Healdsburg Letters to the Editor

A rousing success
Editor: The inaugural Greyhound Baseball alumni game, held
Friday, April 9 at Recreation Park, was a rousing success. More
than 40 alums from 37 years of HHS baseball and 400 fans enjoyed a
competitive game on a balmy evening in the sweetest little ballpark
in California.
Healdsburg High School Baseball is very grateful to the
following people and groups that very generously donated their
time, effort and resources to make this a fabulous event and a very
special night for alumni and fans. Immeasurable thanks to Dave
Miller and Healdsburg Little League for the fantastic tri-tip
sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs, and to Dave Baumonk for his
famous hand-dipped corn dogs. Many thanks also to Nancy Madarus,
Lance Blakeley, Matt O’Connor, Laura O’Connor, Vicky MacLaughlin,
Justin Herrguth, Kim Thompson and the Greyhound Boosters for
managing and manning the barbecue and the snack trailer.
We also want to thank the individuals and businesses that very
generously donated the superb silent auction items: Rochioli
Vineyards & Winery, Gardenworks Inc., Pedroncelli Winery, Toad
Hollow Winery, Mill Creek Winery, Watkins Family Winery, Gold Bloom
Fine Jewelry Design, Ravenous Cafe & Lounge, Willi’s Seafood
& Raw Bar, Russian River Wine Company, Yoga on Center, Nalle
Winery, J Vineyards & Winery, Kim & Greg Thompson, Danie’s
Pampered Pedicures, Warren Watkins, Redwood Auto Body, Eddinger
Enterprises, Inc., Studio 128, Jason Mora and Fastenal Tools,
Young’s Market Co., and Jeff McCarthy.
Thanks to the support of those people and all who filled
Recreation Park last Friday night, Healdsburg Baseball will be able
to continue providing the youth of this town with a top-notch
baseball program. All of the proceeds from this event will go to
the baseball program, which has become increasingly reliant on the
support of this generous community. Since current head coach Mark
Domenichelli took over in 2000, the team has been competitive every
year but one, holding its own in a very tough league, even winning
the league tournament in 2004. The team has also made the NCS
playoffs eight times, once reaching the championship game. Several
players have gone on to play at four-year colleges. Many more carry
the memories and the lessons learned from their time on the team
with them for the rest of their lives.
HHS Baseball Head Coach Mark Domenichelli and Jane Mackay
Healdsburg
Supporting Fudge
Editor: I am an enthusiastic supporter of Windsor Councilwoman
Debora Fudge who is running for 4th District Supervisor. What has
impressed me most about Debora are her authenticity and leadership
ability. She has been the mayor of Windsor four times and was
instrumental in creating Windsor’s downtown. With over 55 percent
of its funds in reserves, Windsor is by far the most financially
sound city in Sonoma County.
Debora has an impressive track record of accomplishments and
endorsements. She has long been a steward of the environment and
has a degree in environmental planning. Her skills and experience
are desperately needed on the Board of Supervisors as our county
faces difficult decisions regarding jobs, transportation, water
resources and other pressing concerns. She understands the
complexities of these issues and is dedicated to serving the
constituents of the 4th District.
We need a Supervisor who is visionary and experienced. Her
record speaks for itself. Please join me in voting for Debora Fudge
in the June election.
Bretta Rambo
Healdsburg
Supporting McGuire
Editor: I support Mike McGuire because I can’t imagine not
supporting him. 
My family and I have followed Mike’s career and watched him
mature since his first run for the Healdsburg  Board of Education. 
I remember on Election Day thinking there must be something special
about him that would lure high school students out of bed and onto
street corners with signs before they went to school.
Well, we found out what is so special about Mike — he really
cares about others and will go out of his way to help both
strangers and friends. His caring extended from being the driving
force behind the Job Center to setting up a “Starving Students “
scholarship fund when he was just out of school.
He manages to balance environmental and people concerns, a trait
sorely needed in a supervisor, and I look forward to his
representing me on the board.
Edith Smith
Healdsburg
An emerging leader
Editor: Once in a great while, a leader emerges who rises above
the pack. I believe that Mike McGuire is one of those leaders.
Mike McGuire has been an outstanding member of the Healdsburg
City Council. He has consistently worked hard for the benefit of
our community, and I know that the same energy, focus, and work
ethic will benefit all who live in the North County if he is
elected as 4th district Supervisor. Mike’s new ideas, his
incredible energy, and his track record for success will benefit
all working families and seniors in our county.
Mike has worked hard to increase affordable housing, maintain
public safety, increase open space, improve our parks, and protect
our clean water. He listens, he brings stakeholders together. He
analyzes issues and problems, consistently working with people to
come up with common sense solutions to challenging problems. The
bottom line — he builds consensus and gets things done.
I urge your support for Mike McGuire for County Supervisor.
Jim Wood
Healdsburg
Save our bridge
Editor: Did you know? They are planning a freeway-type concrete
bridge to replace our Memorial Beach Bridge. That bridge will
require the acquisitions of lands before and after the bridge to
form three lanes to enter and exit that bridge. Do you know? People
will then speed into our town. They won’t have to slow down to
cross our beautiful river. Do you understand? The cost of that type
of construction compared to upgrading the current Memorial Beach
Bridge? For much less money, we can upgrade the current bridge,
which has proven to be structurally sound, let people see an old
steel bridge that is one of only a few survivors (most victims of
modernization). We have lost so many of our historic
buildings—let’s keep this bridge. There is no reason not to.
The city has not kept the bridge esthetically maintained in past
years, which makes it look bad. Perhaps that is part of the plan to
make our residents think it needs to be replaced. It does not. It
does need to be retrofitted, upgraded, surface repairs, repaved,
painted, etc. The repairs needed are major, but nothing compared to
the cost of the elaborate replacement plans in the works. The charm
of this city is the public longing for a slower pace of life, away
from the freeways and congestion of metro areas.
I attended the March 21 meeting at the Senior Center. The people
representing Omni Means (the business doing the evaluation) didn’t
favor keeping the old bridge. They listened to our wishes to keep
the bridge and then attempted to convince us otherwise. They are a
big organization (worked on many CalTrans projects) that is totally
unfamiliar with our small town. They are determined to convince our
city council to replace this bridge that we treasure.
The weighting survey (rating sheet) that they asked us to
complete was very complicated. The explanation sheet that came with
it was just as confusing. Omni Means folks were not helpful. We had
to ask for help from one of our knowledgeable residents. I am sure
many of the folks that attended that meeting did not fully
comprehend the procedure, and did not vote correctly. The way they
tally the results of this survey is not fair. Groups that are
tallied get one vote for the entire group, including the public
(one vote), city council (one vote), etc. However, certain
unelected officials are counted individually. That makes no sense
at all.
Come on citizens of Healdsburg! Write letters to the editor,
talk to your city council, and others in this community. Let this
town know how you feel. Let them know we want Healdsburg to remain
the charming historical town it is and not some modern bustling
metropolitan city. Three lanes entering our town could mean another
shopping center and big box stores. If you want to save the
Memorial Beach Bridge attend the next meeting at 5:30-8:30 p.m. on
May 20 at the Senior Center. Be there!
Pauline Rogers
Healdsburg