The Other Side of Auburn

Gary Moffat

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.

Read his other work at www.onlyinauburn.com and www.carpevinoauburn.com

The Savage Spinmeister - Youthful Letter Writer Seeks to Influence ARD

Written by Gary Moffat

Thursday, 24 July 2008

Dear Savage,

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.

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‘Best of the Best’ Title Could be Second Rate

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

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.

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The Savage Spinmeister

Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Don’t Take a Poll – Listen to the People

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.

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Stuff that Really Bugs me ...

Thursday, 19 June 2008

I suppose it may be attributable to my advancing age, but some things are really starting to bug me. Unlike you, however, I have this little space available to me weekly for venting. So, here are some recent happenings that really teed me off:

Stoplights with Blind Spots – I’ve been riding motorcycles for more than 40 years, and I own two – a 1999 Triumph Trophy and a 2000 Harley-Davidson Road King. For me, riding on two wheels has always been the optimum way to get any place in any weather, but with gas prices threatening $5 per gallon, it is also my most economical mode of travel (now that I’ve sold my little electric car).

Riding in Auburn is problematic, though, because many of the stoplights here are controlled by sensors that “see” vehicles at intersections. More and more frequently when I am stopped for a red light and there are no autos in front of or behind me, I end up sitting there, baking in the heat of the day, wearing a black brain bucket with 1340 ccs of motor searing my legs ... waiting interminably for the light to flash green.

Idling there, engulfed in a pool of my own sweat as traffic glides by merrily in the other direction, is really, really irritating. It’s even more exasperating at night, sitting in the dark ... waiting and waiting for a left turn signal to finally glow green...

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Out of the Mud Grows the Lotus

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Taking stock of my personal life at this very moment, these are clearly the best of times and the worst of times.

I can’t remember ever being happier, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve been on this ride pushing six decades. For reasons unknown to me, my world—the people, events and my environment, both at work and at home—are in near perfect harmony ... despite occasional irrational acts on my part to sabotage this fragile equilibrium. I have to believe this is as good as it gets, and for the first time on this journey I am sated.

At the same instant, I’ve never been more worried and apprehensive than I am right now. I’ve always paid attention to the world around me, and I have vivid memories of some very ugly times. My first awareness was as a teenager in Chicago following the daily story of Buddhist monks setting themselves afire in Viet Nam to protest the oppressive regime then in power. I learned a new word – self-immolation – and it was the first illustration of what unimaginable, extreme acts people will commit to make a point.

I was a youthful witness to the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of John, Bobby and Martin; the burning of Detroit, Watts and Chicago; and the 1968 Democratic Convention and its aftermath of the “Chicago Seven.” I feared the Black Panthers, couldn’t understand the SDS and sweated going to Viet Nam.

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