LETTERS to The Sonoma County Gazette January 2012

“I’ve heard some concerns about traffic – in our view heavy traffic is a sign of success and vitality…a busy and sometimes congested downtown is a sign of success. Cities are a concentration of human activity. Having traffic means people want to be there…success.”

~ Planning Director

Come Say NO to

CVS/CHASE

Attend the City Council Meeting

Monday, Jan. 23rd, 6:00 pm

Sebastopol Community Center

390 Morris St.

Sebastopol’s Design Review Board and Planning Commission have both voted down the CVS/Chase application to move their facilities from Gravenstein North where they are now, to the second busiest, trafficked crossroads in the heart of our downtown. – the corner of Petaluma Ave (Hwy 116) and Sebastopol Road (Hwy 12). 

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OCCUPY Movement - Perspective UPDATE

OCCUPY Reader Input

I also got some great calls from people who didn’t write - thank you everyone for your feedback and on-going engagement in this process. ~ Vesta, publisher

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“There’s something happening here;

what it is ain’t

exactly clear.”

By Larry Robinson

The Occupy movement has touched a deep chord in America, particularly among young people who sense that the doors of opportunity are closed to them and that capitalism has finally vanquished democracy. But that is only the most visible face of what is happening here, in Europe, in the Middle East, in Iran, in China and Burma and many other places.

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LETTERS to Readers, September 2011

September 2011

Dear Editor,
We have had several people call and stop by our wineryenraged about what is happening on the property next door to ours on Highway 116 North. The land has indeed been acquired by a winery that has chosen totake out what was previously planted and put in grapevines. People are upset about various things, such as trees being torn out to put in grapes and how the land was acquired. Those people have threatened to never purchase our wines and tell others to do the same because of what they THINK we are doing with the property. It is NOT our property, nor are we in any way involved in what is taking place on that land.

I would advise people to read the paper, do some research, get the facts and stop falsely accusing us of something they are upset about. Just because we are the only winery visible from the highway does not mean that we are the only winery here.
Sincerely,
Barbara Paul
Owner, Graton Ridge Cellars
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Dear Independent News Editors:
Does anyone remember when “Redwood Empire” was replaced with “Wine Country”?  This was a deceptive PR move by insiders that indicate the values that are being forwarded--wine over redwoods. So when it comes to getting important news in Sonoma County on environmental or socio-economic impacts of vineyards and wineries, one has to get it from the L.A. Times, the N.Y. Times (see links below), actually any Times or news source other than the Sonoma County’s own Press Democrat.  It is not a minor story that the largest conversion of redwoods to vineyards in recent history is taking place in our Sonoma County coastal area or that most Russian River tributaries are being sucked dry by grape to wine production. The so-called media of record, the PD, is not covering these stories. Instead, the PD regularly covers stories on individual wineries’ successes and wine/food pairings, etc.

The conversion of redwoods and redwood forest watersheds to vineyards and the drying up of fish bearing streams is a travesty most reasonable people would recognize.  But it is becoming more and more apparent that the travesty includes co-option of the PD to keep the redwoods conversions and the depleting water issue from being widely known in one’s own backyard. This is itself a travesty and concerned advertisers, subscribers, and readers of the PD need to take note and respond appropriately.

To get the news of historic redwoods conversions or turning rivers into wine here, you will have to go to our local independent newspapers or newspapers outside of the county like New York,  [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/us/26bcsalmon.html]
or Los Angeles  [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0825-redwoods-vineyards-20110825,0,1321080.story].
Sincerely,
Larry Hanson
Forestville
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BEWARE:
If your computer tells you that “a critical error has occurred, etc.” or that Windows can’t find hard disk space. Hard drive error” or (this is the one that got me) “Critical Error.. Damaged hard drive clusters defected. Private data is at risk”

THIS IS A FAKE DETECTION SCAM.

Those of us who live by our computer, are vulnerable. We had to engage professional help, pay her bill (well deserved) cancel our credit card and do all the hassle of dispute challenges..because we were convinced that our hard drive had been jeopardized.

Not being a computer person, I didn’t realize that there is NO REASON to give out your credit card information to Windows XP Repair. Thank goodness we have IT people, like Jade Patterson, who can purge our computers of this evil intrusion. When I called my credit card company, they acknowledged that the charge came from overseas (Bosnia is what I discerned..) and it was up to me to go to all the effort to dispute the charge. The phony service re-arranged all my icons; messed with my files, and generally raised havoc (and cost me a good bit..)
Joan Poulos
Bodega Bay
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Dear Friends,
In a testament to the generosity of Sonoma County residents, the First Annual United Way Children’s Book Drive netted 5,118 books for needy kids and teens! This is the start of a beautiful partnership between the Free Bookmobile and United Way of the Wine Country, and a tremendous first result considering that the original goal was 1,000 books.
For all who put together donations from their family shelves, for all the Exchange Bank and JDSU staff who hosted the collection bins, and especially for the amazing United Way staff, we want to say a big heartfelt “Thank You”.

The books come at the perfect time.  Our direct outreach to low-income children’s programs really took flight beginning in July, as we served hundreds of toddlers, teens, and in-betweens at sites such as the 4Cs Child Development Centers, Boys & Girls Clubs, City of Santa Rosa Summer Recreation, and Redwood Empire Food Bank Summer Lunch.
Many of these youth have few, if any, books in their homes. But when they see the high quality titles they can choose on board the Free Bookmobile, their eyes light up. “It’s better than ice cream in their minds,” said one happy mom. We are helping shift the culture with enhanced access to knowledge!

Our expanded schedule has also brought additional volunteer opportunities. We are blessed with a great group of helpers (including the King Family, featured in the Press Democrat) and now have openings for assistants at the west Sebastopol book storage site. If you or someone you know would like to sort books and restock the ‘mobile, please reply to this email or visit the “Help Us!” page on our website.

Remember, you can always keep up with all the Sonoma County Free Bookmobile magic on our News page, as we continue our expansion of services during this summer of free book love! New upcoming give-away events include the River to Coast Children’s Services Kindergym programs and outreach to a variety of Senior Centers...
Thank you for your support!
Glen Weaver
Sonoma County Free Bookmobile
sonomacountybookmobile.org
707.520.4536
More than 25,000 books given away, and counting...
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Dear Vesta and Gazette Readers,
The sun is out so readers probably won’t be thinking about flood insurance until winter approaches and the rains begin. But, since flood insurance is required year round, I thought I’d update readers on current legislation that will have a significant impact on our community. The current flood insurance program expires on September 30th and congress is currently debating what the future of flood insurance should look like. Readers need to take action now and let their Senators and Representative know that we need the National Flood Insurance Program reauthorized and refunded.

The NFIP (National Flood insurance Program) expired two times in 2010, which caused escrow closings to be held up, lapses in coverage, and lots of speculation about the continuation of the program. In an area like ours, the ability to obtain flood insurance is critical.

Current legislation being considered to reform the NFIP program might:
Require property owners whose policies lapse for lack of payment to pay actuarially sound rates to restart coverage- that means big increases!
Automatically adjust rates for inflation (no congressional vote required)
Provide loss of use and loss of income coverage (never before offered through NFIP)
Raise rates between 10-20% annually (that an average of approx. $120 to $240 per policy)

Property and business owners need to be aware of these potential changes and plan accordingly. There are several things you can do to mitigate your potential for flood loss, and reduce your flood insurance costs.

If you want to know more, contact your insurance agent, or call the flood insurance specialist at Gene Gaffney Insurance.
Enjoy summer,
Fawn Nekton
President- Gene Gaffney Insurance
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Dear Vesta,
I just wanted to bring you and your readers up to date on exciting events taking place in the Sheephouse Creek watershed.

Over the last year, the Sotoyome Resource Conservation District (SRCD) has been conducting a survey of the rural roads associated with past timber activities in this watershed to identify sources of excessive sediment. The overall goal is to reduce sediment delivery and improve water quality for salmon and steelhead restoration. When I last spoke with Andy Casarez, the project manager for SRCD, he had met with CA Department of Fish and Game officials to review and explain his findings in the hope to receive grant funding which would allow much needed improvements.

Since 2001, a collaborative effort of public agencies and private landowners, known as the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program, has been underway to re-establish Coho salmon in the Russian River and its tributaries. The first confirmation that Coho have successfully spawned in Sheephouse Creek was recently confirmed by Mariska Obedzinski/Coho Monitoring Coordinator. Biologists form UCSD performed a snorkel survey of Sheephouse Creek last month and counted 128+ wild juvenile Coho. The survey crew also observed juvenile Steelhead and documented another listed threatened species – the CA Red Legged Frog.

Efforts to restore our watersheds seem to be making an impact today. Regulatory agencies such as Cal Fire must consider individual plans for logging and timberland conversions to vineyards in the context of the larger forest and planning watershed in which they are located, so that biological diversity and watershed integrity are maintained and adverse cumulative impacts are reduced or eliminated. Continued exploitation of the resources in the watersheds of the Russian River basin will cause the most problems for native biodiversity and a moratorium should be enforced for them. The plant and animal species which have become threatened or endangered because of man’s activities need to be given a chance to recover.
Thank you,
Mike Keller
…on behalf of the “Friends of Sheephouse Creek”
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It is useless to try logic with people who have become so desensitized that they don’t instinctively react with outrage at the idea of our local police using guns and tanks in an attempt to “reach the community” through its children via the “cool” factor as was just done in South Park

In his letter defending the police Mayor Ernesto Oliveres doesn’t mention the “brotherhood” that exists in law enforcement culture. That usually comes out during stressful situations like the many unnessary officer involved killings of civilians across the country. Our community has seen a lot of those over the years and like clock work the “blue wall of silence” comes up. I’ve been part of local groups monitoring these killings since the mid ‘90s and in not one case was there ever a public admission that any law officer was wrong or trigger happy even when the courts later disagreed.

