Letters to the Editor 10-15-15

Be an advocate for Cloverdale
Editor: In last week’s Reveille a writer mentioned that she was an advocate for the resort. My request to all Cloverdalians is to consider being an advocate for the city of Cloverdale. This means really looking at the facts, checking long term consequences and putting aside personal agendas. Why does it have to be airport vs. resort? Any intelligent businessman could understand the many benefits of having a small airport in close proximity to this resort. Affluent guests could fly in instead of driving, and the airport would benefit from the additional fuel and tie down income.
The resort investors claim that horses would be spooked by airplanes was proven wrong, and there doesn’t seem to be any other logical reason they couldn’t coexist. If the investors’ reason for closing our airport is so they can acquire the land for their own financial gain, then it would seem illogical and financially irresponsible to let them continue.
Others have suggested that a park, or relocating the Citrus Fair, would be better suited for the area. A park would not generate any income and would cost the city more to maintain than the airport. The same would be true for relocating the Citrus Fair to that location. The reality is that it would take years and a lot of money to make either possibility happen, if they could happen at all.
I believe that the people responsible for all this dissent towards the airport, (and they are few in numbers, but extremely vocal), don’t really care about improving the city’s financial situation. Their motivation is their own personal financial gain. The proof of this is the investors’ attempt to prevent the upcoming Red Bull Event. This event is bringing tens of thousands of dollars into our city, which might not have happened had these investors had their way.
Because of this event all the hotels are booked. The B&Bs are booked. Our restaurants will see a huge increase in business, as will our shops. The city was paid a substantial amount of money to allow this event at our airport. The Red Bull Wing Suit Competition is going to be filmed and shown on the Discovery Channel. Just think of the exposure for our town. The city of Cloverdale will be in an international spotlight. However, this event almost didn’t happen because of the investor group’s selfish objections. The investors’ failed attempt to shut down the Red Bull Event says it all about their true motives.
Let’s stop this airport vs. resort. They can, and should co-exist. The city would benefit, the airport would benefit and the resort would most certainly benefit.
To those who still persist in harassing the city into closing the airport, please read the memo on the city’s website regarding this issue. I find it very hard to believe that any intelligent person would continue in that direction after reading what the extreme cost, in city resources and money, would be. Also, the time it would take to accomplish this, if it was possible at all, might be decades. Let’s all be advocates for the city of Cloverdale.
Linda Welch
Cloverdale
Unfortunate power of the press
Editor: Really Rollie, a BS filter? (“Power of the press” editorial, Oct. 8, 2015) Putting Hillary’s server in Connecticut rather than in Colorado (your work sometime back) is an understandable mistake. After all the states are very close in the alphabet, also the high-speed left spin in your writing is quite acceptable, as your column is your opinion. It’s clearly up to the reader to agree or disagree, to fact check or take on blind faith.
But the Fourth Estate (fourth branch) is lost, no longer the “people’s watchdog.” Whether you lean left or right, follow Fox, CNN, CBS, NBC, read the Washington Post or any of the various Times publications, New York – LA, even the Wall Street Journal, an expectation of clear accurate reporting is only for the naive.
We unfortunately live in a media environment polluted by self interest. Spinning to the right or spinning to the left, not just in opinion pieces but in what should be hard-core news reporting. A media where, highly respected reporters manipulate facts to enhance their personal story or completely invent reporting to maliciously damage the reputation of politicians whose philosophies they may oppose.  
Yes the press has great power, but no longer can we the people rest comfortably in the expectation that the press will faithfully live up to its first amendment responsibilities. We as the recipients of media information, mainstream or alternative, must carefully avoid stepping in the steaming pile.
Leonard Von Hoogenstyn
Cloverdale