Sunday’s Letters to the Editor

Preserving a gem

EDITOR: Of course there is trash at Roseland Creek Woods. There is trash at all the parks, and they have garbage cans and regular maintenance (“A refuge postponed,” Nov 20). We need to learn and teach our children not to litter.

Roseland Creek Woods is a unique parcel of land, trying to regenerate itself as a last-stand refuge for wildlife and escape from encroaching development. There are playgrounds at the school across the street, and I would hope all the housing units being crammed into the neighborhood have their own play structures and green space.

I was shocked at how much concrete went into “improving” nearby Bayer Farm and how little of the promised improvements have happened at Southwest Park since it opened in the 1980s. I hope the pause for an environmental impact report will allow us to preserve this gem as a place to grow with and learn from nature and keep “improvements” to a minimum.

BARBARA NOVAK

Roseland

Florida’s many virtues

EDITOR: My husband and I are two of the many people who have left California for Florida. This decision I’ve never regretted. Although we are third-generation Californians, we came for the climate and, yes, the safety of an adequately funded and trained police force that doesn’t send you a form when your car gets broken into.

With no state income tax, we’re saving money, too. We bought a house at a price we haven’t seen in California in 30 years.

Yeah, that’s freedom, plus the fact that if we fly an American flag in our yard or have a sticker on our car, we don’t get things thrown at it or our car keyed.

It’s sad to move from family and loved ones we will miss and not see as often. But it came down to where we wanted to live in our retiring days — nice weather, great health care, friendly people from all over the world, new history to learn, diverse opinions that are discussed, not shouted at each other. I feel free from the cancel culture here. I can just be myself. And that’s what I call freedom. It has nothing to do with slavery, except perhaps how I felt trying to make a living being retired in California.

SHARON HAMILTON

Clearwater, Florida

A new generation

EDITOR: Doctor, doctor give me the news. Is an 80-year-old man who still rides a bike, occasionally falling off, or an overweight teetotaler who will be 78 be fit physically to be president of the United States in 2024? You say neither one is a good risk. You add that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Steny Hoyer made the right decision in their 80s to step down from their leadership positions. Let’s hope they start a trend so that America will be led by a young and vigorous generation.

JON YATABE

Bodega Bay

Voter preferences

EDITOR: Guaranteed, if California switches to electronic voting, our elections will get hacked (“Voting electronically,” Letters, Nov. 20). Ask anyone with programming experience, the only truly secure computer is one that is powered off in a shielded box.

I too am a poll worker and I’ve asked lots of security questions about vote by mail. The existing paper ballot voting system is very secure. It’s basically impossible to steal a vote by mail ballot election.

Most people prefer to vote by mail. A tiny percentage came to the polls, and few used the touch screen system.

KEE NETHERY

Sebastopol

Roundup ‘hysteria’

EDITOR: Taryn Obaid seems to think Roundup (glyphosate) is dangerous (“Stop spraying,” Letters, Nov. 19). At least 20 independent international agencies have concluded glyphosate is not carcinogenic, and no pesticide regulatory authority in the world currently considers glyphosate to be a cancer risk to humans at the levels at which humans are currently exposed.

Out of more than 800 peer-reviewed and published scientific studies on Roundup, not one link to any kind of cancer has been found. Glyphosate has very low toxicity and presents no reasonable risks to humans or the environment. It’s less toxic than salt. And non-synthethic pesticides are not very effective, plus they require more usage than synthetic pesticides. Synthetic pesticides are tested and deemed safe.

It’s time to put the Roundup hysteria to rest.

RONALD HARRIS

Windsor

Disappearing surplus

EDITOR: Just a couple months before voting day, and right in the middle of his campaign for reelection, Gavin Newsom declared a budget surplus and moved to refund millions of dollars to California residents. He got reelected. It is discovered that California is facing a $25 billion deficit. Sounds like using taxpayer’s money to buy votes actually works.

BOB PROCTOR

Rohnert Park

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