Using “safety” as an excuse to indoctrinate our children is a specious argument. It’s the way to go if you want to further a macho gang mentality caused by racism and inequality. The harder path is creating a more just society but that won’t happen by showing off your guns and power to impress. If you really want to start a dialogue with our children then start by breaking your silence the next time one of your comrades takes an innocent life. Now, that would be impressive.
Mary Moore,
Camp Meeker
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Mayor Ernesto Olivaros as you may remember is a former police officer and is protecting his own. If an ordinary citizen who had lawfully registered a semi automatic “assault” weapon allowed someone under the age of 18 to handle such a gun without the child’s parents giving written permission, the gunowner could be charged with a felony under California law. Why then can a police officer get away with letting a person under the age of 18 handle a selective fire weapon which is capable of either fully automatic fire or semi-autmatic fire without such parental release?

In a similar vein, several years ago the police in Santa Rosa arrested Food, Not Bombs several times for serving hot food to the homeless in a city park yet refused to cite the Sonoma County Law Enforcement Chaplaincy program when it did the same thing without the required permits to insure the safety of prepared food. Double standards all around
.
There needs to be a California Public Records Act request made of the City of Santa Rosa (and all other Sonoma jurisdictions) to find out just what weapons these government entities own and where they are acquiring them.
Irv Sutley
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Help Community Market!
Does the opening of ‘Sprouts Farmers Market’ warrant an amendment to our city’s general plan?

Update: 7-27-2011
First, we would like to thank our customers for supporting us in our efforts to fight Sprout’s Farmers Market. Community Market exists to serve you and we are pleased that you return that enthusiasm and commitment. We will need your continued support in the next few months as this fight has only just begun.

Finally after months of waiting, organizing, and diligent participation the Planning commission voted on the amendment to change the zoning status of the Mendocino/Bicentennial marketplace. It was a divided vote; 4-3 in favor of the amendment change. Now, we know this seems like a loss but this is only the very beginning of a long process. This is simply a vote to recommend to the City Council an amendment to the General Plan.

We will have the opportunity to address our issues and concerns at that City Council meeting. The next step is to continue gathering supportive businesses and individuals to join us at that meeting, and meetings in the future. If this general Plan amendment is approved by the City Council, Sprouts will have to submit a formal design plan for approval. This will be another opportunity to share our concerns and vision for our city. Please be patient and continue to check our website for upcoming meeting dates/times and what you can do to help. Thank you for your continued support.
You can follow our progress at our web site: http://srcommunitymarket.com/fightsprouts.html

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LETTERS response to “Don’t Blame Public Employees”

While visiting a friend in Forestville recently, I read the front page article in your March 3 edition by Martin J. Bennett entitled “Don’t Blame Public Employees”, and discovered it was almost identical to a piece that appeared a couple of months earlier in my local on-line newspaper, Voice of San Diego. Mr. Bennett, a junior college history professor, instead of dealing directly with the central question of whether public sector pay and benefits are out of line with the private sector, trots out a series of allegations to get people fired up. He claims that The Economist magazine, to which I subscribe, is part of a misleading corporate campaign to scapegoat public employees. This is ridiculous. The Economist is a British publication and is far and away the best and most objective weekly news magazine. It’s bias is, if anything, slightly liberal.

The author then proceeds to blame the housing meltdown, Wall Street, oil companies, Proposition 13, wealthy people and a “too low” top State income tax rate of only 9.3%, while claiming that an article entitled “The Truth about Public Employees”, written by two Berkeley professors, proves that public employees are not overcompensated compared to the private sector.

I’ve read this study, because it was cited in the Voice of San Diego story. It contains a huge fallacy, that pay scales should somehow be based not merely on the work people perform but primarily on their education and their age. I live in San Diego, which was perhaps the first city to discover it was in deep trouble as a result of foolish commitments made to public employee unions. The President of one of our unions is a trash truck driver. She happens to be a college graduate. Should she be paid more than other drivers because of her degree? Most people would consider this a ridiculous question, but it’s at the heart of the Berkeley professors’ claims that public sector compensation is not out of line. Their study is garbage.

I’m a retired human resources director from the private sector, so I read articles like this one very carefully to check their validity. This one flunks. E.g., Prof. Bennett cites average pensions for CalPERS retirees of only $25,000 a year, without mentioning comparable figures for private sector retirees, which are far lower. The reason this figure seems rather modest is that it includes all retirees, many in their 70’s and even 80’s, and you will find that public sector retirees in recent years have opened up a huge gap. I’ll explain why in a moment, but first let me cite some history.

Public sector organizations used to compare pay and benefits with private sector firms, but stopped doing so over 30 years ago when they realized they had passed private firms in many aspects of compensation. They now look strictly at other public entities, typically other cities and counties, and search for “leaders” to justify pay and benefit increases. And why not? The people paying the bill, the general taxpayers, are completely shut out of the process because, it is claimed, these are sensitive “personnel” issues.

About 15 years ago when tax receipts in California, as a result of the high tech boom, swelled dramatically, major increases in retirement benefits were granted. In San Diego, these occurred in 1996 and again in 2002, and instead of improving the benefits only for future service, increases were given for past service as well, thus instantly creating huge unfunded liabilities that have come home to roost and are simply unsustainable. San Diego’s situation is not an aberration, it’s more or less typical among larger cities and many small cities as well.

No one is “blaming” public employees. They do what most people would do, take advantage of any chance they get to maximize their financial situation. But the public sector is different. The unions have huge political clout, and often make the difference in elections, thus in effect selecting their bosses, the politicians who approve proposed pay and benefit increases negotiated by managers who know they’ll get the same deal or better. It’s no accident that the majority of unionized workers are now in the public sector. It’s basically a monopoly; there’s no competition except the occasional pressure for “out sourcing”, which is more talked about than actually accomplished.

Here’s the typical California city package for you to compare to your own situation: Automatic “step” increases within each job classification, plus (until the last couple of years) an additional general increase granted to everyone; paid vacation and sick leave time 4-6 weeks a year plus 10-12 paid holidays; paid overtime, usually at premium rates, even for supervisors and middle managers, engineers and other professionals exempt from statutory overtime pay requirements; Civil Service protection, as well as union representation against arbitrary discipline, favoritism, etc. The stories you’ve heard, e.g., about the near impossibility of firing incompetent teachers are, unfortunately, true. The “due process” is endless.

But wait, it gets better. “Normal retirement” is at age 55, and if you are a police officer or firefighter, age 50. You get a defined benefit pension equal to 1.5 or 2% per year of service times your single highest year’s pay, up to 3% for cops and firefighters. And, of course, you get annual cost-of-living increases to your pension. There is often, in addition, a 401(k) type savings plan to which the city matches the employee contribution. Medical benefits are for life. The employee contributes, sometimes paying up to 25% of the cost. You decide whether that’s a better deal than you have.

Many people wonder why police and fire personnel get a far more generous package, both earlier retirement ages and a much richer benefit. The rationalizations are two: cops and firefighters, because of the nature of their jobs, have a shorter life expectancy after retirement, and since they “put their lives on the line daily” they are much more likely than other occupations to suffer serious injury or even death before retirement. Sounds plausible, but neither claim stands scrutiny.

Now, just like you, I respect and appreciate the work these public safety employees perform, and there certainly are risks and stresses in these occupations. But remember, these people chose these jobs, knowing exactly what they entailed before they applied.

Here are two facts that may surprise you. CalPERS, the largest state public pension system, keeps lots of statistics. Their numbers show that the post-retirement life expectancy of police officers, highway patrol officers, firefighters and other public safety personnel is identical to other public employees. And, if you go on the internet and examine the lists of jobs with the highest occupational fatality rates, they show that commercial fishermen, roofers, loggers, farmers, pilots, truck and taxi drivers have higher fatality rates on the job than police officers or fire fighters. When openings in public safety jobs occur, there are always lots of applicants, because they pay very well, have lots of opportunities for overtime and you can retire very young with a nice pension and generous health care. Many go on to lucrative second careers.

The public has only recently begun to focus on just how generous pay and benefits for public employees at almost every level have become in the last 15 years or so. The information is not readily available, because public agencies have many tools to hide or obfuscate it, and every incentive to do so. Ironically, federal employment is, in most respects, much less lucrative than at state, county and city levels. But the simple fact is that, blame whoever you want, the situation is unsustainable financially and simply must be corrected.

William Bradshaw
San Diego, CA

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Friends of Shollengerber Park Volunteers Support Applauded

Huge Volunteer Effort 

Scans 70,000 Pages to Prepare the Administrative Record 

for Dutra Challenge Lawsuit

Thirty volunteers from Friends of Shollenberger, Moms for Clean Air, Petaluma Tomorrow, The River Council and other individuals worked in teams of 4-5, morning and afternoon shifts, for two weeks at the County Offices to help prepare the Administrative Record for the Dutra legal challenge. The official record includes all reports, responses, comments, e-mails, meeting records and minutes, gathered from the original application for the project in 2004 through the final decision by the Supervisors on Dec. 14, 2010. All of your letters, e-mails, and signed petitions were there in boxes. It was inspiring to see how many of you took the time to thoughtfully weigh in against the Dutra proposal.

