Letters to the Editor 10-20-16

No Low Flow
EDITOR: If you love the Russian River, how can you abide low flow? I haven’t understood that since the idea was first proposed, supposedly to provide a safe place in the Russian River estuary for juvenile salmonids to grow bigger and stronger before they head out to sea. If that’s such a good idea, doesn’t it seem that Mother Nature would have taken care of that without human intervention? And if you suspect that low flow might work, wouldn’t you try it on an experimental basis and then adopt it only when you verified that it worked? Lynda Hopkins has explained why low flow is dangerous, how warming estuary water temperature leads to oxygen depletion that endangers fish. Nevertheless, if and when low flow is approved, it will become permanent. Lynda has said Sonoma County Water Agency endorsement of low flow has another motive: providing water for more grape growers and more growth via more sales of Russian River water. Lynda has pointed out that the supes have a built-in conflict of interest because they serve as Water Agency’s directors. Lynda has vowed that she will never let her responsibility to her constituents to protect the River be compromised when she serves as a Water Agency director. When she made that vow in Monte Rio, Noreen did not chime in. If Noreen has done so since, it has to be on a me too basis. No to low flow. Lynda Hopkins for Supervisor.


Scott Kersnar

Guerneville
Kicked the can
EDITOR: Sebastopol Planning Commission kicks the KOWS antenna can down the road again. In the latest chapter of the proposed KOWS antenna project, the Sebastopol city planning commission approved a new KOWS antenna project submission. The city planners focused solely on the application process in their decision-making. It appeared the neighborhood association SHARPwatch is being relegated to the sidelines as emotional appellants rather than true stakeholders in the process. Shoemaker and prospective city council candidate Michael Carnacchi was the only advocate of a compromise, which could satisfy both parties. With this approval, the city planning commission has most likely drawn the city into a long and expensive legal battle over a project for a private entity and not a city utility.
Patrick Norton
Sebastopol
Let’s not be fooled
EDITOR: Lynda Hopkins may be an organic farmer with a fresh face and a couple of ˛Ivy League West degrees, compared to Efren’s one. Like him, she represents the good old boy network. And it is her campaign that is the nasty one, blaming and haranguing and then acting like the victim. The earlier harping on pension legislation reminds me of the persecution of Rue Furch over her property taxes. The latest hit pieces from Eric Koenigshofer, lobbyist for Preservation Ranch, which ultimately garnered $10 million from the Coastal Conservancy and special interest money from the same real estate, development, wineries and extractive industry interests that have funded Mrs. Hopkins’ campaign, include a full-page color ad and a glossy color mailer the same day.
Both slam Noreen Evans and her time on the Coastal Conservancy, saying she did not vote on key coastal issues. This is misleading and disingenuous; as a legislator, Ms. Evans was not a voting member of the Conservancy. One wonders why those who know, such as the Conservancy Chair, can allow such misinformation to be published. On Oct. 13, another costly full-page color ad slams Evans for taking money from casino interests while accusing Mrs. Hopkins of a conflict of interest for the same. This ad, again funded by those special interests, including those involved in the Cloverdale casino, the tribe’s lobbyist, Rob Muelrath, is Hopkins’ campaign consultant and shows how desperate her supporters are to keep their power in Sonoma County. They want to hand an extremely important job to someone with no experience, like she was handed a several-million-dollar organic farm as a wedding present. If the subject comes up about the money literally pouring into her campaign, it is either dismissed or called an attack. Mrs. Hopkins may very well be passionate about West County issues, but I for one am tired of hearing about her Stanford degrees and her organic farm. Let’s not be fooled it’s becoming more and more painfully obvious that that essential swing vote on the Board of Supervisors, so urgent now for protecting our beloved county and coast, is in grave danger of being bought.
Kate Fenton
Jenner
Times have changed
EDITOR: I have lived in Sebastopol since I was two and feel fortunate to grow up here, start a business, raise my family and currently employ over 50 people. Our goal is to grow our businesses, give opportunities to our employees and pass it on to the next generation. When I started in 1977, hard work was the path to success. It has paid off for my mom and me. At one point, in 1986, we were one of the largest vegetable farms north of San Francisco. Our biggest concerns were weather, the market and the ability to sell our produce at a reasonable rate of return.
Times have changed. Now our biggest concerns are new laws at a rate of one per month from the State Legislature and new restrictions on our land from county supervisors.
Local government is at a critical point and we need leadership and foresight. We need a representative that will work hard, study the issues and make solid decisions. This is why I support Lynda Hopkins for Fifth District Supervisor. She has proven her work ethic and, most of all, will work with all of us on issues we face.
John Balletto
Sebastopol
Stellar candidate
EDITOR: Sebastopol City Council candidate, Jonathan Greenberg, is a stellar candidate with a solid track record of commitment, compassion and volunteerism on local and national levels. He has consistently risen to provide effective and innovative leadership for the greater public good, advancing solutions for public parks, climate change, library hours, clean air and soil, noise reduction, social justice, affordable housing and an open hospital. He has been our city’s single most effective leader in two pivotal grassroots efforts, keeping the life-saving local hospital open and restoring traditional library hours. 
There is no issue more important than keeping our life-saving emergency room open for local families, seniors, and neighbors. Jonathan is the only candidate that has the endorsement of Palm Drive Board members Powers and Colthurst (the “Doc” and the “Cop”) and Dr. Jim Gude. He is the only candidate willing to create a council subcommittee to assist the hospital in finding government support for funding and program development. He believes in “walking the talk” of a green Sebastopol by adding zero emission electric trucks for our city parks. 

