Letters to the Editor

Free breakfast for high schoolers
Editor: Now that summer vacation is over, we would like to remind everyone that the High School Breakfast Program will start up again for the 2016-2017 school year this Friday, August 19. A full breakfast will be served every Friday morning from 7 to 7:45 a.m. in the dining hall of the United Church of Cloverdale (the “Ivy Church” located next to the high school).
This breakfast is free and open to all high school students here in Cloverdale. This includes any CHS, JEH or home schooled high school student. Come on in and enjoy pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, pizza, bacon/sausage, fresh fruit, yogurt and a variety of beverages. We have plenty of tables and chairs set up in the dining hall so that you and your friends can come in to eat a great breakfast and celebrate that it’s Friday.
This will be the fifth year now that we have been doing this breakfast. We have a dedicated group of volunteers from the church, the Kiwanis Club and the Cloverdale community who enjoy helping with this program. The sole purpose of these breakfasts is to offer an opportunity for high school students to enjoy socializing with their friends before school and enjoy a nutritious (and truly delicious) home cooked breakfast. There are no need-based or religious considerations regarding this breakfast program. It is open and free to all high school students.
Breakfast program volunteers
Cloverdale
CalPERS is healthy
Editor: I would like to respond to the editorial that was published Aug. 11, 2016. It seems to me that little or no research was done prior to the publisher’s rampage against taxation and the public employees retirement system (CalPERS). The CalPERS retirement system is stronger than ever, reporting a preliminary 0.61 percent return on investments for the 12 month period ending June 30, 2016. CalPERS assets stood at $295 billion at end of fiscal year, and now stands at over $302 billion. CalPERS fixed income earned 9.29 percent return, and infrastructure delivered an 8.98 return, outperforming it’s benchmark by 4.02 percent.
Not bad for a “faltering CalPERS public pension system.”
Public employees are still paid less than their private sector counterparts. That is what they give up in favor of an actual retirement that is livable, something that was available to most workers years ago but has been replaced with 401Ks. The average CalPERS retiree receives $2,627 per month, before taxes. This is after 20 to 30 years at the same job, sometimes without a raise for several years. The average public employee that is covered by CalPERS is also giving up 7 to 9 percent of their monthly wages to pay for that retirement.
It is a slippery slope that you tread on when you deny the very people that protect and serve our society their due pension. The reason that the cities and counties are not able to provide the services that were available to us in the past is due to the failure of all persons who receive these services paying their fair share of the tax burden (i.e. Exxon Corp., Standard Oil, and many other billion dollar corporations and individuals that feel that it is not their responsibility to pay for the roads and services they use every day).
Prop 13 makes it possible for many (i.e. elderly) to remain in their home. I would much rather see a sales tax and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) than an assessment on our properties. That way the burden of paying for services is spread to everyone, landowner or not. Those traveling through our beautiful county get to contribute too. The increase to 12 percent would be in line with Santa Rosa and other cities in Sonoma county. I know that the TOT in Santa Rosa is 9 percent, but they have a Business Improvement Area (BIA) of 3 percent, which equals 12 percent overall.
Angus Loop
Cloverdale