We also transcribed tapes of the entire supervisors’ meetings on Dutra (Oct. 12, 2010 and Dec. 14, 2010 (where the public was prohibited from commenting.) This is the foundation for our Brown Act (public meeting) claims, newly added to the lawsuit.

Any evidence must be part of the Administrative record or it cannot be considered in a CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) challenge. The record will be digitized, indexed, organized, and submitted to County Counsel for confirmation of accuracy and completeness.

We are grateful to the tireless and dedicated volunteers who scanned the record. Hiring the County to do this task would have cost upwards of $50K, or hiring a private scanning service, upwards of 10K. Instead fellow citizens took time off from work and family to do the job.

Please donate to show your support of these volunteers, the health of our community, and the right to protect the environment via CEQA. If each of you sent in $30 today, one dollar for each scanning volunteer, we could easily meet this month’s funding needs.

The legal challenge can stop the asphalt factory at this location: no sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic entering and exiting town, no holding your breath and rolling up your windows against noxious fumes, no avoiding Shollenberger Park with its blighted view of asphalt storage silos and toxic “blue smoke” from hot asphalt filled trucks.

You can help shape the future of Petaluma by DONATING.
 
Go to Saveshollenberger.com and clicking our Friends/PayPal Donate logo, making a tax-deductible on-line donation. OR write checks, also tax-deductible, made out to the O.W.L. Foundation, note: Friends of Shollenberger.

Mail the check to
Friends of Shollenberger, PO Box 2114, Petaluma, CA 94953.

Check out our new LOGO on our website, the Black Necked Stilt
Send in your ideas on how to build momentum to saveshollenberger@gmail.com

Thanks to all of you,
Joan Cooper for Friends of Shollenberger

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LEETERS: Collpapse of the Housing Market Events

Dear Vesta,

The author of subject article had written, "...it was big business and the wealthy who gamed the deregulated financial system to make huge profits. Their speculation in the home mortage markets triggered the Great Recession..". But the collapse of the housing market need to rescue several banks was caused primarily by other events.

The four fundamental events that let to the housing bust of 2008, which spread to the financial markets and beyond are:

EVENT 1: In 1997 Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to address alleged discrimination by banks in making loans to poor people and minorities. The Act required banks to meet credit needs of communities in which they are chartered. In 1989, Congress amended the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requiring banks to collect racial data on mortgage applications. The Boston Federal Reserve Bank alleged systemic discrimination in loan making. Although the Boston Fed Reserve allegation was disproven by a University of Texas study and other studies, it became the standard on which government policy was based.

In 1995 the Clinton administration Treasury Department issued regulations tracking loans by neighborhoods, income groups, and races to rate the performance of banks. These ratings were used by regulators to determine whether the government would approve bank mergers, acquisitions, and new branches. Racial data collected and these regulations encouraged ACORN and other groups to file petitions with regulators to slow banks from conducting business and to extort huge pools of money for the purpose of ACORN home lending. Government, together with ACORN, forced banks to abandon traditional lending standards and to make “subprime” loans to people without sufficient incomes necessary to repay the loans. These became known as CRA-eligible loans; one estimate puts their total at $4.5 trillion.

EVENT 2: In 1992 the Department of Housing and Urban Development pressured Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to purchase, or “securitize” large bundles of CRA loans for the purpose of diversifying risk and making even more money available to banks to make further risky loans. Congress also passed the Federal Housing Enterprise Financial Safety and Soundness Act, mandating that Fred and Fan purchase 45 percent of all loans from people of low and moderate incomes, creating a secondary market for these loans. In 1995 the Treasury Department established the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which provided banks with tax dollars to encourage even more risky loans. But this was not enough. Top Congressional Democrats, including Rep Barney Frank, Sen. Chris Dodd, and Sen. Charles Schumer, among others, repeatedly ignored warnings of pending disaster, insisting that they were overstated and opposed efforts to force Fred and Fan to comply with usual business and oversight practices. Top executives, including Franklin Raines and Jamie Garelick, resisted reform while they were cooking the books in order to reward themselves tens of millions of dollars in bonuses. Franklin Raines earned $90 million by inflating reported loan amounts.

EVENT 3: Fed and Fan reinvented the “derivative” for application to the subprime mortgage market to redistribute these risky loans to unsuspecting investors and thus further increase the market for these loans. The derivative would turn the subprime market into a ticking time bomb that would magnify the housing bust by orders of magnitude. A derivative is a contract where one party sells the RISK associated with the mortgage to another party in exchange for payments to that company based on the value of the mortgage. It was both a betting system and a form of insurance. The bet set the value. So long as the bet was covered, the mortgage was secured. Derivatives were a way to capitalize in an exponential manor on appreciating real-estate prices. But if derivatives ever collapsed, and since mark to market rules were resisted by government, the actual price of properties would fall out of proportion to what would have been the case had derivatives not existed. As bets on the underlying derivatives declined, banks were forced to devalue assets accordingly, placing banks in jeopardy of failing. Hedge funds, financial institutions and insurance companies, including American International Group (AIG) invested heavily in derivatives.

EVENT 4: The Federal Reserve Board slashed interest rates repeatedly starting in January 2001, from 6.5 percent until they reached a low in June 2003 of 1.0 percent. When the easy money policy became too inflationary for comfort, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan (at the beginning) and Ben Bernanke (at the end) began to steadily raise the Fed rate back from 1.0 percent in June 2004 to 5.25 percent in June 2006. This artificial manipulation or the housing market contributed to destabilization of the economy.

Sincerely,
Rod Hug
Santa Rosa

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LETTERS to the Editor - Sonoma County Gazette November 2010

Dear Vesta,
Once again, a great issue! Your theme for the month re: animals was inspired and brilliant and so very important - thank you! You are making me think of the earlier role that community newspapers played, before trying to compete with TV and lost sight of their position of education and influence, earned by their integrity and fair mindedness. Good on ya!
Mary Luttrell

....more....

Dear Vesta,
Thank you for featuring local Animal Welfare and Rescue Organizations in the latest issue of the Gazette. As the president of one of those Non-Profit Organizations, we appreciate the coverage and dissemination of information to the public.

Please visit our website, www.faireonline.org, for more about our organization and about all the Animal Shelters in Sonoma County that we support.

For Current Spay/Neuter Programs & Events Available to North Bay Residents call: (707) 579-SPAY.
Ann Strom
President, FAIRE
(Friends of the Animals in the Redwood Empire)

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Dear Vesta,
I enjoyed Martin Bennett’s well thought out article about the proposed Wal-Mart store in Rohnert Park. The community would truly be wise to reject these proposals for they do not bring prosperity to neighborhoods.

But one point of Mr. Bennett’s needs correcting: development in Sonoma County is not inevitable. Although the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) does say that the population will grow, ABAG is a pro-Builder’s group with the job of convincing the rest of us that population growth is inevitable. If you read any population projection, from the California Department of Water Resources to the United Nations, you will see that they all note that the projections depend on future trends, and they offer high, medium and low outcomes. We can choose the low-population outcome. If we do not allow the building that ABAG promotes, then the population will not grow.

Sonoma County is a beautiful region. Adding more people will not increase the benefits of living here. More traffic, more congestion, less open space, fewer farms and ranches, higher taxes, more crowded schools and urbanized living are not most of us want for our County.
Searle Whitney
HowMany.org

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Vesta,
The other day I was surprised to receive a call from someone who had read my article . . . in the Gazette! Thank you very much for making that happen. I hope your readers will find it informative.

However, the person that called was looking for clarification on a point I made. In following up on her question I discovered that apparently my original article was printed and not the corrected version I sent you 10/23. It’s nothing horrible, but the omission is definitely misleading. At the end of the article, under 2011 Highlights, the first point made about medicines should read:
Starting January 1, 2011 expenses for medicines or drugs will qualify as tax-free and reimbursable by an employer-provided health plan, including an FSA, HRA or HSA, only if:
- the medicine or drug requires a prescription;
- is an over-the-counter medicine or drug and the individual obtains a prescription; or is insulin.
Things are bit in flux at the moment as far as what will be available for consumers come 1/1/11. I’ll send you something when I know more.

Again, I really appreciate you printing this in the paper.
Bill Hannant

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Hi Vesta,
Thanks for alerting me to something neither myself or neighbors knew or have even been informed about.

I am part of Veterans Village Regional. Last year the same people who were against housing our American Heroes – newly returned Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans (OIF/OEF vets) on Drake Road are now helping with a proposal to have formerly homeless housed on Drake Road through Community Housing Sonoma County.

This is truly amazing since our president, Nadia McCaffrey, whose son died in combat service in Iraq, was treated very badly by these same neighbors, one who collaborates directly with Community Housing – the same ones who were afraid of having young, newly returned heroes in their area.

All veterans services in the area will start working on this issue immediately.
Yes, Community Housing is doing a Veterans project in Santa Rosa, which I am sure will be brought up-it is NOT for newly returned veterans as was the possible Guerneville site-but that has nothing to do with a narrow and rural area like Drake Road. Having many families with children in such a small area is ridiculous!!!
We are not zoned for multifamily units-it is enough with the many vacation rentals we are surrounded by.

