LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Maintain mayor rotation
Editor: The first week after I moved to Sebastopol I met the
Mayor. I had never met a Mayor before. Imagine my delight, in
finding just how easy it is to access to the Mayor in this
community. I was dismayed when not long afterwards the Mayor
rotated out of office. Then I realized that is part of what makes
this the vibrant and healthy community that I love. It was an
ethical and wise tradition, a form of self-imposed term limits. I
appreciated, and continue to appreciate the humility of this
practice. It lays aside the will to power, and emphasizes service
above self. My heart sank when I read the headline in the Sonoma
West Times stating that the current Mayor agreed to a third term. I
believe something precious has been placed in jeopardy. There is
nothing personal in this. I am thankful for the leadership,
innovation and dedication our Mayor brought to the job. At the same
time I am having a hard time accepting the willingness of members
of the Council to put aside this tradition. I feel it is worth
keeping, brings out the best in leaders, and respects that each
Council member is elected by and thus represents the diverse
sentiments of the people of Sebastopol.
Rev. Judith Stone
Sebastopol
Say no to Dutra
Editor: I am from Kern County which has one of the worst, if not
the worst level of air quality in the United States. I now attend
Sonoma State and I am in my third year. One of the main qualities
that attracted me to this school was the fresh, beautiful
environment of Sonoma County. I have since become very involved in
the Rowing Club at our school, which practices six days a week on
the Petaluma River year-round. The addition of another barge on the
river would add a hurtle to our practices by giving us a very
narrow passage way on a turn that we take every day. An opening
wide enough for only one boat would create a dangerous environment
for practice. It would also be a large health issue to everyone who
spends time on the river, including rowers, fishers, and joggers.
In our society streets are getting wider, while sidewalks and bike
lanes are getting narrower. I think we need to keep an emphasis on
the natural attributes that Sonoma County has to offer instead of
heading in a direction that will further the pollution and
degradation of the valued qualities of this county. Please do not
give approval to the Dutra Asphalt Plant.
Natalie Montague
Rohnert Park
Positive park message
Editor: Thank you for your well-written article last week about
our proposed park in Graton. However, the article was a little
negative, and because of the power of the press, requires a
response.
The cost of the proposed Graton Park will not be $2 million,
unless one counts all the donations of time, materials, love
and community spirit, which are, actually, priceless. Mr. Roehl’s
quote that the park will cost that much has no basis in any kind of
fact or rational analysis.    
The Graton Green Group is well on its way to raising the first
$100,000, which is half of what the community needs to raise in
order to apply for a matching grant from Open Space for the
purchase of the Graton Fire House site.
We’ve just started the campaign and have already raised $16,000,
which is remarkable for a federally designated low-income area.
Your headline, “Despite hard work, cost of downtown park may be
prohibitive,” is unnecessarily negative.
Give us a chance, please, and don’t base your prognosis on the
unfounded estimate on the community’s naysayer. Next time, how
about a headline like, “Graton Community Shows They Are Up for
Challenge To Create a Park!”
HolLynn D’Lil
Graton
Investigate redevelopment
Editor: In May of 2000, 5th District Supervisor Mr. Mike Reilly
told the Russian River Monthly the “worst-case scenario” as
tabulated in the EIR for the Redevelopment District over its
45-year life would be “a loss of $588,000.” That comes to $14,000 a
year for the fire district. As a percentage of the fire district’s
budget, it comes to less than 1.2 percent.
“That’s the total worst-case impact of redevelopment,” says
Reilly. “No one is putting it in that context.”
Reilly thinks “it’s probably going to be in the area of a loss
of $10,000 a year.”
Okay, now to reality. This year alone, Russian River Fire
Protection District is losing $300,000 to redevelopment. Over $1
million has gone to redevelopment since it was imposed on the area.
Why is this not printed in the local papers? It should be front
page news. Why is this happening?
There has to be a way of putting an end to this. This needs to
be addressed. Maybe the Sonoma County Grand Jury could look into
this?
Rob Cassady
Guerneville