Letters to the Editor 2-26-15

Community Conversations
Editor: A new concept in community awareness has been started with the idea of Cafe Conversations. Julian Cohen moderated the first session on Sunday, February 22, at the Mary Agatha Furth Center. This will be part of the planning process for building community, collaboration and cooperation to share ideas and experiences such as “what we love about living in Windsor” “why we want to stay and hope that our children stay” and “what we see for the future of our wonderful community”. There was a good mix of concerned citizens who shared lots of ideas as the momentum grew with the exchange of experiences, dreams and suggestions. There will be another two sessions next week, held at the Senior Center, on Sunday, March 1 at 1:30 p.m., and on Wednesday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m. The recommendations and proposals will be sent to the Town Council and the planning boards for review. Please join the conversation. You are part of Windsor  — tell us why. The website is: www.Windsor.cafe.net.
Diane Tomczak
Windsor
Windsor needs to detach
Editor: I was surprised to find a line item on our 2014-2015 property tax bill “North So Co Hospital District,” for a Direct Charge of $150.00. This is on every Windsor resident’s property tax bill. The money goes to the Healdsburg Hospital, which is located north in Healdsburg.   We are paying for a hospital that most of us probably don’t use and that isn’t as close to us as Sutter Hospital. As you know, last year Sutter Hospital opened a new hospital on Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa, which is much closer to Windsor residents and has much newer technology. I live next to Windsor High School and Sutter Hospital is much closer to us than Healdsburg Hospital, which means a lot in case of an emergency. North Sonoma County Hospital District needs to be redistricted to exclude Windsor. This is going to be tough because, right now, they are getting a free ride. Healdsburg Hospital is a non-profit hospital, which means that they get most of their revenue from our property taxes (over $1,000,000.00 per year). I want to get the word out about this issue and get Windsor residents involved. I think that most people in Windsor would agree with this proposal (using Sutter Hospital rather than Healdsburg Hospital) and could use the $150.00 off their property tax bill. In order to be out of the North Sonoma County Hospital district we need to do the following: we need to get at least 25 percent of Windsor residents to agree with this effort and submit it to the Sonoma Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which regulates the boundaries of cities and special districts. Email me (jm*******@co*.net) saying that you agree. I need the resident’s name, address and assessment # (on your property tax bill). If we do nothing, this $150.00 tax will stay on our property tax bill for as long as we own our property. Thank you for your consideration.
John Martin
Windsor