Let’s try to help our newly returned vets have someplace in the redwoods to relax.
Marcy Orosco, MSW

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Dear Editor,
I have been meaning to write you a while to respond to the person in Graton who believes Graton is the only fire station with a siren.

I live between Hessel and Gold Ridge fire stations and I frequently hear the sirens from both of them.

When I hear them, I know that some member of our community is in need of help; and I also know that help is on the way. It is a very comforting sound.

I am reminded of the person who moved in next to the rural person with a rooster and then complained about the rooster crowing and threatened to sue her.

My response to her was “Get a donkey and some geese, and give him something to really listen to.”
Nan Waters, Sebastopol

Here's a bot of interest around that subject: Don Ford of CBS NEWS picked up a copy of the Gazette and was intrigued by the number of letters in the October edition on the subject of the Graton Siren - so he came out to do a story on it - here's a link to the story...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4pG-yqCAP4 - Vesta

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Good day Vesta:
My two cents on the Rockin’ Rio Nido Column:
I like it. I reside in Monte Rio now, however, did live in Rio Nido for 4 + years. I am only too familiar with the RNHA. My heart goes out to these women columnists. If you do not see eye to eye with the RNHA they gang up on you!

I read their letters AND really? Come on! I say, “Ladies, keep plugging away!” 
You have a job to do..... keep writin’...cause I’ma reading!
Natalia S.

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Hi Sonoma County Gazette,
I am writing about the girls who write the Rio Nido column. I grew up in the Hacienda area of the Russian River as a child and now reside in Cazadero. I have relatives and friends in the Rio Nido area.

I’ve been reading the Rio Nido column steadily and its been decent. I have to admit, since Eliza and Elaine took it over it’s been more interesting to read and I like the modern feel to it. It’s cheery and neat to see that some of my friends and acquaintances are mentioned in a few of the columns. It’s fresh and lets me know what’s going on in the area and I LIKE THAT. WAITING in anticipation to see what’s to come in December!  
Fondly, , Sarah Norhaus

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Dear Vesta,
Love, LOVE, LOVE this column. (Rockin’ Rio Nido) I read it every month! It’s raining out and Ive read the gazette from top to bottom. These women – Elizabeth & Elaina – have the “411” on this tiny community. Last I read this column it is about Rio Nido and not the RNHA. Seems to me the RNHA blew their little statement out of context and overreacted miserably. Shame on you. Feeling left out? Perhaps the RNHA Board members should have their own monthly column to give an up to snuff account on how they spend the Homeowner Assn. members yearly dues.

I walk and drive by the Pee Wee Mini Golf, picnic area etc, ....and it looks as though no MAINTENANCE has been performed in over A DECADE! Put your egos aside and give these ladies a break...they are doing a fantastic job reporting the important & community minded issues that matter to us and go on here in this Village.
Darla G.

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Hello Gazette:
I am writing to you because this column (Rockin’ Rio Nido) really speaks to me. I am a 15 year resident of Rio Nido and up until recently I’ve had no interest in this column. These ladies cover “everything and then some” that goes on in this small wooded town. I am an artist and rarely get out much, but have to say I enjoy finding out what happens!

In response to the Homeowners Assn. feedback in the front of your paper, it’s a sad shame they feel they need to posture themselves when all these ladies have done was praise their Association in past articles that I have read. Perhaps they are feeling guilt for not doing their share? To be truthful, the Homeowners’ grounds look worn, dilapidated and in need of some serious TLC. Maintenance? Uh......well, that’s another chapter in this saga! Enuff said! Sometimes the truth hurts......Ladies, keep on truckin! You ROCK!
Vinnie

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Hello all:
We at the Occidental Bohemian Farmers Market (OBFM) are writing to correct disinformation that is being circulated regarding our farmers market and a new market in operation at the Occidental Community Center.

The Occidental Bohemian Farmers Market is a non-profit registered with the State of California and a 501(c)6 registered with the IRS, and has been in operation in Occidental for the last 9 years. It had humble beginnings in 2002, but has since blossomed into a thriving market hosting small local farmers, meat producers, artisan food preparers, and area craftspeople. We regularly host 500+ people on Friday evenings in Occidental, June through October, and attract not only local residents, but people from all over the country. We’ve been fortunate to receive praise in nationwide publications like Sunset and Lonely Planet, as well as abundant coverage by local media outlets.

As a California Certified Farmers Market, we are required to work with the Department of Agriculture and our vendors to insure that they sell only produce they’ve grown themselves in California, or in our case, Sonoma County. This certification is designed to add value to consumers wishing to purchase food grown locally in order to reduce waste and pollution and to buoy the local economy.
It has come to our attention that a second entity is putting on another farmers market in Occidental, running year-round and also on Friday nights. We are happy to see other people promoting local agriculture, albeit at a market that’s not California Certified, and we are happier still to discover that this market is being undertaken to demonstrate use of the Occidental Community Center, as it is at risk of being shuttered due to budget concerns.

This second market has been promoting themselves as if they are associated with the OBFM-their community outreach via internet forums, paper flyers, and word of mouth has sought to capitalize on the hard-won success of the OBFM by suggesting that we have moved to the Occidental Community Center and are now operating year-round. Additionally, the market at the Community Center has, through the same channels, suggested that only their market benefits the “community,” only their market is not for profit, and that their market doesn’t exist to line the pockets of people from outside the area.

While we are hesitant to even respond to these types of inaccurate and unprofessional characterizations, they do generate ambiguity and confusion with our regulatory and area partners, as well as customers and community members. It is for that reason that we wish to state unequivocally that the market at the Occidental Community Center has no association with the OBFM and that the OBFM plans to operate our market in the same place and at the same time in our 2011 season, opening on June 3rd for our 10th year of operation. We’re looking forward to yet another year of fulfilling our mission of preserving the vital agricultural tradition of our community and connecting our community members to the food they consume.

We thank you for your attention to this matter and hope that you won’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Occidental Bohemian Farmers
Market Board of Directors
Greg Fisher
Sherry Huss
Kim Dow


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The advocates of racial hatred continue to beat their drums of fear and mistrust.
Here in Sonoma County, we witnessed this when a candidate for county supervisor decided to support “sanctuary” for undocumented immigrants. In response, a campaign mailer from the Sonoma County Alliance Political Action Committee suggested that Sonoma County would be turned into a haven for murderous immigrants who would prey upon local residents.

As Latinos involved in our community, we want to set the record straight: “o más derecho.”

As community leaders, we refuse to remain silent while our people are stigmatized and dehumanized. “Illegal immigrants” has become code for Latinos in California, and our nation. That many Latinos feel the same as we do is witnessed in our voting patterns.

Recent polls by the Pew Hispanic Center and a Democracia USA survey found that three out of four Latinos have a bad impression of the GOP, mostly because of their hard stand against immigration policy and their support of Prop 187. As proof of this, the recent election saw Democratic victories here in California, in part because of Latino voters.

Yet the anti-immigration rhetoric continues. The result? As a recent New York Times article recognized, “The nation’s largest minority (approximately 47 million) feels beleaguered by backlash from the polarized debate over immigration in the past year...”

Our county’s recent anti-“sanctuary” campaign mailer reminds us that these problems are indeed close to home.

We do not find solace in the fact that this mailer limited its attack to those who are “illegal.” We see this mailer for what it is: a hostile caricature, full of empty rhetoric. Most Latinos believe that the differentiation between “legal” and “illegal” simply serves to mask prejudice against Latinos and is a cover to fan the flames of racial intolerance. Otherwise, why would more than 6 in 10 of us say discrimination is a “major problem”?

Those who advocate for immigrant (documented or not) rights do not “protect criminals.” They speak on behalf of an overwhelmingly hard working, family-oriented, religious, and under-represented people who are seeking a better life.
That some immigrants put their lives in danger to enter the country without permission is a testimony to their desire for a viable future for themselves and their children, not proof that they are “mere criminals.”

Most Latinos understand this, and abhor the vitriol aimed at these members of our ethnic group.

The Press Democrat has acknowledged that, “As America grows more Latino; the perils of immigrant-bashing will begin to outweigh its rewards.”

That day is coming. Every year for the next 20 years, half a million Latino youths will reach voting age. These young people will remember being called “illegal” or “anchor babies” (regardless of their or their parents’ actual immigration status) because they are of Latino heritage.

Yes, within a few short years, thankfully, mailers demonizing Latinos will be a death knell for the candidate they represent. State Representatives who liken undocumented immigrants to rats, as recently happened in Tennessee, will find themselves voted out of office.

As a nation of immigrants and the ancestors of immigrants, both documented and undocumented, none of us should stand by quietly while self-serving groups, candidates, or political parties pound their hateful drums. The time has come to condemn race baiting campaign tactics, and to support comprehensive national immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship.

