Letters 3/31/2026

KEEP THE HOUSE IN ORDER

Editor,

All of us, at one time or another, have had to make difficult financial decisions to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table and clothing for our bodies. Balancing wants versus needs is not easy-but is essential. Families who avoid those decisions eventually face far more painful consequences.

Our county now faces that same challenge. A proposed budget that does not balance, a State Audit identifying serious deficiencies, and public conversations about reducing services or even suggesting county bankruptcy is not an option. The status quo is not sustainable. Asking residents what they are willing to give up just to maintain basic services is not leadership.

Real leadership starts with clear roles and accountability. The Board of Supervisors must set policy and direction, while county staff must be empowered to carry out those policies without constant micromanagement. When those lines are not clear, efficiency suffers, morale declines and taxpayers lose confidence in their government.

With the retirement of the CEO, the county has the opportunity - and responsibility to hire a person that clearly understands their role, be given the tools to succeed, and be accountable for results. Most importantly that individual must have a concrete plan to address every finding in the State Audit and to restore fiscal discipline across county operations.

Protecting life and property must always remain the county’s highest priority. Money is the driver behind all decisions. That principle should guide every budget decision and every operational choice. Each county department must be responsible for balancing its own budget, distinguishing clearly essential services and those that are discretionary. Tough choices cannot be avoided – but they can be made fairly, transparently, and responsibly.

In any family, priorities are clear: you protect the most vulnerable first. The same principle must apply to county government. Frontline employees-the people in the field, behind the counters, and answering the phones- are the backbone of public service. Supporting them must come before expanding management layers or executive compensation. Strong organizations are built from the ground up, not the top down.

After more than thirty years working in municipal government, I have learned what works and what does not. Nothing was more challenging in my career than addressing the 2008 financial collapse, when balancing budgets had to be achieved under extraordinary pressure. Those moments demanded discipline, clarity and the courage to make the hard decisions. The same leadership is required now.

On June 2, voters have a clear choice. You can accept a path that leads to continued uncertainty, or you can demand responsible leadership that puts fiscal stability, accountability and essential services first. Choose a governing body that you trust to make difficult decisions with integrity-for you, your family and the future of our county.

Visit my website www.vote4evans.com or Facebook page Kevin Evans for Supervisor 2026.

Kevin Evans

Gualala

FORT BRAGG WATER AND SEWER RATE ADJUSTMENTS

Editor,

This is a reminder, should you like to voice your opinion about the water and sewer rate increases.

Please address your note to the City of Fort Bragg. Include the name that’s on the bill, address and a statement like, “I am against the proposed water and sewer rate increases. I am writing to protest any and all proposed increases in the water and sewer rates in the City of Fort Bragg.”

Sign it & drop it off at the City or Mendo Litho and they’ll deliver it.

It is being voted upon on March 23 at 6 pm. The time to act, should you want to, is now.

Taimi Barty, [email protected]

BETTER GARBAGE HANDING & RECYCLING ON THE COAST CALLED FOR

Hello,

Here on the Coast garbage disposal and recycling have been sub-par for many years and has only gotten more dysfunctional in recent times. Is there a master plan in the works or will it just keep limping along? Long lines of idling trucks, wasted time, wasted fuel, increased air pollution is anyone paying attention? Time to step into the 21st century and develop a new system of waste management here on the Coast. Recycling should be at a separate location from waste disposal since there isn’t a charge to drop off. I’m aware of the buy back option but for me it’s too time consuming to be worth the hassle for me personally. There used to be a recycling option north of Fort Bragg until Waste Management lost the contract and for some reason local contract negotiations didn’t require C&S waste to provide this same level of convenience. So we all must make our way down to Caspar to make the transfer.

Sincerely,

Tim McClure

Fort Bragg

TO CONTROL GUN VIOLENCE, CONTROL ACCESS TO GUNS

Editor:

In a recent letter to the Editor of the Chronicle, David Haynes repeats the old saw that guns aren’t the problem, people are. I would say both are problems, and that is why we have a culture in which mass shootings are a common happening. (As of March 14, there have been 65 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.) Doing some basic research, I see nothing to support his statement that crime drops when gun laws are removed. In fact, quite the opposite.

He says guns “are here to keep a repressive government in check.” Even if that were true, which it is not, that is not what is happening. We have citizens killing citizens. We have ICE mercenaries killing citizens. I came to a very simple, logical conclusion: We can’t control people, so we must control the guns.

Karen Cooper

Hilo, Hawaii

TRUMP V. THE WORLD

Editor:

President Donald Trump is at war with the entire globe, by means of tariffs or by means of missiles and bombs. Unpopular autocrats like Trump go to war primarily to keep themselves in power. War brings out attractions to evil and illegitimate power. That is why Benjamin Netanyahu won’t stop warring against Muslims and why Muslim theocrats won’t stop warring against Israel. That is why Vladimir Putin won’t quit warring against Ukraine.

