Letters to the Editor 5-7-15

Investing in our community
Editor: In response to Kevin McCann’s letter to the Tribune published on April 30, I want to thank Mr. McCann for shining a light on our local school facilities. Our schools are the most valuable community asset in Healdsburg, open to public use every day of the year. Our schools are home to 2,000 students and teachers in pre-school through high school. In addition to the many classrooms, the schools maintain four commercial kitchens, two gymnasiums, four libraries, a community swimming pool and acres of community use fields. Thanks to the strong support of this community, our school board is leading a comprehensive upgrade to all our schools. Last summer, Healdsburg Junior High School was renovated with new roofing, heating, AC, plumbing, wiring and technology. New junior high school classrooms are nearly complete, replacing the portable classrooms that house students during the construction. Healdsburg High School begins a major renovation next month with the construction of four state-of-the-art science labs and the reconstruction of the arts buildings. Over the next two years, our high school will see new roofs, heating and AC systems, plumbing and electrical systems and modernized technology. Schools are built to the highest earthquake and safety standards. Most building projects extend beyond a summer break, so contractors must work while school is in session. Fortunately, the school district has assembled an outstanding team to lead the complex building projects. Many local subcontractors are employed on our projects, bolstering our local economy. To ensure fiscal responsibility, the district’s building program is audited annually by an independent Certified Public Accounting firm. The audit report confirms that the district maintains the highest standards for fiscal management and is published on the HUSD website. Furthermore, the Citizen’s Oversight Committee, comprised of local residents, reviews the projects and reports to the Board of Trustees in a public meeting. Last year, I offered to review the HUSD bond audit report with Mr. McCann, but he declined. I let him know he could find the entire audit report on the HUSD website. I also invited him to tour our construction projects and inspect our plans for future building projects. I extend a hand again to Mr. McCann and to any Healdsburg resident to share our enthusiasm for this important investment in our schools. Our students and families are fortunate to live in a community that recognizes the importance of public education and supports our schools in so many ways.
Jeff Harding, Superintendent
Healdsburg Unified School District
Budget clarification
Editor: Managing Editor Ray Holley’s recent front page news article covering our city’s ballooning pension obligation is very factual and informative, as is typical of the news stories in our Healdsburg Tribune. While Holley certainly has opinions on city matters, he expresses those opinions on the Tribune’s editorial page where, in my view, they rightly belong whether I agree with them or not. However, the closing paragraph of the referenced front page news story can possibly be misinterpreted by readers and cited budget needs clarification. That paragraph reads as follows: “The total city budget for this fiscal year is $73.8 million, which includes the rehabilitation of Memorial Bridge.” I do not believe that Holley intended to mislead. Nevertheless, readers not familiar with the numbers and the financial language in our city’s fiscal budget might attribute the cited $73.8 million budget to be significantly impacted by the cost to rehabilitate our Memorial Bridge and to be funded locally by our city. Neither of these conclusions would be correct. Federal grants cover 88.5 percent of the projected $16.2 million rehabilitation cost. Our city administration was able to cover the additional 11.5 percent local portion of the cost without raising new taxes, without using any of our General Fund budget and without incurring new debt. The additional local portion is covered mostly by state redevelopment agency funds. These funds were committed by our state prior to their discontinuation of all new redevelopment funding, existing development impact fees and existing gas taxes. It is accurate to include the cost of rehabilitation in this year’s fiscal budget since that budget includes all funds spent by our city irrespective of whether the source of those funds is local or is externally provided by our federal and/or state governments. Furthermore, only an estimated $5.8 million will be spent on rehabilitation in the current 2014-2015 fiscal year. The estimated balance will be spent in fiscal year 2015-2016. If you consider the preceding explanation to be a bit too technical, allow me to get to the “bottom line.” In summary, our city administration is to be commended for successfully funding the rehabilitation of our historic, iconic and unique Healdsburg Memorial Bridge without raising local taxes or incurring additional local taxpayer debt. The next time that you have an opportunity, I urge you to convey your thanks to them.
Mel Amato
Healdsburg
Lyme awareness
Editor: May is Lyme Awareness month in many parts of the U.S. May was chosen because in the northeast, ticks start to become active this month. In California, things are quite different. Ticks are active year-round. Here, one can get Lyme Disease and other tick-borne diseases at any time of the year. Unfortunately, we don’t really know how many of us get sick each year. Sonoma County had 848 cases of Lyme disease in dogs last year. (You can find this information on the Companion Animal Parasite Council website.) We know that some areas of the county have very high infection rates in ticks. Annadel, for example, has consistently high infection rates. Coastal areas are considered high risk areas. Yet Sonoma County Health Services only counted seven confirmed human cases last year. That seems to be a big discrepancy. Until we get a better grasp on human infection rates, your best bet is to learn how to protect yourself. You know all those cute little squirrels you see everywhere? They are the main host animal for Lyme disease. Other host animals include wood rats and some types of birds. That is just for Borrelia – the bacteria that cause Lyme Disease and Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever. We also have six other diseases that we know about. The host animals for those other diseases have not all been identified. Some diseases take many hours or possibly days to transmit, others are passed to you within a few hours. This county is endemic for seven known tick-borne diseases. One tick bite can pass on more than one disease. The immature- nymphal- ticks are more likely to transmit diseases in California and they are very hard to spot. They are the size of a poppy seed. Most people in this area with tick- borne diseases didn’t see the tick that bit them. You can go to the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District website to learn how to protect yourself from tick-bites. I treat my entire outfit (shoes, socks, pants, shirt and hat) with a product that contains permethrin. Once it dries it is non-toxic, unless you are a tick. Be sure to check yourself, your children and your pets for ticks after you have been out in tick habitat. Look up other ways to protect yourself. These diseases can get into your brain and make you very, very sick for a long time – you really don’t want to get any of them. We live in a beautiful area and it is a joy to get outside and enjoy nature. Just take sensible precautions and don’t get bit.
Karen Miller, patient advocate, Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory Group and Facilitator, Lyme Aid–Santa Rosa
Healdsburg