LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 9-6-12

Thank you SPD
Editor: Brook Haven School very much appreciates the support we get from the Sebastopol Police Department. For the first two weeks of school, Officer Dennis Colthurst served as a school resource officer for Sebastopol schools. We welcomed his presence in front of our school whenever he could make it as, regrettably, we do have occasional unsafe drivers in our front parking lot. Dennis’s presence during the first two weeks of school was a gentle reminder to drivers that there are very small students darting excitedly in the parking lot.
Secondly, we are really trying to impart to the kids the importance of wearing helmets when biking or skating to school.
And finally, we want kids to see officers as a support they can seek out if and when someone in the community is bothering them. Thank you, Chief Weaver and the department for your presence.
JT O’Neill
School Counselor
Brook Haven School
Surviving locally
Editor: I am extremely disappointed by Martin Webb’s Aug. 30 letter to the editor “City Limits,” claiming that residents outside Sebastopol’s city limits do not have a right to an opinion about issues going on in Sebastopol. Residing l mile outside of the city limits, I had been under the impression for the last 43 years that the merchants and hospital in Sebastopol welcome my business. Mr. Webb’s letter makes me determined to pack up my patronage and deliver it to Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park where it is appreciated. I hope commerce in Sebastopol can survive with only the city residents being welcome there.
Bonnie Miller
Sebastopol
No city limits
Editor: Martin Webb has been taking pot shots at me for months. I haven’t bothered to respond. I don’t think his opinion is based on facts or very meaningful. However, in his Aug. 30 letter in your newspaper (“City limits”) he seeks to disenfranchise everyone in the community who does not live or own property or a business within the City Limits.
I don’t know if Mr. Webb is aware that of the self-described 20-member core group of the “new” Sustainable Sebastopol, 11 live “in the county” or out of town. We don’t dispute their right to honestly and openly participate in city business. Like so many of our community they work in town, pay sales tax in town, children attend school in town, attend church and sporting events in town, visit the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center in town … well, you get the picture.  
Many years ago when I was a member of the Sebastopol Area Chamber of Commerce, the Apple Blossom Festival theme was “Sebastopol Has No City Limits.” I agreed with the Chamber in that respect, and still do.
Our community, according to the City’s website, which states that Sebastopol serves a trade area population in excess of 50,000 people. This is our community. Mr. Webb, your call to “circle the wagons” is not civil or friendly or even sound economics.
Please stop trying to isolate the group of 7,500 or so who happen to live “in town” from the rest of our great society.
Helen Shane
Former Planning Commissioner
Sebastopol
Traffic and blood tests
Editor: In the recent Sonoma West Times & News, I read in a letter on the CVS/Chase project that the planning board said that no current traffic assessment was necessary; that the most traffic assessments from two or three years ago would suffice. What? This like going in to see your doctor for an annual checkup and the doctor saying, “No need for blood tests. We have some from two years ago on file and these will do fine.”
Robert Leverant
Sebastopol
Don’t be a dope
Editor: After attending the Aug. 21 Sebastopol City Council meeting, I was, yet again, quite impressed with the narrow-mindedness exhibited by some of the proponents of the CVS/Chase project. As part of their argument for CVS they railed against Peace In Medicine, the medical marijuana dispensary located in Sebastopol. They disparagingly referred to it as “the Dope Place” and referred to Robert Jacob as “the Pot Guy”.
Though I perceived it as base political posturing, I was personally offended, since my family has directly benefitted from such treatment.
I had an aunt who reluctantly tried marijuana for the first time in her 80th year when she contracted bone cancer. It happened to bring her great comfort in her last remaining months on earth. Comfort that conventional medicine was not able to provide. Around the world, stories like hers are recounted across all strata of society. Those stories span afflictions from various cancers, AIDS, eye diseases and numerous other illnesses that, by a roll of the dice, anyone is subjected to.
Would we rather take the road of love and compassion, or belly up to CVS pharmacists who get commissions for the prescriptions they dole out through a drive-thru window?
By the way, Peace In Medicine provides 50 full-time and season living wage jobs with sick time, vacation time, medical, dental, vision, acupuncture, chiropractic, life, and disability insurances. This stat falls right in line with some of the highest job providers in Sebastopol.
So thank you Peace In Medicine for what you do. Thank you for the comfort you provide to those in pain. Thank you for the jobs you’ve created in Sebastopol. And thank you Robert Jacob for running for City Council. Imagine how much better off we’d be if our local government was injected with such compassion.
Bill Shortridge
Sebastopol
It’s our town, too
Editor: We live outside the Sebastopol city limits, a place we consider our hometown. We are volunteering on the committees to elect John Eder and Robert Jacob to the City Council. Here is a partial list of where we spend a significant amount of our money: Fircrest Market, Sebastopol Hardware, R’s Automotive, Rite-aide, Hospice Thrift Shop, Sebastopol Center for the Arts (member), Sebastopol Cinemas, Silkmoon, Himalayan Tandoori, Gypsy Cafe, East West Cafe, Taylor Made Coffee, Cultivate, Village Bakery, Copperfields, Rivers End Tea Shop, Sebastopol Cookie Company, Coffee Catz, Farmers Market, Frozen Yogurt, Food Pantry (donation) Coastwalk (donation), Friends of the Library (donation), Subscription to the Sonoma West Times & News, Friends of the Library (membership), Historical Society (membership), Mockingbird Bookshop.
Does this disqualify us from participating in the cultural and political life of the community?
Brenda and Richard Nichols
Sebastopol
SCCA endorsements
Editor: Sonoma County Conservation Action has announced its endorsements for the two seats available for the Sebastopol City Council 2012. SCCA utilizes a lengthy endorsement process where all candidates are issued a questionnaire on issues facing the city and county at large, and then follows up with a sit down interview with each of the candidates running for office who choose to apply. The SCCA Board of Directors has chosen to grant the endorsement to Robert Jacob, currently vice chair of the Sebastopol Planning Commission, and John Eder, a local smart growth advocate.
“I am honored to have the endorsement of Sonoma County’s largest local environmental organization,” said Jacob. “I will give my all to protect and enhance Sebastopol’s small town feel and environmental policies.”
“The mission of Sonoma County Conservation Action is closely aligned with my goals and concerns.”
“Sonoma County needs strong environmental leadership on the Sebastopol City Council,” said Una Glass, longtime SCCA board member and Sebastopol area resident. “The Council hangs in the balance, therefore we must elect people who will work to ensure that quality of life issues and small town character are at the top of the agenda.”
Sebastopol is often seen as the leader Countywide when it comes to environmental initiatives and policy. It is critical that we maintain an environmental majority on the City Council to continue in that legacy of leadership.
With the strong Planning Commission voting record that Robert Jacob brings to the table, and the smart growth values of John Eder, Sebastopol voters are presented with two strong environmental candidates for the two available seats.
Dennis Rosatti
Sonoma County Conservation Action