Trump is made for staying in power, so he is made for war. He is made for a lifelong war against women who don’t submit to his advances, war against employees he wants to fire, war against immigrants, war against Democrats, war against environmentalists, war against the federal government, war against universities and foreign students, war against brown- and Black-skinned people, war against science and reason, war against God and religion, war against any humanitarian activity designed to feed, house or lift people, war against Medicaid for the poor and Medicare for the elderly.

Welcome to Donald Trump’s permanent apocalypse of evil.

Kimball Shinkoskey

Woods Cross, Utah

PETE & LARRY

Editor:

It has often been said that the first casualty of war is truth. In an effort to perpetuate that trope, “War” Secretary Pete Hegseth complained about CNN’s coverage, saying “the sooner David Ellison (right-wing billionaire pal of the president) takes over that network the better.” Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is applying to Trump’s government for approval of the acquisition. The notion that Hegseth would so boldly foretell such government action is bad enough. But the larger implication should truly terrify those who treasure a free press.

Trump and Hegseth are unhappy with CNN’s war coverage. They boldly admit that when their buddy Ellison gets his permit, they will just make the free press network CNN disappear. So in the future when someone says “the war will end when I feel it in my bone(spur)s” in response to some moronic presidential announcement, it can just be censored out by our increasingly fascist government.

Farewell, free press.

Eliot Lee Daum

Santa Rosa

IGNORING MEDICAL HISTORY

Editor:

Perusing the obituary notices, an unfortunate habit, I found a stark history lesson. A woman died shortly after her 100th birthday. Her brother died at age 12 from meningitis, now a vaccine-preventable disease. We ignore history at our peril. Ironic that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does as well.

Dr. David L. Smith

Santa Rosa

WRONG ANSWER

Editor:

I recently attended a memorial for a friend, a career Air Force officer and Vietnam veteran. The service touched my heart deeply as I listened to the wonderful things said about him, especially by friends who were veterans. It was moving to hear “Taps” played and watch the ceremonial folding of the American flag. I felt a sense of patriotism and love for my country, something I had not felt for a long time.

I thought of my uncle, Nathan, who served in World War II. He suffered terribly from what they called shell shock. I thought about all he stood for and how much he loved this country. With feelings of patriotism, and thinking about the commitment these men made, I found myself asking, “What’s going on?” How is this happening? We are at war, the killing of innocents, schoolchildren and teachers and bombing hospitals. It is not only immoral, but downright crazy. We talk about putting the Ten Commandments in every school while we violate every one of them.

As a woman, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, I say stop the craziness. If war was the answer, we would have had peace a long time ago.

Elaine B. Holtz

Santa Rosa

DON'T PAY

When the media report consistently for months that a majority of American voters do not support or want to help pay for evisceration of federal service functions, destruction of historical monuments, aggression in Gaza, the rollback of climate protection legislation, ICE raids all over our country, war in Iran or other ill-conceived initiatives of the administration, I conclude that we are being subjected to taxation without representation. I object. I refuse to pay on April 15. I will tell the president and my legislators. It will be a small act of civil disobedience, and it will not change the world. Since I don’t owe much (a couple of thousand), the penalties and fees won’t amount to much. But it will be a slightly stronger protest than joining the No Kings rally on March 28. Maybe others will join me.

Editor:

Elizabeth Boardman

Santa Rosa

NO PLAN HEGSETH

Editor:

I felt ill reading the article about Pete Hegseth. Hegseth is the self-proclaimed secretary of war — formerly known as secretary of defense, and that says a lot about where we are. Donald Trump attacked Iran, illegally and unconstitutionally. Only Congress can declare war on another country. Trump never bothered to ask Congress for permission. He has no plan, and he didn’t even evacuate Americans in the Middle East, who were desperate to get out as the war widened. Hegseth is a little boy playing “Call of Duty.” He said he would “take no quarter” — a military term that means that everyone will be killed, including prisoners of war. He has no idea what he’s doing, and we are in deep trouble. As the widow of a combat veteran in Vietnam, the entire article sickened me. Please publish the truth about Iran. People need to hear it.

Connie Kellogg

Sebastopol

PENALIZE DISTRACTED DRIVERS

Editor,

Why are people who willfully do not look at the road while driving treated any differently from intoxicated drivers?

I’d feel a whole lot safer sharing the road with a driver over the legal limit who is looking at the road than with a sober one who, given the choice between looking ahead and staring at their phone, chooses their phone.

Why are these people not sent right off to jail while losing their licenses, too? The reason the phenomenon is on the rise is that it’s not being treated seriously with big penalties.

Larry Schorr

San Francisco

SEIJ SUPPORTS STATE FOREST BILL

Editor,

In support of AB 2494…

This is a support letter for AB 2494 from SEIJ, a group of environmental and social justice activists long involved in environmental activism in Mendocino County, the site of Jackson Demonstration State Forest.

