It was nice to see Alex Hildebrand’s face on the big screen tonight at Restore the Delta’s Over Troubled Waters showing.
He and his daughter, Mary, were interviewed sometime before Alex passed away in January.
In the film, Mary says, “We didn’t know we couldn’t trust the government.”
And Alex responds: “We do now.”
Judging by applause, that was the crowd’s favorite line from the entire film.
Other thoughts:
• Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston called Gov. Jerry Brown a “dictator” after he announced the twin tunnels plan last month. On Monday she clarified which one.
“I have news for the governor — because he is Darth Vader these days — (But) he’s not going to take over this process and rule the world,” the mayor said.
She also called Stockton’s bankruptcy “small potatoes” compared to the fight for the Delta.
• Clearly, Over Troubled Waters supports the anti-peripheral canal argument. But the film does not completely ignore other perspectives. Westlands Water District General Manager Tom Birmingham, Westlands Deputy General Manager Jason Peltier, and Metropolitan Water District General Manager Jeff Kightlinger all make brief appearances.
• It’s one thing the show the film in Stockton, where it was warmly received. After all, many of the folks in the audience have been involved since the original peripheral canal fight. Or longer.
As San Joaquin County Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller put it, this wasn’t just preaching to the choir. “It’s like preaching to the choir masters.”
The key now will be to get ordinary Californians to care about these issues — and that’s another battle for Restore the Delta.
