Monday’s Letters to the Editor

Sep 17, 2023

A downtown fix

EDITOR: I have been struck by the eyesore and edifice that is the Santa Rosa Plaza. I don't know about nor care about its history. The shopping center and the freeway pretty much kill downtown. Of course, our uninviting square is apiece. There must be a way to transform the wasteland of Plaza parking and its prisonlike brick structure into something that works for its owners and us.

Is the Plaza a successful business? My less than creative brain wondered what it would be like if the entire second level of the shopping center was converted into housing of some sort. And if Fourth Street ran straight through that big white hand and on to Railroad Square. And if the first floor had windows and doors (a new, open and walkable downtown Montgomery Village?) and more than one or two entrances that invited shoppers. So much square footage, so much parking, such an unattractive waste of our downtown.

Convert the Plaza, get rid of cars on Fourth Street, plant trees in the square. Maybe Santa Rosa could be as enticing as Healdsburg or Sonoma or Windsor — or better. If you build it, they will come.

EDDIE FLAYER

Santa Rosa

‘Rails with Trail’

EDITOR: I find it ironic that in your May 27 front-page article titled "Senate backs green investing," you highlight a picture of state Sen. Mike McGuire as "voted in favor" and state Sen. Bill Dodd "voted against" Senate Bill 252. Unlike McGuire, Dodd has been a stalwart advocate for protecting and supporting our Northern California environment. McGuire, on the other hand, has taken a leadership position in maintaining and even increasing diesel smoke and rubber tire chemical pollution (Science.org) of the Russian River and Highway 101 by heavy trucks.

McGuire's continued advocacy for removal of the railroad north of Cloverdale for his Great Redwood Trail will forever relegate transportation of heavy freight via rubber tires onto our local highway instead of onto a renovated rail line where it should be transported. Like SMART has done so well, McGuire needs to advocate for a "Rails with Trail" solution.

RICHARD BRAND

Petaluma

Removing weeds

EDITOR: Like Jennifer Espinoza, I wonder why Santa Rosa isn't dealing with the high weeds we see everywhere ("Unkempt city property," Letters, May 28). It's not only unkempt and ugly but looks as if Santa Rosa just doesn't care. Most importantly, it poses a fire risk as the season progresses.

I do, however, disagree that the solution is volunteers. As a taxpayer, I am under the impression that some of my tax dollars already go to weed abatement, road repair, graffiti removal, etc.

My solution is to "employ" the homeless to take care of the weeds. They are residents of this community as well. We have at least a hundred people housed at the county center and 60 at Los Guilicos Village. Give them a weed whacker and let them go to work. All it would take is one city employee to supervise, a bus for transportation and a sack lunch. In no time at all, the weeds would be gone.

There is dignity in work. Let's help homeless people be contributing members of our community, starting with weed whacking. They will feel good after a hard day's work, and our city will benefit and be more beautiful. A win-win for all.

DAWN BURNS

Santa Rosa

Debt ceiling and taxes

EDITOR: Suppose you owe money for something you bought. Then each year you make payments on your loan until the bill is paid in full. However, Congress, which is supposed to represent the voters, does not really pay the bills. Instead, Congress borrows more year, thus kicking the repayment date down the road.

You may have seen commercials about refinancing your loan, giving you cash to do whatever you want, but with a bigger loan to pay back. Now imagine that every year you go to your lender and simply increase the amount of your loan so that you will have more money to spend. You repeat this process year after year without paying back the loan in full. What do you suppose will eventually happen? You will lose.

Congress does not lose. It just borrows more money to the point where the interest on the national debt now consumes a large part of the budget, and it is not getting any better. Congress raised the debt ceiling again just to pay the interest on the debt. This is irresponsible, and you will have to pay more taxes.

DAVID GRUNDMAN

Rohnert Park

Follow the money

EDITOR: Richard Pierce asks a relevant question ("Combat training for kids," Letters, May 24). To paraphrase: Why can't we put our children ahead of laws that make weapons of war so ubiquitous? Assuming it's not rhetorical, the answers are at least threefold:

First, the Citizens United decision of 2009. This 5-4 Supreme Court ruling gave corporations the freedom to spend unlimited money on elections.

Second, the National Rifle Association taking full advantage of Citizens United.

Third, partisan gerrymandering. While both parties share some guilt, Republicans are characteristically shameless in their quest to enable candidates to choose voters rather than the other way around.

The third reason obviously tends to preclude any serious solutions to the first two.

DAN LAZZARINI

Rohnert Park

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