Rebutting Slayter
EDITOR: Please allow me the chance to reply to councilman/vice mayor Slayter’s recent letter (“Letter full of fallacies,” July 13, 2017). I welcome the vice mayor’s letter in the interest of holding a clear, fair and open, but civil public discussion.
I stretched the truth a bit in my letter by saying one of the subcommittee members worked in real estate. It is more accurate to say he is an architect; thus indirectly involved in improving real estate.
The city council has much greater power than I will ever have. As only a citizen, there is no comparison to a freely elected city council member. I am simply attempting to lessen the damage of what certainly looks to be an overreaching project that many residents will live to regret after it is built. I do not now and never will support more urban sprawl.
My letter of June 30 was headed. “Pine Grove project a threat to our town’s character.” Councilmember Slater’s third paragraph says that I stated the “concept continues the process of making Sebastopol look like an ‘ugly SoCal-type city.’” That much is true, but following this he wrote, “It has been erroneously stated that a denser downtown will lead to increased greenhouse gases.”
I would never say that. He misses the point. The problem with this sentence is that it is a distortion; I’ve never believed that, nor even suggested it. I am well aware that that denser downtowns, albeit whichever city builds its additions, absolutely lead to less greenhouse gas emissions and facilitated transportation.
A reasonably planned, small project is both a way to fight global climate change while possibly giving seniors, those less advantaged, and veterans a chance to live in a safe place out of danger and the elements.
Frank H. Baumgardner, III
Santa Rosa
