On Holiday

Returning on January 9th.

Briefly... it is a shame that the Giants have decided to delay the rebuilding process another year. The tradeoff for signing Barry Bonds for $16M is that the focus will be on a homerun record and how many seats can be sold in the lead-up to the so-called big day. Unfortunately, the record will be meaningless. I seriously doubt if anyone will look back upon the record as "real" and most likely people will still revere Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron's achievements. So the Giants have traded the idea of winning for the idea of selling just enough excitement to fill up seats in a stadium. How exciting is that!

UPDATE (1/3/2007): While it was a shame that the Giants wasted money on Barry Bonds, it is exciting that they signed Barry Zito. While most commentators believe the deal was too long (7 years) and too much money ($136M+), it will get me back to the stadium. Solidying the pitching lineup next year will make the Giants a contender in a weak NL West and getting back to a focus on winning is just what the Giants need.

Marin County to Spend $300 to $650 on Office Chairs?

This (PDF) agenda item from the upcoming Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 caught my eyes. The purchasing department has issued a Request for Proposal from office chair manufacturers to identify a low price bidder. The range of prices received from the five bidding companies includes a 5% discount and ranges from $300 on the low-end up to $650.

This process is intended to save the county money by setting one manufacturer for all Marin County departments to purchase from with a set price. I have to ask though... why not try a comparison shopping engine? In 30 seconds, I found 8,170 chair options on Shopping for less than $130. Seconds later, I even found Herman Miller chairs, one of the chairs under consideration, for less than $380.

Should government agencies retire the RFP process where technology can provide a faster more efficient and maybe cheaper answer?

Your Land, Marin County's Plan

Marin County is closing in on finalizing its updated countywide plan for land use and other countywide initiatives. Because 87 percent of the county is unincroporated and managed by the county supervisors and the plan is only updated every 7 years, the plan and its implications are important for residents to understand.

A "Planning Commission Workshop on the review of the Draft Marin Countywide Plan Update" meeting was held this past Monday at 1:30pm at the Civic Center. According to the Marin County website, the next meeting is "A joint meeting of the Marin County Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission to review the schedule for the Draft Environmental Impact Report and process... tentatively scheduled for January 30, 2007."

Open Letter to Sports Media Regarding Barry Bonds

Dear Sports Media,
I continue to read reports in all media about how San Francisco Giants fans still love Barry Bonds and would be grateful to have him play next year and break the career homerun record as a San Francisco Giant. You have mistakenly stated Giant's fans desire to have Barry Bonds back in a Giants uniform for the 2007 season.

Consider that the city of San Francisco hardly cares that a whole team - the football 49ers - is moving to another city, another county. How can you think we would care about the return of one individual who has reportedly made some very questionable decisions in his career?

Please do not continue to falsely report what San Francisco fans want. We want a consistent winner that is legitimate and whom's accomplishments will stand up to scrutiny. To say, we would want anything less is an insult to all Giants fans intellect and sense of spirit.

Sincerely,

Matt McMahon
Marin County Giants Fan