Letters to the Editor 3-20-14

Who is he?
Editor: We’ve all heard about Jim Winston who does not live in Healdsburg and his buddy Warren Watkins who have spent years criticizing our City leaders for doing it all wrong.  
Be reminded Jim Winston vehemently opposed the parcel tax for our Healdsburg District Hospital. Here’s an excerpt from Jim’s letter to the Press Democrat Editor, March 9, 2004.
“Unfortunately the Healdsburg Hospital is drowning in red ink and the hemorrhaging should be stopped. In my opinion, the demographics will not support the hospital and it will continue to fail at the expense of the taxpayers.”
Well Jim, you might take a small amount of time out of your schedule to thank all of the people who worked tirelessly on the $12 million capital campaign for our hospital. Be sure to thank the Wetzel family for our new Emergency Department serving 10,000 patients each year. Do the same for Ed and Betty Kozel for our Stroke Institute and Patricia and Raymond Chambers for our Intensive Care Unit.
I can’t begin to thank all of the hard working people at the hospital who have helped me out and how fortunate we are to have this wonderful facility.
Neil Cronin
Healdsburg
It’s about choice
Editor: Whether you are for or against water fluoridation, it’s about choice.
The vote to put fluoride in the Healdsburg Municipal water is over 60 years old. In that time we’ve been wrong about many things, DDT, asbestos, lead in paint and smoking, to name a few. Fluoridation is a poor medical practice, unsafe and unproven. This experiment should have ended when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) admitted that fluoride’s affects were topical and NOT from injestion. Come learn more about the scientific evidence presented by Bill Osmunson, DDS, MPH, at 5 p.m., on Thursday March 20 at the Healdsburg Community Center. After 25 years of promoting, he now speaks all over the U.S. to stop the dangerous experiment of water fluoridation. For more facts go to Cleanwatersonomamarin.org.
Dawna Gallagher
Rohnert Park
Support the Food Pantry
Editor: I have been a volunteer worker with the Healdsburg Food Pantry since the fall of 2012. As most of you know, the Food Pantry provides food (fresh produce, dry and canned foods, bakery goods and some milk products) to those in need in our community including an extensive program for low-income seniors.  We operate through the generosity of our community, who donate both money and food, as well as some corporate donors such as Starbucks, Safeway and Big John’s.
Last year we served 5,349 households, consisting of 13,344 adults and 10,729 children over the course of 2013. On a monthly basis, that is an average of 446 households with over 2,000 adults and children who depend on this food supply to supplement their budgets. Because of a change in fundraising methods late last year the Food Pantry did not raise as much money as in previous years to cover the costs we incur for rent, utilities and food purchases. We may have to reduce some of our programs in order to meet the current financial constraints.
The Food Pantry would appreciate your additional support. Tax-deductible cash contributions or donations of dry and canned foods can make a huge difference in our relatively small budget. If you wish to donate cash, please mail a check to The Food Pantry, 1505 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg CA 95448. If you would like to donate canned or dry foods (rice, beans, cereals etc.) come by Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 a.m., or drop by Wednesday or Friday afternoons between 2 and 4:30 p.m. and see the fine work that is being done. You can also get more information on our website: healdsburgfoodpantry.org.
Thank you for your support.
Brian Gibb
Healdsburg
Here we go again
Editor: I recently attended a meeting held on March 3 at the Healdsburg Municipal Airport to discuss the current aircraft landing and takeoff traffic patterns. This meeting was organized by both the City of Healdsburg and the Healdsburg Pilots Association to work with the neighbors and receive input in order to determine whether the traffic pattern should be modified.
As an 11-year member of the Airport Commission and the Healdsburg Transportation Advisory Commission, I was very perplexed by the continuing attitude of many of the neighbors. Both local and transient pilots continue to be accosted by neighbors at the airport, the Commission has been threatened with lawsuits and I was recently accosted by an airport neighbor in a local restaurant while having a quiet dinner with my wife.
What the neighbors fail to understand, is that Federal law, state law, and local noise ordinance provide that while an aircraft is in the landing or takeoff configuration at an uncontrolled airport, there are no minimum altitude restrictions or strict directional requirements. With that said, the neighbors should realize how hard many of the pilots have worked towards finding an acceptable compromise, and be appreciative of local pilots who have altered their flight paths to reduce noise and over-flights of sensitive areas.
As a 40 plus year pilot, I for one, will now think twice before increasing the risk to my passengers and myself by altering a takeoff or landing in order to appease an ungrateful neighbor.
Richard Marker
Healdsburg
Where were they?
