WORD FROM THE WISE … I don’t know about you, but I’m among those who feel our school teachers are vastly underpaid … in fact, when you get a really great teacher who inspires and motivates, you can’t pay them enough … I suppose there are a lot of people in town who feel they’re worth more than they make, but teachers are near the top of my list … which makes Rick Blacker’s recent letter to the editor all the more compelling …

Blacker, one of this city’s aforementioned great teachers, suggests it’s better to have all teachers take a modest pay cut in our time of economic stress than to have large numbers lose their jobs altogether … in other words, spread the pain and allow as many people as possible to remain employed … writes Rick: “This ugly situation should not be solved through furloughs or layoffs; that just takes away from the kids. It should involve a real and meaningful holding of hands. Working as a single unit, we can, and should, get through this awful situation together.” … well said, Mr. Blacker …

Adds Rick: “I would much prefer to have a decent job with less money than have a bad job at my current salary.” … amen, my friend …

SPEAKING OF TEACHERS AND MONEY …. you know, given how critical folks on both sides of Measure C claim this election is, it’s stunning how few people actually will end up voting one way or the other … in the similar Measure A, which concluded less than 10 months ago, only 38 percent turned in their ballots … that figure is bad enough for a town like Davis, but when you consider that approximately 25 percent of eligible voters — those over the age of 18 — aren’t even registered, the math becomes truly distressing …

In Measure A, 16,492 people voted up or down out of 43,395 registered voters for the aforementioned 38 percent “participation.” … but if you factor in the eligible voters who failed to register, the actual participation rate is closer to 28 percent … all sorts of descriptive words come to mind for that percentage, none of them flattering …

So when you’re standing in line at Nugget wearing your “Yes on C” button — or your “No on C” button — just remember that three of the four people ahead of you in line essentially don’t care … they may give you a knowing nod or a hearty thumbs-up, but odds are they’ll let this issue pass them by without voting …

SPEAKING OF APATHY … I suppose I can understand low voter turnout for an election with real candidates on the ballot … frequently we hear non-voters claim that “my vote doesn’t make any difference anyway” because politicians are all the same … unfortunately, there’s some truth to that statement …

But in a parcel tax election like Measure C, the end result directly affects all of us financially, even if you don’t care about the schools … I suppose you could make a case for apathy among seniors who can claim an exemption from the tax, but oddly, as a group, seniors tend to vote more regularly than the rest of the population …

VATICAN INSIDER … we now know for sure what the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, plans to do when he finishes his mission leading the worldwide Catholic Church … according to the headline over the scoop that was reported only in The Davis Enterprise: “Pope hired as Davis Chamber director.” … sounds like a bit of a step down to me, but if you read it on these hallowed pages, you can take it to the bank …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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