Michael Aparicio – Professor, SRJC (sympathetic partner)
Dennis Boné – Community Activist
María Cañas – PODER, Community Activist
Davin Cárdenas - Organizer, North Bay Organizing Project
Omar Gallardo – Graton Day Labor Center
Dr. Ellie Galvez-Hard - Professor, SSU
Laura González – President, Sonoma County Latino Democratic Club
Carl Jaramillo – UAW Lobbyist, Retired
Holly Jaramillo – Secretary, Sonoma County Latino Democratic Club
Dr. Ron López - Professor, SSU
Lisa Maldonado – Executive Director, North Bay Labor Council
Omar Medina
Michaele Morales – PODER, Community Activist
Abel Moya – “GANA” Grupo de Apoyo Nuevo Avance
Mujeres Unidas of Sonoma County
Tiffany Renée – Petaluma City Council Member
Alicia Román – Attorney at Law
David Rosas – Roseland Community Advocate
Alfredo Sánchez- Community Activist
Alicia Sánchez – Attorney, Union Activist
Denise Soza – Business Rep. for IBEW Local 551
Elsa Chinea Stevens
Dr. Francisco Vásquez - - Professor, SSU
Georgina Warmoth - Community Activist

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KIng RIdge Gran Fondo Resident Feedback

PLEASE SEE RESPONSES TO THIS LETTER BELOW
Dear Vesta,
I am a local resident shocked and enraged by the assault of Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge Gran Fondo cycling event this past Sat. 10/09/10 on the west county community. It damaged our ability to do business, disrupted our lives and endangered us on the roads. I am hoping that you will publish the letter below, because I feel it needs to be said. I spent the day asking local residents, business owners, and public servants about their experiences, and how this event affected our community. I have much more information to share, and I am hoping you will allow me a forum. This is a start. Please help!
Thanks,
Meredith

I am posting Meredith's letter below for feedback from others. The letter is too long for my next print edition, which will come out November 4th, so please comment here and perhaps by press time I will have an edited version to publish. - Vesta

Dear Vesta,
I am a 20- year resident of west Sonoma county, currently living in Camp Meeker. My life was very negatively impacted by this cycling event on 10/09/10, along with most of the residents and business owners of west county. Many of us experienced abuse by the police directing traffic in Occidental, total disregard for road traffic rules by cyclists, disrespect for local residents and business owners in so many ways its difficult to list.

My main concern is the negative impact that this event had on the very fragile local economy. Many of us are very dependent on money spent for goods and services on the weekends. Saturday is our big money day. I typically make about 20-25% of my monthly income each Saturday. I work at Inns and B & B's all over west county, as well as making housecalls to local residents. My weekends especially consists of driving on the highways and byways of west Sonoma county. These beautiful roads are my commute. I planned my business and my life this way- it is an intentional choice. That's why I live here - I enjoy the peace and quiet as well as the beauty of this area. I enjoy being tucked away, off the main path. I commuted to San Francisco for years, and took the long drive back to west county so that I could come home to peace and quiet, and enjoy all that this area has to offer during my down-time. Many of my neighbors do the same. We value our off-time.

This past Saturday, Oct.9, 2010., our lives, our livelihoods, and our lifestyles were seriously impaired by an event which we did not invite, did not welcome, did not want. Nobody asked us. Nobody even notified us! We live and work here; our lives were disrupted, our livelihoods damaged, and we had no say about it. All the major traffic routes to the area were closed (!) on a holiday weekend! This included Graton Rd, Occidental Rd., Bohemian Hwy., River Rd, Hwy 1, and Coleman Valley. In other words, 4 of the 5 roads that intersect in the tiny town of Occidental were closed or otherwise impassable at some point between 9 am and 4:30 pm- in other words, one full business day- in a town that is dependent on tourism and local weekend business.

Not only were we shut down economically, because our customers couldn't get to us- we were actually held captive by this race. We were prevented from either leaving or returning to our homes due to road closures. I live on Bohemian Hwy. I needed to go eastbound, then out to Bodega Bay for my first appointment. As I attempted to leave my driveway, 6,000 (!) bicyclists were streaming by at about 35 mph. It was absolutely impossible to go westbound. It was frightening and daunting to go eastbound, because the cyclists were not staying inside the eastbound lane. They were coming at me. I only had a short drive into Occidental, but I was quite shaken when I arrive. The road had been closed, so I arrive at a police blockade, which I couldn't get through. Nobody had told me the road was closed. I asked the policeman who was it that had approved the road closure, and he became irrate, actually banged on my car, and told me that if I didn't move along he would arrest me. Unfortunately, I didn't get his name and badge number, but I will try to ID him. I don't think he was CHP, because he was wearing a blue, not brown uniform. A rent-a cop?

There were other CHP officers there directing traffic, and they were polite. I asked them who was paying for them to be there, and none of them seemed to know. I asked who assigned them to the race, and they said that they volunteered, but the they were being paid. Still working on an answer to that question. I spoke to the EMT/Fireman, and asked them who was paying for them to be there (Occidental Fire Dept) and was told that the event was paying for them. Good. They assured me that the community was also being served, even better than usual, because they had extra staff on hand. Good. I also spoke to a volunteer fireman from Camp Meeker. He said they were not notified- in fact, they had no idea this event was happening. Not good. So my day began with my drive to work. I was still shaken from the abusive 'cop's behavior when I arrived. Throughout the day, I heard several stories of abusive cop behavior. I'm thinking it was the same one bad apple in Occidental. His behavior was totally unacceptable and inexcusable. What is worse, to me, is that visitors to the area, people coming to spend their money here, also were subjected to this abuse, according to reports from my neighbors.

Saturday, Oct. 9 was the opening of this year's ArtTrails, an event I look forward to every year. Local artists throughout west county, and elsewhere in Sonoma County open their studios to the public, and put their wares on display for sale. This is a big boost to local artists, and they look forward to this opportunity to market themselves. It also brings tourists to the area, who DO spend money in the local shops and eateries as well. And in my opinion, it improves the quality of life in the area.

According to local artist Barbara Hoffman, who's studio is on Occidental Rd., her business was non-existant Sat. am. She even sent some of her staff home, because no-one came to the studio. She didn't know THE ROAD WAS CLOSED! When visitors began arriving later in the day, they arrived shaken and angry, telling more tales of police abuse, road closures of 20 minutes, no alternate routes, and white-knuckled rides amidst the cyclists. Those were the patrons who arrived. How many turned away, unwilling to submit themselves to the ordeal?

>I worked in Bodega Bay and Jenner. I had to cancel my Forestville appointment, because I couldn't get there due to delays. I lost additional work because I was stuck in a no-cellphone zone, couldn't get to my usual hangout in Duncan's Mills, where my cellphone works. So I lost at least $200 because of the race. How much did others lose because their customers couldn't reach them, or they couldn't get to their customers? This west county economy is pretty fragile, and we are all hurting with the economic downturn. We can't afford to lose money, nor do we want to.

More to the point, who approved this? Who thought this was a GOOD idea? I know there were permits involved- somebody approved them, clearly without thinking about the consequences. I want to know who did this, and WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? I have been unable to get any answers. I called and emailed our west county representative to the board of supervisors (Efren Carrillo, (707)565-2241, ecarrillo@sonoma-county.org) as soon as I saw the notice of 'possible' road closure on Occidental Rd. at Hwy 116 THREE DAYS BEFORE THE EVENT. His office was closed until next week BECAUSE IT'S A HOLIDAY WEEKEND. No response to date. 

I called the Parks and Permits and Resource Management Dept., City of Santa Rosa (Shirley Zane, Permits and Transportation, 565-1900). Left a message. No response to date. I called the Finley Center, GranFondo Headquarters (Santa Rosa Parks and Rec. Dept). Got a taped message to call back 'during business hours'. No phone number given anywhere by GranFondo folks. Called Santa Rosa Police Dept. They had no phone number for GranFondo folks. Emailed LevisGranFondo.com. No response. Will call CHP next. I want to know who paid for CHP to direct traffic for this event? Us taxpayers? or the GranFondo? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest? Either way, NOT OK by me.

I drove on Hwy One from Bodega Bay to Jenner. So did my clients, guests at the local inns along the coast. The cyclists were going southbound en mass to Coleman Valley Road. I usually take Coleman Valley home for lunch. This was not possible. I asked the CHP officer directing traffic (ie closing the road to automobile traffic) who had approved the road closure. He said he didn't know. I asked who did know. He said "Talk to my supervisor" and gestured across the road, into on-coming cyclists. I said "Where can I park?" and he said " I don't know, but you have to move along, you're blocking traffic. There are officers down the road." I drove down the road. There were no officers, but there was a 'rest stop' for cyclists at Portugese beach. In fact, the parking lot was CLOSED, as well as access to the beach. I don't think the beach was closed, there was just no access to it, and nowhere to park. This is a STATE BEACH. You and I pay to make sure it is there for PUBLIC use. Who approved closure of this beach? Did you vote on it? I didn't. I saw a park ranger there, but he quickly disappeared amongst the crowd of cyclists. Did the race pay his salary also? Or did you and I? Is this legal? I was unable to find him, but I'm going to hunt somebody down for answers.

I tried to locate a race official. You would think there would be someone at a rest area. There were more EMT's and numerous volunteers. And LOTS of port-a-potties, and lots of people using them. I was directed to a table, which turned out to be more volunteers who told me there was a woman named Pilar in a red shirt. I looked amid the crowd, and saw many people in red shirts, but no one helpful. They told me to contact Finley Center, and you know what happened there. So, there were only volunteers, who knew nothing, in charge. No-one taking any responsibility. No answers to my questions.

I spoke with some of the cyclists. I asked where they were from. Canada. South Africa. Fremont. I was told that 49 states were represented, and several countries. I asked them if they were aware of the damage that they were doing to our local economy. They all said "No." Some were shocked to hear it. Some didn't care. Some said they wouldn't have participated had they known, and they won't be back next year. Thank-you.

