Gary Moffat is a writer, former publishing executive and 2000 transplant from Chicago whose family launched one of Old Town Auburn’s favorite entertainment venues, Carpe Vino, in 2002. Moffat, who now has a print outlet for his opinions in a regular Sentinel column, has written for the Chicago Tribune, national shelter magazines, telecom industry publications and two self-published Internet newsletters. And, oh yeah, he wrote more than 100 columns on wine for the Auburn Journal. Carpe Vino, his latest venture, is a local magnet for lovers of fine wine, fine dining and fine art.
That’s what Brand Little of Little Fish Company told me at the Farmers Market in the Courthouse parking lot last Saturday morning as he sat slouched back in a lawn chair behind a display of fresh fish buried in crushed ice.
“Breaking even is one thing,” he said, “but I can’t afford to lose money coming here.”
It wasn’t all that long ago that people were lined up six deep in front of Little’s refrigerated truck to purchase sushi-grade ahi, line-caught salmon, San Francisco Bay sturgeon, petrale, white sea bass ... even tubes and tentacles if you ordered in advance. Each week, Little sends out an e-mail on Wednesday letting his regular customers know what he will have available. Place your order before Thursday at midnight and he will have it ready for you, otherwise you take your chances on what he has in stock.
With less than 12 hours to go, I just couldn’t do it to him.
My little buddy, Willy Gee, a nearly 12-year-old Springer spaniel, had an 11 a.m. appointment the next day with his veterinarian. I was assured that the waiting room would be empty when I brought Willy in, and that the procedure would be fast and painless. I was given options for handling his remains, and I was advised of the costs associated with the process. My plan was to write a check out in advance so that I could just get the hell out of there, knowing that my companion for more than a decade was lifeless on a cold, hard table in a cramped examination room.
It has come to my attention that new laws about skateboarding have been voted on in Auburn at a 4 to 1 vote to eliminate skateboarding in yet another park. There is only one place in Auburn where skating is aloud. As a 13 year old frequent user of the only skate park in Auburn, I would like to request your insight as to how we can get a better understanding of the community for the need of these parks.
The community states that they like to see the youth of Auburn doing constructive things with their free time. Skateboarding is an art that takes dedication and skill to achieve as biking or golf is to others. We do not all enjoy the same passion for the same sport. But the youth of Auburn would like to have a place were they can go practice skateboarding with out the risk of being cited. Their are more than one place to hit golf balls in Auburn along with the golf course, and you can bike ride just about anywhere on the street or on one of the trails.
Two years ago, Sacramento’s NBC television affiliate launched the KCRA A-List, a competition purported to find the best businesses in the region in a wide range of categories, from day spas to bicycle shops to health clubs to more than a dozen restaurant categories. Even though my restaurant had been in business for just a couple of months, a customer nominated Carpe Vino in the “Most Romantic” category.
I find such reader-driven polls to be particularly useless because they are normally won by advertisers of the publications or stations sponsoring the competitions. And the playing field can be easily tampered with, which I set out to demonstrate when I sent an e-mail to the nearly 2,700 recipients of “Window on Old Town,” an e-newsletter I had been writing for four years.
As a public service for elected officials in our region, this column is designed to help beleaguered politicians navigate the troubled waters of dealing with demanding and often hostile constituents. While all consultations are free, unfortunately, we can’t answer every inquiry. We’ll select those letters that express the most obvious need, and we’ll do our best to respond with action-oriented advice for the politically forlorn. (For those of you dealing with failing marriages or difficult teenagers, we empathize, but unfortunately we are unable to assist. Sorry.)
Dear Savage:
I serve on the city council of a small community at about 1300 feet in the Sierra foothills. We’re struggling with many problems these days, but our two most significant issues are dealing with a crumbling infrastructure and, now that the real estate market has collapsed, finding new sources of tax and fee revenue. We’ve already trimmed the city’s payroll, but if we don’t find real relief soon, we’re going to be in deep dootie.
