Letters to the Editor, May 23
Our readers ask things like, "Why is the City Council in the arts and culture business? I’m glad the City Council members got a raise, but why does Healdsburg even need a City Council? Wouldn’t a city manager be enough? Perhaps the best news from the meeting is how few people were there trying to get more money from the city taxpayers for their special projects...."
Did the pandemic create more income inequality in California?
Recessions in California tend to widen the gap between rich and poor. The sharp pandemic downturn of 2020 followed this pattern with low-income workers suffering the most. But unprecedented government relief kept millions from falling into poverty, and demand for labor boosted wages when businesses reopened.
Can’t get here from there
In a reversal of the folksy joke “you can’t get there from here,” local shoppers should take heed that when they drive south to patronize big box stores or click on virtual shopping carts at Amazon.com they are forever exporting dollars that will almost never return. In other words that’s money that “can’t get here from there.”
Market Report: Thank you for a perfect year
I’m submitting this terribly late in hopes it’s able to be seen before our final market, Saturday, Dec. 18. If so, you’ll know this will be a packed market: filled with plenty of produce despite many farms ending their season and all our delicious prepared and packaged food vendors you’ve come to know and love. We’ll also have close to 30 craft vendors, many who come throughout the season on a rotating schedule, but lots of new ones who’ve just come for our Fall/Holiday Craft Market. This will be the biggest week for this event.
Commentary: Will Healdsburg’s city council lead on climate action?
The Healdsburg City Council adopted a climate emergency declaration in 2019 and has taken some isolated actions since then. However, the city lacks a comprehensive Climate Action Plan with deadlines and staff/budget allocations. Healdsburg 2040, a citizen-led grassroots organization, believes the city council must prioritize climate action in its goal-setting session on March 7, 2022.
Letters, Oct. 17
"We voted on Prop. 12 in 2018 to ban factory farming of the kind promoted by the Yes on Measure J people from outside the county, which was a statewide initiative. It went into full implementation on January 1, 2024. It has barely had the opportunity to go full swing and here we are targeting only Sonoma County. Why?" So asks one reader in our Letter to the Editor column, found online only this week...
