Commentary: Why I’m Voting Yes on Measure R
As a member of Healdsburg’s Community Housing Committee, I had the honor of getting to know many community members. It was striking to me that people who already had secure housing themselves were so invested in finding solutions for other people to live in Healdsburg. The pluralism of ideas shared inside committee meetings and on the streets amongst neighbors has been inspiring.
The state of California prisons
For the last 15 years, I have been a volunteer in prisons, teaching convicted felons in the field of sociology and running self-help groups. Most of my students are “lifers,” men who have been convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, or burglary for which they have received sentences of 15 years to life and much more. None of them are on death row, and most are now eligible for parole, having served their minimum sentences. Often, they have served far longer.
The next adventure
Matthew Hall was hired as a reporter for the Healdsburg Tribune in 2006. He has been the editor of the Windsor Times for seven years, and during that time also served as the Tribune’s editor during vacations and maternity leaves.
The taxpayers’ checkbook
July 1 is the start of a new fiscal year for local governments. This is when the county, cities and schools start spending new tax money based on recently approved 2016-2017 budgets. All these budgets tend to launch with the same conclusions: there is never enough tax revenue; there are too many unmet needs; employee and pension costs keep going up; and everything could be solved if we only agreed to raise new taxes and vote for more long term debt bonds.
We all have email problems
Lots of fuss is being made about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email problems. We know it’s really only about politics, so we tried to ignore it. But then we wondered whether the former U.S. Secretary of State might be having some of the same email troubles the rest of us have suffered. After all, who hasn’t hit the ‘send’ button at the wrong time to the wrong address? Violating national security is one thing. What about sending a message to the wrong girlfriend? What if you forget and accidently hit ‘reply all’? That never ends up good, does it?
Arts & Entertainment
New Year’s Eve dining ideas
Is there such a thing as “the most coveted New Year’s Eve party in Healdsburg”? According to the Quinn Public Relations firm, there is—and it’s at the new Appellation Healdsburg. Considering it only opened for business in September, that’s quite an accomplishment.











