Editorial

Two years ago, I was elected to a third term on the Healdsburg City Council by 2,276 citizens. Housing was certainly one of the most critical concerns of our citizenry. Given my educational and professional background, I was confident that I had much to offer in an effort to develop some solutions.

We haven’t changed our opinion about efforts to remove fluoride from Healdsburg municipal water.

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.

In 1988, I made my first visit to Healdsburg. Six months later, my first job out of college included Healdsburg. I was hooked. The town reminded me of my valley community: a dusty working town with a Sunsweet dehydrator, several lumber mills, a river and lots of families. There was a diversity of culture with a common goal of making our community great.

My wife and I have been Healdsburg residents since 1990 and raised two children here. Measure R is an obsessive political ideological convoluted, manipulated, and a monstrously complex failure waiting to happen. Measure R is not a modification of the GMO, it is a complete political takeover for massive pro-growth and as presented will destroy the faint resemblance of small town charm and community forever. It will be the biggest disaster in Healdsburg’s history.

When we look at our Sonoma County ballot for the Nov. 8 election with the many individual tax increases we wonder why some items are missing. County leaders want us to raise our taxes for parks, libraries and tourist activities to upkeep “the luxury of living in a world class destination.”

At an event in the Plaza in 2005 a trio of questions were asked, in English and Spanish of the almost 1,000 attendees. To the question What single change would most improve the quality of your life in Healdsburg? (¿Qué cosa mejoraría la calidad de su vida en Healdsburg?) The most frequent answer written on the chart pads was overwhelmingly, “Affordable housing.”

My family and I have lived in Healdsburg for 36 years, and in the area for 42 total. Our daughter and her family also live here. I understand fluoride occurs naturally in most water supplies. I grew up with fluoridated water, along with my three sisters.

Alliance Medical Center (Alliance) has recently been recognized as one of the best federally qualified health clinics (FQHCs) in the country. FQHCs are nonprofit outpatient clinics that are required to adhere to several quality initiatives and serve patients regardless of their ability to pay.

I’m not a slogan kind of thinker. In fact, slogans really bug me. Whenever I hear one of those pithy little phrases that are supposed to sum up what needs to be said and put me firmly on one side of an issue, I immediately go into question mode.