May 26 Letters to the Editor

Congressional inquisition

EDITOR: When did the job of Congress change from legislator to inquisitor? People wonder why Congress doesn't get anything done. Could it be that members are too busy holding hearings to have any time left to make laws? Maybe they feel it is just more productive, at least for their political careers, to spend their time grilling people in front of the cameras. They must want to look like crusaders. Instead, they look more like the Spanish Inquisition.

EMORY WINSHIP

Sonoma

Education for all

EDITOR: The decision to open the French charter school was controversial to begin with, and now we learn that the students will have lunches prepared by a chef at nearly twice the cost of the lunches other city schoolchildren are served ("Chef to fix lunch for French charter school kids," Thursday).

How can the school board justify spending our tax dollars on furthering elitism? When librarians, music and sport programs have been cut, why did the board vote to spend nearly $100,000 on improved lunches for what many consider an exclusive public school, already not serving the needs of the neighborhood children?

I commend board member Laura Gonzalez for abstaining. This decision is outrageous. I have little confidence in this school board and wonder if the members understand that public education is maintained at public expense for all children in a community. Brown vs. the Board of Education might be good to remember and review in this case.

JENNIFER ESPINOZA

Santa Rosa

Free golf a non-issue

EDITOR: I think our city officials should be dealing with important subjects, such as our pension crisis, which is going to bankrupt our city, rather than the non-issue at the Bennett Valley Golf Course.

Bennett Valley is the best municipal golf course in Northern California due to the efforts of Bob Borowicz and his staff. Marc Richardson was the director of parks, and Rich Hovden was a park manager. They should play golf for free. The more they are on the course, the better they can appreciate the efforts of the groundskeeping crew, and they can better understand why the course needs a new irrigation system. They can observe the friendly service in the pro shop. Who would criticize the shop staff for giving a rain check to an elderly golfer who is too tired to finish playing a round? I think that is courteous service. Anyone who questions Borowicz's honesty and integrity doesn't know him.

Since Hovden and Richardson have repaid the city for their free golf, let's consider this non-issue no longer an issue.

MICHAEL HOEY

Santa Rosa

Parks in trouble

EDITOR: I'm outraged. What is happening that the city of Santa Rosa has chosen to allow the grass in the parks to die and spent almost nothing on maintenance? These wonderful oases will soon give way to graffiti and destruction by those who see that the city doesn't care enough to keep the property up. Parents and children won't want to spend time at the parks with the brown lawns and weedy paths. The plan of providing citizens of Santa Rosa with a place to recreate will disappear all summer.

Businesses will see this and think twice about relocating here. A measure of quality of life is always the quality of local parks and recreation. What must companies think when they are looking ahead to try to sell Santa Rosa as a place to relocate to their employees?

And why is it that no other city in Sonoma County is allowing this to happen? We are not in a drought. We have allocated enough money to maintain parks. Why is this happening? Why has the city decided this without input from citizens? What happened to Luther Burbank's description of Santa Rosa, "This is the chosen spot of all this earth as far as Nature is concerned"?

GINA CROZIER

Santa Rosa