Letters to the Editor

Florence Ave. ‘nightmare’
Editor: I am a resident of “The Nightmare on Florence Avenue.” As anyone who has driven down our street will know, the north end is congested with 2-way traffic and overflow parking on each side of the street that renders the street one-way only if two cars happen upon each other at the same time.
Despite this congestion, people continue to speed down the street and drive unsafely. This morning as I stepped outside, there was one of our neighborhood squirrels lying in the street. He had been hit and left to bleed to death in the middle of the road. We removed his still-warm body and buried him.
The purpose of this letter is to ask drivers to please be respectful and cautious when you drive down Florence Avenue. There are children at play, pets, wild animals that share our neighborhood and residents attempting to back out of their driveways. There have been far too many close calls and raised tempers. And, as the case this morning, another little critter lost its life. Thank you for allowing me to vent my frustration and concern.
Marilyn Dolce
Sebastopol
Board responsibilities
Editor: Mr. Emmett’s philosophy that the fire chief should “feel safe to make decisions without worrying about repercussions from the board” (“River Fire District recall taking place April 8,” March 13) should be viewed in the light of the office to which he aspires. The purpose of having a fire board is to set budgetary and philosophical boundaries for the fire departments. It is not to hand over the keys to the fire stations and ignore whatever happens next.
If the board chooses to abdicate its responsibilities, I will choose to not support any future funding increase requests.
Kenneth Koutz
Guerneville