Jxxx Mxxx Cxxx Letter

On Jun 9, 2019, at 6:47 PM, Jxxx Cxxx <jxxxcxxx@XXX> wrote:

Thank you, Dxxxx. Here is a more prolix summary of what I told Dunker Donuts Sxxxx, based on reporting he sent me:

1. Judge has generously and subtly shifted the terms to the less rigorous historical preservation standard away from the more rigorous county standard. Big win.
2. Historical standard does not supersede county environmental and sanitary mandates. This is now about optics, as receiver suggested. You see “pioneering sustainability,” they see “worms” and “pooh.” You will never ever ever change that narrative. And you give openings to NIMBYs if you plant your flag on that worm hill.
3. Continue your compost toilet and water reclamation innovations at another location or video document them for future researchers and showcasing at store. The storefront in town becomes the resource center for information about all that you accomplished at the Last Resort. Docents lead small, highly selective tours of small groups to the Last Resort, once it is fully gussied up for John Q. Public without killing its inimitable appeal. Large groups cause invocation of assembly requirements and a quick descent into the worm hole of regulatory hell, from which few arise.
4. Build a new narrative. As Don Draper [Madmen] said, “If you don’t like what people are saying, change the topic.” Get this off “pooh and worms” and onto “art, architecture, and the glories of tea.”
5. “Sustainability” in normally progressive Marin in this unregulated context raises red flags for politicos. “What, you protected the pooh guy? Why do I have to abide by your dang septic tank ordinance?!” David, brother, you need to drop this part of your work as an olive branch to Caesar. No more composting toilets or water reclamation. Document it professionally before you shut it down.
6. Having done number 5, you have suddenly changed the narrative from “David Hoffman is creating unsanitary water for our kids and denying water to the salmon” to “Hey Big Brother, why you shutting down the life’s work of this master artist, architect, craftsman and guru of tea?”
The tide has turned. Something has shifted. Maybe it was the letter. Not sure. But the judge was also dead serious. Your Lagunitas Project team needs to get the nonprofit terms exactly right to hold off the receiver. The rebranding I discussed above happens in that document and in all public-facing presentations.
If the judge gives you an A-plus in 60 days, and puts you squarely inside the historical framework, you can then cordon off the debt, and begin building the reality of the newly conceived Lagunitas Project. Any backsliding, any hesitation, the judge calls in the cavalry. He made that very clear.
You can do this!
 

Jxxx

Pecked, Poorly Thumbed from iPhone of:
Jxxx Mxxx Cxxx

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