Letters to the Editor 5-19-16

Thanks for coverage
Editor: The visit of Stan, Kim, Lena and Ticho Derkx from the Netherlands on May 2-3, 2016 in Healdsburg is still in my memory. This family in 2011 formally “adopted” Healdsburg’s Private Arthur Colvin Beeman’s grave. The Derkx family finally met Carol Lee Davy, the daughter of Art Beeman, as well as other Beeman family members.
Maya Angelou said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
They made us proud of our family heritage and proud of one of our family soldiers, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom for all.
They showed us what true patriotism is; they teach future generations to remember and never forget, they gave us their kindness and love, they embraced us as their family. We will never forget how they make us feel …
Thank you very much for the wonderful coverage of this event, for caring to present these wonderful people to American citizens in our neighborhood, for making the wonderful pictures. Thank you to all the Healdsburg Tribune staff to tell part of our family history.
Anna Cadd
Healdsburg
Pointless and
capricious
Editor: I enjoy reading the letters to the editor and columns in your paper. Rollie Atkinson’s column about voting that showing up was interesting. He did bring up the murder of Andy Lopez, but he failed to mention the name of the shooter; Sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus, who still has his badge, gun, cruiser and salary paid for by us taxpayers.
I agree with Dave Henderson’s letter that Jim Wood is a flunky for the state. His vote against stopping the theft of our assets by Civil Asset Forfeiture is pathetic. The government now steals more money from us than criminals. You can look it up.
And finally there is the letter from the doctor and nurse in support of raising the age of tobacco use to 21. I agree with them that tobacco is a very bad drug and habit. I disagree with them about the government telling us what we can put in our bodies. Do we have free will or not? And your arguments about how the human brain isn’t developed until the age of 26 or so may very well be true, but then why do you let kids join the military at the age of 18?
I remember decades ago, when there was 3.2 percent beer in South Dakota and Kansas for 18-year-olds. It was a way to ease youth into the hazards and happiness of alcohol. Reagan made it 21 countrywide for the age of drinking.
Suddenly I couldn’t drink booze at the age of 19. It seemed very silly to me then and it seems silly to me now that some bureaucrat can decide what I can and can’t do with a stroke of a pen.
This is why people don’t vote anymore, Rollie. It all seems pointless and capricious.
Tim McGraw
Healdsburg
Calamitous effects
Editor: As a 30-year resident of Fitch Mountain (in the same home) I would like to comment on the calamitous effects that short term vacation rentals have on quality of life here, the preposterous notion by home investors that “economic numbers outweigh the complaints of neighbors” and the absurd statement that limiting new vacation rentals “will devastate the local economy…”
My house is next door to a vacation rental. The sides of our houses are within 10 feet of each other, so as you can imagine we have been close to our neighbors through the years.
When the house became a vacation rental, the noise that emanated from the extreme parties became so obtrusive that we had to resort to remodeling our home so that our deck was no longer next to the vacation home. I also put soundproofing in the walls to help to deaden the drunken blather and singing.
My wife and I work hard (I work in Healdsburg and my wife in Petaluma) and our time at home should be relaxing, but when you have to listen to 24-hour party people it makes for anxiety ridden nights and weekends. Ours is not a second home, it has been our primary residence for all of these years.
Wine country lodges contribute more than $100,000 in Transient Occupancy Tax? That does nothing to truly benefit a neighborhood or larger community. These visitors come in large groups and co-opt parking in other driveways or park their cars half in the street and have no respect for the privacy of full time residents.
It is very sad that some of these property managers feel that money outweighs the viability of a neighborhood. I have witnessed the changing of Fitch Mountain from a diverse community of home owners and renters to one that pits full time residents against the greed of property managers.
As to the statement that limiting vacation rentals would devastate the local economy, we all know that is not going to be the case.
Our tourist based economy is a freight train going full speed with no slowing down in the foreseeable future. It will certainly not be derailed by limiting vacation rentals in a few areas of the county.
Matthew Norelli
Healdsburg
Bird booster
Editor: Some years ago, one of our lovely city council members said there were no mosquitoes in Healdsburg; I readily agreed, because we didn’t have any either. Some other lady in Healdsburg quickly disagreed, and said, “Oh yes we do.”
Well folks, I have finally figured it out. The lovely city council lady and I don’t have mosquitoes because we have birds. They eat all those pesky bugs.
So get yourself a hummingbird feeder; put up a birdbath; make a bird house; buy some good birdseed; go for the birds. The result will be no mosquitoes; I guarantee it (almost).
Jody Wilson
Healdsburg