Sunday’s Letters to the Editor

Leaving kids behind

EDITOR: As Santa Rosa’s wealthiest school districts move toward five-day classroom instruction, Santa Rosa City Schools reports they will not attempt this move until fall. As the district has one of the highest percentages of poor, minority and English-language-

learning students, this position should be unacceptable to us. If we are going to claim to be a progressive community, we must stand up and demand equality for all of our children, refusing to leave behind those who research tells us are hurt the most by the farce that is called distance learning.

SARAH ABBOTT

Windsor

Act now on climate

EDITOR: Staff Writer Mary Callahan’s excellent article about the rapid demise of the coastal kelp forest is one more wake-up call about the climate crisis in which we find ourselves (“Kelp’s vexing decline,” April 11).

That 95% of coastal kelp could disappear within a couple years is a scary indicator of the velocity of the change we are witnessing, with climate a major driver. The article’s closing paragraph compares the loss of the underwater kelp forest to the potential loss of our land-based redwood forests. What could a few more successive years of drought and fires do to that beloved resource?

To prevent more tragic losses we must address climate change in an emergency fashion. The good news is federal and state governments are addressing the issue seriously. Now it’s up to us to keep the pressure on our representatives to act in the most effective ways to address this crisis. Write, call, email and tweet demanding effective policies like carbon pricing, now, before it’s all gone.

PAUL LARKIN

Sebastopol

Who’s who of supporters

EDITOR: Many people and groups supported Dominic Foppoli in his 2020 mayoral campaign. This includes the entire Board of Supervisors (minus Chris Coursey) and council members from every local city except Petaluma. Supporters also include school board members from Windsor and Santa Rosa and the Sonoma County Board of Education, members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Sonoma County Conservation Action, Legal Aid of Sonoma County and, of course, The Press Democrat’s editorial board. It’s a veritable who’s who of Sonoma County.

But even if we leave out the accusations of sexual assault, and the racist comments attributed to him, why did all these people endorse him?

Foppoli supposedly went to the Donald Trump inauguration in 2016 before apparently changing political parties. But he still posted pictures online of himself with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon congresswoman from Georgia. I hardly think these are “Sonoma County values,” but none of it bothered his supporters. Why?

Let me guess. Foppoli is a wealthy man who supports growth, business, the wine industry and the status quo. That alone was enough to make him a darling among our rulers. After all, those are the only values that matter. Right?

LAURA GONZALEZ

Santa Rosa

Withholding judgment

EDITOR: I strongly believe that a man who sexually assaults a woman should be punished. I also strongly believe that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.

Memory experts tell us that we cannot rely on our memories. They are not copies of what actually occurred. A memory is influenced by our state of mind, our emotions, our previous experiences. When we relate our memory to others, it is already distorted. In the listeners’ mind it undergoes editing according to their perception and is distorted some more. With the passing of time it is further from reality.

The women’s allegations against Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli, without detailed investigation, cannot be taken as evidence. He may well be what they accuse him of being, but he may be innocent.

It is deplorable that so many have accepted a reporter’s article as proof of guilt without waiting for the result of a detailed investigation.

VERONICA JOHNSON

Windsor

Work together

EDITOR: There are many ways that Sonoma County can blend in cannabis production without causing undue harm to the way of life here. Local government is doing the right thing by working with all concerned so we can all benefit. It just has to be done in a smart way. Do it by:

— Limiting growing seasons. Smaller plants, less smell and water use.

— Limiting grows to one acre.

— Planting strains that don’t have the strong odor that some strains do (many strains smell very pleasant and are still very good).

— Requiring grows to use water in ways that maximize usage (you can grow plants to full size using a lot less than six times the amount of grapes. Smart growers know this).

Sonoma County can have its cake and eat it too if we just work together to build this industry here from the ground up correctly.

MARK SAPUT

Santa Rosa

Nuclear oversight

EDITOR: Hopefully, President Joe Biden will make nuclear deals with Iran and North Korea. However, it is equally to be hoped that he does not repeat the fatal flaw of the first Iran deal: It imposed a waiting period for the inspection of suspected sites. This would have allowed them to move the materials for making a nuclear weapon — such as enriched uranium — to a second site during the waiting period for the first site. Then, when the second site would come under suspicion, it would have a waiting period during which the material could be moved to a third site, and so on. (That is why a future president may cancel the deal again.)

ALVIN BLAKE

Santa Rosa

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