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I moved to Healdsburg in May, 1988. Although plenty of things
happened that month, I recall it as the month that the renovated
Raven Theater on North Street opened. It was good timing, since I
was dating the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and we liked to go to
the movies.
I grew up in Santa Rosa and came to Healdsburg a lot as a
teenager. Us Santa Rosa boys came to Palomar in the summer to jump
in the river and watch the Healdsburg girls, who always seemed
sweeter and prettier than the girls down south. Of course, the
Healdsburg boys watched us watching their girls and ran us off
every chance they got.
When I met my sweetie I wasted no time moving here for good. We
got married a few months later and Lynn moved into my rental duplex
on First Street. A year later we rented a house on Brown Street,
next door to Dani Barfield, who welcomed us and was always a
generous and fun neighbor.
Dani has always been busy, teaching physical education, running
her own hair cutting business, traveling all over, managing a big
garden and taking care of all kinds of friends in need. She has a
little cottage in her backyard, which she’s rented out to winery
interns and an assortment of other folks who needed a place to stay
for a while.
If you read the letters to the editor a few weeks ago you saw
Dani’s letter, thanking the community for rallying to help her as
she deals with a very serious cancer diagnosis. You can help a
fellow traveler by making a donation to the Danielle Barfield Trust
at the Healdsburg Exchange Bank, 1031 Vine Street.
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Take a few minutes when you can and check out the progress on
the Clarence Ruonavaara Grandstands at Recreation Park. We’re on
track to complete the renovation within a couple of months and we
want to hear from you. If you haven’t gotten around to donating to
the cause and you want to be remembered on the donor plaque, now is
the time. We want to include your name. Send a check to Healdsburg
Little League, Grandstands Renovation, PO Box 674, Healdsburg, CA
95448.
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Don’t sign it. If you’re approached by a paid signature gatherer
inviting you to sign a petition against “The Internet Sales Tax,”
don’t be taken in. It’s tempting to sign anything opposing taxes,
but it’s not a new tax. State law already requires online retailers
like Amazon.com to collect and pay the same sales tax as
bricks-and-mortar stores. Amazon is using its fat bank account to
launch a referendum rolling back the law.
This is unfair to the local merchants who invest in our
community by leasing shops, purchasing inventory, hiring local help
and obeying the law by collecting sales tax. Amazon has pumped $5.5
million into its referendum campaign so far, and will likely spend
much more.
The system is rigged against local businesses. Amazon already
has enormous buying power due to its size, and sells at a lower
overhead. Now it wants to dodge another 8 percent by rewriting the
law in its favor.
David Kelley, the dynamic economic development guy in Windsor,
kindly sent me a report stating that if California could collect
sales tax on Internet purchases, it would mean $317 million in new
revenue to the state, with the local share being roughly $1 per
capita per year. That’s $12,000 more revenue in the city limits of
Healdsburg, and that much again in the rural areas. I think local
governments would tell you that every extra dollar helps.
Even if you don’t like government or taxes, don’t sign the
petition. It just isn’t fair for Amazon to push our little guys
around.
Ray Holley has a thing about fairness. He can be reached at
ra*******@gm***.com.