And you thought football was brutal
EDITOR: The article on the Analy football players who quit was brutal. Castleberry’s comment on why he thinks the players quit is just his opinion. He does not have the facts. I feel this is attacking the players and the parents by all the negative comments I am reading on Facebook because of this article. This shouldn’t have been written until all facts were in. This is very upsetting and bothersome to me as I do know more facts about this situation. Hope nothing happens to these kids as a result of this article.
Lisa Bowman
Santa Rosa
Thanks, Women in Business
EDITOR: I want to convey my appreciation for the honor given to me and RRWPC by you and your staff in your recent Women In Business issue. The whole insert was beautifully done and I was very impressed by the other women also selected to receive this honor. The publicity is very helpful to myself and RRWPC in letting people know that we have not gone away and we continue to work quietly behind the scenes to protect the lower Russian River and its values treasured by all. Thank you. (If people want to view our recent and past work, our website address is www.rrwpc.org).
Brenda Adelman
Sebastopol
Put the brakes on
EDITOR: In going over our property taxes, we pay for a great many things. We are still paying for 10 million dollars from the nineties and nearly 24 million from 2010 and now 91 million ongoing for three schools in the WSCUHSD. Your (9/20/18) article quoted the facility director “We’re going to identify a long list of projects, some of which we can’t afford” Why does that concern me? A long list of things… that we cannot afford?
Ninety-one million dollars and thus far the board has contracted nearly a half million dollars for completing the performing arts center (in a new location) and a plan for spending 91 million tax dollars. I am not an architect or a structural engineer or even an arborist, but driving by Analy’s main gym, I can tell you the pine tree on the east side is dead and needs to be removed. The windows on the north side are about to fall out as the frames are dry rotted and crumbling. The rain gutters need to be cleaned out as they serve no purpose other than to rust stain the building. The portables below have rotted ramps that need replacement. This can be verified with a simple 10-minute walk around the gym to investigate for yourselves. The small gym is also rotting except for the brick locker rooms. Windows were replaced in the nineties, floors were jackhammered, nothing was done to the siding or wooden building of the small gym. What is strange is the windows in the front of the main building were replaced when there was no structural need, at a cost of roughly a half million dollars, then removed and retrofitted to vent for a rooftop HVAC unit. Who knows at what cost? Never time to do it right, always time to do it over? There is a need for a plan. Contractors should not be rewarded for ongoing change orders.
At present the board is meeting on Fridays with a consultant to establish roles and responsibilities for the board and superintendent. This is for “New Board members.” Everyone on the board has served more than two terms in office. How many plans are needed to see rot and make repairs or cut down dead trees; maintain what is already there, and make things safe and functional? When will we be passing the next bond and what will it be for? What “vision” will we be underwriting?
Eric Kirchmann
Sebastopol
