Letters to the Editor 9-24-15

Projects benefit all
Editor: Regarding Mr. Buchignani’s Sept. 17 letter concerning landscaping and parking, and his concerns that our stores and restaurants will “begin to lose customers because they can’t find parking,” I’m reminded of the famous Yogi Berra quote: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
Yes, parking is absolutely a concern, one that we all hope the City Council continues to address. But eliminating landscaping from the (much needed) roundabout would seem to be a case of cutting off our nose to spite our face. Projects that make Healdsburg a more attractive and livable community benefit everyone, not just our money-spending visitors. If anything, those of us who live and work in Healdsburg will realize far more and much deeper pleasure from being in a beautiful city than will any Friday-through-Sunday part-timer.
I must also take issue with Mr. Buchignani’s notion that “as locals, we stay away from the downtown area during the weekends.” My husband and I, along with our neighbors and local acquaintances, have not placed ourselves under virtual (nor literal) house arrest over the weekends. Yes, the downtown area is alive and crowded, bustling with the energy that comes from being something other than a ghost town. However, we see that as part of living in a community that’s economically and socially vibrant, something to be welcomed and enjoyed, not an invitation to lock the doors, draw the curtains and hunker down until “they” go away.
Meg Keehan
Healdsburg
Wednesday market
Editor: It was dismaying to me to read Kenny Lowe’s column regarding the dearth of people showing up for Wednesday’s Farmers’ Market. For one thing, I am particularly fond of Wednesday’s market: it is low-key, well-stocked and mercifully has plenty of free parking while one is at the market. Midweek is an excellent time to restock the beautiful produce that is available here in our ‘burg. I hope more people will feel the same enthusiasm for the Wednesday market and show up and support our remarkable and dedicated farmers.
Barbara Médaille
Healdsburg
Focus on roads
Editor: While I supported Measure A because our roads need fixing now, the voters spoke loudly to the Supervisors that they did not want a general sales tax measure to fund the roads fix. Why? Because the “No” voters felt tax revenue might be redirected to new programs, unfunded public pension liability, or hiring new county employees. The county already collects enough tax money to fix our roads if Supervisors would focus on rioads as they have told us they would.
Susan Gorin said at a Board Of Supervisors meeting (June 15, 2015): “We need to let our community know that we have heard from them loudly and clearly that roads are a priority and we are going to focus on them in the near term.”
In October, Supervisors will decide whether to budget additional dollars to fix our roads, or instead, whether to spend it on more new programs, more wage and benefit increases for county workers and adding more staff to the county payroll. This voter knows that some of our Supervisors have trouble having their actions follow their rhetoric. The voters want to have our roads fixed at no additional tax costs to us.
John Bly, Executive Vice President, Northern California Engineering Contractors Association