I am going make sure it doesn’t happen here.  If you proceed forward with this site, I will bring a lawsuit forward here too.”   Ironically, I noticed she answered her CELL PHONE and immediately dropped the call as she was leaving the meeting.

Anyway, the principal asked for a recess and said that we would postpone a vote until next month’s meeting.  I spoke to him two days later and he informed me that he was no longer interested in our proposal and that he was sincerely sorry.  It was a reminder of a lesson that I have seen repeated in various iterations time and again since then. 

  

California is dominated by large cities that are overwhelmingly progressive, and have basically ruined a once great state accordingly.  They have nearly bankrupted the state in their ridiculous and never-ending attempts to be the nanny to all constituents and involve themselves in every aspect of people’s lives.  Their state debt now dwarfs that of the nation of Greece’s accordingly.  Many businesses have fled the state to escape the confiscatory tax rates and regulatory burdens, including Fortune 500 companies such as Northrop.   According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, California ranks 49^th in unemployment at 9.8% as of December 2012.  The people there don’t seem to realize that there are ramifications for the burdens that the state places on those that provide jobs for the citizens.  People, families, and especially businesses are often times voting with their feet and leaving the Golden State accordingly. 

The problem is that many of these fine people move to new states, such as Utah.  They then get involved with city councils, PTA boards, and state governments.  All of that would be wonderful if they would use and proclaim the lessons they should have learned about living in an intrusive hyper-progressive state and how destructive it becomes to prosperity and freedom.  Unfortunately, they often seem to forget the conditions there that were the catalyst for them moving from California in the first place.  I have since heard time and again that old refrain I heard from the Bay-Area-lawyer Lady years before of “that’s not how we did things in California.”  Many of these folks want to seemingly re-create the mess that they fled in their previous home state. 

I’ve got a suggestion for all such progressive Californians.  If you don’t like the way we do things in our conservative state, stay in your own progressive swamp.  At the very least, do NOT come to our state and tell us how we are doing things wrongly. 

That is especially true for Utah.  We have been ranked #1 for three years in a row for “Best State for Business and Careers” by Forbes Magazine.   We have also been ranked first for “Economic Dynamism”, and the “Top State for Volunteerism” for seven years in a row.  Our state unemployment has remained considerably lower than the national average and far below California’s.  Our cost of living is well below the national average and our culture of family values tends to be far more traditional and conservative than the nation’s as a whole.  The state has been recognized as one of the best managed states governmentally and according to the recent census, Utah was ranked 3^rd for “Overall Economic Health”.  In other words, I think Utah has a pretty good handle on things judging by any number of objective standards;  all of which are far better than California’s.  In other words, if you good California folks want to move to Utah and other conservative states and work to productively contribute to it, then I am sure you will be happily welcomed.  When you come here and tells us we are doing wrong and use your state of California as the model, we are going to laugh at you uproariously.   

I had a beloved uncle that died a few short years ago that lived in Oregon most all of his life.  He was not one for being politically correct, and always insisted that it was the government’s obligation to build a very secure border fence – a fence around the borders of California to keep them in there.  I laughed at the time, but in retrospect I am beginning to think that he was right.

The 9/11 Healing Fields

As we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America that occurred on September 11, 2001, it is interesting to note how various places across our greatest of nations choose to mark the occasion.  Some places are holding solemn prayer vigils.  Others, as per President Obama’s urging, are volunteering in any number of ways to help their communities.  In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is hosting a ceremony to commemorate the event where clergy and prayer are sadly not welcome.

I, however, am lucky to live in a rather refreshingly peculiar state.  It is quite different from anywhere else I have ever lived.  The people here are generally rather conservative and tend to be quite patriotic, which suits my temperament quite well.  They typically honor that patriotism with respect and service towards others and our nation.  I live in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Utah.

In the next town over, Sandy, Utah, they have commemorated the attacks of 9/11 in a rather unique fashion.  The city has  erected what they call a Healing Field each year since 2003.  The beautiful verdant grassy field outside of the Sandy City Hall is lined with nearly 3000 American flags to commemorate the deaths of the 2,977 innocent victims that perished that horrible day, with the majestic Wasatch Mountain Range framing the background.  Each flag has a tag attached to it with a name and some biographical information for one of the victims lost that day.  See here for more information on this incredible Healing Field.

The field is nearly overwhelming when first seen.  This is even more so when you realize that the seemingly endless field of flags represents a fallen American for each single flag.

This year they will further be unveiling a new statue of the firemen that raised Old Glory in the midst of the rubble of the World Trade Center as a permanent memorial.  The statue will be entitled Hope Rising.

I happened by the place as I drove home from work today and spent a moment walking through the field while taking a few pictures.  It is amazing how an ordinary field can be transformed into such a solemn place.  I said a prayer to God that He will continue to show His love and mercy towards the loved ones that lost someone on that horrible day and further pray that we Americans will not forget that day and hopefully never have to suffer such an evil attack on our citizens ever again.

