Sunday’s Letters to the Editor

Noise enforcement, please

EDITOR: I was sitting in a friend’s house on Fourth Street in Santa Rosa recently, and the sound of revved-up cars, trucks and motorcycles made conversation nearly impossible. This racket went on for hours. Why do cars and trucks seem to be louder these days? Do they need to be? And why have certain streets become unregulated drag strips at night? Is there no longer a noise ordinance in Santa Rosa?

Police seem to be doing nothing to address this problem — disturbing the peace, noise pollution, speeding, etc. I live near Summerfield Road, and the noise on that street has become intolerable, particularly at night. I rarely see any police on that road.

At another location, on Old Redwood Highway north of the Luther Burbank Center, the street has become a veritable raceway for hot rods and speedsters. Again, never a police car in sight. Is it just me or, is this problem getting out of control?

DAVID GARELICK

Santa Rosa

Life lessons

EDITOR: I grew up in a suburb of Baltimore, and my three sisters and I went to three different high schools while living in the same house — as boundaries changed, more housing was built, etc. We weren’t happy about it, but our parents didn’t complain or rally or file lawsuits (“Residents protest merging of schools,” July 18). They had lived through World War II and the Depression, and they taught us to be resilient, assuring us that we would adjust, make friends and flourish in the new schools. And, of course, we did.

The voters have spoken twice, and I see no realistic chance of a different outcome. I urge the parents of Analy and El Molino students to help their children accept the change and learn to deal with it — to move on and be happy.

To the students, I say, yes, it’s a name change, and for many it is a venue change, but if you choose to, you can have good friends and teachers and a happy high school experience. I hope your family and friends encourage you and show you how to adjust to difficult experiences and move on with your life. It will be one of the most valuable lessons you will learn, in or out of school.

KAY GORDY

Sebastopol

Climate impacts

EDITOR: Only about 1% of the heat from our planet’s human-caused warming is in the atmosphere. About 93% is absorbed by our warming and acidifying ocean, with the rest retained by terrestrial features. Yet just this 1% causes increased evaporation and more water vapor in the air, leading to heavier rains. Europe’s flood disaster shows where we are heading. Humanity will be whiplashed by “heat domes” and “flooding events” from now on, all because of unbridled greed and propaganda by the fossil fuel industry, and repeated nonsense by those who believed them during the past several decades.

ANDY FERGUSON

Petaluma

Let Windsor vote

EDITOR: “Committed, empowered council members who come to the chamber energized for real accomplishments and ready for the honor of serving out their terms” (“Civil discourse is in decline,” Close to Home, July 18). Maureen Merrill’s words perfectly describe Windsor council members Sam Salmon and Rosa Reynoza.

The three most recent Town Council meetings have resulted in draw votes regarding filling an empty council seat. Why? Salmon and Reynoza want the community to vote for their representative. Council members Esther Lemus and Debora Fudge voted to deny Windsor citizens the right to vote.

Various names have been paraded before the public by Lemus and Fudge as possible appointees. However, there is no prior mayor, council member, committee member, commissioner or past candidate who will satisfy the public. Excuses for appointment include funds aren’t available for a special election and other communities have appointed. The funds are in the budget. Windsor voters should not have to default to the choices of other communities.

Members of the public have written letters and emails and commented publicly during meetings, expressing their desire to vote. The expressed desire to vote has far outweighed the appointment process.

Now you know why Windsor citizens feel “you don’t care, are in someone’s pocket and driven by political ambition.” Let’s end this stalemate, and give us the right to vote our representative.

MARYANN BAINBRIDGE-KRAUSE

Windsor

Health workers at risk

EDITOR: Your July 18 Sunday Review headline — “Unvaccinated bearing brunt of Delta variant” — should rather have read “Health care workers bearing brunt of unvaccinated patients.” For 18 months, hospital workers toiled selflessly for long hours in overloaded facilities to care for COVID patients, regardless of their own safety. They finally saw decreasing cases this spring, but the delta variant has overloaded hospitals again in areas where large numbers (without valid medical or other reasons) refused to be vaccinated. Shame on them. This could have been avoided.

G.F. SIMMEL

Sonoma

Recall’s steep cost

EDITOR: A local developer is spending too much time swimming in his gold coin tower. How many additional firefighters could our community have, or potholes filled, for the nearly $1 million in taxpayer money that the developer has forced us to spend on his revenge recall? It appears that the developer’s revenge is not just targeted at District Attorney Jill Ravitch, but at taxpayers. Shameful.

LARRY CARLIN

Santa Rosa

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