A benefit for Save Mt. Diablo offers one good reason to extend the 15 minutes of the guy who wants Mount Diablo to become Mt. Reagan

OK, so there are apparently a lot of people who are taking seriously a proposal by Art Mjares, a self-proclaimed devout Christian from Oakley, to rename Mount Diablo after the 40th president of the United States.

Or, these people are enjoying the sense of community in bonding over their objections to Mijaras' proposal.

More than 76,000 people have joined Facebook's account, People Against Re-Naming Mt. Diablo Mt. Reagan. Maybe it's fun to bash Mijares' contention that the name "Diablo" is “derogatory and profane," and that the late Ronald Reagan, also a California governor, was a great man--or something--and deserves this honor.

I suspect this grass-roots movement to keep Mount Diablo named Mount Diablo stems from the second motive--a shared sense of community--rather than a true fear that our 3,800-foot East Bay landmark is anywhere close to getting a new name.

As if anyone in authority is going to take Mijares' proposal seriously. His complaint about the supposedly blasphemous nature of the name Diablo has been trotted out every few years and generally dismissed.

OK, so people are having fun with this campaign. Fine, although, folks, it does ends up giving Mijares' proposal more public attention than it probably deserves, and, possibility, more credibility than it would warrant otherwise.

At least, this anti-Mount Reagan campaign stands to benefit  a good cause. For sale are cool "Don't mess with Diablo" t-shirts.

"Show your support for our wonderful Mt. Diablo and its historic name." That's the pitch to purchase the white or black t-shirts and hoodies for $12 to $30. Proceeds from the sales go to Save Mount Diablo's Restoration Team, a group of volunteers who do clean-up, fence building, trail construction, planting, watering and habitat restoration, creek cleanup, and non-native plant removal for land that the non-profit Save Mount Diablo buys and turns over to park agencies.

As I've said before, unless I'm being terribly naive, I'm not particularly worried that Mijares' idea will gain much traction. But thousands of people, some who are friends--Facebook and otherwise--are united against this perceived enemy.  Meanwhile, I like Save Mount Diablo, the t-shirts and hoodies are cool looking, and I happen to need a new hoodie. So, maybe I'll be buying one. 

If you are interested in purchasing one, go to the Don't mess with Diablo website.

The "Mt. Reagan" proposal: Art Mijares has had his 15 minutes. Can we move on now?

The Mayor of Claycord had a fun story Wednesday about a proposal by Oakley resident and devout Christian Art Mijares to change the name of Mount Diablo to Mount Reagan. To Mijares, "Diablo" is “derogatory and profane," and our 40th U.S. president was a great man--or something--and deserves this honor.

So, the initial story was fun, and then the dreaded MSM (mainstream media) got involved (and, as usual, didn't give credit to a local blogger for his scoop.) And, looking for a story that would be fun or entertaining and maybe create a sensation, they blew this whole issue up into something like Balloon Boy.

Now, we've got a "furor" and a "firestorm" on our hands. The headline for today's column by Contra Costa Times' Tom Barnidge is indeed "Devil of a Furor over Mount Diablo name change."

Seriously? A furor over this? A proposal that, as Barnidge says, "won't even make it into the foothills."

The Mayor of Claycord also pointed out that Mijares has asked for the name change in the past, "and just like before, I expect this to be denied."

That was back in 2005, and the US Board on Geographic Names also denied requests to change our 3,849-foot geographic landmark's name to Mount Yahweh, Mount Miwok, and Mount Ohlone.


It is true that lots of people are chiming in on the issue--including, now, yours truly, who missed the initial "furor" because of other pressing work/family issues. Claycord's original post has 236 comments on it. Barnidge says that 1,700 people responded to a Times poll on the issue. Only 9 percent liked Mijares' idea.

The rest (91 percent), according to Barnidge, said this poll question by the Times was "the stupidest poll question we'd ever asked."


It seems we have a lot of smart people our area. They are in no way taking Mijares' proposal seriously; nor are they feeling threatened by his attempt by him to put forth a certain political or religious agenda that they  might not agree with.

But, then, maybe we're all suckers, too. This proposal is ultimately a non-issue. Yet, we're commenting on it, or, like me, getting annoyed by it. Why? We all want a non-issue to get all hot and bothered about? So, we don't have to deal with more challenging issues, like the economy, jobs, wars...

So, Mr. Mijares has had his 15 minutes of fame on this Mount Diablo issue. But, perhaps we'll be hearing from him some more.  According to the Mayor of Claycord, he is likely to be seated on Contra Costa County's Alcohol and Other Drug Advisory Board.