Letters to the Editor 5-15-14

Have you noticed?
Editor: At 7:30 a.m., I looked out my window on Tucker Street and there he was, painting another fire hydrant. Tom has been doing this for weeks now — one by one around our city. The faded hydrants are looking good again with their new “emergency orange.” Thank you Tom Peterson for your many hours of very tedious work.
Mary Madden
Healdsburg
Supporting Jim Wood
Editor: I have had the pleasure of serving with Jim Wood on the Healdsburg City Council for the past five years. His leadership, integrity and sincere concern for his constituents have always shown through. He has consistently used these exceptional characteristics to deliver excellent results for the citizens of Healdsburg. Now Jim wants to apply his skills to the California State Assembly. We are fortunate that someone of his caliber is willing and able to step up to this task.
As the current mayor, Jim recently led the effort to obtain permission from the Regional Water Control Board for Healdsburg to supply recycled water for construction dust control and irrigation. The agricultural community is suffering from one of our most severe droughts and access to this source of water is extremely important. Jim worked tirelessly over the last several months with local and state officials to make this happen. He used his experience, tenacity, and ability to work within the system to fulfill his promise to our council that he would make this happen.
Jim is an independent thinker yet a true team player. Collaboration, vision and persistence are key to driving results and these are clearly Jim’s strength. He does not compromise his values but understands the necessity to get things done.
I will be voting for Jim in the upcoming primary election and strongly encourage you to do the same.
Tom Chambers
Healdsburg
Pledged support
Editor: I attended the Supervisorial Candidates’ Forum at the Raven May 6, and I found it a very valuable event.
I did note that the issue of candidates’ “pledges” was raised by James Gore, and that some of the candidates seemed confused about what such pledges are.
I believe this is an extremely serious issue for voters. Let me explain.
In March, the SF Chronicle ran a 2-part editorial entitled “Want to get elected? Then tell us: ‘Who’s your daddy?’” In it, editor John Diaz criticized the practice of many special interest groups to condition the support of a candidate on the candidate’s completion of a detailed pledge on which issues s/he would support once in office, and even on which way s/he would vote.
In addition to the troubling fact that candidates thus bind themselves even before their term to support or oppose certain issues — and therefore even before studying bills that have not even been drafted yet–, these pledges are kept secret. The organizations do not disclose them, nor do the candidates, and thus we voters remain in the dark about these secret pacts. Examples given by Diaz included the Sierra Club, the California Teachers Association, and the Service Employees International Union, but it was clear that there were many others.
Diaz closed his two columns with the question: “Candidates need to be asked: ‘Who’s your daddy, the special interests or the electorate in charge?’”
I was appalled to learn of these secret agreements that essentially bind a candidate to a special-interest’s agenda before they are even sworn into office, and without my knowing about it.
So, let’s ask each of our 4th District candidates: “Have you completed a questionnaire from a special-interest organization? If so, will you post your answers on your campaign website and provide that information to the press? If you will not, why are you keeping that information from the voters?”  I suggest that until a candidate specifically answers this, s/he should not be considered as a trustworthy supervisorial candidate.
As far as I know, only one candidate has done so, James Gore. On his website, he explicitly denounces the practice of such pledges, and states that “any candidate who signs a pledge is, in effect, pre-committing to vote on something in the future without knowledge of the facts that should dictate such a decision. It is politics at its worst.”
Now let’s hear from the others.
Dave Henderson
Healdsburg
Good ole days
Editor: Heavens! A Kmart on the plaza — what were they thinking?                                            But wait, maybe if these plans had worked out, we locals would now have a place to buy underwear, or work clothes, or even a washing machine. Yes, Mr. Mitchell, I was here in the early 80s when RUDAT was working to improve the downtown area, I was also here in the early 50s — and before. Back then there was a “dime” store on the very spot you’re referring to, and two department stores down the street in the same block, and one of several local appliance stores across the street, and even a hotel (of sorts). Of course, if we wanted a special evening out we would have to leave town, otherwise we happily ate at Lonnies–It was “Gooder”.
I’m certainly not suggesting we go back to the good old days — when I travel I enjoy recounting to others the transformation of my hometown from the “Buckle of the Prune Belt” with its yearly aromas of drying fruit and Saturday night Owen Sweeten band concerts  in the plaza to its current wine country tourist destination with its own Jazz Festival and hotel rooms that can cost upwards of $900.00 a night. Can’t we calmly consider the wants and needs of all our residents?
