LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Valentine’s drive
Editor: Thanks so much for the sensitive, accurate write-up on
Nick Valentine (Sonoma West, July 21). You captured the essence of
The Paper and Nick’s driving, dedicated spirit in a way that
brought back those magical, tenuous days. I was ad manager at the
time and remember Nick looking at me each week on deadline with
that silent question: “Are there enough ads to keep us afloat for a
few more days?”
It was the faith and dollars of local merchants on the River and
in Sebastopol that determined our fate, and when that wavered, we
prayed that Elizabeth could come up with private funds that would
somehow pull us through.
But what your piece brought back is the miracle that we hung
together, believed in our mission, and knew that even if we
couldn’t cash our paychecks for a while, we were doing something
that mattered.
Jean-Noel Bassior
Los Angeles
Godspeed Nick and Phil
Editor: It was a tragedy to hear that our mentor and newspaper
editor of The Paper (now the North Bay Bohemian) Nick Valentine
died in Australia.
And hard on the heels of that news, I found that Phil Osborn,
the photographer who trained me in the darkroom arts, also died in
Cloverdale.
Perhaps it’s not so strange that these two great newspaper men
died within weeks of each other. For over a decade, Nick and Phil
were the backbone and ribs of an amazing alternative news tabloid
we were lucky enough to work for during the turbulent 1980s and
1990s. What I learned about photography and writing I owe to these
two great mentors who taught and encouraged me, and allowed me to
develop my own style.
Godspeed, Nick. Godspeed, Phil.
Maureen Hurley
Oakland/Forestville
Unfortunate CVS/Chase
Editor: Unfortunately, I missed the earlier public meetings and
articles about the proposed development by CVS Pharmacy/Chase Bank
of the Pellini property, which is located near the intersection of
Sebastopol Avenue and Petaluma Avenue. It is my understanding that
our City Council recently approved CVS/Chase to develop that
location, which is at the very heart of our town and therefore, in
my opinion, should not feature dubious international corporations
such as CVS and Chase.
Allowing big generic corporations that do not reflect the
character (or values) of this community to develop a prominent
downtown location that has long been a locally owned, family
business is just plain wrong and shortsighted. CVS/Chase may
provide some temporary construction jobs and a handful of permanent
local jobs but the majority of the profit those business’ will
generate will not stay in Sebastopol.
Furthermore, I believe Sebastopol property values have remained
“comparatively” stable because we retain some individuality,
character and small town charm. Once we allow the likes of
CVS/Chase to become prominent features of our city-scape,
Sebastopol will look and, in fact, be just like other
chain-store-big-box-generic-corporation-infested towns and the
ensuing depression and blight that plagues those other
non-descript, characterless towns will be ours as well. Plus, the
intersection of Sebastopol and Petaluma avenues is congested and
dangerous. The last thing this town needs in that location is more
traffic and a drive-through pharmacy and bank.
I realize that the Pellini property is privately owned, and now
that our City Council has approved the proposed development, the
citizens of this community may not have the authority to stop it.
However, we do have the authority and responsibility to vote out of
office the City Council members (all but Sarah Gurney voted in
favor) that approved the CVS/Chase development, which is contrary
to the density and multi-use requirements (that other developers
have been made to follow) stated in the Sebastopol General
Plan.
Rather than contribute to the ever-increasing traffic gridlock
and accidents at that intersection, the CVS/Chase development could
include in their plans ways to help alleviate it.
The buildings on the Pellini property that are now scheduled to
be demolished were once auto showrooms and have enormous windows
facing Sebastopol Avenue. Perhaps a better use of that property
would be to relocate our City Hall there in order to create greater
public oversight (literally) and the kind of government
transparency that would not allow for our elected officials to
ignore the General Plan or the well-being of this community.
Sandra Lee Sheffield
Sebastopol
Rethinking water use
Editor: I appreciated, learned from, and want to draw attention
to David Abbott’s informative article “Rethinking water use in the
Russian River County Water District” in your July 26 issue. This
report on the “Seven Wonders of Water Conservation” workshop hosted
in Forestville by the Russian River County Water District was
inspiring. The article was about a presentation by Petaluma-based
Daily Act’s Trathen Heckman. Those wanting more information can
contact them at 789-9664 or www.dailyacts.com.
Trathen’s work on “transforming lawns into edible gardens”
strikes me as important. I lived in Hawaii for a while when
transportation broke down and grocery store shelves were not full.
That may happen here in the future, given that we are reaching a
peak in oil, which is the main ingredient in industrial agriculture
and the food that it produces.
We waste so much of our water. In Hawaii my farm had rainwater
catchment, which Trathen spoke about. Among the many helpful groups
here in Sonoma County is the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center,
through which water specialist Brock Dolman teaches classes on
water and its catchment on the roof.
As an organic farmer, I have been learning about the presence of
edible wild food on my own land and here in Sonoma County,
including the delicious/nutritious miner’s lettuce that helped the
49er’s survive and could help us again during lean times. You
cannot buy it in stores, since it has no shelf life, but it tastes
wonderful and is good for you. We waste so many of our apples. It’s
time to locate apple trees that are not being harvested and gather
their healthy fruit. Curse the invasive blackberries if you must,
but be sure to eat them and realize that some day they may save
lives.
Trathen is an inspiring speaker in our time of rising multiple
catastrophes, so if you get a chance to hear him, please consider
going. I like his idea, quoted in the article, that “ecology (is)
the nature of relationships.” Daily Acts is an impressive
organization. According to your article, over the last decade they
have “done about 600 events through 30,000 volunteer hours.”
If you think the current oil wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are
bad, wait until the water wars intensify. Humans can live without
oil, but not without water.
Shepherd Bliss
Sebastopol