Letters to the Editor 2-4-16

Look for the win-win
Editor: What would it take to make the Cloverdale Municipal Airport profitable? The former airport manager stated that 10 portable single airplane hangars and a larger commercial hanger would make the airport profitable for the next 20 years. It seems a minimal investment to upgrade a $10.5 million irreplaceable city asset. People are standing in line to rent a hangar at the Cloverdale airport.
One city council member’s statement that if outside people want to advocate for the airport, they should contribute their share to maintain the airport. The statement in itself is valid. I just wonder where the council member thinks 90-95 percent of the grant money comes from. Maybe local and national tax dollars set aside to maintain an infrastructure of airports? (The answer is yes)
Where the grant money is spent is local. The work is done by people in our area. They get paid by the grant dollars in living wage jobs. These grants are, by design, economic stimulus to the local area and to the maintenance of our asset. Where else are we paid back pennies on the dollar for the work, as well as being paid for the work? Seems like a win-win.
I could not finish this without mentioning a Reveille contributor who takes exception to an airport tenant, NorCal, who brings thousands of visitors to Cloverdale as well as pays his rent to support the airport. NorCal operates a business that is contributing to the local economy. Do their planes make noise? Yes they do. Is it a viable airport business? Yes it is. Should the rest of the tenants turn their back on NorCal? I read that story before and “I didn’t say anything because they didn’t come for me.”
The city has spent a ton of dough defending itself from a small minority. Let’s stop it and get on with making the city and the airport an economic engine.
Ray and Sher Shipway
Airport tenants, owners Hangar 10
Santa Rosa
Memorial mystery
Editor: I noticed in one of Joyce Mann’s recent “Through the Years” column that 25 years ago the Cloverdale Depot Association and the Historical Society were “jointly sponsoring the design and construction of a memorial to the local Indians.” Was it ever built? Where is it? Does anybody know?
Virginia Carroll
Cloverdale
Foresight and will
Editor: Grocery Outlet wants to come to Cloverdale and there are those that welcome it and those that would prefer it didn’t come at all. Some feel we don’t need it, others feel a segment of the population would benefit by having a lower cost alternative to our current supermarket.
Regardless of what one thinks are the merits of G.O. we need to look at the big picture and the long term impact of a second supermarket in Cloverdale. We are not Ukiah or Santa Rosa. We have a population that can barely support one supermarket and won’t be able to support two. The supermarket business is very competitive and has surprisingly low profit margins. Based on foot traffic, one has to assume Ray’s is barely making money today. If G.O. were to move next door Ray’s would suffer direct competition and would almost certainly shut its doors. This will depress foot traffic and businesses in Furber Plaza, as more people take all their shopping elsewhere. The likelihood of an alternative to Ray’s moving to a town this small, with an existing competitor, is zero. So we will become a one supermarket town that happens to be a Grocery Outlet.
I’ve heard it said the land is zoned for commercial and a legitimate business cannot be stopped from moving in. I don’t buy that argument. There are any number of cities across the USA that have successfully fought off big box stores. Cloverdale prohibits fast food outlets downtown. It simply takes the foresight and the will.
Steve Nurse
Cloverdale