Joyce Peters
Healdsburg
Most successful yet
Editor: The 24th annual AAUW Healdsburg Homes Tour on May 4th was the most successful tour yet generating about $48,000. This will enable AAUW to continue awarding scholarships to women and girls, contributing to Healdsburg Education Foundation (HEF) and other programs benefitting education in our community.
Last year’s Homes Tour provided support this year for HEF’s Tomorrow’s Leaders Today and Pasitos programs. Contributions were also made to Public School Success Team (PSST), Expanding Your Horizons, Healdsburg Science Fair, HHS’s Career Choices program and for supplies and books to Healdsburg Elementary School.  Scholarships were awarded to four re-entry women graduating from SRJC to continue at a four year college and to two girls graduating from Healdsburg High School. AAUW also maintains its GEMS (Girls Engaged in Math and Science) field trips to companies showing engineers and scientists at work.
Each year the Healdsburg branch of AAUW also sends local junior high school girls to Tech Trek Camp at Stanford University. This year we will be sending eight girls from Cloverdale, Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor to Tech Trek Camp.
The Healdsburg Homes Tour is our major fundraiser. Its success was a community effort of which we can all be proud. Thank you owners of the six beautiful homes, sponsors, advertisers, raffle donors, in-kind contributors, donors, Healdsburg Museum and Curator Holly Hoods, businesses from Cloverdale to Santa Rosa and Sebastopol who displayed posters and postcards and sold tickets, Sonoma West Publishers and the Press Democrat.  
Ronnie Devitt and Janet Hoehn, Co-Chairs Healdsburg Homes Tour
Supporting Churchill
Editor: Ken Churchill would provide the leadership that north county needs for 4th District supervisor. I have come to know Ken through his avid supporter of Save Our Sonoma Roads since its inception. If elected he would bring a major commitment to the board of supervisors to fix our roads and to reign in non-essential county spending. Ken is independent of the special interests who for decades have backed public officials who helped create the current financial mess that has resulted in the decaying public infrastructure in Sonoma County.  Ken wants to create a fiscally responsible government that delivers the services everyone depends upon for our quality of life.  His business and financial experience in running a solar company and an environmental consulting firm are an asset.  For those who daily experience the failure of over 65 percent of our rural roads Ken is the ray of sunshine in this election.
Craig S. Harrison
Santa Rosa
Questions for council
Editor: I was very pleased to read the commentary “A Tale of Two Cities” by John Crevelli and the letter to the editor “What Was I Thinking,” both in the May 1st issue.
My wife and I filled out a (one) postcard and sent it in. Those questions which we felt required more information before we answered were left blank or undecided. The questions had no scientific screening and only solicited how we felt about issues which impact us as citizens and tax payers. Someone went to the trouble and expense to ask us how we felt.
Now for a few questions that I pose to the City Council:
1. Why are you spending five or six million dollars on a “roundabout” at the five way intersection when we locals have no trouble negotiating the intersection? Have you assessed our city streets for repair? Our mechanic drives the streets where I live in order to test for a car’s rattles and squeaks.
2. You gave the Chamber of Commerce $200,000 of our taxes as city support. The Chamber exists to increase tourism and business. Check their website. Can’t the six hundred members support the Chamber without our tax dollars?
3. Parking is terrible downtown. We don’t go there Wednesday through Sunday. Didn’t the city (we) purchase the old Purity property about two blocks from the Square? How about building a parking structure there?
It was quick and easy to participate in the postcard survey. If it had been two or three pages long, I probably would have recycled it. With the $200,000 given to the Chamber, the city could have conducted a poll of the voters with something similar to a short absentee ballot.
I’m not pessimistic about our city. I enjoy living here. I and others will vote for candidates who want to represent the citizens first, once they find out what we want.
Len Theiss
Healdsburg
Tell the Truth
Editor: We received the attached flyer in the mail yesterday from a group calling itself “Tell the Truth.” They claim they are going to tell us the truth about the 4th District Supervisor race. Maybe the first truths they should tell are: Who are their members? Who  is providing their funding for robo calls and fliers? There’s absolutely no information on their website. Why should we trust a group that won’t even reveal themselves publicly?
Randall Casey
Healdsburg