Nov. 13 Letters to the Editor

Yes on B

EDITOR: One year ago, I moved to Sonoma. I could have made my new home in any part of the world. I chose Sonoma, drawn by factors such as its size, charm, beauty, clean air, locally owned shops and restaurants with unique quality and flavors and much more — factors now threatened by growth pressures that we see forever altering the character of neighboring communities such as Napa and Healdsburg, among others.

Regarding Measure B, both sides claim the same goal — preservation and protection of our distinctive community. Unlimited growth, however, may easily defeat the goal.

Small hotels that conform with the scale and charm of Sonoma would help to maintain the charm, ease and appeal that brings tourists, homebuyers, shoppers and new business to our valley. Big hotels undoubtedly would burden us with even greater traffic congestion, increased air pollution as, with engines idling, we try to inch our way into an endless stream of vehicles, a threatened supply of groundwater and jeopardy to charming B&Bs, mom-and-pop shops, restaurants and bars.

Sonoma's appeal as a tourist destination easily could diminish. Yes on Measure B ensures that as we grow, we will grow in proportion to the Sonoma we cherish.

LINDA WOLCOTT MOORE

Sonoma

A tragic mistake

EDITOR: A family suffered the loss of a boy who was killed by a deputy sheriff after turning around with what appeared to be an assault rifle, despite being asked twice to drop the gun. Many people are angry and demanding justice.

But can there be an expectation for justice in a world that is fascinated by guns and has such an appetite for violence that there is little distinction between reality and play? We are entertained by violence. We buy fake guns and make a game out of shooting people.

In real life, children are shooting teachers, husbands are shooting wives, and angry people are shooting random strangers. All of this violence, in play and on our streets, is confusing and chaotic. The police are trained to handle chaos and confusion, but they're not immune to it. What happened was a tragic mistake with unimaginable consequences for everyone involved.

We can honor all those devastated by violence by seeking a transformational change that works toward restoration and reconciliation. Let's see the day when it is unacceptable for a gun to be a toy and when the desire for justice is tempered with a love of mercy.

PENNY CLEARY VANDERWOLK

Santa Rosa

Climate-driven disaster

EDITOR: Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from about 320 parts per million in 1960 to almost 400 ppm today, an amount not equaled for 800,000 years. This has caused Pacific Ocean temperatures to rise rapidly. Surface temperatures of 30 Celsius boiled up into Typhoon Haiyan, a super storm killing an estimated 10,000 people in one area of the Philippines and leaving the living in a nightmare landscape of corpses, with no food or water, debris blocking roads and another tropical storm on the way.

We need to change our lives and the giant corporations that dominate our lives to slow the juggernaut of accelerating climate change. We must hold fossil-fuel industries financially accountable for the consequences of climate change instead of subsidizing them. We need wind and solar power, efficient electrical transmission, zero energy buildings, public transportation, sustainable construction, agriculture, fishing, forestry and education for women and access to birth control.

I am planning to give money to agencies struggling to bring food and water to the people of the Philippines, but I had to write this letter as well.

ANN ERICKSON

Monte Rio

Self-appointed judges

EDITOR: I am so frustrated I could scream. I know everybody has a right to free speech, but when does someone's right to free speech (via a bull horn) supersede my right to operate my business?

Who gave demonstrators the right to block the entrance and exit to my business, the right to scream so loud that I couldn't even conduct business on the phone, the right to yell at me to get out of my office and join them or I'm a bad person?

I feel sorry for Andy Lopez's family. I feel even sorrier that Andy's parents failed him by allowing him to walk around the streets with a toy gun that looks like an automatic weapon.

Tragic though Andy's death was, I wonder if these same people screaming on the street would expect the public to find them innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt if they were charged with a crime. I find it baffling that people who wish to rudely practice their free-speech rights would anoint themselves as judge and jury.

DEBI FITZGERALD

Santa Rosa