Utah National Guard Takes Responsibility for Herriman Fire

On Sunday September 19th, the Utah National Guard began conducting live fire machine gun training at Camp Williams about thirty miles south of Salt Lake City, despite the tinder dry conditions and hot winds that were blowing that afternoon.  Unfortunately the worst happened accordingly.

A fire started around 1:30 PM that afternoon due to that machine gun fire which rapidly spread out of control and eventually ended up charring over 4,300 acres. 

The Utah National Guard quickly acknowledged that live ammunition from the exercise was indeed the cause of that fire.  Lt. Colonel Hank McIntyre stated that Utah National Guard crews tried to immediately get the blaze under control but with no success.  The National Guard waited nearly two hours trying to fight the rapidly growing fire before calling for outside fire services to assist them, according to the Major General Brian Tarbet.

Unfortunately that blaze grew and spread to the Herriman mountainside, consuming more than 4,300 acres and destroying three homes while damaging a fourth.  Approximately 1600 homes and more than 5000 people in the town of Herriman near the northern border of Camp Williams had to be evacuated for several days due to the fire. 

According to the local Salt Lake ABC affiliate, "At a press conference Monday afternoon, Camp Williams Adjutant Maj. Gen. Brian L. Tarbet apologized for the chain of events that led to the fire. Gen. Tarbet says that the fire "literally exploded across Camp Williams," after Camp Williams fire crews were initially fighting a five acre fire at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday."

Maj. General Tarbet further stated that Guard officials erred when they allowed live-fire training despite high wind warnings and also said that no one from the Guard checked to see if the National Weather Service had posted a "red flag" high-wind warning before permitting the machine gun exercise to proceed in such dangerous conditions.

Despite the lack of good procedure and safety leading up to the event, I applaud General Tarbet for his taking quick responsibility for the blaze without making excuses or looking to shift blame for the responsibility.  In the press conference, he said to the media, "We say we're sorry, deeply sorry; these are the citizens we're sworn to protect and we did not do that Sunday."  He characterized the fire as a "systematic failure" at Camp Williams.  "Our mission is to support our citizens, not to endanger them, and we failed in that yesterday," Tarbet further said.

Despite the loss to the families whose homes were destroyed and the thousands of people inconvenienced for most of a week due to evacuation orders, I am heartened that the Utah National Guard stepped up, admitted fault without excuse and have promised to make things right for those affected by the fire.  The Utah National Guard had setup evacuation shelters immediately via the Red Cross and set up a mechanism for claims against the Guard for the replacement of lost property.  Luckily no human life was lost in this tragedy. 

Thankfully, Maj. General Tarbet and the Utah National Guard, despite their dreadful mistakes, are honorable people that took full and complete responsibility and are actively working to make things right.  Their example of contrition without shirking the blame and responsibility is refreshing and something from which we can all learn these days. 

Governing America based on California/New York or Texas/Utah Models

With the rapidly approaching mid-term elections less than two months away, we have reached a crossroads where there will finally be a referendum in our country on how we the people wish to govern our nation.  We can either take the socialistic big-government-is-always-the-solution approach like what has been done in California and New York, or we can take a more limited government, business-friendly approach such has been done in Texas and Utah as our models.

Let's start by looking at California.  California has long been governed with an eye towards progressive policies where the state government was the place that most people looked to for answers to all of their problems.  The results of this have been utterly devastating.  Indeed if California were a country, it would be the equivalent of either Greece or Iceland.  It is effectively bankrupt.  The state has long been over-governed, over-taxed, over-regulated, and over-unionized, with incredibly excessive spending and entitlement commitments that it will never be able to meet.  If current trends continue in California, the rest of the country will have to rescue it from the deep abyss of debt that the unsustainable spending and governing of this state has wrought.  Currently and most disturbingly, it would seem that our federal government is using California as its model on how to govern the country. 

New York, largely due to the huge population center of New York City, is the east coast sister of California.  Seemingly there is no problem that occurs that the people of New York don't look to the government to solve for them.  The result of this reliance upon government has created a climate where New York is the 49th worst state for business in the entire country.  It is directly preceded by California at the 48th spot.

Chief Executive magazine recently conducted a survey of CEOs who rated California as the worst state in the country for doing business. It was awarded a grade of “F” in the category of “Taxation and Regulation” and was the only state to receive this grade.


New York is seemingly trying to follow suit where the taxation and regulatory burden for businesses has surpassed absurd proportions.  In New York City, it is now even against the law for restaurants to sell any food containing trans fats.  Yep, big brother is looking out for everyone there!


In contrast, the CEO's in that same survey rated Texas as the number one state in the nation for doing business. Comparatively to California, it is a low tax, low regulation, right-to-work state, where unemployment is is several points below the national average.


