Letter: Goss running for council

Editor: In the November elections, two seats on the Healdsburg
City Council will be open, and there are only two candidates on the
ballot. That lack of choice and competition is unfortunate (and
spoils the fun), so the steering committee of the Healdsburg Peace
Project has decided to throw a third hat into the ring. This third
candidacy will have to be a write-in campaign, which has little
chance to win but at least will keep the election from being
decided before people vote. A third candidacy will also give the
three candidates an opportunity to discuss issues ‹ which might not
happen in a no-contest race.
I have the honor serving as the Peace Project¹s losing write-in
candidate. My goal will be to garner 100 write-in votes.
We plan not to raise money, not to ring your doorbell, etc. Also
we won¹t hire Texans to conduct fake telephone polls or swift -boat
the two winning candidates.
One of the candidates I know little about and have no comment
on. The other is Jim Wood, who is independent and very able. I plan
to cast one of my two votes for Jim Wood.
Our campaign hopes to raise several issues in the coming month,
and the first will be a call for a Living Wage Ordinance. More than
25 cities and counties in California have passed a Living Wage
Ordinance, including Sonoma, Sebastopol (and soon Petaluma),
Oakland, San Jose, Marin County, and so on.  I¹d like to discuss in
more detail what a Living Wage Ordinance is in my next letter.
We would like to see the city council endorse the state
legislature¹s single-payer health plan. Poor health coverage has a
huge impact on the lives of citizens of Healdsburg and on its
hospital. Those who believe that health care is only a state or
national issue might want to keep in mind Tip O¹ Neal¹s claim that
all politics is local politics.
We should push hard on environmental issues, while noting that
the city council is already beginning to move on global climate
change, for which we thank them. And so should the wineries. Future
business and home building should be green. City cars should be
hybrids, and big equipment should run on biodiesel. If Brazil can
shift its whole automotive system to biodiesel, so can Healdsburg,
over time.
If these views suit you, write in: Gary Goss.
Gary Goss, Healdsburg