(NVR) - Every citizen of Napa County should be afraid of those few locals who are shouting out against our wine industry and its future growth. Remember, we have no other cash cow -- and to create another one that might work here would take 50 years and more money than we have. Slaughterhouses anyone? Or how about a dandy ball bearing factory?

Your economic future -- and that of your children -- is at risk here. It’s time for the silent majority to tell our leaders to slow down and look at the big picture.

You see, it is absolutely vital that the best wine enthusiasts visit Napa Valley and buy wine here. A happy visitor will go back to Kansas City, Denver, Boston or D.C. and sell more NV wines than our best sales team. In fact the motivated visitor IS our best sales team. Back home they will buy and influence the purchase of more bottles of wine over the next 20 years than any other method. Just look at them with their cellphones -- already texting to brag about their taste of a special wine, selfie included.

All research says new wine drinkers get their information mostly from trusted friends. If we don’t continue to develop those best “trusted friends” by hosting them here -- they can go get treated royally in hundreds of other wine regions near and far.

The recent negative remarks at Tuesday’s county growth summit meeting have already gone viral. We made headlines in the S.F. Chronicle. On Wednesday, the Napa Valley Register shouted out: “County Tackles Wine Industry Growth.” To “Tackle” is a violent, negative event. Right now these words are causing those special target consumers that prop up our economy to say, “Ummm, time to look for some new wine regions without internal controversies.”

One supervisor expressed concern about traffic. Another bomb dropped. With a flick of their iPad, those crucial target visitors can redirect in an instant to Lake County to buy excellent wines -- or Anderson Valley for even better wines. Both have less traffic. Remember the trend setter and the early adopter are vital drivers of the economy; so you can see how dangerous this loose talk is!

The county’s own staff said that local drivers are the traffic problem here -- not winery visitors. Is anybody listening? Where were all those do-gooders when we trashed the local train company and let them take out the tracks to Calistoga? Think about small, swift, self-propelled rail cars providing specific and timely local travel -- taking traffic off of the roads. Rail passenger service is the most efficient and lowest cost method of moving people. Americans love trains.

County findings also state that our winery numbers and winery visitor numbers are below projections.

Pittsburgh, PA, was a dirty, gray rust-bucket city when I was a kid, every surface was covered with soot. Nobody was stupid enough to suggest closing the steel mills; they corrected the smoke problems. Now it is a beautiful, interesting, successful metro area with world class art and education venues.