Letters to the Editor 10-24-13

Is Barlow too big?
Editor: Like Mr. LaFrance (“Industrial zoning?” Oct. 17), I too have questions about The Barlow, but of a different nature. It’s about its size. It’s huge.
Where are and what are the businesses coming to fill these vast spaces? And does the Sebastopol area have the customer base to keep them all thriving? We recently had a lovely dinner at Zazu and are glad they have relocated into the city, but on a Thursday night, while they had a pretty good crowd, it was by no means full, and almost no one came in after 8 p.m. I’m afraid Sebastopol is an early-dining, Friday and Saturday night kind of town.
All the businesses at The Barlow have a lot of square footage to fill, and for restaurants especially that means more than two nights a week. If we want this kind of mega-project in Sebastopol, then we all need to turn out to support it, seven days a week.
Lynn Fitzwater
Sebastopol
Graton mailer proves Grand Jury point
Editor: As a ratepayer in Graton, I was astounded to receive a “newsletter” from the Graton Community Services District, which prominently discussed the candidacy of the 2 incumbents, including extensive candidate statements while only stating that there were challengers in the race who refused to submit a statement. This outrageous politicizing, paid for out of my tax bill, truly bears out the findings of the Grand Jury when it found the current board to be out of touch in their relationship with the ratepayers. One board member, John Roehl, failed to even submit a candidate statement on the ballot but had no problem coming up with one when our tax dollars were used to pay for it.
As a former public office holder, I suspect the actions of the current board in sending out their personal promotional material at taxpayer expense is either illegal or at best a severe breach of ethics, if not common sense. If there were any doubt on my part as to what should now be done, it vanished with this self-aggrandizing newsletter paid for at my expense.
I urge any sensible voter in the Graton Community Services District to vote for Hollyn d’Lil and Richard Coleman on Nov. 5.
Dewey Watson
Graton
Focused on the public
Editor: Regarding Mr. Frank Robertson’s article of Oct. 16 (“Directors fight back in River fire district vote”) regarding the recall of two directors”:
First of all, the caption under Director O’Shea and myself should more accurately read, “Directors listen to public comment.” I wasn’t mulling anything over, I was focused on the member of the public who was speaking at the time.
Secondly, my response was not combative, that is Mr. Robertson’s convenient interpretation. It was exactly as it was meant to be, a response to the filing and service of recall papers.
Lastly, Mr. Robertson claims that I have never returned his calls. Exactly when did he try calling me? I have never received a call, message or e-mail from him. Perhaps Mr. Robertson is not familiar with accurate or fair reporting. Maybe it is easier to make up facts than to research them.
Linda E. Payne
Director Russian River
Fire Protection District