LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Thank you Sebastopol Citizens
Editor: I would like to send a huge thank you to the group
Sebastopol Citizens for so effectively representing the majority
opinion of our city about leaf blower use. Their organizing and
action helped resolve the issue which at best can be described as a
waste of the council’s time.
I attended the City Council meeting of May 17 where the leaf
blower was the only item the council discussed. The Sebastopol
Citizens group and others made the point very well that the city
does not need an ordinance to regulate how we choose to take care
of our homes. We also do not need to make it difficult for
landscaping businesses to perform their operations by switching to
a rake and broom, which is cost prohibitive, and could cause loss
of jobs.
Linda Rouse
Sebastopol
Step up O’Reilly
Editor: O’Reilly Media, headquartered in Sebastopol, is well
known for its books on popular and advanced software programs. Its
technical conferences, held four times a year in Santa Clara, are
less in the public eye, but constitute a significant portion of
O’Reilly’s $100 million annual business. Aimed at a prosperous
segment of software engineers and high-tech entrepreneurs, the
conferences have, ironically, drawn O’Reilly into a labor dispute
with some of the lowest paid workers in Silicon Valley,
housekeepers at the Santa Clara Hyatt, who are attempting to
organize a union.
At present, the Hyatt has refused to remain neutral and agree to
recognize the union if a majority of workers sign cards. UNITE HERE
Local 19 has initiated a boycott of the hotel.
Today, Santa Clara Hyatt housekeepers clean 16 hotel rooms in
eight hours. Many housekeepers skip rest breaks, meals and work off
the clock to finish those rooms. Luxury beds with heavier
mattresses and linens, triple-sheeting, duvets and extra pillows,
coffee pots, spa robes and large, hard-to-clean mirrors make room
cleaning difficult and time-consuming. Working at unsafe speeds and
risking injury, many women must end their hotel housekeeping
careers in their mid-40s, often with permanent debilitating
injuries and pain.
With a reputation as a socially responsible business, O’Reilly
should respect those working at the lower rungs of the economic
ladder by moving its conference business from the Hyatt for the
duration of this labor dispute. The Hilton, for example, is a union
hotel available across the street.
Do the right thing, O’Reilly.  Move your conference business to
another hotel. If you agree, call O’Reilly president Laura Baldwin
at 827-7196.
Eric Boehm and David Walls
Sebastopol Living Wage Coalition