Letters to the Editor 11-19-15

Dog park
Editor: Windsor’s sole dog park is too far for Windsor’s seniors to walk to. It also allows dogs of all sizes and breeds making the smaller dogs, that the elderly usually own, vulnerable to attacks. I’ve witnessed such attacks and German Shepherd “guard dogs” or pit bulls can be very menacing. Could the Town entertain establishing a small dog park in Brooks Creek along the walking path paralleling the creek? It would be a far better use of a small piece of land than the Town’s idea of a series of fitness stops along the trail. Most of the Brooks Creek dog owners are elderly and the pets need play and exercise more than the residents and a small dog park could also serve as a social gathering place like Healdsburg’s. I would be glad to volunteer to help establish this much-needed small dog park.
Dave Heventhal
Windsor
Veterans Day
Editor: What an incredible Veterans Day. Thanks to all for making this a great day for veterans in our area. The day started with the phenomenal breakfast and program put on by the Healdsburg Sunrise Rotary Club. Funds were raised for the Pathway Home in Yountville, and a check for $200 to the Sotoyome Auxiliary. There was great food from the Costeaux French Bakery. There was an absolutely spine tingling rendition of all the Service Hymns by Dallas Caroline. We also had eye-witness detail of Iwo Jima from 99-year-old Captain Stewart, which was enlightening. I’d like to send a special thank you to Lance Ballenger and Ken Cody for picking up World War II veteran Don Clouston. This was the highlight of my day. Don showed up in the uniform he wore in 1941 and the spit polished boots he wore when he jumped into Normandy on D-Day at the ripe old age of 17. Don was one of 17 survivors of the 165 men in his unit that day. Don will be 90 in a few weeks. My regret of the day: I missed the opportunity to kiss those boots. Those are truly the boots of freedom. Don went to the ceremonies in Healdsburg and Windsor and was treated to lunch with the rest of the veterans at KC’s American Kitchen in Windsor.
A special thanks also goes out to Gary Greenough for preparing and delivering his speech. We are fortunate to have, in my opinion, one of the finest Honor Guards in California right here from our own Sotoyome American Legion. Their performance was flawless. Last of all, thank you to all those who attended the ceremonies and breakfast.
Never Quit, Never Forget, Keep on Charging.
Reuel Miller, Commander
American Legion Post 111
Healdsburg
NIMBY-ism,
xenophobia and the Board of Supervisors
On Nov. 10, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 against a project presented before them for the expansion of a six-bed residential care facility for the elderly into a 12-bed residential community. This vote was a big surprise based on the needs of this county.
Twenty percent of Sonoma County’s 500,000 citizens are 65 and older. This number will become 25 percent (125,000) within the next 15 years. Today, we only have roughly 4,700 beds available in Sonoma County for seniors, counting skilled nursing facilities and residential care facilities. The project denied by the supervisors met all county regulations and codes in terms of height, size, safety, traffic, parking, noise, water, etc. The project was approved unanimously in June 2015 by county staff and received a favorable five out of five vote at the Sonoma County Planning Commission. The commissioners concluded that there were no valid objections presented, that a “not in my backyard” attitude was not a valid objection and that neighbors needed to realize they can no longer live in a bubble when the rest of the county is in crisis.
After all of this and even stating, “we understand the needs …” the supervisors voted against the project, listening to the incredible resistance of the neighborhood to accept compassionate senior housing in their community.
Perhaps some neighborhoods are exempt from our countywide problems, perhaps some privileged areas in the county would not like to be bothered, and would prefer not to see our problems in their neighborhood.
Has our collective xenophobia now come to include aging? How can care homes for seniors be cast as incompatible with our neighborhoods? I suppose the care of all these seniors could instead be paid for through the county general fund, the same general fund that can’t even pay county-employed in-home caregivers a living wage?
Yes, let’s create more unfunded mandates. Let’s ship all of our seniors over to the county-run facility so we don’t have a business in the neighborhood. Running a private senior care facility is no more a business than PG&E or Comcast supplying electricity or phone service to the community. It is no more a business than a paving company hired to replace the roads, or a landscape company, or a fence builder, or an appliance repair person, or a house painter.
These services all require that money change hands because there are costs involved, salaries to be paid and an owner who also needs to make a living. For that matter, is renting an extra room in your house a business? What about renting the whole house out? How about a vacation rental?
At the hearing, Supervisors Rabbitt and, Carillo dozed off during the applicant’s comments and then stated they had a “real dilemma” and “trouble making up their minds,” but had to vote against the expansion, while Board members Gorin and Gore stated that the project was “good planning and great looking building,” but found it incompatible with the neighborhood. Only Supervisor Zane supported the project and was outraged at her colleagues’ votes. This particular neighborhood has oversized homes on large parcels, some bigger and taller than the proposed project. Incompatibility? What’s incompatible is that seniors needing a care home must live in a warehouse facility with no human amenities in an institutional environment. That is incompatible with life.
We need facilities in neighborhoods, not only in institutions. As Marianne McBride, president and CEO of the nonprofit Council on Aging said: “The goal is total cultural changes around aging and this change needs to happen in every neighborhood and on every block.”
Alain Serkissian, Administrator
Mirabel Lodge, Premiere Assisted Living Community