Page 3 - Sonoma County Gazette - June 2018

30,000 homes
I read that county planners may ask the BOS to adopt a plan to add 30,000 homes to the cities/county in as little as 5 years. I hope the BOS realize how totally unrealistic this type of plan
home of homes. It’s Sonoma County, a beautiful place dedicated to agriculture and open space. We need a common sense approach, not one based on crisis and what is called the “fear trauma approach” to housing.
Opinionated Columnists
in 5 years?
is and what the potential harm this recklessness will bring to our County.
Christina Meyer, Rohnert Park
For simplicity here are just 2 reasons this type of plan is absurd:
I enjoy your paper, and also
the columns from the various communities reporting on issues in their area. However, this week, Joan Polous, of Bodega Bay Beat, found
it necessary to shill for her favorite Sheriff’s candidate. I believe this is inappropriate, given that none of the other columnists did so.
Infrastructure: Roads in the cities and county are not in alignment with this type of explosive growth. The narrows south of Petaluma are still at least 2 years from completion. How does anyone expect an
addition of 60-80,000 vehicles will
be accommodated? Cities and
the Counties can barely keep up
with current road repair much less additional stress caused by such an influx of vehicles. SMART is doing well but even it’s budget doesn’t include that explosive growth.
You had an in-depth article comparing the candidates, which was very informative. This article was very appropriate in the position in the paper and the way it was written.
Services: Where will the cities and counties come up with the money to build, much less hire, qualified staff for the additional police, fire, emergency etc. services necessary to accommodate such a rapid influx of people? The fires have put a severe strain on our county, not just the burn areas. Building and other costs have skyrocketed in the entire county. Rohnert Park, which is in your district, has had to delay the building of the Westside Fire Department because the cost of the project increased over $1.5 million since the fire rebuild efforts began. The County and Santa Rosa have both had to pare back their budgets because of fire costs.
Are we to find that, as the election draws near, that other columnists decide to use what could be called “the bully pulpit”? That is not the information readers are looking for in Community columns.
M. Gillean
One thing that truly bothers me about this plan is that this fast pace of building gives too much discretionary control to one department without providing oversight to make sure decisions are made in the best interest for growth. We are having a difficult time now managing the permit processes. Increasing this problem will acerbate the situation and could likely cause irreparable harm to our cities and counties.
I don’t ask people/authors to be neutral - it’s not what the Gazette is about. And I appreciate that Joan encourages people to vote!
Our columnists have the right to voice their opinions - it’s part of the privilege of being a volunteer on behalf of their community. Yes, Joan is quite opinionated about many topics!! She has a following and people learn about coastal issues and events they would otherwise not know - so it’s a balance over time.
I don’t understand how can anyone possibly believe that building 30,000 homes in 5 years is a good idea. This isn’t Southern California,
If you read Immigrant Stories, you can see that Christopher Kerosky encourages people to vote for John Mutz. I encourage people to decide for themselves before I let them know who I support - so thank you for appreciating the forum - I hope you caught the first three Sheridd candidate questions and amswers
in the April edition. If not, please
go online to our website (www. SonomaCountyGazette.com) to see how they address issues important to our home. ~ Vesta
LETTERS cont’d on page 4
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