Page 4 - Sonoma County Gazette Juy 2019

LETTERS cont’d from page 3
the entire membership.
By the way, there was a surprise
Stopping Homeless Seeking Shelter
welcome. If you are touched as we are by this tragedy we invite you to join us.
for our friend, the executive director, Rick Coates. There
was a proclamation by our State representatives acknowledging the great work Rick has done over the years, 2 plaques, speeches, etc. Great night.
“The planning department is currently enforcing codes that prevent 65% of our local homeless population (1882 people, according to the HUD 2017 point in time survey) from finding shelter in buildings not designed for that purpose.
In solidarity with all beings, Larry Robinson, Sebastopol
Fire Safety Tree Removal by PG&E
Thought you might want to know this, spread the word if possible.
When asked why they’re denying these people their human need to sleep somewhere, they cite a lack
of authority to circumvent building codes enforced at the state level.
PGE threatening to take out a large number of redwoods and Douglas firs for “fire safety” as they improve the power lines here at Odd Fellows Park. I’m sure this is happening all around us.
Thanks,
Barbara St. Louis
PGE has made outrageous proouncements about what they intend to do. We’ve had 4 different companies—all sent by PGE—to mark areas and trees that need thinning—each with a different color. All eventually replaced by a new group that will come in and do the same thing.
Gambling & Cannabis Saving our Budget
But, governor Gavin Newsome declared a state of emergency in Sonoma County on Feb 21st as a result of the floods. State level emergency declarations exist to empower local officials to circumvent state level codes. The majority of our county’s unsheltered population, 1251 people according to HUD, are severely mentally ill. These people need a safe place to sleep much more than we need to enforce building codes.
Well, serendipitously, Bob and I went to an annual fundraising event Forest Unlimited whose executive director helped and guided a
small group of Park members to intelligently oppose and ultimately defeat an effort to launch a timber harvest above our cabin back in 2002 - 2004. He and many of the group’s members also planted redwood seedlings up there to help stabilize the mountain.
Supervisor James Gore stated during the budget hearings that “gambling and cannabis are saving our budget this year.” He pointed
to $11 million in revenue from the Graton Resort & Casino during the past seven years and $2.6 million in cannabis revenue during the past 3 years. On an annual basis, gambling brought in about $1.6 and cannabis about $900,000. This revenue accounts for 0.14 percent of the $1.78 billion budget. Some say that not only does Supervisor Gore seem to be math- challenged, but that he also fails
to account for the cannabis-related murder investigations and other Sheriff’s Office expenses that gobble up any “surplus” cannabis revenue.
The only reason for code enforcement officials in Sonoma County to continue to deny our unsheltered population the right to shelter themselves in city and/ or county owned buildings is that they either don’t know about these declarations or they’re choosing to ignore them.
Unbeknownst to us, They had
a brilliant guest speaker, Brian Nowicki, [916] 201.6938 —California Climate Policy Director of the
Center for Biological Diversity [bnowicki@biologicaldiversity.org] who gave a slide show presentation demonstrating that the trees did
not spread [let alone start] the fires
of Paradise and many others. He repeatedly made the point that
the homes were what burned and
the aerial photos showed that the trees were not the problem [since they didn’t burn] and that the fires were spread from house to house. Another slide showed a fire fueled by chapperal—which is a fire hazard. He also made the excellent point that if the trees are cut, it will result in the growth of grasses and chapperal which are very fire hazardous!
Bringing cannabis production
out from the dark shadows, many residents are severely impacted by odor/air quality, scenic corridor horror, traffic, water/aquifer drawdown concerns, environmental concerns, violence concerns, and neighborhood incompatibility. Add to this, the potential increments of greenhouses, processing barns, and ruined visual ridge lines. These industrial grows belong inside monitored industrial areas - not in any neighborhood.
How effectively can we possibly be planning if we’re unaware of the state recognized emergency that affects the people we’re planning to serve?
He said that PGE does not have
the right to cut these trees unless the property owner give their permission [which people are unwittingly doing]. He advising us to just say “NO!” and asking to see any permits for cutting these trees. Push back!
There’s nothing in here about the increase in law enforcement costs and gang-related issues in Rohnert Park - as well as increased traffic, etc. as a result of the gambling casino. Do you want to add this information so it’s a more balanced and accurate response to Gore’s comment? BOTH activities have increased expenses. Have the expenses outweighed the income? ~ Vesta
on that community. We have to stop acting like the homeless emergency just fell out of the sky and start acknowledging that our environment, the good and the bad, is something that we create. Ignoring the needs of our citizens is creating an emergency. We can’t just keep declaring it. It’s time to start fixing it. We’re out of excuses. It’s time to use city and county buildings to shelter the people who need it.”
Marsha Vas Dupre, Ph.D. Former Santa Rosa City Council Vice Mayor, SRJC Trustee
The governor’s declaration coincides very neatly with the needs recognized in the City of Santa Rosa’s recently continued declaration of homeless emergency, as well as the Sonoma County wide declaration of homeless emergency, which local officials charged with the enforcement of codes couldn’t possibly be unaware of. The only possibility that leaves is that this department is planning to ignore the state of emergency created by their inaction. That ignorance is the emergency that needs solving. Ignoring the needs of the community you serve means inflicting damage
4 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 7/19
LETTERS cont’d on page 5
We gave this same info to our Park Manager who will try to get him to address our Board of Directors if not
George Uberti
LETTERS: email to: vesta@sonic.net