I'm all for bicycling. It's healthy and a good mode of transportation and recreation. I'm all for fundraising. I'm all for sharing our bounty with visitors to the area. But this was pure foolishness. And it was dangerous foolishness. It was dangerous for everyone on those roads. I spent the next half-hour driving up the coast amid an onslaught of cyclists going south, dodging the numerous cars crossing over the double yellow line into oncoming traffic - ie: ME. This is against the law. It is against the law because it IS NOT SAFE.

There were signs for the cyclists to stay to the right, single file. Nobody did. Not anywhere, any time, all day. I did see MANY, MANY, MANY cars crossing over the double line, on blind curves, all day long. So did the CHP officer sitting at Hwy 116 and Hwy 1 in Jenner (Officer Post). No arrests were made- motorists, or cyclists who where obstructing traffic. I spend the day narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic as well as cyclists. I narrowly missed two cyclists myself. One of them swerved in front of me, another one disappeared in the shadows as light hit my eyes driving through the trees. But that happens every weekend out here.

These roads are not safe for cyclists. Not on a good day, under the best circumstances. If a cyclist falls in front of a car, it's all over for them. It happens all the time. It's their choice if they chose to take this risk. We are obligated to 'share the road'. But so are they. And, most of the time, they don't.

The choices we motorists are left with are:
1) drive behind the cyclist at their speed, because there is no room to pass them safely on a road with a double line
2) Cross over the double line into oncoming traffic, usually on a blind curve (which is why there is a double yellow line!), which is also breaking the law, and subject to citation, or
3) try to slowly pass them, and hope that they don't swerve or fall. None of these choices are good ones, and NONE of them are acceptable to me as a motorist. I don't want to be in that situation. Not on a good day. And especially not when 6000 cyclists invade our community, uninvited, unwelcome, and without regard to our community.

If you are as outraged as I am, please speak up! 
For starts, contact Efren Carrillo, our west county representative to the board of supervisors, who vowed to do right by us if elected. Find out who OKed these road closures, beach closure, use of our public services and resources. Let's stop this from EVER happening again to us.
Meredith Evans

RESPONSES:

I needed to get from Joy Road to Forestville at 8:30 Saturday morning. Thought about the ride when i went to bed and then completely forgot it in the morning until I ran into it. It was fun to see the cyclists but the people handling traffic did not know the local roads or knew what the exact route was. I was told I could turn at 116 but could not. I was only 15 minutes late but had to drive all the way into Santa Rosa on Occidental Road and then go out Guerneville Road. As a friend put it, "6000 cyclists - that is a lot of Lycra!" - Barbara

"Rainbow Butts" "yuppies in court jester suits" "eco-road-ragers" - Jamie

Well, I don't live in Cazadero or Occidental, but I think it is a glorious event. I had to wait 10 minutes on 116 to cross Occidental Rd, & re-think my route into SR - I had to ask myself, what's the hurry? All these people have come to Sonoma County to appreciate the beauty, do something healthy & raise money for a good cause. I say thanks, Levi. - Betsy 

Hi, Vesta, Sara and I were going up Stony Point to West College at almost 5 PM and found ourselves stopped in traffic with bikes about ?2 hours after the announced end. I understand a love of biking, but we have bike trails. I found it a disruption, but it only slowed us about 15 - 20 minutes. - Cecile 

An amazing event! Have heard nothing but kudos! Cheers to the Gran Fondo staff, volunteers and riders! (BTW, the route and closures were published in the PD for weeks before event.) - Jonathon 

I commented about the route announcements as well - but not everyone reads the PD - I was in Occidental on Friday and on the coast Wednesday and signs were posted along the roads. The event has been planned for a year and brings people from across the planet to our community. I have to believe it brings a lot of money along with the recognition. You can't make all of the people happy all of the time....” Yes, I stayed away from the roads on the route this Saturday. - Vesta

Your right Vesta. It raises to the tune of $100,000, if my recollection serves me, last year. This year it raised money for: Forget Me Not Farm, schools along the Gran Fondo course, Keep The Tour, Live Strong and other cycling charities around the county. All this can be found on: levisgranfondo.com - Ty

Hey don't spend that much money locally..they are rude on the road...they stay in healdsburg and sebastopol...they are not nice to locals.....I had a pack change tires in front of my house this morning and I woke up on my Sunday to "Divorce...fuck the bitch...she needs more botox...My Lawyer......I am going to sue his ass despite the point because he does not have the money to win.........lets ride this out and get home." I understand peoples feelings. - Jamie

Held me up about 10 minutes at a time when it was kinda important, but I did have a delusion of granduer that the traffic was held up because of my Legacy Sale....I don't read the PD, and there were no signs on Hwy 116 at Occidental rd. that I saw. Not that big a deal, helps to hear the nonprofits that they help. Forget Me Not Farm is WONDERFUL. - Sherry

Like so many things in life - it's a mixed blessing/curse. With a pack of 6,000 and all the related people involved, there are going to be bad seeds with negative behavior. What so many of these benefits and organizations don't realize is that publicity is VITAL and they rely on word-of-mouth too much - and the w-o-m of the internet. In essence - like anything that needs true public awareness - there has to be enough money to guarantee exposure (paid advertising) across the entire communication network...which is basically impossible to accomplish without HUGE money spent. If it's a benefit then the beneficiaries lose out in the long run. Not an easy win/win. - Vesta

Big deal. So I had to drive a little more carefully for ten minutes. - Cary

West county roads can't handle 6000 bicycles. People who live on the back roads are asked too much to host an event that benefits, for the most part, Santa Rosa. Being stuck at a major intersection like 116 and Occidental is nothing compared to needing to navigate the same back roads as 6000 bicycles that have completely forgotten the meaning of "share the road." Close down the city of Santa Rosa next year instead. Oh, and make sure it's on the opening day of ARTrails again. - Lou

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Black Face Humor...Not Funny!

NOT Black
NOT Female
NOT Funny

Not long ago Don Imus-a controversial radio personality-referred to the Rutgers Women's Basketball team as “nappy-headed hoes”. Since the election of America's first Black President, many Americans believe-or want to believe-that we have reached a milestone in race relations. Well that depends on who you ask. When Black women continue to be portrayed as mammies, jezebels, inarticulate, or promiscuous hoes, then I know we still have work to do. Many racist and insensitive individuals continue to refer to Black women as welfare queens, nappy-headed hoes, and the like, but this time the perpetrator may surprise you.

Now there's Charles Knipp, a racist and culturally incompetent White gay male comedian donning a Black face and telling jokes at the expense of Black women and Black culture. Knipp's professional experience includes working as a nurse and a minister. He has dual American and Canadian citizenship. He is better known for his misrepresentation of Black women. He plays Shirley Q. Liquor in drag - a heavy-set, shoplifting, promiscuous, inarticulate, malt liquor drinking, and a single parent Black woman that doesn't know who the father of her 19 children are. Knipp has been touring the country for a number of years spewing his racist venom in venues that will accept him, oftentimes in White gay venues.

Knipp is now bringing his insensitive act to California to “allegedly” pay homage to Black women. His show is scheduled at the Russian River Resort-a White gay venue-in Guerneville located in Sonoma County where the majority of the followers are White gay men from San Francisco. Even more egregious, the theme of the show is called Hurricane Weekend and will be performed on June 19, 2010. June 19th or “Juneteenth”, is when Blacks from Texas and nationwide reflect and celebrate independence and freedom from American enslavement. I am outraged and can't believe the Sonoma County community would welcome such a performance, especially after the former Cotati City Councilman George Barich was recalled for appearing in blackface on his personal blog.

In 2009, several middle-age White gay men in San Francisco protested the performance of Buju Banton, a Jamaican artist, for his controversial anti-gay lyrics. The artist's 1992 song “Boom Bye Bye” where Banton sings of throwing acid in the face of a “batty boy” an equivalent to an effeminate man. The anti-gay artist caught the attention of San Francisco's "socially and politically conscious" community. Many leaders of the LGBTQ community and two San Francisco Supervisors met with the artist to address the matter. While some members of our LGBTQ community appear to be policing insensitive issues impacting the LGBTQ community, some continue to turn a blind eye to issues impacting non-White gay people.

I am a true fan of exercising our 1st Amendment Right and freedom of expression, but not when the action or speech is potentially divisive and damaging to others. I would expect to see the same outrage that went into boycotting and protesting the performance of a Jamaican artist directed at Shirley Q. Liquor who misrepresents and insults the humanity of Black women and Black culture. If there is to be peace and harmony across races in the LGBTQ community, then we must all eliminate malicious attacks on communities of color whenever they occur. Most importantly, I urge you all to join me and take a stand to eliminate racially insensitive performances-like Shirley Q. Liquor-that continue to cause great harm and place a wedge between the African American and LGBTQ communities. Feel free to contact me at

Javarre@gmail.com
Respectfully,
Javarré Wilson, MPH
Oakland

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LETTERS to the Editor - Sonoma Coumty Issues

Vesta: Whether the proposed permanent lowering of the Russian River's flow rate, noted in this article (Protest Alert! for Permanent Russian River LOW FLOW - March 2010), is a reasonable response to protect threatened fish species is not clear to me, and I am not advocating for or against the NMFS position. I am looking for a reasonable discussion of the issues. The "Protest Alert" article does not provide that.