Editor: Well! My knickers are in a twist about “Healdsburg Citizens for Sustainable Solutions” because this little town has been addressing these quality of life and growth issues for years. Where have these people been? The City Council, the Planning Department, the community at large, and other disparate groups have spent years getting together, arguing, bargaining, coming to agreements and finding a general consensus on how to shepherd the city through its immense changes. And they all have been open and responsive to the concerns of the citizens of Healdsburg. Ten years ago, as City Councilman, Mike McGuire was especially active in buttonholing citizens and sussing out our hopes/ideas/thoughts about how we envisioned Healdsburg. Now we have a group of people who seem to be unaware of the enormous efforts that have been made. I, for one, would like to know who these “interested citizens” are. When I inquired, I was informed that it was “improper to reveal names”.  Really? Surely it is reasonable for the public to know who is trying to redo the very hard work that has already been done.
Barbara Médaille
Healdsburg
Try it, you’ll like it
Editor: The 5-way intersection at Healdsburg Avenue/Mill Street/Grove Street causes back-ups, is only semi-functional (operating as just a 3-way from Grove Street, for example) and is an unsightly gateway to our beautiful downtown. So our city council has decided to replace it with a new-fangled roundabout.  
To those who are suspicious of this alien idea I say, “Rest assured, you’re perfectly normal!” Seven years ago, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety interviewed 1,802 drivers in six American communities, it reported that only 34 percent had supported roundabouts before construction. But shortly after they were in place, that number rose to 57percent. After one year, it increased to 69 percent. Other studies put post-construction favorability rates as high as 87 percent.
Why the huge swing? According to the U.S. Department of Transportation it’s because people experience the benefits of a well-engineered, modern roundabout: reduced waiting times, safer speeds, fewer collisions, less serious injuries, improved gas mileage, greater pedestrian-friendliness, and more attractive neighborhoods.
The queues at our 5-way junction are caused by red lights that operate regardless of whether there is cross traffic. A roundabout keeps vehicles flowing. For much of the day you will no longer have to stop and wait. During peak times, delays will be shorter: studies of roundabouts that replaced stop lights found that delays were reduced 13 to 89 percent, and the proportion of vehicles that stopped was reduced 14 to 56 percent. Fuel consumption was reduced by 23 to 34 percent. Local air quality improved too: emissions fell 30 percent. Another roundabout plus is you can safely make a U-turn — from any direction at any time!
This intersection is currently a serious obstacle for pedestrians. The patchy sidewalks, incomplete crosswalks and long wait times make it a barrier to residents and visitors alike. Roundabouts offer walkers slower-moving vehicles coming from only one direction, making crossing the street safer and simpler.   
A well-designed roundabout offers Healdsburg many benefits — based on experiences from other communities, it will be safer, more convenient for drivers and pedestrians, better for the environment, and nicer to look at. Once we get used to it, I’m confident that our town will view it as a substantial improvement.
Stu Harrison
Healdsburg
Taste of the Town
Editor: The first annual Taste of the Town was a huge success. A heart felt thanks to Ramey Winery for donating their beautiful space! Thank you to all the restaurants that participated and donated food, Madrona Manor, Agave, Mateos, Campo Fina, Bear Republic, Cafe Lucia, Healdsburg Bar and Grill, Costeaux French Bakery and Starbucks.  The PTO would also like to extend a giant thanks to Kyle Evans, a parent and professional chef for organizing and preparing lots of food that evening! Thanks to the many volunteers that helped behind the scenes and the dozens of businesses that donated products and wine. And of course to the teachers, administrators, parents, and community members that attended the event, bought raffle tickets, bid on silent auctions items and donated to our iPad campaign. We truly live in an amazing community. And last but not least, thanks to the super talented band Boomerang for providing excellent music that entertained us all night — you are amazing. We are hoping that this is the first of many Taste of the Town events. Thanks to all businesses and wineries and restaurants that donated. The students at HES and FMC will greatly benefit from the money raised. Cheers.
Heather Wilson
Healdsburg
More evolved
Editor: I liked Dave Henderson’s suggestion about the “On Record List o’ Roundabout Complaints” (Thursday, March 13). Having frequently traveled to the far off land of Bend, Oregon, I am baffled at the resistance this topic garners. All sorts of cars, trucks, and bikes share the numerous roundabouts with no problem whatsoever.  For those of us who dislike stopping at a stop sign every block, driving through a roundabout may mean never stopping at all! Merging keeps you moving, rarely does one need to yield to a complete stop. If only every intersection could be a roundabout!
Roundabouts mean no idling and no wasted time at a long, inefficient stoplight.  Roundabouts are actually safe, slow traffic yet keeps it moving and are extremely simple to master. Yet apparently, by the amount of letters on this topic for Healdsburg and Cotati alike for as long as I can remember, roundabouts are far too complex for the drivers of Sonoma County?
And here I thought we were more evolved than that.
Denise Hinton
Healdsburg