LETTERS TO THE EDITOR – 2-16-12

Protesteth too much
Editor: Listening to the City Council members recite their
disclosures, repeatedly ask questions and make statements that were
not related to the Design Review, one could see that the CVS/CHASE
project was doomed.
One member went so far as to disclose those she didn’t meet with,
as well as important parties she missed so she wouldn’t have to
disclose them.
From Shakespeare’s “MacBeth”: “Methinks the Lady doth protest too
much,” seems appropriate.
And thank you City Councilmember for providing an awkward moment
when he made a financial statement that left everyone speechless.
What does he mean? How much money will Sebastopol make, lose? Where
are his numbers? Where did he get this
information/misinformation?
Mostly I am disturbed by the elitist attitudes permeating the
meetings about the project. After reading about Claire Najarian’s
remarks to Efren Carrillo, I’d say that the real issues facing our
town is electing city officials that are open-minded and
progressive.
If we’re not continually upgrading our circumstances, who is to
blame?
Chris Beaty
Sebastopol
Council attendance
Editor: Recent letters concerning the number of people in
attendance at the Sebastopol City Council meetings raised questions
about why so many people were there. I have been credited with
directing a “campaign” and actually “agitating” to get people to
show up at the meetings.
Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for their attendance. These
Sebastopol citizens and area residents came because they wanted to
express their opinions, and they wanted the City Council to know
how they felt about the issues being discussed.
What is curious to me is why the right of anyone to attend a City
Council meeting would be questioned? Rather than question the
motivation of those who attend meetings, why not consider it a
positive step toward better civic participation? These meetings are
open to the public regardless of an individual’s personal
affiliations, memberships or their opinion about a particular
issue.
Since being elected to the City Council, one of my main objectives
has been to encourage citizen participation in local government.
However, in most instances, people decide to become involved when
they care about an issue that affects their community or their
life.
I will continue to encourage citizens to become knowledgeable
and express their opinions about city issues, and to attend council
meetings when they can.
Kathleen Shaffer
City Councilmember
Wrong turn
Editor: I thought I was attending a public meeting (on Feb. 7)
where Sebastopol elected officials were tasked to bring needed
leadership to the DRB and CVS impasse. Instead, I walked in to a
circus.
C’mon Coucilwoman Gurney. Give the gavel back to the Mayor. You had
your turn. And how come your own profession of collaboration for
“resolving disputes respectfully” gets trumped with junkyard dog
tactics on behalf of your community?
It doesn’t matter where one stands on the subject, your public
scolding of the applicant was quite unbelievable.
Nearly five long and late hours of more detailed architectural,
planning and development questions directed to the applicant and
Kyes, Wilson and Gurney conclude with an inability to provide an
opinion because the subject matter is outside their purview.
Yup, I made a wrong turn last week.
Cory Maguire
Graton
Victory lap
Editor: Kudos to the DRB members who worked hard and long, counted
on their expertise and experience and their core principle then
stood up for the Design Review Guidelines and the General Plan and
Zoning Ordinance. The rant singled out and aimed at the DRB members
bellowed out by the Armstrong Development agents at the Feb. 7
Council meeting reminded me of a quote by Al Gore: “When you have
the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on
your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler.”
Helen Shane
Sebastopol
Brighter days for PDH
Editor: Some community members have asked me for more information
about Palm Drive Hospital’s recent affiliation with Marin General
Hospital and Sonoma Valley Hospital, and I thought others might be
interested too.
The affiliation, recently approved by Palm Drive’s Board of
Directors, is simply an agreement by which Marin General, Sonoma
Valley and Palm Drive agree to share specialized management
expertise and to evaluate other opportunities to share services in
a way that is cost-effective for all three hospitals.
There is no transfer of ownership or control. Except as
appropriate, to pay for Palm Drive’s fair share of any shared
service it has chosen to participate in, there will not be any
transfer of our hospital’s revenues, whether they come from
operations, taxes, grants or charitable giving. To the extent Palm
Drive Hospital becomes profitable, all those profits will be
reinvested locally in support of the hospital’s healing
mission.
There are significant opportunities associated with Palm Drive’s
decision to join the Marin/Sonoma Alliance for Health. For example,
Palm Drive and Sonoma Valley have already agreed to share an
exceptionally well-qualified Chief Financial Officer, an
arrangement that will save Palm Drive $70,000 a year. By
participating in Marin’s group purchasing arrangements, we expect
to save more than $200,000 a year on orthopedic appliances and
supplies alone.
Further, the Board will shortly be asked to approve a cooperative
venture with Sonoma Valley Hospital. This initiative will allow
Palm Drive to convert its seriously antiquated IT system to a new,
state-of-the-art hospital information system and Electronic Medical
Record (EMR), an investment that Palm Drive Hospital would likely
be unable to make on its own. By working with the alliance to share
servers, technical personnel and a shared software license, Palm
Drive will save at least $2.5 million, while benefiting from the
efficiencies of a robust clinical and management information
system.
These are only some of the accomplishments of the first five weeks
of Palm Drive’s collaboration with Marin General and Sonoma Valley.
While some people have raised concerns that funds may be leaving
our communities because of the alliance, I think it is fair to say
that significant financial savings and operational improvements
will be coming to Western Sonoma County by virtue of Palm Drive’s
participation in the Marin/Sonoma Alliance for Health.
Charles R. Guenther
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Palm Drive Hospital
Better served
Editor: The Catholic Church and the world would be far better
served by Bishop Robert Vasa directing his sharp rhetoric towards
the eradication of the sexual abuses within the church that has and
continues to destroy thousands of young people’s lives or by
denouncing wars that has killed millions than by single minded
vitriolic anti-free choice rhetoric that erodes the separation
between church and state provided by the First Amendment of the
United States Constitution.
As a Catholic myself, I take umbrage with the Bishop’s decision to
interject the Catholic church into the political area. The issue
surrounding Roe v Wade, Planned Parenthood v Casey and Griswold vs
Conn involves constitutional protections and has been a political
football bounced around by both Democrats and Republicans for
years. This argument does not reach the morality of the issue but
rather the consequences and potential degradation of the church
itself by becoming embroiled in politics, an inherently corrupt
entity, and it puts in to question the single mindedness of Bishop
Vasa directed vitriolic rhetoric at the courthouse square.
Dr. Gene Colombini
Santa Rosa