Sept. 15 Letters to the Editor

Bike thefts

EDITOR: I find it disturbing that bicycle theft is a chronic problem in Santa Rosa. We are a city trying to promote going green and bicycling more, through creating bicycle boulevards and hosting the Amgen race, yet we struggle to keep our bicycles safe.

I became aware of this when my nice commuting bicycle was stolen while I was in class at the Santa Rosa Junior College. I came out to find a fragment of my lock where I had left my bike. Upon further investigating and talking with law enforcement officers, students and other cyclists, I found out the high frequency of bikes being stolen from the downtown area. One officer told me that the junior college and the Santa Rosa Plaza shopping center were hot spots for these types of theft and they are typically unsuccessful in recovering them.

As a city, that strives to become more bicycle friendly, we should come together as a community to solve this problem so we can promote environmentally safe transportation and truly be green.

BEN CRANE

Santa Rosa

A chance for Carrillo

EDITOR: I have met Supervisor Efren Carrillo on several occasions and can see that he is a man of the people — actively involved in the often-ignored Russian River community. After other failed attempts on our part, we finally were able, with Carrillo's help, to obtain funding for Guerneville's wi-fi system. This is important because not many of us can afford laptops, traditional connections are spotty, and we have lots of tourists who will use this system when they come to town.

More personally, I am close to someone who got into a similar scrape. He was judged and convicted by our family court without anyone really understanding what was behind those actions. With some time and therapy, Carrillo, if he takes this seriously, will be fine, though those judgments will probably follow him throughout his life. I believe, from what I know of him personally, that he can separate his personal life from his professional life.

A corrupt politician is, to me, much worse than one with a tarnished sexual history. Unfortunately, sex sells and corruption is more widely accepted. Carrillo is young; give him a chance. He's not above the law, but worthy of our support and, especially, a fair trial.

KAREN LOCKERT

Forestville

Carrillo's demons

EDITOR: I've read a lot about the lack of compassion for Efren Carrillo considering all that he's done for Sonoma County as 5th District supervisor. Having friends who've successfully gone through rehab and some who haven't, I have to agree that someone with those issues deserves all the support they can get. Because those friends I speak of — I know their fight. I've seen them come back from the dregs of life to have families and hold down a job. I've attended the funerals of others. They experienced the fight of their lives, and it took everything they had to get to a point where the battle only continues. It's the support of loved ones that makes survival possible.

So for those who speak of compassion, I would suggest you urge Carrillo to resign and focus his efforts on defeating his demons. Because the desperate fight politicians (and their handlers) wage to maintain their place in the power game is as all-consuming and can only distract Carrillo from overcoming his afflictions, if he truly wishes to do so.

Carrillo needs to resign now, for himself and for Sonoma County, regardless of what happens in the courtroom.

BILL SHORTRIDGE

Sebastopol

Vacation from logic

EDITOR: I had to laugh at the vacation from logic in "Salmon find hailed as breakthrough" in Monday's paper. First, the cause of the coho decline is stated: "Runoff from logging and farming, coupled with the end of dredging efforts that were aimed at preventing road flooding, had turned the nearly-nine-mile waterway flowing from Coleman Valley to the Jenner estuary into a meandering mess." And then the fix is to put logs back in the river?

What does placing wood in a river to restore it have to do with farmer-and logger-caused runoff or the end of dredging? Possibly a little, but not much.

Later, it says "much of the wood was cleared out of the stream in the 1970s and '80s when Louisiana Pacific operated in the watershed," as if LP was responsible for taking wood out of Willow Creek. Well, LP was not responsible for that, the California Department of Fish and Game was — the same agency that is now paying to have it put back in, and at a much higher cost.

GEORGE A. HOLLISTER

Comptche