So where does Utah fall in this equation?  Utah is arguably one of the most conservative states in the union both politically and economically in the way it has been governed historically. It has indeed trended towards more progressive governance in recent years from its past where in 1992 Bill Clinton came in 3rd place behind George H.W. Bush, and Ross Perot in presidential balloting, but overall it still has strong bonafide conservative principles.


That conservative governance has resulted in the 6th best corporate tax index rank in the country, the 2nd best property tax index rank, and the tenth best in overall tax burden for its citizens compared to eleventh place for Texas, and again as opposed to 48th for California and 49th for New York.  Furthermore Utah is predicting having a balanced budget in fiscal year 2011, whereas California has a shortfall as a percentage of the state budget of 53% this year and 26% in 2011.  New York projects a nearly 39% shortfall this year and a 27% shortfall for 2011.

The bottom line is quite apparent.  When a state government over-extends itself to regulate and govern all aspects of life for its citizens other than just the basic functions that private companies or citizens cannot feasibly do upon their own (utilities oversight, state roads etc) then the burden of having such a hyper-intrusive government becomes so costly that the ultimate destination for these transgressions will necessarily result in insolvency of the state government.  Bankruptcy.  California is already on the precipice of this problem.  New York is not far behind.


In contrast, while Texas and Utah do have their own distinct problems as related to state governance, overall, the more business friendly climate and the overall lower taxation and lesser regulatory burden on the people there have created states where businesses have not fled in droves, thereby keeping unemployment numbers decidedly better than the nation as a whole and far better than California in particular.


So the question now remains, are we as a nation going to continue to vote for politicians and policies to govern our country in the models of New York and California, as we have been doing particularly under the Obama administration, or are we going to reject these obviously failed policies for those that have been fruitful in states such as Texas and Utah? 


Early sentiments seem to suggest that a large majority of the population has awoken and realizes that absolutely when it comes to government, less is more.  I have to assume that the good people of this country have indeed reached this conclusion, because the California/New York model is unsustainable and the results are apparent for anyone looking to see this fact.  It has now become crucial that we adopt the Texas/Utah model if we are to restore our country and undo the massive damage already done by the tax & spend & regulate crowd that is reflected in the California/New York model.  We will hear from the people on this matter very soon!


sources: taxfoundation.org and statehealthfacts.org

The Death Penalty and Ronnie Lee Gardner

Ronnie Lee Gardner is set to die in Utah by firing squad next Friday June 18th for the 1985 courthouse escape attempt where Gardner critically wounded an unarmed bailiff, Nick Kirk, and fatally shot attorney Michael Burdell in the right eye. Gardner had been on trial for the execution of a bartender, Melvyn Otterstrom, whom he robbed back in 1984 and then shot the defenseless man in the nostril as Otterstrom lay on the floor.

During the time of the penalty phase of Gardner’s trial, Utah had the option of death by firing squad, which has since been removed as an option only a year or two ago. Gardner chose this method of his execution back then and so the method is still being allowed in the commission of carrying out his sentence next Friday.

Now from all accounts, Ronnie Lee Gardner had a pretty hard upbringing and life in general. That being said, there are millions of folks that overcome and transcend horrible childhoods and become stronger and better people because of it. Indeed some of the most amazing people I have read about or know personally have achieved amazing things in their lives precisely because of the strength and courage they found by surviving such horrific beginnings in life.

I admit that I have a problem though. You see, being a convert to Catholicism a few years back, the death penalty is one of the areas that I still struggle with a lot. Our church teaches, and I do believe it to be true in my mind if not always in my heart, that it is not up to man to mete out this sort of justice via the death penalty. My problem is that this person is by nearly all accounts a piece of human scum and deserving of such a seemingly fitting punishment, and indeed a few years back I would have been one to have happily obliged in the carrying out of this justice accordingly.

The problem is that my church teaches that ALL life is created by God and that each and every one of us has that spark of life that was placed there by God, so it is up to God alone to determine the time and manner of any person’s death. As Christians, we are taught to defend life from conception until natural death. (Fighting in a just war or being a duly appointed officer using deadly force in protecting innocent life, or indeed anyone that has no other choice but to kill in the protection of innocent life, being the only exceptions.) Basically it comes down to the fact that man does not have the right to take a life that God created.

Now I would sleep much better at night and have a clearer conscience though if Ronnie Lee Gardner were given life in prison without parole and remanded to spend the remainder of his days in solitary confinement. THAT would indeed be a fitting sentence. Indeed those convicted of wanton murder should all be placed in an absolutely no-frills prison where they have minimal contact with anyone for the remainder of their days. Frankly, such a punishment would be worse than death, in my opinion, and that is what is richly deserved by such evil people.

