Columns

The Measure I SMART train question on the March 3 Primary Election ballot is important enough for voters to think for themselves and not be duped by all the slick and colorful mailers and the rest of the $2.3 million vitriolic and bombastic pro...

It’s not an article

On Thursday, Feb. 27, from 7 to 9 pm, at Windsor Round Table Pizza, two local health professionals, members of HPEACE (Health Professionals for Equality And Community Empowerment) will present “Getting to Healthcare for All” to the Windsor Democratic Club.

In 2008, the folks behind SMART told us that if voters approved the quarter-percent 20 year sales tax they would build 71 miles of train and a 71-mile bike path and that annual operating costs would be $16.5 million per year. They also claimed SMART would alleviate traffic on 101 and help fight climate change. The problem is none of these promises ever materialized and now SMART is asking voters to approve an additional $2.4 billion on a 30-year tax extension nine years before the current tax expires. 

The fault with all-electric

In 2008, the folks behind SMART told us that if voters approved the quarter-percent 20 year sales tax they would build 71 miles of train and a 71-mile bike path and that annual operating costs would be $16.5 million per year. They also claimed SMART would alleviate traffic on 101 and help fight climate change. The problem is none of these promises ever materialized and now SMART is asking voters to approve an additional $2.4 billion on a 30-year tax extension nine years before the current tax expires. 

COMMENTARY — Recently, Healdsburg passed an important milestone in our pursuit of more affordable housing. Jan. 26 marked five years to the day that the city launched a robust and multi-year program to tackle the city’s housing issues.  At a special city council meeting that evening, then mayor Shaun McCaffery presided over the start of an eight-month council and community education series entitled ‘Housing Our Community.’  

COMMENTARY — Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part commentary discussing the Cerri/Purity building.

In favor of market and pavilion

There is an effort to direct interest away from 3 North St. (the Cerri Building) and the offer to fund the community pavilion/farmers market home. The disinformation being distributed in town abuses the SDAT report to abandon years of planning and support for the repurposing of the Cerri building. This attempt to derail the Foley Family Foundation‘s pledge of $7 million to build the long-planned project is misguided. Healdsburg 2040, as the custodians of the SDAT process, want to correct the record. We feel supported by over 1,000 residents, who in one week only signed a petition to the city council to accept the gift, And the signatures are still coming …