Saturday, February 10, 2018

Dinner with Fire Victims

Our old neighborhood, Coffey Park, was completely burned down in October.  We still have friends who lived there and lost everything.  The frustration, confusion, and hopelessness they feel is unbearable.  Surviving the fire was the easy part.

Dealing with insurance companies and trying to figure out even *if* they are going to stay and rebuild is overwhelming.  There are so many moving parts to this puzzle that even if the fire victims figure out one piece, the other piece they thought they had put back together no longer fits.  Oh, then there are the constant solicitations from carpetbaggers who want to use the fire victims for personal profits.

I don't blame any of the fire victims for not even wanting to deal with any of it anymore and just leave.  Sonoma County et al SAY they want to help life get back to normal, but there are too many bureaucrats, agencies, regulations, stipulations, policies, codes, etc., all talking over each other giving conflicting information.  They can't make a decision in solidarity and stick to it if their lives depended on it as their are too many cooks in the kitchen.  One entity will agree, the other will disagree or throw up red tape and yet even more obstacles.

Who wants to deal with all that?  Like the fire victims haven't suffered enough?

Sonoma County:  We can't get out of our own way to rebuild what was lost.




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