Grand jury needs you
EDITOR: One of the many groups trying to get back up on its feet this year after the October fires is the Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury, overseen by the Sonoma County Superior Court.
With so many people impacted, we didn’t have sufficient jurors and alternates last year, and we are facing the same problems this year. The Sonoma County Superior Court has taken action and has launched a mid-term (the county fiscal year is July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019) recruitment drive, which is a unique event in California.
Please consider donating six months of your time, a day a week, to this long-standing, governmental watchdog agency. Go to www.sonoma.courts.ca.gov/info/administration/grand-jury to sign up.
Peter Andrews
President, Sonoma County Grand Jury Association
Monte Rio
Cloverdale Boys& Girls Club working to raise money
EDITOR: Boys & Girls Clubs in Cloverdale are open, active and providing after-school and summer programs for several hundred students in our elementary and middle schools. Residents have formed a Cloverdale community council to raise awareness about the club programs and to raise money to provide scholarships to pay the fees of students whose families can’t afford them.
The goal is to raise $70,000 this year. Reuser Industries will match every dollar in contributions up to $25,000. Donations can be made online at www.bgccsc.org (select Great Futures Campaign for Cloverdale Kids) or by check payable to Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County Attn. Cloverdale, 1400 N. Dutton Ave., Ste. 24, Santa Rosa, CA 954401.
One hundred percent of locally raised dollars stay here to support Cloverdale youth. I urge residents, whether they have children in school or not, to attend an open house on Thursday, Nov. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the club to learn more about the great work Boys & Girls Clubs is doing to help all Cloverdale kids reach their full potential.
Ann Elston
Chair, Cloverdale Community Council, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County
Yes on 3
EDITOR: California is quite literally one of the most important bread baskets of the world, producing up to 50 percent of the country’s fruits, vegetables and nuts. As we move towards more sustainable farming techniques and better use of our natural resources, we must ensure that we invest in our watersheds, our water supply and improve water quality throughout the state. Proposition 3 takes a big step in the right direction. Across the state we must encourage sustainable investment to support our farmers, the environment and urban water consumers.
Proposition 3 makes the investments we need in our natural water sources, watersheds and groundwater basins, as well as the infrastructure necessary to deliver and manage it. Proposition 3 encourages water agencies to develop their water supplies through more sustainable and drought resilient means like wastewater recycling, groundwater management and stormwater management, and includes no funding for new dams or the controversial Delta tunnels.
American Farmland Trust joins with the California State Farm Bureau Federation, over 100 environmental and conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy, more than 100 water agencies, environmental justice groups and the California Labor Federation in support of Proposition 3. We hope that you will join us on Nov. 6 and vote Yes on Proposition 3 to more sustainably manage our water and land resources.
Kara Heckert
American Farmland Trust California State Director
Sebastopol
Upcoming city council election
EDITOR: The citizens of Cloverdale are quite fortunate in this city council election cycle. There is a diverse group running, not just the usual Chamber of Commerce cheerleader types. It seems that there will be choice between the business candidates and the family candidates. (Yes, I know, all the candidates running are all things to all people.)
Yet, it seems that there may be a chance that the council may be diverse enough to represent all the people of Cloverdale in proper demographic proportion, not just the standard council of elders.
This means that there may be many 3-to-2 votes. And that’s good. That’s the essence of democracy. It also means that there will need to be civil discussion and compromise between the candidates. While civil discussion and compromise are terms seldom used now, they are still worthwhile concepts.
So, whatever your stance is, pro business or pro family, it is imperative that you elect members to the council that have the temperament and personality to be able to get along with each other and have respect and exhibit courtesy to their constituents.
I think that we want a council that can calmly discuss issues and come to determinations that will be in the best interest of Cloverdale, even if these are decisions that do not make every member happy. That is the spirit of compromise. That is the spirit of goodwill.
Washington has given us examples on how not to do things. Now, let’s give them an example on how to do things.Â
C. Jeff Kennedy
Cloverdale
In support of Measure H
EDITOR: On Nov. 6, the Cloverdale community will have an opportunity to vote to support the hardworking students, families and teachers of the Cloverdale Unified School District. We urge you to vote yes on Measure H and provide the local investment in the schools that they need and deserve.
Currently Cloverdale voters pay far less in support of their schools than our neighboring communities with unified schools districts. For every $100,000 in assessed property value, Healdsburg voters have approved a tax rate of $115, Ukiah voters have approved $138, Cotati-Rohnert Park voters have approved $157 and Windsor voters have approved $172. In Cloverdale, the current rate is just $41.50.
Approving Measure H would generate $46 million towards needed school improvements and could be used to attract outside State resources to our schools. Measure H funds cannot be used to fund salaries or to make improvements outside our Cloverdale community, making this an opportunity to invest our local money directly into our local infrastructure.
For Cloverdale parents with school-aged children, as well as for Cloverdale employers and businesses, having a vibrant, well-maintained and well-staffed school district is critical. Every vote will be needed, so please don’t sit this election out.
Please join us on Nov. 6 in making a choice to support the Cloverdale community by voting yes on Measure H.
Brandon Axell, Elvia Osnaya and Joanne Parker
Committee to Improve Cloverdale Schools
Cloverdale
Voting is important
EDITOR: Your vote counts. I have pledged to vote in every election, because my vote is my voice. If I don’t vote, I give away my power. If we all vote, we have more power to demand affordable health care, fairer taxation and to stop the super rich from running our country for their own benefit.
Everyone’s vote counts. Some elections are won by less than 0.1 percent of the total vote. I want to do my part to support democracy. Please vote on Nov. 6 in this very important midterm election. Change can happen, but we must stand together.
Louise Young
Cloverdale
