Letters to the Editor 6-9-16

Stop the roadblocks
Editor: Last Sunday we were treated to a concert by the Healdsburg Community Band (HCB) in the Plaza Gazebo. A small, but enthusiastic crowd of young families and seniors, tourists and locals alike enjoyed an eclectic program of music well played by our town band. If you half closed your eyes, you could almost imagine yourself back in the days of Owen Sweeten and the Healdsburg Municipal Band.
But I wonder if the Municipal Band had to pay for the privilege of providing a free concert in the Plaza in the 1940s? Our current band was started in 1982 and through the years has been a completely volunteer nonprofit organization.
My question is why does the city charge a local, nonprofit organization a fee to use a public site for a free concert that only adds to the charm of the town? And where is the money going? Possibly to buy a new baffle to cover the underside of the cupola (missing on Sunday) and thus helping the acoustics?
I would like the city to reevaluate its charging of fees for the use of the Plaza. We should be encouraging our local artists to display their art not throwing up roadblocks discouraging their efforts.
Lew Sbrana
Healdsburg