If elected, Jonathan will provide much-needed transparency, collaboration, and innovative leadership that is truly responsive to the key needs of our community.
Andrea Culbertson
Sebastopol
Pensions
EDITOR: When it comes to pension reform there is a clear difference between candidates for Fifth District supervisor. Lynda Hopkins understands the stress put on the county budget by the unfunded pension liability and will seek pension reforms that maintain reasonable income to retired county employees. Noreen Evans maintains a no compromise stance regarding pensions, believing that everything is OK, or will be by 2030. Minimizing the problem has a long history. Up until the last few years, critics met with an assertion that there is no pension problem, and if you think there is, “you’re duped by the 1 percent Wall Street.” As the pension liability has become undeniable, the argument has shifted to “it will be OK someday.”
Defined benefit pensions always created some risk for local government, but changes made in the 2000s greatly increased the obligation without public information or input. Fortunately we have the Report of Independent Citizens Advisory Committee, which makes clear that this will not be OK until we revise the pension system. Lynda will use this information in policy. Noreen will ignore it. Ignoring the issue is not acceptable. Areas of California have gone bankrupt such as Stockton over ignoring pension issues.
Jason Newman
Santa Rosa
Vote for Jeanne
EDITOR: Jeanne Bassett Fernandes is the most experienced and is the best choice for the West County High School Board. She is a Sebastopol native, representing three generations of Analy graduates. Jeanne was previously on the School Board (1997 to 2010), leaving for work and commute reasons. During Jeanne’s previous board appointment she was able to lead the following initiatives with the partnership of her fellow board members. Solar was installed at both high schools (thousands of dollars in annual savings continuing to this day), hiring of the longest tenured superintendents in recent history, Keller McDonald, retrofitted and refurbished Analy Theater seats (writing grants to raise $25,000 for this project so that no district funds were utilized), ensuring the El Molino library was built with funds from a Bond the Board, she was the ticket sales representative for the Analy Centennial Committee (the largest class reunion in the school’s history) and helped create the establishment of a partnership with Sebastopol Sunrise Rotary to implement the Laguna student of the month/year program (promotes attendance, positive behavior and academic excellence).
Jeanne is experienced with difficult school budgets and with the intricacies of school policy. Since she no longer commutes, Jeanne is ready to once again serve our kids and our community. Vote for Jeanne in November.
Judi Goodin
Sebastopol