John Gaccione

Date: 08/06/2022
Subject: Back to the Future
From: The Memo Desk

Dang! Tired of all these so called “improvements” to our once serene Kensington? Have you had enough of all the fiddling and meddling with our traditional methods of governance? Don’t you wish things could be like they used to be?

If you are nodding yes to any of these questions the faithful have an uplifting message for you. There is a new political campaign in our hillside village that could be just the thing for you. By now everyone has noticed their simplistic lawn signs scattered around our bucolic village. It is the work of a local group called Save Kensington’s Future (copyright 2022).

The campaign’s steering committee is composed of folks who are rooted in the gospel of “community” local control. Folks such as an investment fund owner, a $900/hr. lawyer, a philanthropist, Dorroh ordinance fans, a Federalist Society member, a financier, with a social worker and writer for that hoi polloi touch. Which raises the question, what “community” does the SKF claim it represents, the K-Club swells?

The SKF campaign cobbled together an assortment of K-Club grievances and wants. These include “pause and listen to the community”, “preserve our park for youth programs and community use” and “protect our tax dollars”. Topping the list is keeping the Kensington Police and Fire Departments in the retrofitted Public Safety Building. Why? Well, that’s the way it has been for 50 years so why change horses in mid-stream?

The desire to house both departments in the retrofitted PSB has persisted even when it has been demonstrated it doesn’t work because of space limitations and current 2022 regulatory requirements. The SKF folks have tried several “creative” schemes to cram in both departments with very little convincing evidence their schemes might work. But what sense does it make to locate both the police and fire departments 50 feet from the Hayward earthquake fault?

Nevertheless, the SKF campaign is circulating a petition to rethink options including revisiting so-called creative ways to house the KFD and KPD in the retrofitted PSB. A key element in SKF’s campaign is their stance as aggrieved victims. They claim their concerns are being ignored by the Kensington Police Protection & Community Service District Board and the Kensington Fire Protection District Board. This grievance has been promoted heavily in their petition drive and on their web site.

The SKF name may be new but it appears to be the same core group of the K-Club faithful hawking their familiar entitled agenda. Could it be time for a come-to-Jesus moment?

“The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.” (Eric Hoffer)

Note: Caution, it’s a slippery slope on the back to the future road. Satire alert!