Letters to the Editor 2-6-14

An effective leader
Editor: North County residents have been well served. Supervisor Mike McGuire is a dynamo with phenomenal energy and drive who is passionate about representing his district. His committment to constituent service is of the highest order. He’s always available when needed. There is no doubt that he will be a very effective State Senator.  
Mike will be a tough act to follow, but the ideal candidate is in the race. Healdsburg City Councilman Tom Chambers is off and running, and that is welcome news for North Sonoma County residents. Tom is a bright, analytical, hard-working thinker who is extremely adept at studying the isssues. He has served his community well with many years of service on the Healdsburg City Council and as Healdsburg Mayor.  Tom is a long-time Healdsburg resident. He has raised his family here, and served the community as a youth athletics coach. He has the ideal combination of experience in both the private and public sector. Tom is moderate and level-headed, and is not beholden to any special interest groups. He is a great listener, who is open-minded and thoughtful, and is very responsive to constituent needs. I’m hopeful that North County residents will listen to his message and consider his candidacy. Tom is an extremely bright common-sense leader who will serve us very, very well. He has the experience and requirements to help lead the county for the next  years. Not only that … he’s a great guy. Please make an effort to meet him.
Kent Mitchell
Healdsburg
Worthy project
Editor: Help us raise money to remodel the only teen homeless shelter north of San Francisco.
Hello, my name is Jacob LeBrett and my project partner is Christina Brown. We have joined with the Social Advocates for Youth (S.A.Y.) as part of our senior Community Based Service Learning Project to help with a desperately needed remodel project for the Coffee House teen homeless shelter. We chose this project because we know the value of a safe and loving home, and to know that people our own age don’t even have a place to live is very unsettling to us.
We invite you to support this cause by coming to our Pasta Feed event this Sunday, Feb. 9 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Cardinal Newman High School ACC building next to the gym. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $15 for kids 12 and under. Pasta is provided by Catelli’s Restaurant. Raffle prizes include gift baskets from Santa Rosa Entertainment Group, Catelli’s Restaurant, Relish Culinary School, etc. If you would like to donate items or money for this project please contact me at [email protected]. All donations are tax deductible and all proceeds go directly to this renovation project.
Thank you for your support.
Jacob LeBrett and
Christina Brown
Conserve
Editor: In this time of drought and water conservation, please consider these ideas to reduce and conserve our water use:
Lawn conversions — Windsor has for a few years now had a lawn conversion program. Although there is some talk that we should not be planting new plants because of the water they require for the first year, there must be some sort of happy compromise so that yards can be esthetically pleasing and yet require less water. This could also include changing the way we water our plants. I think it’s better late than never.
Form a committee — What if we formed a city-wide committee (I understand city staff doesn’t have time to pursue this) that would apply for funding and coordinate landscaping consultations for people. We could get and pay landscape professionals to recommend irrigation solutions, plant replacements (some new plants, even unestablished, take less water than some of the lawns that people have), and rain retention systems. This program could pay for the consultations and low income installations. The landscapers, who will be hard hit by the drought, could create more work for themselves through the program.
Rain retention systems — We pay in our water bill a storm drain fee … some of that money should be used to establish rain retention systems in the private sector, so we are not putting rain water down the storm drains. Again, we can hire landscapers to consult with homeowners in putting in a retention system. It will boost our economy and keep our landscapers employed. Hopefully we would be able to develop some esthetically pleasing and efficient systems while being cost effective. Wouldn’t it be great if we could  turn our property fences into storage systems? Just an idea.
Funding — I read in the paper that the Feds and State are making money available because of the drought designation … can we look into getting some of that money to help our citizenry reduce, conserve and recycle water? Not to mention using the storm drain service fee we already pay on our water bills.
Planning — We could also explore allowing people to water gardens with gray water, another great recycle use.
This needs to be a time when we are proactive and innovative. We have a lot of talent in this town, so let’s tap into it and make this potential catastrophe a turning point for the better.
Vickie Norris
Healdsburg