Letters to the Editor 4-2-15

One sided view
Editor: I was surprised about the one-sided view of religion expressed by your editorial in the March 26 issue (“At Easter: Our sacred life”) that expressed that Christianity is the only way to believe. I find that rather bigoted and not respectful of your readers who are not Christian. I enjoy the inclusive views of the column by Bob Jones, an actual Christian minister. I have my own faith. I urge you to show more respect for it.
Linda Robinett
Sebastopol
Bold and timely
Editor: I appreciated Rollie Atkinson’s editorial on the sacredness of life very much (“At Easter: Our sacred life”). It was bold and timely.
Humanity has a moral problem that separates us from the Holy God. Easter is an invitation to remember who we are, created but finite, and our need for rescue from our sin and ourselves, and that God has provided a way out of this “paradise lost” through Christ’s sacrifice.
The editing of the human genome makes me think of Mary Shelley’s, “Frankenstein” and how it illustrated that human attempts to create life or overcome death ended tragically because we are not smart enough, as last week’s editorial stated. “Pride goeth before a fall” is still and always will be true.
Rosanne Prandini
Sebastopol
Cash cow
Editor: I agree with Mr. Andersen (“Hospital a luxury,” March 26); as to Ms. Napoli (“Paying for Civilization,” March 26) — the taxpayers along the Russian River Corridor understand that school and essential district (fire) taxes are a benefit to our communities, regardless of whether we have children — that’s just an argument some (not all) hospital supporters are using.
What you don’t seem to “get” is that Sebastopol is not our community — we are as far removed from Sebastopol as Cotati or Rohnert Park. We object to being used as a “cash cow” with absolutely no benefit. I’ve talked to many hospital supporters who do “get” it and can’t blame us for wanting out.
A health care district is tasked with more than just operating a hospital, it has an obligation to serve the communities within the district as well and they have not done that, plain and simple. We are not suggesting you not reopen your hospital … just don’t do it on the backs of hardworking taxpayers who derive no benefit.
Barbara DeCarly
Guerneville
Do the right thing
Editor: The following letter was sent to the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department:
Please do the right thing and vote against the Dairyman Winery project. There are ample reasons: Protecting the Laguna and the Joe Rodota Trail, as well as the rural greenbelt and the way of life for those of us in West County, especially Sebastopol.  The traffic alone would create such a nightmare on Highway 12 just a very short distance from the Laguna parking area. And then, there are the animals who live in this natural setting and don’t forget the birds. Oh, yes, and the water problem. It will not go away, no matter which way you vote. But it will devastate people whose wells will drain due to the huge usage of the Dairyman Wine facility.
It’s just the wrong project in the wrong place altogether.
But then, of course, you all know how wrong this would be, and you know how the citizens of West County/Sebastopol feel about this. So, forgive me for pointing out the obvious above; one must simply do so as a matter of self-preservation.
Thank you for doing the right thing and everything you can personally do to prevent this wine factory from doing so much damage and harm to us and our beautiful rural area.
Laura B. Morrow
Sebastopol
Dairyman Winery
Editor: This outrageous project:
a) Will, since all its visitors will be there to drink alcohol, significantly increase the number of drunk drivers on Highway 12;
b) Will have an intolerable impact on the current, already-burdened, traffic load on the highway as well as in Sebastopol;
c) Will spoil the safety, the peaceful ambience of the very rare Joe Rodota Trail for pedestrians and bicyclists;
d) Will completely violate the intent of the “Urban Growth Boundary” policy seeking to discourage sprawl; and
e) Will require obscene quantities of water, as we enter our new global-warming, drought-focused California lifestyle.
Our county is saturated with the frivolous, socially-unredeeming endeavors related to wine, wine tasting and wineries such as this one. They are mostly overly ambitious, greed-based, “boozy” enterprises, with too many of them now winding up in bankruptcy court. This one will be a particular disaster to our area.
Robert Beauchamp
Sebastopol
Ban bobcat trapping
Editor: The California Fish and Game Commission will consider a ban on bobcat trapping at an upcoming meeting in Santa Rosa (April 9). It is time to ban this cruel and unnecessary practice. Bobcats are live-trapped and left to undue stress and suffering as they struggle to get free of the cage. They are then clubbed to death or suffocated by a variety of means. Bullets would damage the pelts, which are exported to China and Russia for coats. The bobcat is an important native species to California, a versatile predator that preys mainly on rodents and rabbits. Their actual numbers are not known and habitat encroachment and fragmentation are further affecting the bobcat’s ability to survive. The fewer than 100 trappers who kill bobcats for fun and profit should not benefit from a valuable natural resource in such an inhumane and mercenary manner. Wildlife watching is an important eco-industry in California and people come to enjoy the amazing biodiversity this state has to offer. Banning recreational and commercial bobcat trapping in California would be a step toward modernizing a predator management plan that addresses the value of wildlife in the ecosystems we seek to protect.
Erin Hauge
Sacramento