Keep showing up
EDITOR: I want to thank all the people who attended last week’s Palm Drive Health Care district board meeting. Many also attended the governance board meeting. Your presence was noted by both boards, even if they did not acknowledge it. I regret that you were in some ways treated rather rudely.
I think a simple explanation of when and how you can express your concerns would have been appropriate. You were there obviously because you had concerns.
I want to encourage each of you to continue to attend at least the district board meetings. This is a publicly elected board and needs to have your input. There are big issues at stake and the board needs to hear what you think about these issues. I want to believe an informed and engaged public can make a great deal of difference in the decisions and outcomes in our health care district.
Sandra DeBella Bodley
Sebastopol
Trump Twitter bias?
EDITOR: President Trump’s preferred mode of communication with the world seems to be through Twitter.
This year, Americans have dealt with horrific tragedies touching nearly every part of the country. The slew of shootings and natural disasters have taken a great deal of lives and left thousands of families stripped of their effects. After each disaster, President Trump took to Twitter to extend his thoughts and well-wishes to citizens affected by these tragedies. But, I believe taking a closer look at the distribution of these tweets reveals a chilling bias and a discrepancy in his political morals.
Hurricane Harvey: 28 tweets. Hurricane Irma: 14 tweets. Las Vegas shooting: 11 tweets. Northern and Southern California fires combined: 2 tweets.
Looking at this information impels me to believe there’s a correlation between the political inclination of the state the tragedy occurred in and the amount of attention those affected receive on Twitter. Is President Trump deliberately showing more support to the citizens of states that support his political party?
After experiencing the terror of the North Bay fires this October, and witnessing the same thing happen to Southern California currently, it’s hard not to speculate why the President is staying so quiet.
Olivia Cottrell
Sebastopol
Public has a right to speak
EDITOR: The audio has just been released regarding the Dec. 6 special meeting of the governing board of the Palm Drive Health Care District. It reveals that many board members feel that the disruption that occurred at the Dec. 4 board meeting was caused by rude people in the audience.
That may be true but, the underlying cause was that district director Thomas was allowed to read a prepared speech during public comment time. About eight minutes into her speech, the public had heard enough and did, in fact, cause President Colthurst to end the meeting.
Now this governing board wants to change the venue for future meetings and make it more difficult for the public to attend. Two things are very obvious. First, these people completely ignore the fact that those protesting are citizens who live in the district and they have every right to speak at these meetings. Second, the open meeting law in California does not prevent people from being assertive or even rude.
The idea that the protesting public is doing something unlawful is ludicrous. Dr. Kitts may think that keeping hospital operations out of public view would be the answer. However, a special district formed under the auspices of Sonoma LAFCO, must operate in the public view. To do otherwise would be illegal.
Gary Harris
Forestville
