Letters to the Editor 5-12-16

GMO vote
EDITOR: The citizens of Sonoma County have long been concerned with the risks associated with the planting of genetically modified crops (GMOs). For example, the vast majority of GMO crops are engineered to be herbicide-resistant. As a result, farmers who plant them tend to use more herbicides per acre than if they had planted conventional crops.  
 In 2006, a proposed ordinance to ban GMOs (GE FREE) was defeated here in the county, thanks to an expensive campaign largely funded by the Monsanto Corporation. Monsanto (surprise!) makes a lot of money from GMOs.
In November of this year, a new ordinance to ban GMOs will be on the ballot. You can read it at www.gmofreesonomacounty.com/ordinance.
It is very clear – it does not ban the sale of GMO products; it does not ban research into GMOs; it only bans their cultivation.  
In the Fifth District Supervisorial race, one major candidate has hired the consultant who ran the campaign to defeat GE FREE. The other – Noreen Evans – is very clear on where she stands: for the ordinance, and opposed to the planting of GMO crops.  Noreen has my vote.
Salli Rasberry
Sebastopol
Taking down my sign
EDITOR: I was astonished by Noreen Evans’ attack on Efren Carrillo because of his endorsement of Lynda Hopkins in the April 28 issue. Although I was leaning in Noreen’s direction because of friends who support her, her nasty statements about Efren settled it for me. Evans stated that Carrillo “abused a position of power and terrorized a local woman,” and that she herself was “standing up against powerful men who abuse their positions.” Carrillo did not “terrorize” his neighbor one night in 2013.  He tried to knock on her window and then caught himself, knocked on her door, told her that he was just a neighbor, apologized and went home. Carrillo was diagnosed as being addicted to alcohol and immediately went into treatment. That’s over and done with and he has been an excellent example to the significant number of our young Sonoma County residents who suffer from the same illness. Evans also states that in accepting Carrillo’s endorsement, Hopkins is “accepting a culture that tolerates the abuse of women.”  What nonsense. Carrillo has done excellent work in West County, a diverse area with difficult issues. Evans would have done better to have responded to his endorsement of Hopkins with respect. I am taking down my Evans sign.
Linda Hauser
Sebastopol
Community bonding
EDITOR: Community non-commercial radio is one of the best platforms for participatory democracy. A small-town radio station is an exercise in community sharing and bonding. It can help give a town a personality, providing community members with on-air opportunities in the field of radio, including having their own show which can be anything they want it to be. It’ll be the only radio station that Sebastopol citizens will have easy access to, in terms of expressing their opinions, performing their music, sharing their lives, especially for those more isolated from the mainstream, like seniors and youth.
Only a minority of people will actually see the station from their homes. The antenna will effect only a small percentage of Sebastopol’s population. I’ve listened to all the scientific data and it seems that the EMF radiation effects of this signal will be less than the effect of carrying a smartphone with you.
About 75 percent of household radiation is caused by the devices and appliances we have. This antenna will make that figure 73.01 percent.
The tradeoff is providing Sebastopol with its own radio station. Imagine if the first radio transmissions, over 100 years ago, had been blocked by community skepticism.
Robert Feuer
Sebastopol
The choice is clear
EDITOR: The race for supervisor in the Fifth District is heating up, and most would agree that the two leading candidates are Noreen Evans and Lynda Hopkins. Fifth District voters will have to choose between them, and it may be no easy task when you hear them speak in public. I think the best way to choose is to take an important issue and see which groups affected by the issue are supporting which candidate. Housing affordability is a good example. The issue is at crisis level in Sonoma County. Although we have authorized construction of thousands of new homes, homes that are affordable to the average community member are not being built. Renters are being squeezed as well; rents for a two-bedroom apartment are currently well above 30 percent of an average worker’s pay. When you look at their endorsements, Lynda Hopkins is backed by the building, development and real estate industries, groups that have an incentive to keep the price of housing high. Noreen Evans is backed by labor, environmental and civic groups. The choice is clear: Noreen Evans for Fifth-District Supervisor.
Thomas David
Sebastopol
Leaning toward Chase
EDITOR: The April 28 Op-Ed page featured a letter and a commentary that criticized Noreen Evans for only recently having moved into the Fifth District. One even went so far as to call her a carpetbagger. Efren Carrillo’s commentary endorsing Lynda Hopkins went on to speak extensively about Hopkins’ West County roots without bothering to mention that she has only lived in the Fifth District since last June.
Granted, to use Carrillo’s standard, Hopkins lived on the west side of Hwy 101 while Evans lived on the east side but neither one is a longtime resident of the Fifth District.  Both have a history of community service to the residents of Sonoma County but if your criteria for selecting a Supervisor is length of residence in the district you’d better start looking at the three other candidates.  After attending the recent candidates’ forum in Sebastopol I have to admit that I’m leaning towards Marion Chase.
Emil Bacilla
Sebastopol
West County treasure
EDITOR: Last week I underwent rotator cuff surgery at West County’s Sonoma West Medical Center with Dr. Michael Bollinger. From the pre-op call, to the nurse navigator, to the recovery room post-op and check out, the care I received was above par. The nurses were professional and attentive and the facility was fresh and comfortable. I even had a little vegetable soup from the cafeteria, which was delicious!
I am happy to have such a fine hospital facility in our community. Thank you to Dan Smith, Joan Marler and everyone else who had the wisdom and foresight to re-open the doors of our West County treasure.
Peggy Tourje
Sebastopol