Wednesday's Letters to the Editor

<p class="bold allcaps">Water rate hike</p> <p>EDITOR: In reviewing the proposed rate hikes for water and sewage services, I am reminded of the fate of the Spanish governor of Ecuador who, in 1599, was executed by having molten gold poured down his throat. Is this what my next glass of water will feel like?</p><p>Ratepayers have been asked to conserve. Should conservation cost more? And why increase both rates? Have we been flushing toilets less, too? City water conservation programs (the agency pays a plumber to change ratepayer toilets) are costly. The average bill will increase more than 10 percent. How is this justified in a 2 percent inflation economy?</p><p>On Dec. 8, we can comment on the proposed rate hikes for water and sewer services. These increases are not adequately supported on the city Web site. Justification for rate hikes should include balance sheet information as well as what will be done with the new revenue.</p><p>If you don’t care, stay home and grumble when your new bill arrives. If you care, attend this meeting. Body count matters. Show up and speak up: 5 p.m. Dec. 8 at Santa Rosa City Hall.</p><p>WILLIAM HAND</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Not so green</h3> <p>EDITOR: This is in response to your Saturday article regarding the solar field that produces one megawatt of clean energy without costing the taxpayers any money (“Coast Guard goes green”). That is terrific, but we do have a “not in my backyard issue.”</p><p>We live across from the Coast Guard station. Our family has owned the property since 1935. Last week, the Coast Guard finished paving approximately two acres for a RV parking and storage area directly in front of our house. Where there was once a hay field with deer and Canada geese, now we will be looking at seagoing storage containers, old camping trailers and motor homes with street lights for security. This is not anywhere near the county’s plan for green.</p><p>Sonoma County spends millions of dollars every year to buy development rights from ranchers so we don’t build on our property. Then the Coast Guard builds this without consulting the county or its neighbors.</p><p>With the acreage it has, the Coast Guard could have put this parking lot anywhere on the base without being obtrusive to anyone. Now, every day, the residents of Two Rock Valley will be looking at a trailer park. And by the way, the taxpayers did fund this one. So I am sorry, but this is an “in our backyard” issue.</p><p>MARY and BRUCE RAVEN</p><p>Petaluma</p><h3>Valuable tool</h3> <p>EDITOR: Losing your vehicle when you’re cited for being unlicensed while driving is a great law enforcement tool (“Immigrants protest car seizures,” Sunday). When drunken drivers lose their license as part of their punishment, they often drive without it and, when caught, lose their vehicle for 30 days. This is a tool, and I want it used.</p><p>When undocumented persons are cited for unlicensed driving and lose their vehicles, they also almost always do not have insurance. This is also a crime and one of the reasons I have to carry uninsured drivers insurance.</p><p>This is a valuable public safety tool. If you want to live where the laws are not enforced, more power to you. Goodbye. I am tired of people who violate laws and then want them changed to suit their needs. I don’t even want to get going on the illegal-legal immigrant issue; that is a federal problem.</p><p>BOB MCKUSICK Jr.</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Sausage factory</h3> <p>EDITOR: As I observe the House and Senate attempting to craft health care legislation, it brings to mind the quotation attributed to Otto von Bismarck: “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.”</p><p>EDGAR F. SMITH</p><p>Healdsburg</p><h3>Punishing Barich</h3> <p>EDITOR: It strikes me as ludicrous that George Barich, the maverick councilman, has run afoul of his fellows on the Cotati City Council. It would appear that the council, once a bastion of free speech and maverickism, has become a bastion of old boy/girlism.</p><p>The council has looked with frantic determination to find a way to get rid of Barich, who has attempted to breathe life back into Cotati and its dying business and cultural body. What exactly does the council wish to do, have all of its members fall into the classification of good boys and girls and make no waves?</p><p>My hat is off to Barich. I fear what will happen to Cotati if this recall is successful.</p><p>EDWARD LIEBERMAN</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Leading by example</h3> <p>EDITOR: I would like to thank Santa Rosa School Board members Bill Carle and Larry Haenel for their thoughtful comments at Wednesday’s school board meeting (“Hundreds turn out to oppose school cuts,” Thursday). Among other things, they both volunteered to take a 10 percent cut in pay. While school board members make very little money, this symbolic gesture tells me that they understand the power of leading by example. </p><p>SUE CLEEK</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Whale of a story</h3> <p>EDITOR: In these days of doom and gloom in the news, the Fort Bragg whale story has been truly refreshing. Yes, of course it was sad to see that massive mammal parked in the rocky cove. A normal news story would be who’s responsible for removal, massive stench, tourism suffering, red tape delays, etc. Instead we see residents and volunteers working together like a well-oiled machine. From government employees to students to scientists to compost makers and many in between. Burying the skeleton to prepare for future research and a tourist draw? Hats off to all involved. I look forward to seeing the documentary as I’m sure someone thought of filming, too. </p><p>ALAN RITCHIE</p><p>Petaluma</p><h3>History lesson</h3> <p>EDITOR: While Mike Healy and Chip Worthington (“Why we are suing to block the casino,” Close to Home, Oct. 28) have the right to sue to try to stop the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria from building a gaming resort, many of the statements they have made are off base:</p><p>• The tribe from which the Graton rancheria is descendent had more than 10,000 inhabitants in the Santa Rosa Plain (including Rohnert Park) prior to settlement by the Spanish. </p><p>• In California, the “remote lands Native Americans have occupied for generations” are where they were driven by early European settlers, not their ancestral homes. </p><p>• Every store in Sonoma County (the state Lottery), the county fair (horse races) and other tribes offer gaming, which is legal in California. </p><p>• Suggesting that “remote Indian lands” are a better place for gaming is nonsense. It is much better to have a gaming resort located by a freeway near urban centers than in a remote area with inadequate infrastructure. </p><p>• The Graton tribe has done much more than other tribes or developers to support local government, mitigate environmental impacts and honor the environmental review process. </p><p>The court will decide the merits of Healy and Worthington’s case, but a lesson in California history would be a good next step.</p><p>DAN SMITH</p><p>and JOAN MARLER</p><p>Sebastopol</p>