There are two areas that are especially troubling. The first is the insistence that the protest period be extended to after the completion of the environmental review. If the review in question is a formal Environmental Impact Review (not stated), the protests are best lodged before its completion to ensure they are addressed in the review. Protesting after its release is just a method to prolong the process, not a method of ensuring its adequacy, unless the EIR is faulty - which can occur.

My second concern is the article's all-too-common reaction to conflicting environmental pressures: the implication that what seemed to be okay 10 years ago - or 20 or 50, is the standard by which current concerns should be addressed. This trip down memory lane
fails to recognize the population and agricultural pressures that have shaped - and continue to shape - all aspects of the environment.

The statement, "...and we don't know why the frogs have all but disappeared," is emblematic of this view. Frogs, and other amphibians, have been disappearing worldwide for years. There have been numerous studies and hypotheses developed to account for this. They include general pollution, specific toxic substances discharged into waterways and on land, estrogen-mimicking compounds and derivatives from agricultural and pharmaceutical sources, reduced habitat, and loss of food sources (e.g., insects).

In recent years, drought could be a significant local addition to this list. What most of these have in common is that they are caused or exacerbated by population pressures. Looking back to 1950, or '60 or '30, while perhaps presenting a comforting image, will not make the river better. Pretending that our previous activities related to the river, whether recreational or directly economic, were benign is disingenuous.

More importantly, it sustains the notion that what "we" do to and for the river is environmentally kind and what ""they" do is bad. Looking for environmental answers, while insisting that there be no change that affects "us" will only give us more of the same river degradation. It is true that "long range impacts of low flow are unknown...", but this is true of all long range projections.

We DO know that what's happened in the not too distance past, even prior to the low flow actions, has resulted in ever-decreasing environmental quality in and around the river. Doing nothing will only continue this trend.

The saying, "There's no such thing as a free lunch," applies to all environmental issues. That said, the low flow proposal may be wrong. However, we must evaluate suggested changes from a current perspective, not from one that assumes a Norman Rockwell vision. When evaluating environmental damage or proposed mitigations, we must remember that Pogo was right: We have met the enemy, and he is us.

Kenneth Koutz - Guerneville

RESPONSE:
Briefly, the protest period is cut off before environmental review, so that issues that come up during that public process, and which inform the public, are not available now. The public is only partially informed at this point. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The whole point of the environmental review should be to bring forth the issues, NOT shut off the public’s ability to protest this formal and far reaching action.

The other part is very complicated and there is no real brief response. The river is artificially managed by the Corps of Engineers and Sonoma County Water Agency. They are supposed to consider all beneficial uses, but water deliveries always seem to get priority. (Yes, it’s a given that we have all contributed to the problem, but some have contributed a lot more damage than others and playing the blame game gets us nowhere. The loss of the frogs is indeed the “Canary in the mine” which I have pointed out on numerous occasions.)

Now that we are faced with probable dire flow limits in the summer time, it becomes a battle for all the interests. SCWA’s inclination is to prioritize water supply, although they are trying hard to accommodate the requirements of the Biological Opinion. The point of lowering flows, according the National Marine Fisheries Service, is simply to keep the mouth of the Russian River closed in order to provide habitat for young steelhead. In order to do that, they need lower flows. They say they are concerned about water quality issues, but the proof is in the pudding. We believe all flow changes should be temporary at this point and that a permanent change is totally premature.

The whole thing is an experiment, and if flows are too low for too long there will be enormous impacts on water quality and recreation and the whole lower river economy. Our view is that we need a lot more information before we know that it is a “reasonable response” (not our call) and we are asking for a much more gradual lowering until this can all be studied.

Brenda Adelman, author or protest article

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My Thank You Story
By Dana Dunne
Site Supervisor at 4Cs WKJ Infant Development Center

This past September 13, my mother died. The following month, on October 13, my daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor - again. The first diagnosis came a few days after my daughter, Noel, turned 21. The first time was bad. The second diagnosis was even worse. The first time, we mistakenly thought it was a one-time ordeal but it turned out we were wrong and it may even happen again. Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County (4Cs) was and is a life line for me and my family.

Many 4Cs employees made personal financial contributions, offered emotional support and donated their sick time so that I would not have to worry about a loss of income during my time off of work to care for Noel. Sue Katz, Jim Walters, Lilly Watters and Sharon Caesare burned up the telephone wires and the internet to find information about the tumor, about agencies, and to even make hotel reservations. Daily phone calls from these people eased my heart and mind with their kind words and from some the promise of prayers. Among the phone calls I depended upon came from Anne Brown, former 4Cs Centers Director, whom many of you will remember fondly. She made a deal with me that if I was strong for Noel , she would be strong for me.

Many contributions came from people I didn't even know. People talked to their families. Families talked to their friends. My brother and his wife began collecting information and funds almost immediately. Sharon Caesares' dad sent money from his Lodge. Allison Goodwin, the Site Supervisor of the 4Cs center in Healdsburg offered us lodging with her family while we were in Redwood City for the surgery. Allison's mom gave us $50.00.

4Cs William K. Johnson (WKJ) Infant Development Center, located on the campus of Healdsburg High School, is names after a local attorney known for his generosity and care of the less fortunate. While I was caring for Noel, the staff at WKJ held a surprise benefit for us. I love the WKJ staff! Our center is small - only 15 families - but they bought enchiladas like crazy to the tune of 65 dinners at $10.00 each. 4Cs office staff bought enchiladas too. With the money raised, we were given gifts to brighten up our bedrooms and bathrooms along with pre-paid gas cards and a pre-paid restaurant card.

We are long time residents of Guerneville, a small West county town. Here too a benefit was created for Noel. My friend, Mary Mount a realtor with Prudential Realty, Beth Rudometkin of Community First Credit Union, Richard and Donna Hines of Pat's Restaurant and Bar along with Shasta and Jen brought together - all through word of mouth - a benefit in a matter of 4 days' time. This was a surprise for us, too!

Neighbors, friends and family showed up at Pat's on a Monday night bearing homemade food and then they all paid $5.00 per plate to eat each others' food. LOCAL BUSINESS in town and Razorback Construction of Cazadero were involved. Bob Burke of Bob Burke's Cancer Kids and his sister Linda shared the love. Two old friends Gary and George were huge contributors. People from Guerneville Elementary School gave love with their contributions. I heard the Stumptown Brewery showed up with a bucket of cash collected from employees and customers. 4Cs staff attended, too, bringing their collection of money and food to share. These are just a sampling of the generosity of good people wanting “to do something”. I was so proud to have my friends, family and co-workers all there offering their love and support.

My husband was a fragile doll that night so in awe was he of all of the support for us and for Noel. His dad told him if you have one true friend you are lucky and here we had ALL OF YOU - about 250 of YOU!!!!

Approximately $5,000 was raised and of the $1,000 was donated to the Dunne Fund at Community First anonymously!

If there is a silver lining it is YOU! All of the employees of 4Cs who have hearts big enough to love and care for children by working at the Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County and supporting a friend in need and to the Guerneville community who have hearts big enough to love and care for one of its own. YOU have honored me and my family and we thank you all.

Sincerely,
Dana, Jonathan and Noel Dunne who are proud to be GUERNEVILLIANS
Editor's Note:

Currently, the tumor has been removed and Noel is receiving chemotherapy for three months. In June, monthly MRI's will begin to watch for any signs of recurrence. The Dunne Fund at Community First Credit Union is still accepting donations.

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Vesta,

I know that there is etiquette on sending proper thank you's. I hope Miss Manners will not ban me from society for my lack of timely response.

My family and I would like to Thank the community of Forestville, Our friends and the many local organizations for their unconditional support and help given to my family.

The fundraiser held in January 2010 for my husband Randy was and incredible show of love , kindness and community support.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend as I was a guest of Memorial Hospitals ICU. The monies raised from that helped tremendously with utilities and entirely for Randy's medical expenses.

Again I say THANK YOU FORESTVILLIANS AND FRIENDS this truly is a special town that we live in.

As you know, we are both on our way to recovery.... Randy is finally done with all his cancer treatments and the prognosis is promising.

From one local Forestvillian to all others thank you.
Mo Hull

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Happy Spring West County!

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping the apple trees are blossoming! Spring has sprung and Active 20-30 is growing. Men and women between 20 and 39 are invited to join us in our adventures. Active 20-30 is an international service organization that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for the children in need in our local communities. Sebastopol #63 is one of the newer clubs in the process of forming in this amazing organization!

Stop by Mary's Pizza on May 11th at 6:30 p.m. and learn more about who we are and what we have coming up or join us on May 25th in the beer garden at Hopmonk Tavern at 6:30 p.m. to meet the current and prospective members of this club in formation.

Looking forward we are hosting our first fundraiser at the Forestville School to raise money for their Library. The school needs $15,000 annually to maintain the Library and provide books for the children in Forestville. I encourage you to purchase your ticket ($20 for adults and $10 for children) to the all you can eat pasta feed on May 8th from 5 - 9. Tickets are available in the school office, online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/105444 or by calling me at 707.536.3252. This is a great way to take the family out for a wonderful dinner catered by Sally Tomato and support a local school at the same time. DJ Lazy Boy will be playing your favorite music and we'll have a 50/50 raffle where you have the opportunity to win 50% of the pot!!!

