We'd just hit the send button on that last post when we received this concerning the county's “reluctancy to let sunshine in” on their Aliso Creek clean-up project. It's an email exchange between local do-gooder group Iris Project and county Supervisor Tom Wilson, whose district includes Aliso Creek:
From: Iris Adam [mailto:ir**@uc*.edu” data-original-string=”avZjo6JPUzRowTuOJKEWdw==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” title=”This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.]
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 7:17 AM
To: Thomas WilsonDear Supervisor Wilson,
The Iris Forum looks for commonalities — this is where solutions lie.
The Iris Forum is a diversified portfolio of opinions on a single issue resulting in an ongoing intentional shift toward finding commonalities in issue of the day. The Iris Forum is the first multipartisan environmental think tank dedicated to an on going dialogue regarding the biological, social and economic effects of human activities on our environment.
A single topic (the Aliso Creek Corridor), six political parties (a Republican, Democrat, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and an Independent), along with the experts, sit down together for a conversation. The Iris Forum is known for inspiring dialogue from diverse perspectives, resulting in broadened awareness of humanity's relationship with the environment.
Ideally, for an Iris Forum on Aliso Creek, we would like to see three experts brought in:
1. A neutral party who can briefly explain the proposed dams on the creek and proposed watershed issues
2. A representative from The Athens Group
2. A representative from the Voices of WildernessSchedule for an Iris Forum:
1. Welcome and Statement of Purpose (10-15 minutes)
2. Neutral expert (10-15 minutes)
3. The Athens Group (10-15 minutes)
4. The Voices of Wilderness (10-15 minutes)
5. Iris Forum with Republican, Democrat, Natural Law, Green, Libertarian, Independent, and a Facilitator
a. Conversation (30 minutes)
b. Commonalities (30 minutes)Please let me know if the Iris Forum can be of service to you at the Aliso Creek Watershed Stakeholder Meeting.
Tuesday, October 3,
4:00-5:30 PM
Laguna Hills Community Center
25555 Alicia Parkway, Meeting Room C, Laguna Hills, CA 92653Sincerely,
Iris
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Iris Adam, Founder
Iris Forum
http://www.irisforum.org/
Here is Wilson's reply:
From: “Wilson, Thomas”
Date: September 15, 2006 1:42:12 PM PDT
To: 'Iris Adam' , “Wilson, Thomas”
Dear Iris,I certainly appreciate your offer to assist us in our efforts to address the on-going issues in Aliso Creek; however, I am confident that we have already launched a viable, success-oriented approach which includes many of the components you reference in your recent memo to me.
I thank you for your interest and your proposal of service but I sincerely believe we have a strategy in place that will produce the positive results expected.
Thank you,
TWW
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.