WELL NEWSLETTER - MARCH 23, 2006

Calendar of WELL Events

Monday, April 3 - General Meeting of the Working Groups

6:30 - 8:30pm Willits Community Center

Join us for our monthly meeting of our working groups and get involved with their projects.

Special Event: THIS IS RLNC — "OUR LINK" TO SUSTAINABILITY

Calling all Economic Localization groups in Northern California to join together for a Regional Localization Networking Conference An information exchange opportunity sponsored by the WELL April 7-9, 2006 — Keynote Address by David Schaller - Sustainable Development Coordinator, US EPA

The purpose of this conference is to improve our region’s economic localization efforts through sharing best practices; developing consistent messages for the general public, business community, and political leaders; and enhancing regional communication between groups. The goal for this conference is not to raise the general awareness of the issue of economic localization, but rather to share ideas among those who are presently encouraging this transition in their communities.

An application, including more details for this event, is attached as is a schedule for the conference. Now is the time to register for this event. We have many localization groups coming - please join us.

If you are a member of WELL, please call about reduced rates.

April 17 - Special Meeting: Reports from committee on follow-up to "The Future of WELL"

6:30 - 8:30 Willits Community Center

This will be a time for the three committees formed at our weekend workshop in March to report on their progress. These committees are: Membership, Governance and Strategic Planning.

This is a good time to learn the details of the work that went on during our workshop.

Monday, May 1 - General Meeting of the Working Groups

6:30 - 8:30pm Willits Community Center

Join us for our monthly meeting of our working groups and get involved with their projects.

Monday, May 15 - Speaker Event: WATER - "Your Pond in the Country" and the implications for our county

6:30 - 8:30pm Willits Community Center

Join Park Steiner and possibly other guests to learn about how private water use affects the quality of water for everyone, including non-humans. Park is a member of Trout Unlimited and the Peregrine Audobon Society. He has studied these issues thoroughly.

May 29 - Memorial Day Picnic in the Park Mid-day at the City Park, across from the Community Center

Bring a lunch, bring your family and friends to join us for an informal picnic.

Other Events of Interest

Coming in April - Community Emergency Response Team training April 4th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 25th & 26th Location: City of Ukiah Fire Department 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, CA 95482

Presented by Mendocino Emergency Services Authority and City of Ukiah Fire Department: The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program was developed in California in the mid-80s as a way to train people to better prepare for emergency situations in their communities. Since then, it has become a national model for helping people respond to emergencies. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. CERT members can also help with non-emergency projects that improve the safety of the community. CERT training classes include disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, and light search and rescue operations.

The target audience for the first course will be individuals throughout the City who are interested in putting together teams within their neighborhoods.

Registration: Contact Cindy Stanford (707) 463-6261 stanford@cityofukiah.com

For Information: Kurt Latipow, Chief, City of Ukiah Fire Department (707) 463-6263 klatipow@cityofukiah.com

Cost: There is no cost for this training Date/Time: April 4th - 6:00-9:30p.m. April 11th - 6:00-9:30p.m. April 15th - 8:00a.m.-5:00p.m. April 18th - 6:00-9:30 p.m. April 25th - 6:00-9:30 p.m. April 26th - 6:00 p.m. - Graduation

NEWS

More recognition for WELL from elected officials:

On Monday, March 20, representatives from WELL, REDI, Willits Environmental Center and the City met with aides for Barbara Boxer and Congressman Mike Thompson. During our meeting, the aides learned about our economic localization efforts with an eye towards how federal assistance could make Willits a model, green city.

We encourage everyone to write or call the offices of Thompson and Boxer to thank them for their visit.

Mike Thompson's office: heidi.dickerson@mail.house.gov 707.962.0933

Barbara Boxer's office: jennifer_tang@boxer.senate.gov 415.403.0116

School Farm News

Last week, in a special meeting, the Willits school board approved the Brookside School Farm! The farm will get started this spring and be a small community supported farm that will be integrated into student learning.

Many thanks and congratulations go to Jason Bradford for his whole hearted committment to seeing this project through the laborious beginning stages.

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS

At the general WELL meeting held last Monday, March 20, we appreciated one of WELL's dedicated volunteers, Brian Corzilius - thank you for all you have given.

Honoring Brian Corzilius March 20, 2006

The WELL Steering Committee would like to periodically publicly honor and thank dedicated people in our community working towards economic localization.

Tonight, this person is Brian Corzilius. Brian is perhaps best known for his work on energy issues. He led the way on compiling data and writing two reports related to our current energy use, envisioning local, sustainable energy supplies, and recommending projects that bridge that gap. I believe that this research was instrumental in convincing the City of Willits to take renewable energy seriously. So compelling was this work that Willits is aiming to become, apparently, the first City in North America to attempt to cover their electricity budget on solar energy technology. And more projects related to these reports are on the way.

Brian is also known as the creator of our web site, www.willitseconomiclocalization.org. He has also been vigilant at updating that site, and went to the trouble and expense of purchasing the domain name and the server time for the next few years. This web site gets hundreds of visits per day, is a great repository of information about WELL, and keeps many of us informed of what is up-coming.

Brian has also been a great promoter of economic localization and has enrolled local businesses to donate supplies to WELL from time to time. He even created a sticker to promote WELL, which everyone here is invited to take and spread around town.

These are the big things Brian has done, and there are many more little things too. As we have gotten to know each other by coming to WELL meetings and events, we have also found opportunities to help each other the way friends do. I can’t even recall the many ways Brian has helped, but I know based on the way I and others feel about him, that he is wonderful person to have around.

As a token of WELL’s appreciation to Brian, and in the spirit of “preparedness” and “frugality” that typifies the WELL ethos, I present, on behalf the WELL Steering Committee, this can of Pure Drinking Water, which says it is impervious to nuclear fallout and recommended for emergency uses. It also makes a great paperweight.

Jason Bradford, for the WELL Steering Committee

Review

Richard Register and Kirstin Miller bring Eco-City to WIllits

Read Claudia Reed's article about this event, published in the March 22nd issue of The Willits News, here: http://www.willitsnews.com/Stories/0,1413,253%257E26908%257E3273393,00.html

Read Lanny Cotler's letter to the editor regarding the same event, published on the same day, here: http://www.willitsnews.com/Stories/0,1413,253%257E33095%257E3273400,00.html

To see the presentations by Register and Miller and to read the notes from the breakout groups and citizen committees formed during the workshop, including the Green Mapping team, visit WELL's website using the link below: http://www.willitseconomiclocalization.org/Papers/Papers.htm

In the News

WELL is featured in an in-depth article in the on-line magazine Salon, you can read it here: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/03/22/peakoil/index.html

Important Office Note:

I will be out of the office for three weeks: from Friday, March 24 until Sunday, April 16.

During this time, if you have an urgent matter, please email Jason: jason@redinet.org or leave a message at the office - 459.1256 - which someone will return within a week. We all appreciate your patience.

spring@redinet.org

Spring Senerchia, Office Manager

Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL)

Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI)

75 N. Main Street, #234 Willits, CA 95490

(707) 459-1256