LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A vote for Passalacqua
Editor: Stephan Passalacqua should be re-elected as District
Attorney of Sonoma County. I was in the District Attorneys Office
for 35 years until 2008. I served as the first Chief Deputy D.A.
for Gene Tunney, and Assistant D.A. to both Mike Mullins, and
Stephan Passalacqua. When Passalacqua was first elected in 2002, he
set out to professionalized the office, and put together a great
team of attorneys and support staff. Last year they won 88 percent
of all felony trials, and 100 percent of their murder cases.
As he has promised, Stephan has hired bilingual employees,
brought diversity to the office, and promoted women to
management.
He enhanced victim’s rights, and in partnership with community
leaders raised over $1.5 million to open a Family Justice Center
for victims of family violence.
I supervised his opponent, Jill Ravitch, until she angrily
resigned in 2004. She did not like Passsalaqua’s efforts to improve
the office. And this was not the first time she was unhappy with
her boss. She previously threatened to resign under D.A.’s Tunney
and Mullins, when she did not get her way with them. She is simply
not a team player. The negative tone of her current campaign, with
its unfounded accusations about the D.A.’s office and many former
colleagues, is typical of her behavior when I supervised her.
Unlike Ravitch, Stephan Passalacqua has worked as a D.A. in Sonoma
County for his entire career, and deserves to be elected.
Greg Jacobs
Sebastopol
Thanks to Carrillo
Editor: Thanks to Supervisor Efren Carrillo and Bryan Albee of
Sonoma County Transit for their help with the future Sebastopol
Transit Hub. Several months ago, I attended a meeting about the
Smart Train. There was lots of talk about the 101 corridor cities
and their “cool” train stations, so my thought was what about a
station for Sebastopol? When the SMART Train service starts,
Sebastopol will need a station for Smart riders to be able to park
and ride to Santa Rosa to catch the train. Supervisor Carrillo and
city staff advised me to talk with SCTA. I had a very productive
discussion about creating a park and ride transit hub with Bryan
and Steven Schmitz. SCTA applied for a grant from the
Transportation Fund for Clean Air for a Sebastopol Transit Hub. The
grant was awarded, as well as additional funding for transit
improvements which will benefit our bus riders in Sebastopol. The
grant will be administered by city staff, and we will see the
improvements next year. The plan is to locate the Transit Hub on
Laguna Parkway adjacent to the current bus stop. It was gratifying
that an idea moved so quickly, and I appreciate the help in making
it happen.
Kathleen Shaffer
Sebastopol City Council Member
Boycott Valero
Editor: Valero gas, a Texas-based energy company and one of the
top polluters in the country, is trying to mess with California’s
clean energy jobs and air pollution law, AB 32.
AB 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, is a great
tool for us to re-build our economy, cleanup our dirty air, and
reduce greenhouse gases. But Valero gas is trying to effectively
kill AB 32 by spending lots of money to put a measure on the
November ballot.
I will be boycotting all Valero gas until they stop attacking AB
32, I hope you will join me.
Bernie Hovden
Sebastopol
Sing to PG&E
Editor: “Choir practice for ‘smart meters’” at Sebastopol Vet’s
Hall, April 21, 2010.
Not gleeful though excitatory and cathartic. Not a Service for
the agnostic or the curious, but a revival for the converted. A pep
rally for believers.
Hallelujahs and Amen abound, after each evangelist panel member
covered page and verse of their talking points. Quite electric.
After the chorus we returned to the nefarious atmosphere to walk
into a full array of gamma rays, radio waves, micro and infrared
waves. Also other invaders from the ether: quarks, anti-matter,
dark matter, angel dust, auras, astrologic and planetary pulls,
thought monitors, and an occasional beam from the Starship
Enterprise.
No Mea Culpas from the Villain, the Golem PG&E. They excused
themselves from the public stoning.
Everyone returned home to their dumb meters having been
temporarily redeemed, restored to righteousness until the Armies of
Good (US) meet the Forces of Evil (THEM) on the Plains of
Sacramento for an Apocalyptic Rematch.
Paul T. Pera
Sebastopol