The Honorable Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510                                                                                  May 8, 1998
           
Dear Senator Boxer,

            I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with your recent decision to forsake your promises and commitments to the Quincy Library Group (QLG).  As a founding member of the QLG, I have been actively involved with this group for more than five years now.  During that time, you have gone on tours with us to more fully understand the goals and objectives of the QLG and subsequently stated your strong support for our efforts.  In addition, you have co-sponsored our legislative efforts in the US Senate, and lauded our process as a model for others who seek solutions in a truly bipartisan fashion.  At one point, you signed what may become the definitive document in bipartisan collaboration, a joint letter of support for the QLG with Congressman Wally Herger.

            Yet now, just as we are poised to implement the programs we have all advocated for so many years, you have decided to abandon us.  You have announced that you will not only withdraw your support for the QLG bill but will also block any progress that your colleague, Senator Feinstein, might achieve on our behalf.  This is in direct contradiction to the pledge you made to us in your office on January 16, 1998.  Not a single word has changed in this bill since then, nor have any of the conditions that originally prompted us to form the QLG.  About the only thing that has actually changed is that our opposition has intensified and expanded their already vociferous attacks.

               The current claims being made throughout the media by the Sierra Club and Wilderness Society are inaccurate, misleading, or just plain false.  I truly believe that they know this full well but consider it far less important than stopping local collaborative efforts like the QLG dead in their tracks – in their minds, the end justifies the means.  I have dealt with environmental elitists before and have come to expect this behavior from them, but I remain puzzled by your actions.  In choosing to ally yourself with these groups you have elected to discard the Quincy Library Group. 

I have always believed that we hold certain principles in common, regardless of our differences in political ideologies.  For example, all of us should seek common ground in order to resolve conflict within our communities – this is what the Quincy Library Group is all about and I think that you believe this as well.   Regrettably, it is now apparent that written demands from big-city environmental lobbyists (in corporate offices at the Presidio) carry far more weight with you than does the QLG.  This realization is very disappointing to many of us out here in rural California.

Sincerely,

Tom Nelson