As a club we have chosen to create a playground fund that will be funded by the community as well as 5% of proceeds from all fundraisers we host. Our goal is $30,000. When this goal is reached our club will move forward with finding a location to add onto or build a handicapped accessible playground for the children of Sonoma County and surrounding areas to enjoy! You can help with this endeavor by contributing directly to the playground fund and/or attending our future fundraisers.

I look forward to working closely with our community in improving the quality of life for the children in and around Sebastopol. Please contact me with any questions or suggestion!

Samantha Mineo
Incoming President, Active 20-30 Sebastopol #63 Club in formation
707.536.3252
Samantha.2030@hotmail.com

One never stands so tall as when kneeling to help a child.

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Letters from Vietnam: 1968-69

Thought you might want to see what I have been up to. Just today I published my first Hub - kind of like a blog, more like an article. Many of the letters I wrote while I was in Vietnam 1968-69 have been saved by mom, grandma and my great aunt. Mom kept most of them and also photos. Just recently I have needed to re-read these for veterans' purposes and I have shared a few with other friends and family. I may be thinking of putting together a book of these letters and photos with my experiences while on tour in Vietnam. So if you wouldn't mind, please check out this first one at:
http://hubpages.com/profile/NamVetRich (you'll see my profile at HubPages - and click on the link to my first attempt) Its called "Letters from Vietnam-1968-1969.

One more thing: please be sure to go all the way down to the end and click on the video link there to hear my #1 song choice from back in those days!

Please leave rate it UP and leave me a comment - in the comments box ! I really appreciate this support.

I feel very passionate about this since it has been so hard for me to revisit these days for such a long time. And I have my mother's blessing, as we have talked many times about the letters and how precious they are to all of us.

Take care, Aloha!
Dick Jr. (Richard)

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Good Morning

The Census Bureau has been ignoring the Deaf community since the early 1800's. Here is Sonoma County we are changing that by educating the census bureau and working with legislator's to not only improve the Deaf for the 2010 census but also to ensure that the Deaf community are allowed by congress to self-identify as a Cultural linguistic minority for the 2020 census. Not all Deaf community member's consider themselves as "disabled" or "handicapped." By allowing the Deaf community to self identify so they too will be listed on the census form that will give them visibility and funding that will filter into their community to enhance their everyday lives.

Sadly, the Deaf are still looked upon in the some of the hearing world as a group of people who are dependent on the hearing and can not make decisions on their own. So by Congress allowing the Deaf to self identifying as their own minority group, they will be able to stand on their own two feet and make their own decisions. Until there are changes, the oppression and marginalization continues.

I was interviewed by Bruce Robinson, KRCB radio this morning (the interview is on their website) to inform the community. However, this is not just a community issue, this is an issue that affects all of us. The Deaf are made up of a community who are our friends, neighbors and family and I may add voters and tax payers who struggle on a daily basis to survive in a fast pace hearing world. And sadly they are ignored and forgotten.

I am asking each and everyone of you to please follow KRCB's lead and help us spread the word through the power of the media. The only way that we will make any head way for the next 2020 census is by informing and educating Congress and the community. I am available for an interview.

Here is the link to our PSA that is on the State of California's official census website. http://www.californiacompletecount.org/media_center/viewer?id=332331&f=v. W are also on the Alameda's website and on you-tube.

There is an event and a DVD presentation on April 18Th that will be sponsored by the City of Santa Rosa. Here is the announcement.

Thank you

Patricia Boyd
Sonoma County Census Complete Committee/Community Advocate for equal accessibility for all


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Hi Vesta,

I promised to update you this week on the outcome of the vote by the Planning Commission April 1 regarding the proposed quarry on Roblar Road. After the third public hearing, the commission voted unanimously to recommend the project to the Board of Supervisors for a decision. No date has yet been set for the supervisors meeting, although we expect it will be within 2 to 3 months. CAARQ was disappointed with the decision by the commission to recommend the project, but not surprised. We felt the decision had been made before the hearing started. The County staff provided their final staff report to the public less than a week prior to the hearing, so CARRQ and others did not have adequate time (as called out by CEQA provisions) to prepare detailed rebuttal to the final report.

CARRQ will continue to fight the development of the quarry next to the unlined, uncapped old County landfill on Roblar that will sit next to Open Space property paid for by County taxpayers. Taxpayers, in effect, will have paid the applicant John Barella, owner of North Bay Construction, to build this quarry through the Open Space dollars (he was paid $2.3 million for the development rights of the property that would have allowed only 3 homes to be built anyway) despite the fact that he had already contacted the County about his intention to build a quarry next to the Open Space. CAARQ feels this egregious misuse of taxpayer dollars to benefit one individual’s business should be made more public. This will be one point CARRQ will continue to push out to the public, in addition to our continued concerns about water and air quality and our agreement with experts, such as the Russian Riverkeeper organization, that the County has not proven there is an economic need for the rock from this proposed quarry.

We count the Sonoma County Gazette as one of our primary sources for getting information out to the public. Will you please tell me your publication schedule and what we need to do to get more coverage in the WCG over the next several months?

Please visit CARRQ’s Website and become a Fan on Facebook!

Thank you very much.

Kind regards,
Donna Spilman

My Blog: http://noroblarrockquarry.wordpress.com/

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Vesta,

You can go read Chapter 1 of the book I'm submitting to the competition I mentioned in the Gazette. I'd love to hear what you think.

Please feel free to share it with anyone who might like to see the beginning of a metaphysical fiction or like to read it and consider voting for me to get it published.

It's on "Book Preview" at the website I just launched. Just click on the link below.

http://www.aseekersgathering.com

Love, Jeanne

---------------------------------

Hello,

My name is Algeo Ché Casul and I am the new Business Liaison for West County Community Services (WCCS). I’m writing you today in the hopes that your business will be interested in partnering with WCCS and the community by hiring our program participants. We offer several different incentives for businesses to hire our people.

We have two programs in which while our program participant works for your business they will technically be an employee of WCCS. These programs are designed for temporary employment where we will pay an employee’s wages, do their payroll, and be responsible for workers compensation.

In return your business will be responsible for supplying the employee with much needed work experience. Basically you get free labor for providing work experience. Another of our programs is called on the job training (OJT) where if your business was looking for a regular employee and hired one of our program participants we will offer up to $1,500 dollars to offset training cost for a probationary period of the first 90 days of employment.

After the 90 days we have something called Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) which can give an employer tax credit off of our program participants wages between %25 to 40%. Obviously there are some strong monetary incentives for hiring our program participants but there is also the simple fact that your business will he helping the community and someone in need.

Please contact me at acasul@westcountyservices.org or (707) 889-4379 to get connected with our programs, their benefits, and to help the community your business is based in.

Thank you for your time,

Algeo Ché Casul
Business Liaison
West County Community Services
(707) 889-4379
acasul@westcountyservices.org

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Dear Vesta,

I have further thoughts about our conversation yesterday during the intermission at the Sonoma County Planning Commission Orrin Thiessen review. All things considered I have chosen to support Orrin's downtown project design.

Grouping residences together in a downtown core will have a much smaller energy "footprint" than the seventy one-acre homes that you proposed for the Crinella land yesterday. You rightly praised our Forestville Youth Park and questioned why we also really need a downtown square. I see that they serve different functions. The Youth Park is not an easy walking distance from the downtown. The amphitheater and meeting areas of the downtown square will be a valued place in the core of our downtown.

That Orrin's project will provide space for more stores and professional spaces for our downtown makes sense to me. To walk or drive a short distance for a medical appointment, for instance, saves us energy and time. Although Orrin's project doesn't look "green" (where are the solar panels, etc.!) the design concept and the many unseen construction materials he proposes do meet the minimum "green" Sonoma County guidelines.

There is no doubt that Orrin's project will have a major impact on the feel of our downtown. I feel the mix of mediterranean and victorian styled buildings Orrin designed are beautiful in themselves. The question is whether the strength and passion of these styled building designs belong in downtown Forestville. Fortunately the proposed building designs for the Forestville project have more integrity and are more robust than the buildings he designed for the Windsor project which many feel, I included, have a Disneyland-like quality to them.

One approach to the project would have been to use one style of architecture through the whole project. The Monte Rio Elementary School designed by Michael Singer, to me, has a handsome "West County" kind of feel. Architect Steve Sheldon's live-work project at Florence and Highway 116 in Sebastopol is an excellent example of a very green project of what I would call an organic style in that form pretty much follows function. Note that you must look closely at the details of the construction of his project to really understand how green it is. But unified design styles of both these projects would definitely stand apart from the rest of downtown Forestville which has a mix of styles of architecture. Of course you could say, "so be it".

At the public hearing yesterday Orrin stated that he tried to create a project design that looked "built organically over time". I love the diversity of buildings of many traditional downtown areas as most people do. Witness the many preserved "historic downtowns" of many cities. Orrin, in attempting to duplicate the look of some of our demolished historic local buildings, tried in his project design to suggest this sense of history and individuality which we cherish. So the "historic" replications of buildings in his project are then a celebration of the exuberant designs of a past time.

I admire Orrin's courage to follow his passion for replicating the architecture of a time of our local history that spoke to our optimism and individualism. Some of the architecture may appear to us pretentiously grand, and so it was! My sense is that we Forestvillians pride ourselves for our individualism. "Boring" and "nice" are not what we are about as Forestvillians (I would like to believe). No one has complained that Orrin's project is boring! Orrin, a Forestville resident, brings his particular passion for architecture to our community, a gift that I would have a hard time rejecting.

Ken Smith, architect

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