Library Tax Petition

Our wet winter continues, which is all good news.

This week, Monday and Tuesday brought us a combined 1.56 inches of rain, raising our yearto-date total to 36.26 inches of precipitation. Historical rainfall average for Jan. 4 is 28.67 inches, so we’re 7.59 inches above that.

Historical annual rainfall for the Laytonville area is around 67 inches, so our current 36.26 inches is more than half of that total, and we have 3 more months where historically rain falls in double digits.

By the way, it’s time for the U.S. Drought Monitor to change its rating of Mendocino County’s drought designation from “Severe Drought” to “Moderate Drought.” The Drought Monitor rating for Los Angeles County is Moderate presumably based on LA’s year-to-date total rainfall of 8.84 inches compared to a historical annual average of 3.69 inches, which is 5.15 inches above normal. Mendo County has had 4-times as much rain todate. I realize this data is highly relative to geographical locations, water sources and supplies, etc., but the Drought Monitor should update drought ratings so they remain a bit more accurate.

Mendocino County library supporters informed me this week of their intention to circulate petitions to place a tax measure on the November 2022 ballot that would add a one-quarter cent (0.25 percent) sales tax to fund libraries in Mendocino County. Nearly every town in this county has a “Friends of the Library” group that work, organize and fund-raise to establish brick-and-mortar libraries throughout the county. My daughter is a founding member of the Laytonville library group.

I’ll be supporting the effort to get their measure on the ballot.