Letters to the Editor 10-23-14

Thank you, Healdsburg Primary Care

Editor: Our family has been patients of Healdsburg Primary Care for a number of years, and in the past six months have had more than our usual share of health challenges. The fact that everyone is now doing as well as ever (or better) is thanks in great part to the Healdsburg Hospital ER and the caring and deeply committed doctors at Healdsburg Primary Care, especially Dr. Wilson and Dr. Berg. 

We appreciate the Healdsburg Primary Care physician’s˙ intelligent, balanced, and personal approach to medicine, including Dr. Berg’s willingness to make a home visit rather than require that Jean’s ailing 95-year-old mother make the arduous trip to the office for tests and consultation.

We feel very lucky to have Healdsburg Primary Care working in conjunction with Healdsburg Hospital, and look forward to depending on their combined efforts to provide quality health care for our community for a long time to come.


Douglas Fisher
Jean Hegland
Healdsburg
Eric Ziedrich for City Council
Editor: Would you hire someone with no experience in medical services to run a hospital? Would you want someone who never worked in a fire department to be appointed fire chief? Why then would you want to elect anyone with no experience at any level in local government to city council?

Eric Ziedrich has twice before served with success on Healdsburg’s City Council. He has raised a family and grown a business here. He knows the problems we face in keeping Healdsburg solvent as the effects of the Great Recession wear on. He will not need to spend time getting up to speed on the issues or getting to know the people who manage our town. 

I’m all for people getting involved in government, but the place to start is not at the top of the pyramid. My vote is for experience. I’ll be voting for Eric and I hope you will too.


Fred Walter
Healdsburg
Excess tourism
Editor: I am a 48-year resident of Healdsburg. I’ve seen a lot of changes, most of them good. In 1982, the city engaged professionals and residents in a discussion about our future, known as the R/UDAT study. Did we want to become: 1) a bedroom community; 2) a center of high-tech clean industry, like Silicon Valley or 3) a tourist destination? The consensus was that we wanted number 3, so to attract tourists, we devoted our energies and resources to fixing up the downtown, encouraging the building of hotels and marketing Healdsburg as the place to visit. This has been a great success!
But what I’m hearing now is that the community feels threatened by excess tourism. People say, “When I go downtown, I don’t know anybody. I can’t take my family to buy some ice cream and eat in the Plaza because there’s no parking.” I hear many complaints about how tourism is affecting our small town and our quality of life.
City council candidate Brigette Mansell is listening to the residents. She, too, appreciates what the tourists do for our town, but is wondering if it’s time to reexamine the big push to get more and more tourists here.
Brigette is for balance. She’s a veteran high school English teacher and debate coach who raised her twins here. She is passionate about neighborhoods, listening to residents and keeping Healdsburg livable for the middle class.
It’s important to have diversity and balance on the city council, to grow and honor all parts of our community including ordinary residents like myself. I encourage you to vote for Brigette Mansell, a strong and independent voice for residents.
Gail Jonas
Healdsburg
A celebration of life
Editor: I invite you to join us on Saturday, Nov. 8, for what promises to be a delightful evening of delicious food and wonderful entertainment as we commemorate “El Dia de los Muertos — A Celebration of Life.” Sponsored by the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society, it is a fundraising event for future Latino community outreach programs. To be held at St. John’s Activity Center, the evening will begin with a no host bar reception and silent auction (which will include tickets to the November 23 49ers vs Redskins game). A remembrance table/altar will also be in place for small framed photos of deceased loved ones in keeping with El DÖa de Los Muertos tradition. Dinner, prepared by Octavio Diaz of Agave Restaurant and Pedro Diaz of El Farolito Restaurant, will feature Oaxacan duet moles. The entertainment following dinner will include several musical selections from vocalist Valeria Gomez and traditional Mexican dances performed by the GNTA Balletfolklorico Quinto Sol. It promises to be a full evening of delicious food, fabulous entertainment and fun!
Tickets are $40 per person; $20 age 12 and under. They must be purchased by Nov. 4. Call the Healdsburg Museum (431-3325) or me (473-9656) to place your order. Seating is limited. I hope to see you there!
Jeanne Hartlaub
Event Chair
Supporting Jeff Civian
Editor: There is no doubt that the city council has some important questions to answer in the next four years:  How do we improve parking availability downtown?  How can we encourage building more affordable housing? Which streets and sidewalks do we prioritize for repair?  What is the proper business and residential mix in the area south of the five-way intersection?    Luckily, we have Jeff Civian, a candidate with 14 years of experience on planning and review boards across Sonoma County. Jeff has proven leadership ability and the analytical skills necessary to understand the important issues we face in Healdsburg.  Please join me in voting for Jeff Civian for Healdsburg City Council.
Shaun McCaffery
Healdsburg
Endorsing Civian
I am happy to endorse and vote for Jeff Civian for the Healdsburg city council.
I have worked and currently serve with Jeff on the Healdsburg Planning Commission.  Jeff is our chairperson.  His proven leadership skills help guide the commission through the difficult decisions and choices that must be made that impact each project brought before the commission.
I believe that if Jeff is elected, he will make the issues that are of the most concern to the citizens of Healdsburg, that being our streets, parking, water and public safety, a priority.
Please join me and cast your vote for Jeff Civian for city council on Nov. 4
Kathi Engler
Healdsburg
Let’s Preserve — A Community Event
Thanks to the incredible support of our community on Saturday, Oct. 11, over 850 pounds of tomatoes were transformed by 34 volunteers into 24 cases (or 291 quarts) of tomato sauce for the families served by the Healdsburg Food Pantry.
A very special thanks to the Soroptimists for their continued sponsorship of Let’s Preserve, to Merrilee Olson of PRESERVE Sonoma for her expert leadership throughout the day, and to the many local farms, businesses and organizations whose support made this a community event: Soda Rock Farm, Bernier Farm, Landerosa Farm, New Family Farm, Cyrus Restaurant and the Farm to Pantry and Slow Harvest gleaners. And a heartfelt thanks to the many individual community members who donated tomatoes, jars and their time and energy to preserving tomatoes, tradition and our community.
Melita Love
Farm to Pantry
SOS supports Gore
Editor: Save Our Sonoma Roads endorses James Gore for county supervisor. He is an intelligent, articulate, and energetic man who cares deeply about his native county.  When we first discussed road issues, James analogized the problem to the scores of crumbling dams that were challenges during his work at the Department of Agriculture. Like our failing road system, the government constructed dams but neglected to maintain them.
James is committed to solving our infrastructure problems because they directly impact our economic viability and quality of life.  While he supports the quarter cent sales tax increase for roads, he recognizes we also must change county budgeting to increase the contribution for road maintenance from the county general fund.  The new supervisor must stand firm to implement the goal of reigning in pensions to 10 percent of payroll (currently 30 percent for safety workers) and demands for salary increases.
Deb Fudge promises to solve this problem, but we are concerned about her pledges to county unions. JFK observed that “to govern is to choose.” We need a supervisor who chooses to fix our roads without being compromised by promises to siphon funds elsewhere.
Craig S. Harrison, Santa Rosa
Michael Troy, Penngrove