Wednesday’s Letters to the Editor

Growth and water

EDITOR: Regarding the drought, Staff Writer Mary Callahan wrote: “Supervisors also sought to put consumers and other water users on notice that it’s time to get real about the severity of the water shortage and the shared sacrifices that will be needed …” (“County declares drought a crisis,” April 28).

At the same time all of us curtail our water usage, will we also put a moratorium on all building in counties affected by water shortages? Will we see county and city elected representatives go on record mandating a halt to all business expansions and home development projects? Because as soon as I see a complete stoppage to all new developments, that will be when I know that we have a water crisis.

If you will argue with me that we do not have enough water for the current residents and businesses in our area, how can you make even one argument for continuing to build houses and businesses that will use up even more water?

I’ve lived in this area for more than 30 years, and I’ve been through this song and dance before. It is time we all faced the music.

JIM BROOKS

Windsor

Life in a danger zone

EDITOR: I live at Creekside Rehab Hospital, a skilled nursing facility in Santa Rosa. It is the same type of facility that COVID-19 hit so hard just over a year ago, generating national shock and attention. Early on, I realized that COVID-19 becoming a reality in my home was a matter of when, not if.

I watched in fear as, one after another, similar facilities in Northern California and Sonoma County were struck, with multiple fatalities at each site. I was living in a time bomb.

The managers here took immediate action. Regular testing for staff and residents began. Any certified nursing assistant — our heart and soul — who worked at more than one facility (to make ends meet) had to choose a single job site. One nursing unit was sealed off as a coronavirus ward where anyone needing isolation was sent.

Thanks to the quick and decisive actions of Chris Colcord, the director of nursing, the pandemic was kept at bay. Individual staffers who tested positive were found and isolated. COVID-19 finally did rip through Creekside, but after we’d all been vaccinated. It was bad but not deadly.

Thank you is insufficient. I owe them my life.

REBECCA SCHROEDER

Santa Rosa

Waters’ remarks

EDITOR: Rep. Maxine Waters was not censured for calling on her followers to get more active and get more confrontational if the jury voted to acquit Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s death. But the trial judge admonished her, saying that her statements could be an issue during an appeal if Chauvin was found guilty.

What happens if her statements result in a retrial? Do the witnesses have to relive that terrible night again, and is a second guilty verdict assured? Also, how do her statements affect the upcoming trial of the three officers who were with Chauvin?

JON YATABE

Bodega Bay

Words and acts

EDITOR: Gayle Kozlowski wishes for the state of Jefferson and claims that conservatives believe that “all lives matter” but doesn’t explain what she is doing to make sure that is true (“Raise the Jefferson flag,” Letters, April 26). It would be helpful to know what causes she is advocating for all lives. Health care for all? Studying police brutality to learn why people suggest defunding the police? Ending voter suppression? Fighting for LBGTQ rights? Equal access to mental health care? Ending homelessness?

I heard it explained that if someone’s house is burning and they need help putting it out, you wouldn’t say, “Well, what about my house?” While Kozlowski’s house does matter, right now one house is on fire and needs help. Saying “all lives matter” denies the discrimination faced by Black and brown people and excuses non-action or unwillingness to change.

Kozlowski says that all lives matter, but I’m finding that hard to believe when she immediately denies Caitlyn Jenner’s gender identity and worries about which bathroom children are using.

Oh, and conservatives aren’t the only ones who hang the American flag or believe in our country and abiding by our laws, as long as they are applied equally, no matter your skin color, gender or religion.

BARBARA CIESLEWICZ

Petaluma

Maintaining democracy

EDITOR: How are we to maintain and improve a democratic system of government when one of the two major political parties has become a nationalist, nativist, racist and anti-democratic party under the spell of a classic strongman? Vladimir Putin and his ilk must be enormously gratified to see a large minority of our population actively trying to undermine our democracy and its institutions.

We absolutely must keep the Republicans from winning back either or both houses of Congress next year, and that will take all persons who care about our country getting active in making sure every eligible citizen is able to vote.

President Joe Biden is really trying to return some of the wealth that has been concentrated in a tiny minority of Americans to the working class whose income has been stagnating for 40 years. He needs a Democratic majority in Congress to achieve at least some of these goals.

HANK SKEWIS

Healdsburg

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