Tuesday’s Letters to the Editor

Rioter not newsworthy

EDITOR: I was disappointed to open up the Jan. 28 paper and see prime front-page real estate dedicated to a fugitive charged with assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol (“Fugitive shares his view of Jan. 6”). This guy is a loser and a coward, and nobody cares about his harebrained excuses or defenses. A local man who grew up with privilege and fled the country to hide behind asylum granted by a hostile nation isn’t newsworthy, it’s pathetic.

Evan Neumann fled the country to avoid accountability for crimes that he still maintains were acts of patriotism. He had the “courage” to travel to Washington and participate in a riot, but lacks the courage of his convictions to stay in the country he thinks he’s defending and face the charges against him. Instead, he slips away and leaves his children fatherless.

There are so many heroes and stories of courage in this incredible county, why waste your journalistic talent and resources with the sad tale of a misguided man on the lam?

BROOKE MAURY

Monte Rio

Misusing public funds

EDITOR: Sonoma County supervisors voted to spend $1.9 million per year to lease property near the airport (“County to lease Aviation Boulevard site,” Wednesday). Relocation expenses and janitorial service will bring this deal to a cool $3 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year. The terms of the seven-year lease include annual rent increases and effectively penalize the county if it doesn’t buy the property for $56 million within the first three years.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins characterized the deal as “a unicorn opportunity.” The only thing more ridiculous than a government official using the word unicorn in reference to spending public funds is misusing those funds. Let’s apply this money toward the backlog of maintenance to fix the buildings we already own.

AARON MEYERS

Santa Rosa

Let voters decide

EDITOR: Apparently, Vicki Walling thinks Donald Trump has no right to due process or trial by jury and that his constitutional and civil rights have no meaning (“Take Trump off the ballot,” Letters, Jan. 30). I presume she would not mind being treated the same way. In Venezuela recently, a top opposition leader was ousted from the ballot. Is Venezuela paving the way for U.S. politics? Do those who oppose Trump have so little regard for the rule of law and the rights of citizens and so little faith in the intelligence and judgment of the American people? This nation was founded as a republic, and we have made it into our third century, surviving even a devastating Civil War. Let the American people decide at the ballot box who is fit to be president.

JUNE KEEFER

Santa Rosa

An effective tool

EDITOR: According to R.G. Williamson (“Divestment virtue stunt,” Letters, Jan. 28), calling for the California Public Employees Retirement System to divest from fossil fuels is naive. If this were the case, why was one of the topics at the 2018 Executive Oil Conference: “What more must the industry do on the PR front to combat the growing divestment movement?” Big Oil clearly sees that divestment poses an enormous threat.

Divestment puts the spotlight on Big Oil and the incredible damage its products cause to the environment. Divestment also reduces society’s permission for Big Oil to pollute our environment and worsen the climate crisis. Divestment will hasten governmental restrictions on carbon emissions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy; both will threaten Big Oil’s bottom line. Divestment will encourage further litigation from states like California, which will force Big Oil to pay for the damages caused by their products. Finally, divestment caused the end of apartheid in South Africa and lawsuits against the tobacco industry, which brought about its decline in the U.S.

Divestment is far from a naive stunt; it’s an effective force for reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and making the necessary transition to renewable energy.

BILL VOSBURG

Santa Rosa

A hometown hero

EDITOR: Robert Pellegrini at Tuttle’s is a true Sonoma County hero (“Tuttle’s Pharmacy closing after decades,” Jan. 30). He supported so many causes, helped so many kids, went out of his way to find less expensive medicine for those who were on tight budgets. Since 1975, when I started as a pediatrician, he often helped me care for kids who were in pain and whose parents had no money by giving them medication at his cost. No one can ever forget his staying open during our fire and helping an endless number of people who were not his customers. I am grateful we can still see him at Rite Aid. They are so lucky to have him.

DR. NANCY DOYLE

Santa Rosa

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