Open Letter to City Council Member Kathleen Shaffer,
I honor all the good work you do for our small town of Sebastopol. I appreciate your organizing and attending many community meetings, your excellent work with seniors, and your good communication skills informing us of city matters.
So I was disappointed by your lone vote July 7 against the prudent resolution giving Sebastopol more local control over emerging technology. According to Sonoma West, you did a sample that convinced you that the majority of the city’s residents had few problems with cell phone use. I am glad that you consult with some of your constituents. But leadership is not just about pleasing the people one talks to. When we were in the early stages of the disastrous Vietnam War, for example, few leaders spoke out against it. Even when it is unpopular, we need public officials willing to protect our health. We are now in the early years of cells phones and their towers, which bring some advantages. But at what cost?
I hope you will listen to the mothers and others who have researched the studies that prove that cell phone use can damage, especially the brains of young ones. The resolution merely calls for more research and local control before we rush into more cell phone towers blighting our neighborhoods. What do we have to lose by such research and increasing local control of our special town? It might slow things down as we further discuss this matter. Is that so bad?
In the Fall, 2008, issue of “The American Trial Lawyer” George L. Carlo, M.D., concludes “Catastrophic trouble lies ahead if corrective steps are not taken to stem the tide of dangers from wireless technology.” Dr. Carlo is a distinguished physician and former medical school professor. He cites over 1000 peer-reviewed studies that establish the direct and indirect links between mobile phone use and a variety of health problems. I am glad that both attorneys on the Council had the foresight to vote for the resolution, as did the retired psychotherapist. I hope that the one absent Council member, a nurse, would also support the resolution, from a health perspective. We should have placed more limitations and safeguards on cigarette smoking decades ago and should not wait decades to do so with this new addictive, harmful machine.
Legislation often lags behind technological advances. In Sebastopol we are often ahead of other places in practicing the precautionary principle and protecting our citizens. We need to continue to provide such leadership, rather than lag behind because some people benefit or want to speed things up. Similar resolutions were unanimously adopted by governing bodies in Los Angeles, Portland, OR, and elsewhere.
I request that you study this matter carefully, as I have recently, and consider a vote for more caution next time. We need an open, cordial, and respectful discourse on cell phones and towers, rather than let the federal government--with its many high-paid corporate lobbyists--dictate to our small town what is healthy for us. Let’s not rush head-long into more health problems.
Your cell phone-using friend,
Shepherd Bliss, [email protected], Sebastopol