Letters to the Editor 12-3-15

New initiative
EDITOR: This letter is to inform voters about a new initiative called Sonoma County Transgenic Contamination Prevention Ordinance. Committed volunteers are gathering signatures around the county to place this initiative on the November 2016 ballot.
This ordinance would do three things; protect the health of people living in Sonoma County from the increased herbicide use inherent in the cultivation of GMO crops, protect farms from cross-contamination by genetically engineered pollen and seeds and lastly, allow Sonoma County to join over 30 countries worldwide, as well as seven counties in Oregon and California, who already have similar laws prohibiting the growing of GMO crops. 


The FDA approved the production of genetically engineered salmon on Nov. 19. This salmon was created in a laboratory by combining genes from the ocean pout (eel) with genes from the Chinook salmon. No long-term studies have been done to determine possible health effects from such an unnatural creature.
In addition to any health concerns, research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that a release of just 60 GE salmon into a wild population of 60,000 could lead to the extinction of the wild population in less than 40 fish generations.


For all of the above reasons, Citizens for Healthy Farms and Families urges Sonoma County residents to sign our petition at venues throughout the county.
 To obtain more information or to volunteer, please go to www.GMOfreesonomacounty.com.

Pamela Gentry
Sebastopol
Noise ordinance
EDITOR: Sebastopol is in the process of a General Plan update that will set our compass for the next 20 years. Members of an advisory committee have generously donated their time and energy to that process, under the direction of a paid consulting firm from east of Sacramento.
Somewhere in the process, language was inserted into the Noise Ordinance that would “occasionally” grant downtown businesses noise privileges deemed unacceptable in every other part of the city. In doing so, noise protections enjoyed by all other residents of Sebastopol would be compromised for those who live within earshot (which is a much greater distance than you might think) of downtown. The caveat “Friday and Saturday nights only” is hardly reassuring.
We encourage anyone who believes that all local citizens deserve equal protection under the new General Plan to come to the advisory committee’s final public meeting on Dec. 9 at 6 p.m., at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts so your concerns can be heard.
Bill and Cara Anstead
Patty Anderson
Barbara Dunham
Patty Holden
Mark Jackson
Bill Roby
Larry Robinson
Sebastopol