County must extend eviction protections

As the Board of Supervisors once again takes up a review of Sonoma County’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium, Sonoma Valley Housing Group urges [it] to strengthen the ordinance to reflect the ongoing rental housing crisis. While there are no statistics to adequately measure the current COVID-19... Continue

A community in crisis looks to local government for help and relief

Dear Councilmembers, Supervisors: COVID-19 is a disaster, and as a community, we are feeling the impacts of the disaster, impacts that will only increase in the next few months. We look to our local government to provide disaster services, as it did during the fires,... Continue

Roundup of wasted taxpayer money

Anyone who’s ever managed a household knows that it’s not only how much money you make that matters. It’s also how much you spend. California’s budget is vastly more complicated, and less transparent, than family finances. So it’s even more important for taxpayers to watch... Continue

Opposed to paying reparations

I am writing to respectfully disagree with Ms. Rowntree’s letter (July 9, 2020) “Reparations Now”. While I agree there have been past injustices in the past, California had little to do with slavery before the Civil War. It was a free state and unlike Japanese... Continue

Generational PTSD, explained

In my short (and long) lifetime, I and others of my ilk have endured..... Surviving an unknowing womb of drink and smoke Crawling under school desks for the A-Bomb No swimming in pools to avoid polio Breathing second-hand parental smoke Having mercury in the fillings for... Continue

A chance for public input on Sonoma’s Amazon warehouse project

The July 22 online meeting of the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Committee (SVCAC) may be your last and only chance to express your views about the Amazon delivery center on Hwy. 121 at 8th Street East before it gets approved and brings hundreds of trucks... Continue

Shocking example of how Sonoma County devalues human rights

The killing of George Floyd has unleashed a much-needed reckoning with our nation’s long history of systemic racism. Right here in Sonoma County we need to acknowledge the realities of white supremacy and the ways in which this has been manifested in police biases and... Continue

Souring on Trump? What took you so long?

So suddenly, former Bush staffers, middle-of-the-road Republicans and some of the religious right are upset with Donald Trump, against his divisive and racist rhetoric and saying they will vote for Joe Biden. I am asking myself, why this change of heart? And why did it... Continue

I’m calling on my lawmakers to fund vote-by-mail

COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our families, our economy, and our elections. But Congress has the power to intervene right now. In response to safety concerns and pressure from constituents like me, Congress has already passed limited funds to expand absentee voting, online registration, and... Continue

Another corrupted, harmful budget from Sacramento

California’s budget process has become so warped it would make even Niccolò Machiavelli blush. The annual spending plan was never easy for citizens, the media and even political insiders to understand. But for the last decade, it has been perverted into a wholly political process... Continue

Letters To The Editor