A Few Brief Notes With Hand-Held Video Clips Recorded at Rep. Huffman's Town Hall at Point Reyes
Three short video clips representing views from those who were not invited to the negotiating table
Photo Above: West Marin protesters outside the Dance Palace, site of U. S. Representative Huffman’s Town Hall
Last Saturday, I took the bike out for a spin to sunny Point Reyes and back. I wanted to see in person the historic Town Hall hosted by Representative Jared Huffman regarding the closing of 12 ranches/dairy farms in Point Reyes.
The Town Hall was held at Point Reyes’ Dance Palace, which has a capacity of 180 people. Several people estimated the crowd inside to stand at approximately 250. The doors were opened to allow the overflow crowd within the adjoining yard to listen; approximately another 150 people.
I recorded as much video as I could and include snippets here. I have been informed by Huffman's office that the full event was recorded and should be shared sometime soon. When that is available I will provide the full link.
There is a great deal more to be reported about the lawsuit, the settlement, and the plight of the workers. (Not to mention the efforts of arms embargo protesters outside to communicate concerns about the ongoing, U.S.-funded genocide of Palestinians.)
Investigative reporter Peter Byrne has been following the story for many years, I hope to be able to interview him and many others about the settlement. In the meantime, a few brief notes and clips from the Town Hall follow:
Another Lily-white Panel in Marin With No Worker Representatives:
The panel was entirely white, even though most of the workers who will be displaced (some of whom are potentially facing deportation given looming loss of jobs and homes) are Latino. By the accounts of multiple workers, they had not even been informed of the Town Hall until the night before. Given the outsized role that these workers play in the maintenance and functioning not just of ranches but of businesses throughout Point Reyes, you can imagine the difficulty they found trying to get time off with so little notice to attend a Town Hall, especially on a Saturday. Still, there was at least some attendance. (Given the challenges this labor group is now facing, I have cropped the photo to protect their identities.)
The Nature Conservancy’s Curious Role
The Nature Conservancy, a “nonprofit” with assets of $9 Billion, was represented on the panel by Michael Bell. TNC had been brought in to negotiate a settlement for the ranchers.
If you are familiar with The Nature Conservancy’s exploitation of struggling Black farmers in Pembroke, you may not be surprised to learn that Latino workers in Point Reyes were also excluded from the settlement talks mediated by The Nature Conservancy.
And yet no one on the panel seemed to have a problem with the Nature Conservancy’s participation, nor with the total absence of any labor representation on the panel.
When I asked panelist Chance Cutrano of Resource Renewal Institute about the panel’s composition on Monday, he informed me that he had not put together the panel. I then asked him if it was not his responsibility to require that the panel include at least some worker representation prior to his participation; he had no answer other than to reiterate that the composition was not his responsibility.
Few of the Latino workers who were able to attend the Town Hall felt comfortable speaking at the public event.
I share just three video clips of those representing people who were locked out of the process: Theresa Harlan of Alliance for Felix Cove; Carlos, of West Marin Community Services; and Dean Hoaglin of the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin.
Theresa Harlan:
Carlos:
Dean Hoagland:
Apologies for brevity. There is so much more to unpack here, and too little time, but I wanted to share this for now so you at least had a glimpse of some voices which have for too long been excluded. I'm writing this en route to another meeting in Marin (MCOE Board meeting), and hope to update soon.
©️2025 Eva Chrysanthe