Letters to the Editor

Leave it alone

EDITOR: I agree with Richard Canini (Sunday letters) in regards to the reunification of Santa Rosa’s Old Courthouse Square.

Leave it alone. What is more important to the city of Santa Rosa: A reunified Courthouse Square reverting back to the good ol’ days —bringing more tourists to Santa Rosa to watch the 2009 Amgen bike race — or saving our social service programs for the addicts and mentally ill? The latter is reference to the possible reduction of service at the Orenda Center and the closing of the county’s only inpatient psychiatric unit at Fulton and Guerneville roads.

Where is the city’s priorities?

The tourists, the addicts and mentally ill — or the historians?

The city has $280,000 and wants to use it to reunify the square.

What about the residents of Sonoma County? Don’t they get a say in where the money will be spent?

In addition, there is $300,000 in redevelopment funds. Why don’t they use that money to untangle the Stony Point Road and Sebastopol Road traffic snarls?

Sonoma County drivers want to get to their destination fast. They do not want more diversions and one-lane streets for another two years. Help the people not the historians.

SHEILA WHIPPLE

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: After reading your Green Living section in Sunday’s paper, I was reminded that fluorescent light bulbs are considered toxic waste and that the only place in the county that accepts them is the Household toxics facility located at the Central Disposal Site, 500 Mecham Road in Petaluma.

After driving to the facility with eight 4-foot tubes and one CFL at 11 a.m. on Monday, I was informed that the toxics facility is only open Thursday to Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The workers could not take my light bulbs.

I wonder how many people in Sonoma County are going to recycle their fluorescent lights when they have to drive to Petaluma to do it — and then find out that they can only do it Thursday to Saturday between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.? How many are going to end up in the landfill site before a more convenient and simple way is provided to recycle fluorescents?

Robert Owen

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: We, the doctors of the Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, are disappointed to hear of the massive job cuts that are going to take place at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and of the closure of the last mental health inpatient facility in Sonoma County.

We are particularly concerned with the announcement that Memorial is slashing 200 health care jobs from its hospital. As doctors, we know that having support staff is critical to the delivery of quality patient care. At every other major health care institution in Sonoma County these are tumultuous times, but decisions must be

made with our patients and health care professionals in mind.

We reiterate the message we sent in a letter to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange in November, when we urged the sisters to cease opposing the efforts of workers

at Memorial to have an effective voice at work. If health care workers were able to have an effective voice at work, our community, patients and workforce would be much better protected.

We call on St. Joseph’s to understand that there is a better way.

Sit down with your workers and the community and let’s figure out how we can make health care work in the county.

DR. ERIN LUNDE and DR. JOSEPH EICHENSEHER

(Also signed by 22 other physicians)

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: Regarding the “Folly of Nader” letter from Larry Prud’homme Monday and his concerns about what makes Nader tick. If anyone out there remembers the Corvair, it was an economical and fairly radical little car produced by Chevrolet in the

1960s. Like many out-of-the-box ideas which make it into production, there were some initial teething problems, and all were addressed by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, Nader produced a book, “Unsafe at any speed,” which ripped into GM and the Corvair.

Several years after the Corvair went out of production in 1969, a book was written about the car’s history, and Nader was interviewed about his part in its demise.

He was quoted as saying that there actually was nothing inherently wrong with the car, but he had needed to use the Corvair as a springboard for his career.

Sadly, people tend to be suspicious and are willing to be led to believe the worst about new or different ideas. So, we lost a nicelooking, great-handling, economical

car to further Nader’s “career.”

Back in the day, I had two of them, a 1964 with a factory turbo, and a 1966 Corsa. Nice cars.

KIM CRUMB

Forestville

EDITOR: I would like to comment on the article “Bad check bullying” in the Sunday Business section describing the tactics of the district attorney’s Bad Check Restitution Program.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s program does not have to comply with the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) which regulates collection practices for the collection industry.

Hence, the DA’s programs can send out aggressive, threatening notices to consumers whose checks do not clear the bank.

On the other hand, the collection industry must comply with the FDCPA, and in order to obtain errors and omission insurance coverage must have all collection notices approved by a stable of collection attorneys put together by the American Collector’s Association.

If a licensed collection agency sent letters with the same content as the district attorney’s program they would be sued in a heartbeat.

The playing field should be made level. The district attorney’s restitution programs should comply with collection law so that the consumer is not subject to the bullying tactics of the American Corrective Counseling Services (ACCS), the company used by many district attorney programs.

If nothing else, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Restitution Program should voluntarily comply with the Fair Debt Collection Act, thus removing the threatening tactics currently in use.

STEPHEN L. WOOD

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: Vallejo is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. A weakening economy has reduced city revenues, and 80 percent of its budget is being consumed by the costs of police and firefighter contracts.

For many years, California cities have followed the state’s lead in its generous dealings with the CHP and its contracts with public safety unions that are now becoming matters of real financial concern.

Santa Rosa is facing a budget deficit currently of more than $2 million in its general fund. The City Council is searching for ways to cut expenses and raise additional

revenue. Interestingly, the police and firefighter expenses for the 2007-8 budget were 55 percent of the general fund. Let us not follow Vallejo to the brink.

DON APPLEBY

Petaluma