Appreciates good Samaritan
Editor: Riding my bike up Lovall Valley Road on Monday, July 7, my chain dropped and the derailleur flipped into the spokes. Yikes! I wasn’t able to fix it on the road, so I wound up carrying the bike over my shoulders homeward. Until, that is, a very nice man in a pickup offered me a lift. I’d like to thank him, but didn’t even get his name. So if anybody recognizes him by this description – general contractor, white pickup, lovely dog named Rip, bureaucratic nightmare of a garage conversion job in Berkeley, both dog and owner knights in shining armor – please thank him for me. May he have a steady flow of hassle-free jobs and may Rip get a clean bill of health from the vet.
Ann Rudinow Saetnan
Appreciative Sonoma guest
Take only what you need
Editor: The day we celebrate our independence is past. I assume there was a parade. I missed it this year, probably the first year I missed since having kids. The Fourth has always been special for me; at first simply for fireworks and good food, but in more recent years it has awakened in me a real sense of community and graciousness. It’s just real nice to see the whole Valley come together, peacefully, and celebrate the freedom of the human soul.
But I’ll tell you what, when I drove through town on the Thursday before the Fourth, I was appalled to see the First Street West side of the Plaza thickly packed with blocks of folding chairs linked together. I saw caution tape, nylon rope, and even what appeared to be a locked steel cable linking together as many as eight chairs – with nobody there. I guess this is legal – you can, after all, set up art displays for various events and leave them overnight. But is this in good taste? In the spirit of what we’re celebrating? Shouldn’t a citizen have the right to get up early and get a good spot from which to see the parade? I remember just a few years ago when getting downtown by 7 a.m. got you a great place to sit. And you stayed there. Because if you weren’t there, your space was forfeited, as it is with anything. Step out of line, and you can expect to lose your spot. The way it’s going now, people will be putting chairs up a week in advance. Where does it end?
Let us not degrade our day of independence with shows of greed. In these times of excess, have we forgotten how to take just what we need, leaving enough that others may have some also?
Donovan Martini
Boyes Hot Springs
Questions Pets Lifeline board decisions
Editor: As a member and volunteer of Pets Lifeline, I am deeply concerned by recent irresponsible actions by its board of directors. The way in which they handled Susan Simons’ departure was despicable. Three of the four board members walked into Susan’s office on the morning of June 12 and handed her a letter that said her resignation was effective right then and there. They told her she had to leave the premises – walking away from 11 years as the executive director, having raised the organization up to the place where it is today.
How demeaning. How unforgivable. It is my opinion that Susan was railroaded into this resignation. I feel the board weakened her to the point of not being able to fight back. Perhaps this process went on for quite some time.
To not have anyone in the wings to replace Susan – what is this all about? It was the board’s decision to cancel Bone Appetit this year (loss of $100,000 of needed funds for PLL). It was also the decision of the board not to participate in Sonoma’s Fourth of July celebration, a tradition of Pets Lifeline. What kind of message does this send to our community?
The present board of directors should not be able to act with impunity where the interests of Pets Lifeline are concerned. I am calling for each director to step down and make way for a new board that will truly serve the animals and our community.
Maria Marshall Poore
Sonoma resident
and PLL volunteer