Vote for Measure B
EDITOR: Franklin Roosevelt said: “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
In the upcoming primary election, those of us who live in the West Sonoma County Union High School District serving Analy, El Molino and Laguna high schools will have an opportunity to cast a vote in favor of a necessary and reasonable education parcel tax.
Measure B will provide targeted funding for the following purposes: 1) to keep classroom sizes smaller and school libraries open; 2) to help pay for the recently negotiated teacher and staff salary increases; 3) to maintain and improve programs for art, drama, and music and career technical programs such as culinary, media and woodshop; 4) to expand student counseling and college prep services; and 5) to augment equipment for science and technology.
The school district’s board of trustees will exercise ongoing oversight of the funds derived from Measure B in order to ensure the integrity of this investment. Although our two Analy-educated daughters are now adults, we wholeheartedly support the special parcel tax.
Please help protect the educational bedrock of democracy by voting yes on Measure B.
Mark and Janny Tansil
Sebastopol
Thank you, Lynda Hopkins
EDITOR: First, I want to thank you for continuing to report on the Palm Drive saga. One of your recent articles answered my question regarding how long the “detached” property owners would be paying the parcel tax.
After reading your article about Supervisor Hopkins, I wanted to mention my one experience with Ms. Hopkins. We own a cabin in Monte Rio, but we live in West Sacramento. Shortly after the flood, Michele McDonell forwarded me an email from Lynda Hopkins that said there would be a one-week-long roadside pickup of flood debris. As out-of-towers, we knew our cleanup would extend over several additional weeks.
At 9:24 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, I sent Lynda Hopkins an email asking if there would be future debris pickups. By 9:12 the next morning, Ms. Hopkins had personally replied to my email with the information I’d requested. I was impressed that as busy as she must have been with the flood and other district issues, she took the time on a Sunday morning to personally respond. It’s a small item, but I believe it shows how seriously she takes her position.
Thanks again for your well-written and interesting reporting.
Eric Olsen
West Sacramento and Monte Rio
Say it ain’t so, Joe
EDITOR: Really, Mr. Manthey? Let’s think about this. There were no women who signed the Declaration of Independence. It took 144 year for women to gain the right to vote (elections, by the way, are paid for with public funds). It took another 61 years for a woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. One of our current Supreme Court justices, when asked what is the proper number of women on the Court, answered, without hesitation, “Nine! After all, it was nine men for over 200 years.” And we still don’t have a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women equal rights under the law.
In the tech industry, recent statistics indicate that less than 20% of the jobs are filled by women, with about 12% of the Fortune 500 companies in the tech sector having a female CEO. It seems to me that the use of public funds to try to capture the gifts and talents of this significant portion of our population that currently is handicapped in competing for success in the tech industry is an excellent use of public funds. Study after study shows that early intervention through our education system is the best way to remedy past obstacles caused by discrimination.
Can’t we get beyond the mindset that some young male may be scarred for life because he can’t participate in a public library program to teach young women how to write computer programs? We need an end to frivolous lawsuits that seek to perpetuate the misguided (or illegal) practices of our past.
Jim Randall
Santa Rosa
