LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK

EDITOR: I am frustrated and angry at the disregard by so many in this country for getting vaccinated. Without doubt, this is a first world privilege that people are snubbing their noses at, without any valid excuses to why they haven’t been vaccinated.

Millions in developing countries are walking miles in unstable weather to grab at the opportunity to get vaccinated.

I don’t buy the statement, “It is up to the individual to make that decision.” It’s clearly not working as our numbers of infected are soaring. I’m tired also of the argument about infringement of their freedom.

What about the freedom of front line workers, doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, restaurant workers, etc.? The future, to them, looks like a reversal of course and a return to the anxiety and exhaustion of months ago.

Freedom comes with responsibilities. It is not free. My husband and I have been guided by science and fear a return to lockdowns. The choices we make now affect in no small way the eventual outcome of this pandemic in this country and globally. Right now, here, 99.5% of COVID-19 deaths are occurring in people who are unvaccinated

JOAN Mc AULIFFE

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: So, a wealthy developer whose company was prosecuted by the district attorney for abandoning defenseless seniors in the midst of horrendous firestorms seeks his revenge by bankrolling a recall of the very district attorney who prosecuted him.

District Attorney Jill Ravitch did the job she was elected to do and made the hard decision to prosecute a high-profile influential member of our community. Doing otherwise would have been an abandonment of her responsibilities.

Kudos to Ravitch for standing tall.

Needless to say, the recall must fail, and everyone is urged to vote against it. But sadly, win or lose, the wealthy developer has already won and we, the people, have lost.

This wealthy developer has put all elected officials on notice that a similar fate awaits should they not acquiesce to his demands. With controversial development projects in the works and needing various government approvals, officials asked to evaluate those approval requests see the future clearly, either approve his requests or face recall.

This recall is nothing more than the intimidation of public officials by a man wealthy enough to do so. It is a disheartening development for all of us and a knife in the heart of good government.

DAN DRUMMOND

Executive director, Sonoma County Taxpayers Association

EDITOR: In these times of climate change deniers, Big Lie believers and anti-vaxxers, it was amusing to see the solution to the Scramlets puzzle on July 21: “Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

RICHARD A. DURR

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: There’s a saying in life, if you want to know the answer to something, just follow the money. Well, I did just that when trying to find out who is bankrolling the opposition to Measure D. I wasn’t surprised to learn it’s the out-of-town fireworks company TNT. Do you think these people have any concerns about our area going up in flames again? Absolutely not.

They only care about their bottom line.

And while I’m on the subject of hired hands, did you know that most of those carnival barkers collecting signatures outside of store to get the ban overturned were paid to do so? To promote something with the name fire in it is mind numbing. The fact that the nonprofits were offered compensation to not participate and refused that offer is also a difficult decision to understand.

We’re in a drought, everything is tinder dry. Now is the time to try to prevent another Sonoma County firestorm.

Please join me in voting yes on Measure D.

ERIN and DAVID ARMSTRONG

Rohnert Park

EDITOR: On July 15, nearly all working families in our district and across our nation automatically received monthly child tax credit payments of up to $300 per child. This was made possible by the American Rescue Plan, which I voted to pass earlier this year.

This is a transformational moment. Hardworking families across our district will on average receive a tax cut of $2,700 that can be used for everything from groceries, rent payments to child care needs to educational costs. This historic tax break will cut child poverty in half and lift 8,900 children in our district out of poverty.

Please know I’ll continue working to help improve the lives of working families and their children. And, if people are having trouble accessing this tax credit, please contact my office for assistance.

REP. MIKE THOMPSON

St. Helena

EDITOR: Now three counties — Santa Clara, Contra Costa and San Francisco — are urging their larger employers to require their employees to be vaccinated, among them the University of California. Isn’t it time that Sonoma County does the same thing to help stop the delta variant and to help our herd immunity?

FRANK ZWOLINSKI

Santa Rosa