In the meantime, I am expecting to see all of the usual suspects from the left gear up in support of sparing Gardner, particularly because of the method of execution that he chose, and yet these very same people are the ones that flip me off and yell expletives at me during pro-life rallies. It amazes me that there are those that think nothing of killing innocent unborn life and yet abhor the killing of the wicked and evil in the world. The disconnect and irony is lost on these poor misguided folks I suppose.

Anyway, I will not be one to attend the rallies to plead for Gardner’s commutation, and for that perhaps I am wrong and not living my faith as strongly as I should be. It is something which I have prayed about in the past years and still have not come to peace with completely. I will indeed pray for Gardner’s soul in knowing that God will judge him shortly, just as He will do for each and every one of us some day. The demise of Gardner though will seemingly come at the hands of duly-appointed officers of the law though.

When all is said and done, a vile and despicable human being will no longer be a ward of the Utah State prison system any longer after some twenty five years after the reading of his sentence, and while the whole thing is quite sad, I can confidently say that I will not shed a tear at Ronnie Lee Gardner’s passing. And for that, I wonder if I may one day be judged on this account too.

Religion and Culture in Utah

I live in Utah. I surprisingly like living in Utah. I am not a member of the predominant faith here, however. That has at times caused some amusing and some irritating issues.

Not usually for me, as I tend to get along with everyone, and those that don't like me I really don't waste my time being concerned with their sentiments towards me.

My family is Catholic and we try to be pretty devout. It is my wife, Mrs. Paine, and my youngest daughter that have had more conflicts with members of the Mormon faith than I have. My wife, while acknowledged, was often on the outside looking in while working at her previous job because 95% of the people there were Mormon.

My daughter, as one example, had made a friend in elementary school when we first moved here years ago and they became fairly close. One day, when my daughter wore her cross necklace to school, the friend in shock and dismay learned the fact that we were an "apostate family" and not of the "true faith" as Joseph Smith had defined it. The friend was no longer allowed to play with my daughter after that. I thought this to be sad and definitely not a very Christian attitude. Why ignorant people think that by shunning those not of your faith will make them want to convert to it is really baffling to me.

Now I have a lot of very good friends that are devout Mormons of whom I respect, admire and love, even though I definitely do NOT accept the doctrines of their faith or the legitimacy of the Book of Mormon. And that is fine. If I did accept it, then I would logically have to become LDS myself. It ain't gonna happen folks. (As an aside, as a member of our parish's team, I and my family have helped well over 100 people, most of them previously Mormon, to convert to Catholicism via the church's Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program, however.)

That does not mean that we Catholics and Protestants cannot learn much from our Mormon brothers and sisters. We definitely can! Their sense of zeal for the Lord is indeed great, although misguided by their spiritual texts, in my humble opinion. Their overall sense of community, caring for one another, and just plain old family values are excellent and above reproach. They also preach, if not always execute in practice, frugality, self-dependence, and taking care of their neighbor. Even smart things in LDS culture such as being prepared for disasters by having months of food storage and emergency items on hand make great sense.

This aspect is so ingrained in Mormon culture that most homes in Utah are built with often-concrete-constructed rooms in the basements just for emergency food storage. Our realtor, when we were looking for a home here, knew we were not of the LDS faith and said we could do as he did and use this room as a wine cellar.

I also have some friends that are similarly not Mormon too. Often they will gripe about their ostracization from the community because of their lack of "belonging to the faith". While this does indeed occur, it is becoming less so in Salt Lake County as it becomes less homogeneous with the influx of all types of Americans from elsewhere in the country over the years. The more rural counties often still exhibit the ostracization tendencies, however.

Utah is a beautiful state and has some of the most majestic scenery in the world contained within its borders. Many National Parks and Monuments are here such as Zion Park, Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Monument and the Grand Escalante Stair Case, just to name some of them.

I can understand the attraction for people living here for that reason alone. Add on to this the fact that the state is governed in a more conservative fashion than most other states (Clinton came in 3rd to Bush Sr. and Ross Perot in '92) which has resulted in a lot more stable economy and typically lower state taxes overall. (Our current unemployment rate here is around 6% versus a national rate of 10% and a California rate of 15%.)

With all of this being said I find it amazing that people move here not of the Mormon faith and then get frustrated that they cannot have things done "just like the state where they came from". If I were to move to Rome, I would assume that the Catholic faith would predominate and all aspects of culture would be influenced accordingly because of that. Same thing if I were to move to Tel Aviv if I were not Jewish. Why should Utah be different? The Mormons founded the state and by and large it was their pioneers that settled here and built the infrastructure and communities here.

I think we should try to love our brother as our self, just as Christ commanded, regardless if the person is a Jew, a Samaritan... or a Mormon. The bottom line is if you cannot accept their predominance in the state of Utah, then maybe another place to live would be in order. Let me know if that is the case as I know a good realtor to help you sell your home with the built-in wine cellar! :)