Letters to the Editor 11-6-14

Announcement party, and more
Editor:   
Are you planning to attend the Cloverdale Performing Art Center’s Announcement Party, on Thursday, Nov. 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., 209 N. Cloverdale Blvd., when the names of next season’s plays will be revealed?  
There is no charge for this event, and wine, food and music will be served up. Free!
Season tickets will be sold that night at a special reduced rate. Your purchase of these tickets not only will help support Cloverdale’s very own live theatre, but also the concerts, comedians, authors and poets CPAC presents.
But like the tv ads say: Wait! There’s much much more.
For each set of season’s tickets sold, a generous and local anonymous donor will donate $50, up to a limit of $10,000, to four local non-profits the donor has selected: the Cloverdale Senior Center/Meals on Wheels; the Cloverdale Boys & Girls Club; Cloverdale Food Pantry; and Wallace House, the money to be divided equally. With your help, each of these deserving organizations could collect $2,500!   
Please join us for an evening of fun, food and music, and brighten Cloverdale’s holiday season at the same time.
CD Grant,
Cloverdale
Thanks to the book sale volunteers
Editor:   
The Friends of the Cloverdale Library wish to thank student volunteers from Cloverdale High School for loading, unloading, unpacking and helping to organize donated books for our book sale: Luke Pope, Jacob Perlenfein, Landon Barry, Jayson McMillan, Emily Harris, Jacob Mills, Sierra Mulder and Cheyenne Palmer did an amazing job with great enthusiasm.
Thank you to all the wonderful and loyal volunteers: Joanne Argyres, Diane Bartleson, Jean Bennett, Sally Broderick, Susan Clarke, Cecile Clabaugh, Linda Clapp, Cynthia DeMartini, Irene Dodd, Sally Evans, Glenda Gleason, Brooke Greene, Herdis Gudmund, MaryAnn Hallock, Corine Hensley, Dana Johnson, Betty Kroeze, Linda Lawrence, Annie Mahon, Sheri McGinnis, Cheryl Miler, Dick Navone, Sherian Pardini, Jan Postma, Judy Pudoff, Joe Palla, Nena Reiners, Nancy Rivas, Carol Russell, Jan Screechfield, Linda Silva, Jane Snibbe, Barbara Sibio, George Wilson, Michelle Wing, Constance Wren and Louise Young.
Many thanks to the Cloverdale Library staff for their kind support. Thank you to the community of Cloverdale, for making this sale such a big success.
Friends of the Cloverdale Library
City Manager responds to ‘over regulation’
Editor:   
The letter from Ann Hathaway in the Oct. 16 Reveille was a good highlight of how the City Council is diligently working to revise the City’s zoning code in order to promote economic development and job opportunity in Cloverdale.
The purpose of this letter is to inform the community on the process that the City is presently pursuing to make the proposed code revisions happen as soon as possible. Based on input from Cloverdale’s business community, City staff presented a number of revisions to the zoning code, which will make important changes to the Downtown zoning districts.  
In addition, the proposed code revisions will decrease the requirements for discretionary planning decisions in specific commercial zoning areas. At the last Planning Commission meeting, the Commission reviewed the proposed revisions and gave general direction for the code revisions to move toward a public hearing at the Commission.  
Citizens interested in the proposed zoning code revisions should come out for the Nov. 5 Cloverdale Planning Commission meeting. If the proposed revisions are approved by the Planning Commission, then the revisions must be adopted through an ordinance approval process by the Cloverdale City Council, which takes about 90 days.
The city is working hard to promote economic development in Cloverdale, however there are duly established timelines, public noticing requirements, and approval processes for changing local ordinances that cannot be shortcut. Thank you for the opportunity to address this important matter.
Paul Cayler,
Cloverdale City Manager
UCC Fair Trade Events
Editor:   
Mark your calendars for an exciting weekend in November. Once again, the United Church of Cloverdale is working with One World Fair Trade in Healdsburg to bring Fair Trade to Cloverdale. One World Fair Trade will donate 15% of the proceeds from the sale to UCC, which in turn has pledged to turn those funds over to Wallace House, for the benefit of those in our community who could use a helping hand.
What is Fair Trade?
To learn more about Fair Trade, attend a slideshow at 5:30 PM, Friday November 14th in the UCC Fellowship Hall. Fair Trade is a way of doing business that supports farmers and artisans, local communities and the environment. Fair Trade is not charity but a sustainable business model that crafts better trade deals. One World Fair Trade owners Ray and Annette Ballestero have recently returned from a visit to their suppliers in India, and bring you the opportunity to “meet” the artisans and see some of the products in their various stages of completion. It is amazing how much work, ingenuity and artistry goes into each hand-made product. Ray and Annette are passionate about Fair Trade as you will see when they share their trip with you, answer your questions, and explain what a difference Fair Trade makes in people’s lives. Enjoy wine, Fair Trade coffee and chocolate, and sample finger-foods from Fair Trade countries.
When and Where to Buy Fair Trade Products?
The UCC Fair Trade sale will be November 15th, 10:00 – 6:00. This year we are doing things a little differently – the sale will be at One World Fair Trade (104 Matheson Street, Healdsburg Square). You will have the opportunity to browse through all the products available at One World Fair Trade, and to choose the perfect gift or complement to your home or garden.
Celebrate the contribution and value of all people and start your Christmas shopping right! You will be able to take a tour of over 50 countries and enjoy a wide selection of fair trade products, beautiful handmade crafts, home décor, clothing & accessories, jewelry, toys and more.
Fair Trade helps preserve cultural traditions and values, and supports artisans, farmers and producers around the world. Anything you purchase on the 15th will help 3rd-world artisans, as well as those in our community in need of emergency shelter, transitional housing or supportive services provided by Wallace House.
Lavonne Blucher-Nameny,
Cloverdale
“The City of Volunteers”
Editor:   
On Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19th, while entering the Performing Arts Center’s intriguing production of Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolff?, I and other theater goers saw a team of happily hardworking men and women giving their whole day to clean out the mass of trash and debris accumulated in the deep gratings under all the trees along Cloverdale Blvd. in what’s become our downtown’s cultural and creative core.
It was an uplifting, motivating sight and another vivid example of why Cloverdale is praised as “The City of Volunteers!”
Impressed and appreciative, I made a mental note to write a heartfelt “Letter to the Editor” offering my personal “Thank you!” to the pastors and members of every congregation involved: First Baptist Church, Grace Lutheran Church, Parkside Christian Chapel, Vineyard Hill Church, and The Seventh Day Adventist Church. However, I regret to admit that over the next few days the mental note was lost amidst the brain clutter from a hectic week.
Fortunately, City Manager Paul Caylor didn’t forget. He published his informative, one page “Weekly Report” on Friday, Oct. 17, as always, even though his week had to be far more hectic than mine. Thanks to him, I and other readers learned that some 60 volunteers cleaned up “over four cubic yards” of assorted garbage and that a letter of appreciation was sent to each pastor on behalf of the entire city council.
Thanks, also, to Paul I was reminded to offer my overdue, but no less sincere, “Thank you!” here to all the volunteers and also to invite Reveille readers to check out Paul’s easy-to-read “Weekly Report” via email. Contact pc*****@ci.us to add yourself to his growing list of readers.          
Carol Russell
Mayor, City of Cloverdale