HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3FFrom:Jeffrey Bernstein
To:City Clerk
Subject:Fwd: OnePS opinion RE Blue Zones
Date:Tuesday, July 9, 2024 7:35:03 AM
Thank you!
Jeffrey
Jeffrey Bernstein
Mayor
City of Palm Springs
442-305-9942
Jeffrey.Bernstein@palmspringsca.gov
Begin forwarded message:
From: Chris Ruetz <chris.ruetz@aol.com>
Subject: OnePS opinion RE Blue Zones
Date: July 8, 2024 at 10:08:43 PM PDT
To: Jeffrey Bernstein <Jeffrey.Bernstein@palmspringsca.gov>
Cc: Scott Stiles <Scott.Stiles@palmspringsca.gov>
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Mr. Mayor,
In consideration of the forthcoming City Council agenda item regarding Blue
Zones, I resubmit to you our position statement presented to you in May of 2023.
In short, OnePS does not consider Blue Zones to be a good fit for Palm Springs.
Chris Ruetz
Chair, OnePS
07/09/2024
Public Comment
Item 3F
On May 15, 2023, at 8:58 AM, Peter Sipkins <sipper1@mac.com> wrote:
Dear Mayor Pro-Tem:
This past weekend I wrote you a brief email advising you that the Board of ONE-PS
determined it would decline the opportunity to meet remotely or in person with
representatives of Blue Zones, prior to the submission of a outlined and proposed program to
the Council. This email is intended to provide you and the other council members of the basis
for our decision.
Simply stated, there are several reasons for our conclusion:
First. At the invitation of Mayor Garner, earlier this year several directors and I attended
informational meetings with Blue Zones representatives at the Pavillon. We uniformly found
them to be short on facts, and long on slick sales presentations. I personally was reminded of
the sales of multilevel distributorships years ago, where avoidance of concrete answers to
simple questions was rampant. Here, for example, a question of “what is the anticipated cost
to the City of Palm Springs” was met with an answer of "the cost cannot be determined or
estimated since we will be hiring a number of local citizens to be boots on the ground and
thereby we will reduce the actual cost of the program to Palm Springs." Similar requests for
the costs to Loma Linda or Albert Lea went unanswered.
Second. The research and scientific support offered for the Blue Zones program is not well
documented and does not state the relationship between the Blue Zone project and the
extensive body of existing, scientifically-validated, public health research and actions on
longevity. The evidence provided for Blue Zone is substantially anecdotal and dated.
Instead, ONE-PS director Bob Farran, who has spent considerable time and energy
researching this topic, has located and shared with the ONE-PS Board three recent scientific
articles that question the value of Blue Zones. I attach those articles below for your review
and consideration, all courtesy of Bob. Additionally ONE-PS member Don Barrett, whose
career was in assessing public health interventions, notes that Blue Zone would be duplicative
of the existing actions of multiple local agencies (government and non-profit).
Third. Blue Zones appears to have only one medical doctor on its staff, although it is loaded
with consultants, sales personnel and book publishers. Similarly, it is unclear how many staff
members are from communities of color. That concerns us, since it is well documented that
white wealthy communities have significantly longer life spans than communities of color
and of the economically disadvantaged."
Fourth. At some time in the past, and perhaps even currently, Adventist Health played a
significant role as owner of or manager of Blue Zones. We understand that Adventist Health
recently began accepting of LGBTQ+ communities in its policies and guidelines. It is unclear
if that change in policy has been implemented. What is clear is that Adventist Health remains
Pro-Life and has a goal of zero abortions in its hospitals and facilities. We find that totally
unacceptable.
Fifth. We think premature to meet with representatives of Blue Zones in the absence of a
careful review of its proposal to the City of Palm Springs. We have not yet seen that
proposal. Once such a proposal is available, we are willing to review it and provide the
council with our thoughts and concerns, if any.
Sixth. As stated above, we are deeply appreciative of the fact that you are interested in the
opinion of the Board of ONE-PS and have looked to us for guidance and input on a number
07/09/2024
Public Comment
Item 3F
of issues facing the city. By doing so, you add value to our organization and hopefully we
add value back to the Council and the City. For that, we offer you our sincere thanks.
We are available to answer any questions you may have.
Yours,
Peter Sipkins
Chair, ONE-PS
07/09/2024
Public Comment
Item 3F