Being A Board Member, Budgets and Numbers

Contact me by phone: 785-3176 or 559-280-6820
I'd be pleased to speak with you.


"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." ~ Albert Einstein

I love numbers. They offer clarity in a world confusing and ever changing. They provide relief from conjecture and speculation. Sometimes they even produce certainty.

However, it has been my experience that often as not, they are as confusing and unclear as the world itself. Of course, they can also produce more questions than answers. In addition, the answers they do produce can be short sighted and woefully inadequate. Take baseball for instance.

Why hasn't anyone hit .400 since Ted Williams (.406) in 1941? The easy answer would be that there just hasn't been anyone as good as Ted since then. But, even the most casual observer of baseball would say it's a little more complicated than that.

In 1941, most games were played in the daylight. Starting pitchers were expected to pitch the entire game, and the number of quality pitchers was less. Closing relievers like Dennis Eckersley, Rob Nenn and Mariano Rivera simply didn't exist. The game was played differently from a strategic standpoint. Home runs weren't as important. Baseball gloves were smaller.

The list goes on.

So how does this relate to being a Sea Ranch Association Board Member?

To start with, our 2008-2009 yearly budget is in excess of 5 million dollars. That's a lot of numbers. As a board member, I would be expected to deal with those numbers, to assess and prioritize them. That's a big responsibility.

However, and this is a big "however," I do not feel it is the duty of a board member to generate numbers. Here are the 2 major reasons why.

#1. We have a Director of Financial Services, and she does a great job generating numbers. Her name is Ellen Buechner. I took the time to sit down with her and and have an extended conversation about the budget. In my opinion, she's top notch. She's analytical, cautious, intelligent and creative. Beyond that she impressed me as a person with a great deal of integrity, and that's very important. Consider this. Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha," and founder of Bershire-Hathaway, says that when he is hiring, he looks for 3 qualities: integrity, intelligence and creativity. However, he always makes sure he gets integrity first, because if doesn't the other two will kill him.

Warren Buffett wouldn't have any problem hiring Ellen Buechner. That's good enough for me.

And in any case, why waste Sea Ranch Association time doing something that someone who we pay does better? Seems a bit counterproductive.

#2. Generating numbers is a dangerous game for a board member, whose primary responsibilities are to oversee, guide policy and represent Sea Ranchers.

A strategy of generating numbers for the purpose of guiding or establishing policy is inherently flawed.

A good friend says that there are some who think if you massage the numbers long enough, they will produce the desired result. I happen to think that's true. However, the desirability of the result is not necessarily related to its propriety.

In essence, generating numbers to determine propriety is a little like saying the reason Ted Williams was the last man to hit .400, is because no one has been as good since then.

I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that. And, it would be naive of a board member to think otherwise. I won't.

A board member needs to think beyond the numbers, and keep his eye on the ball. I will.

How Could This Be?.......

About 5 minutes into my bluff walk Wednesday morning, I met Jack Dupre. When a gambler is on a winning streak, I've heard it referred to as having "cut into a hot deck." Jack Dupre is a fun guy. He's also like cutting into a "hot deck."

Jack talked while we walked south from Helm Station. Like David and Joan Griffith, who'd I met on my first bluff walk, he was a wealth of information. Jack said that he walked the bluff often with his wife Marsha. He explained the trail was closed at Walk On Beach and that folks had to take a detour which required them to walk on paved Sea Ranch roads to access the beach.

When we got to Walk On Beach, I saw Jon Prescott and his crew doing some work on the bluff. Hard working folk doing good things for Sea Rancers (thanks Jon!). After I took a couple pictures, Jack Dupre introduced me to a woman I'll never forget. Her name is Susan Clark.

I'd heard about the situation in Unit 28 and Walk On Beach. Heard it was real bad. But unitl I saw it for myself Wednesday morning, I really didn't understand how it impacted folks who live there.

That fact hit me when I noticed a black, plasic tarp flapping wildly on the edge of the bluff, like a child's runaway kite stuck on a power line.

It certainly wasn't the view of the ocean one would expect when only living 60 feet from the bluff's edge. But, there it was. Unbelievable. How could this be happening at The Sea Ranch of all places?

For Sea Ranchers who'd like to know what the bluff top erosion issue is really about, I invite you to spend some "quality" time with Susan Clark who lives on the bluff immediately up from Walk On Beach.

The black plastic tarp is in front of her house.

I spoke with her on Wednesday morning. She and friend Tom Cochrane, a geologist and former board member, gave me a 30 minute tutorial on bluff erosion. She talked about her battles with Sonoma County, the Bane Bill, possible solutions, both desired and not desired. Tom explained the intricasies of bluff erosion the way only a professional geologist could. He was fascinating. It was pretty compelling stuff.

Complicated and complex are other descriptions. So complex and complicated that Susan Clark says she'll be happy when, "I only have to worry about Mother Nature." Think about that for awhile. It'll definitely put a "hitch in yer gitalong" as the cowboys say.

Still, the bottom line is this. There's a way to solve the problem. It ain't easy, and it ain't cheap. But, it can be solved. It must be solved, and for all the right reasons.

However, the main reason is because Susan Clark is a Sea Rancher, and she is my neighbor. And, neighbors watch out for each other. I'm going to watch out for Susan Clark. We all should.

More about the Bane Bill and Sonoma County next time.....

"Life's most urgent and compelling question is: What are you doing for others?"
---Martin Luther King Jr

A Sad Sight On A Beautiful Bluff Trail Walk

This morning's walk on the bluff trail was a spectacular visual treat. A clear and bright sky, along with a light but constant wind, made it a signature Sea Ranch wave watching event.

Unfortunately, after walking south from Salal Creek for about 20 minutes, we came upon a most disturbing sight. I saw a bluff trail that was only 1 or 2 feet from a 20 foot fall onto the rocks below. Then I saw an empty 40 oz beer bottle just off the trail. While the sight of an empty beer bottle on the bluff trail is visual blasphemy to any Sea Rancher, an even more troubling visual is possible. That would be the sight of a body crumbled on the rocks below.

As most Sea Ranchers know, the bluff trail is both wondrous and foreboding. Walking on the bluff trail is a relatively low risk activity, but……you'd better pay attention. Provided one walks during the day and exercises a modicum of caution, he or she should be fine.
However, walk the bluff at night and you're just asking for trouble. Walk it at night while slugging down 40 ouncers and you ARE in trouble, the kind of trouble you might not get out of.

Though I've officially been a permanent Sea Rancher since June, I've pretty much lived full time at The Sea Ranch since last April. Too many times since then have visitors to our special place on the north coast, enjoyed its wonders and ignored its inherent dangers. As a result, they paid a terrible price.

While it's unclear whether any tragedy here involved alcohol, it's very clear that alcohol increases the likelihood that one will occur. Unfortunately, based on what I discovered this morning along the bluff trail, not everyone understands that.

And, that's another reason the issue of bluff erosion is so important.

The next walk on the bluff is tentatively scheduled for 10 AM on March 12, beginning at the Helm Station. Hope to see you there!