Letter of the Day: Quaint Sebastopol

<p><b>Quaint Sebastopol</b></p><p>EDITOR: I didn't get the memo that Berkeley was having a contest to name a sibling from the west, but apparently Sebastopol did. While Sebastopol is a lovely little town, it is quartered by two very busy state highways. In fact, the picture on the front page showed a woman overlooking a busy, three-lane state route (“Quest to stay quaint,” Thursday). How quaint.</p><p>Allowing a long-abandoned auto dealership to languish on one of the most visible of the busy corners in that town is far from quaint. Putting up several obstacles to prevent a drug store from occupying said property is also far from quaint and is now getting the town sued. Lawsuits are not quaint.</p><p>If Sebastopol city officials are truly interested in thwarting the effects of an automobile-centric society, they might consider this: If your residents don't have to drive to a neighboring town to buy the basics, the things not usually found at the mom-and-pop stores, they might not have to drive out of town.</p><p>The quote that you published from the Graton resident and Zen priestess — that was pretty quaint!</p><p>TONY ROSS</p><p>Healdsburg</p>