Editorial

Thirty percent of the world’s population lacks adequate access to safe water and a child dies every 90 seconds on our planet from a water-related disease. Many schools and hospitals in underdeveloped countries lack safe drinking water or sanitation.

Jim Brush, in his Tribune Commentary of March 10, shares his discovery of the reason that we have a crisis of unaffordable housing in Healdsburg: lack of supply, and the solution: completely terminate the Growth Management Ordinance.

In Healdsburg and throughout Sonoma County, issues related to housing have been in the spotlight for many months. The city is keenly aware of our community’s housing needs and has been working hard, alongside our residents, to address these serious housing problems. Providing affordable housing to working families and building government subsidized, affordable housing units continue to be top City Council priorities. Much has been accomplished and a great deal remains to be done.

Newspapers and journalists have many jobs. Gathering the news, covering public meetings, publicizing community events, helping to find lost dogs and defending  the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment are just some of them.

The people of Sonoma County, according to various surveys and census reports, possess above average traits in spiritualism, tolerance and philanthropy but attend church and religious services less frequently than their counterparts in other parts of the country.

Recently there has been considerable attention directed towards Healdsburg’s lack of affordable housing, especially in regards to the “missing middle” working class families. This situation could be seen coming a long time ago and essentially took this long to boil over.

There’s been tremendous concern lately about what Healdsburg should do about the voter-adopted Growth Management Ordinance (GMO). People have packed council chambers expressing their concerns about the cost of housing. There’s no denying that we live in a very desirable community, which means demand for housing is high.

The once-outlandish, now conceivable spectacle that Donald Trump could be our next U.S. president is forcing us to reconsider how we choose our leaders. Have we lost track of what it takes to be a good leader? Do we agree on the necessary qualities of leadership? Forget about voting for Trump, Hillary or some other politician, can we even figure out how to pick a new mayor, sports team captain, PTA president or county supervisor anymore?

A lot is happening along Sonoma County’s 35 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline these days. And this time we’re not talking about the migrating gray whales or the disappointing closure of the dungeness crab season. We’re talking about actions and proposals by the dominant coastal species — humans.

A recent editorial attacked the county budget process, stating that discussions are held outside of the public view and void of citizen input. It ended by asserting, “This is not how county government should work.”