Saturday’s Letters to the Editor

Shelter outbreak

EDITOR: I was aghast to read that people were being offered shelter in a group situation without being vaccinated (“Cases at homeless shelter mount,” Wednesday). And having to undergo a screening process no more rigorous than what I had to go through to shop at Trader Joe’s for 10 minutes.

What criteria did Catholic Charities use to verify vaccinations? Proof of vaccination, or merely taking someone’s word for it?

It appears to me that Catholic Charities was endangering the lives of the very people they were supposed to protect.

Now I read that Catholic Charities is doing outreach to recently cleared homeless encampments. It would be nice to know what procedures are being put in place to prevent this from happening again, including the added expense of relocating people to overflow locations.

They claim to have increased cleaning procedures, which we know isn’t a significant spreading factor.

Not isolating the vaccinated from the unvaccinated will encourage a continuous cycle of infection.

An inability to implement transparent testing and vaccinations protocols gives me little confidence in the successful management of Caritas Village when it opens.

TIM TRAINOR

Santa Rosa

A bogus recall

EDITOR: I’m growing tired of hearing about this attempted recall of District Attorney Jill Ravitch. I’ve had the ability to get to know her for several years, having worked on her campaigns, and I’ve learned firsthand about her exemplary integrity, character and professionalism. She did her job by holding a wealthy developer to account and, in turn, she has to deal with this nasty, bogus, revenge recall attempt. And all this after she announced she will not seek reelection when her term ends in 2022. She deserves so much better than this. Please join me in rejecting this revenge recall. Vote no on the district attorney recall in September.

STEPHEN HARPER

Santa Rosa

Real climate solutions

EDITOR: If we care about the cause of our fires and the real solutions needed to prevent future fires, we must not allow PG&E and Sonoma County to mow down large, old trees (“Tree clearing sparks clashes,” Sunday). Unlike our grid-based electrical system, these living, carbon-absorbing trees are an essential tool to fighting climate change, which, along with PG&E itself, are the main causes of several Northern California fires.

We need real solutions. For example, we need to move away from grid-based electricity and toward distributed electricity — most notably rooftop and neighborhood solar and battery storage. We also need our homes and businesses to be more energy efficient, such that we need and use less electricity. We also need more controlled burns.

What must not be part of the solution is prioritizing PG&E's power lines and transmission infrastructure, especially when we must apparently choose between them and real, long-term fire prevention and climate change solutions.

TOM FENDLEY

Occidental

End fireworks in RP

EDITOR: I have lived in Rohnert Park since 1995. The problem of fireworks gets worse and worse each year, with this year being the absolute worst.

Along with every city in Sonoma County, we are terribly vulnerable to fire, most especially during extreme drought conditions. Although Rohnert Park has been relatively lucky compared to other cities up to this point, why test our luck?

There are many other ways to celebrate. There are plenty of other options for nonprofits to raise funds. All one would have to do is contact others to see how they raise money.

More importantly, there are significant actions we can take now to help our environment.

Let’s make the smart choice to protect our families, neighborhoods and community, our pets and PTSD sufferers, and join the majority of Sonoma County residents who agree.

I support the banning of fireworks. Please vote yes on Measure D.

PAMELA FENDER

Rohnert Park

Standing up for pluralism

EDITOR: Thank you for David Brooks’ Sunday column (“America is in the midst of an identity crisis”). It is good to be reminded of the role America has played in support of cultural pluralism, democratic self-rule and protecting human rights.

Brooks regrets Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. In a global struggle against authoritarianism this withdrawal may well turn out to be an error.

This broader struggle is important, and the U.S. has a role to play in it. Having defeated aggressive nationalists in the 20th century, we should continue our fight against nationalism and authoritarianism in the 21st.

We should keep attention focused on our own reactionary, nationalist and authoritarian tendencies, and as we create the new American identity, it is wise to remember that engaging with the international community in support of pluralism, democracy and individual rights is as noble as it ever was.

RON TAYLOR

Santa Rosa

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.