Thursday’s Letters to the Editor

Meddling with democracy

EDITOR: Saudi Arabia and Russia boldly meddled in our politics. They want Donald Trump and chaos for America, so they raised gas prices (through OPEC production cuts) about a month before the midterm election in order to help Republicans take control of Congress.

Trump loves Vladimir Putin and most dictators — Viktor Orban, Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte, Kim Jong Un. He aspires to be one of them. Saudi Arabia gave $2 billion to Jared Kushner’s company; they would like Trump to become president again. Russia needs Trump to defeat democratic Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia wants Trump to preserve fossil fuel economic power and profit.

No need for Facebook bots and disinformation — though they do that as well — this is a brash move threatening our democracy.

CLAUDIA MAYFIELD

Santa Rosa

Worried about water

EDITOR: I am extremely worried about water. And I do everything I can to conserve it. Admittedly, I still have a small green lawn, but in everything else I do — a strict five-minute shower every second or third day, containers in sinks and showers capturing water, less flushing — I am water aware. However, recently I am thinking, why do I bother?

When I look around, particularly southwest Santa Rosa, every empty lot is being razed for development. And they are building large homes, three and four bedrooms, that require a lot of water.

I know housing is needed, but so is our precious natural resource. Lake Sonoma is at 45% capacity. That’s scary, and there is no relief in sight. My husband tells me it takes years for these housing projects to get approval. I’m hoping that the city Planning Commission will start including a clause in any future contract that reads “subject to cancellation pursuant to water levels being sustainable.”

CAMILLE WALSH

Santa Rosa

Chen for controller

EDITOR: I just got through reading Jason Willick’s Oct. 8 column (“Can Chen break up one-party rule?”). According to the state controller’s website, the controller is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. Lanhee Chen, a Harvard Ph.D., seems eminently qualified to take on that responsibility.

I don’t know much about his opponent Malia Cohen, but I have not been able to find anything in her background that qualifies her for a senior position in finance. Her TV ads are focused on abortion. While I know that abortion is an issue, for the life of me I cannot figure out how it is connected to the state’s financial resources. I’m gonna vote for Chen.

MICHAEL BURWEN

Petaluma

A good board member

EDITOR: I support Patrick Nagle for the at-large position on the board of the West Sonoma County Union High School District. I am a lifelong resident of Sebastopol and served the community for 35 years as assistant district attorney. I have served on many local boards, including the Sebastopol Cultural and Community Center, Sebastopol Park and Recreation Commission, West Sonoma County Swimmers and, most recently, the Sonoma County Local News Initiative.

I know what it takes to be a good board member. Nagle has the necessary qualities to be one. He is even-tempered, a good listener and a team player. As a small-business owner, his financial experience has been very helpful to the board.

Since his appointment to the board over a year ago, he has gained valuable experience. In that time, he and his fellow board members have worked well together. They have been making decisions that benefit the entire school district — its citizens, teachers and, most important, students.

Last year, Nagle stepped up during a difficult time for the district, but he and fellow board members have done an exemplary job since then. He has earned my vote.

GREG JACOBS

Sebastopol

Cannabis growing pains

EDITOR: The headline on Bill Swindell’s Oct. 2 column on the state of the cannabis industry — “Industry repressed by regulatory obstacles” — is puzzling if not downright misleading. Swindell outlines their difficulties, which sound more like normal growing pains of a new industry than government bureaucracy stopping business.

He outlines the drastic drop in wholesale prices, which has been caused by growers’ significantly increasing production, far exceeding the market demand. Sounds like economics 101, supply vs. demand, not government interference. He mentions farmers facing competitive pressures from larger operators who are overwhelming small growers. Sounds like the free market, not government interference. He mentions Mendocino County’s top crop is now cannabis. So county rules are stifling the industry?

Lastly, he provides an example of the county bureaucratic process that denied a permit for “improper vegetation removal.” Although the specifics of the improper vegetation removal weren’t provided, as a volunteer with state parks, I have participated in rehabbing cannabis sites. What might be described as improper vegetation removal is often cutting down all the trees and stripping the ground to bare soil.

BILL KRAWETZ

Sebastopol

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