Intersection of sense and statistics
EDITOR: The Oct. 10 front page article “Seeking Safety to School” was newsworthy. The commentary presented by student Massimo Tuscany to our elected officials was thorough and contained common sense observations.
Last week Ken Dalton revisited the matter presented by Tuscany calling attention to the intersection at Powell and Fitch. Not unlike Ken, I too have lived in this town for 30-plus years. I rarely travel north on Fitch because of the lack of visibility when making a right or left hand onto Powell. Like Ken, I applaud the young scholar and hope he continues to advocate and pursue his common sense solutions.
It’s unfortunate that in today’s world we are overburdened and hamstrung by our regulatory environment. Why should we wait for a student to be killed, or a bus to be hit to become statics? I know too well that it’s statistics that end up driving change. Years ago my great aunt was killed in an accident on Fountain Grove Parkway at Stage Coach in Santa Rosa. At the time there was no traffic light at that intersection. It was something that was advocated by many, but change didn’t happen until there was another statistic to support a common sense solution.
Government by the people and for the people continues to be a sideshow. We have become beholden to our growing bureaucracy and regulatory environment. Fellow citizens should voice their concern to city hall and our elected officials should they too believe that the intersection of Fitch and Powell deserves a few stop signs. It’s common sense. But then again, common sense isn’t so common.
William Seppi
Healdsburg
Tears for beers
EDITOR: What a sad but predictable day. A long-time local watering hole and affordable plaza eating spot is been run out of town by high rental costs. Here we have local business owners/residents speaking out, as have homeowners and local workers, against the disappearance of balanced neighborhoods and healthy schools, plus more shrinkage of our balanced small town business diversity. This is an irreplaceable loss to our town. More hotel and tasting rooms on the way?
Warren and Janis Watkins
Healdsburg
