Letters to the Editor 9-19-13

Fix the roads
Editor: Sonoma County ranks in top 1/3 for gas taxes per mile, but has poorer roads than Butte County, which receives less than 1/3 the gas taxes per mile (per Save Our Sonoma Roads, August Newsletter). An astonishing difference.
It would be interesting to compare the budgets of the other counties for roads and where the money was spent. Santa Rosa’s daily newspaper recently published articles about counties performing cost benefit analyses of their programs and revising ones, which provided poor performance. Road maintenance in Sonoma County seems ripe (overripe) for such an analysis. We need County employees/managers with solutions, not just reasons for failure. Reasons that turn out not to be factual, but are excuses for ineffective management of resources (gas taxes). I’m tired of paying for costly repairs to my vehicles from damage caused by poor road maintenance, and would happily vote for a reform candidate for County Supervisor to deal with this.
Arthur Slater
Sebastopol
Oppose U.S. military action in Syria
Editor: The Sonoma County Democratic Party (SCDP), at the Sept. 10, 2013 meeting of its Central Committee, passed a resolution urging legislators to oppose U.S. military action in Syria, and to instead pursue diplomatic solutions to stop Syria’s use of chemical weapons. Full text of the resolution follows:
Sonoma County Democratic Party Resolution:
Opposition to the proposed military action, including bombing, in Syria
WHEREAS, U.S. military action in Syria will not stop the killing or bring those responsible for the use of chemical weapons to justice, and
WHEREAS, the majority of the American people and the majority of Democrats are opposed to the bombing of Syria, and
WHEREAS, the United States should not respond alone to the use of chemical weapons and should work through the UN, the International Court of Criminal Justice, and through diplomatic engagement with international and regional stakeholders to end the use of chemical weapons.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Sonoma County Democratic Party (SCDP) opposes military action in Syria, including bombing.
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SCDCP will expeditiously notify all our elected officials to vote against military action, including bombing, in Syria and to support diplomatic and multilateral solutions to stop the use of chemical weapons in Syria and to end the conflict in Syria, and that the SCDCP will distribute this resolution to the press.
Resolution submitted by Mike Smith on Sept. 10, 2013 and adopted by the Sonoma County Democratic Party on Sept. 10, 2013.
The Sonoma County Democratic Party (Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee/SCDP) is the official governing body of the Democratic Party in Sonoma County. The SCDP works in cooperation with the California Democratic Party (CDP) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). For more information go to www.sonomademocrats.org.
Stephen Gale
Chair, Sonoma County Democratic Party