The alliance for Social, Environmental and Indigenous Justice (SEIJ, pronounced Sage) evolved out of activism to protect wetlands and the sites of many ancient Pomo villages in the footprint of the Cal Trans Willits Highway Bypass construction project. Priscilla Hunter, the Chairwoman of the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council was a member of and a spiritual and political advisor to this group. Ellen Drell, the Director of the Willits Environmental Center, and Madge Stronge, the former Mayor of Willits, are amongst our members, along with several other dedicated and brilliant environmental justice advocates.

Our local efforts have included participation in many state and local administrative hearings to build the record for litigation, community outreach and education on environmental and Native American social justice issues, advocacy for biodiversity protection, climate resiliency and Native American cultural resource protection, including defining and substantiating the area now called Jackson Demonstration State Forest as a Northern Pomo and Coast Yuki “cultural landscape” under CEQA, worthy of preservation and protection.

The members of SEIJ have been involved in the Save Jackson Forest Coalition since the very beginning of the local community uprisings that we believe planted the seeds for the eventual crafting of AB 2494. We have joined hands with tribes, climate scientists and organizations fighting climate change and pollution, both locally and statewide, along with recreation groups, native plant protectors, Pomo and Yuki Round House elders, high school students, Native basket weavers and herbalists, and the Democratic Party. (See attached Resolution from the Statewide Democratic Party in support of Tribal co-management and the application of traditional educational knowledge in the forward management of JDSF).

We write this letter in support of AB 2494 as a reflection of current state policy to encourage co-management by Tribes of state owned lands in their ancestral territory and its 30X30 climate change resiliency campaign. Saving the second growth old trees at JDSF will do much to save the quality of the air we breathe, and the habitat in which the critters roam. As well, changing the mandate from commercial logging will do much to protect the many Pomo/Coast Yuki cultural sites located at JDSF which have been severely and continuously adversely impacted by the logging, road building, and tractor skid trails at JDSF.

We do not believe that a sustainable forest habitat includes rotational logging every 20 to 30 years to pay for CAL FIRE salaries. Instead, the JDSF forest should be allowed to simply heal after so many years of clear cutting and Native American cultural site desecration. Take an aerial overview of JDSF and you will clearly see how ravaged the land is with slash piles, undeconstructed roads, and skid trails. We are glad that AB 2484 has developed a funding mechanism that will not require the extensive amount of commercial logging at JDSF that was undertaken to support CAL FIRE salaries.

We end with a quote from Priscilla Hunter, the Chairwoman, since its inception to her death of the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, an organization of

10 Mendocino and Lake County Tribes which own 2,700 acres of their ancestral territory on Mendocino’s Lost Coast which they manage under a wilderness conservation easement. This organization believes that if they simply allow the forest to heal from several generations of clear cuts, it will regenerate itself into a forest of the diverse trees that were in place before the clear cuts. This forest restoration perspective is also supported by scientific studies. The science of restoration and conservation is very different from the past alleged science at JDSF that has focused on sustaining maximum logging production. It is time to change this paradigm in alliance with the Native management view of the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. Here Ms. Hunter tells it like it should be regarding what Native American forest sustainability means:

The Jackson State Forest managers define sustainability in a manner completely at odds with our indigenous world view. “Sustainability” to them means being able to cut down redwood trees that can live for thousands of years and replant them in order to keep cutting the trees every few decades. The primary motivation for their sustainability model is money and job creation, not for forest health. In their rush to cut redwood trees, they fail to honor the vital life giving force of forests that are the very lungs of Mother Earth. Our view of a sustainable forest is a forest that sustains our culture, values and way of life, not one that is managed in order to be cut for profit. (Emphasis supplied)

This continues to be the view of the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council as witnessed by the Resolution they recently unanimously passed in support of AB2494. (See attached Resolution)

Even given this healing indigenous perspective of sustainable forestry, which SEIJ adheres to, there are still many forest lands in Northern California that are privately owned from which logs can continue to be extracted for profit as AB 2494 does not apply to privately owned lands. So the timber company outcry should be balanced against the virtue of honoring tribal sovereignty and co-management at JDSF as part of the reparative justice the state is now advancing from the Governor’s apology for a past of state sponsored genocide by way of his creation of the Truth and Healing Council. Our organization is grateful both to him and for the California Natural Resources Agency’s attention to Native American cultural resource protection concerns in its Policy on Native Stewardship that is currently being drafted.

This is a time for healing of wounds both to the forest and to the descendants of the local tribes whose ancestors were forcibly removed from their lands by violent citizen militias sponsored by the state. The savage history of clear cutting at JDSF went hand in hand with the brutality doled out to our local tribes. It is time to heal these wounds both to Mother Earth and to the Tribes. SEIJ listens to the voices of the Indian elders, including the voice of our dear departed sister in struggle, Priscilla Hunter, who would so enthusiastically support this legislation.

Thank you for your attention to this letter of support.

On behalf of SEIJ

Polly Girvin

Redwood Valley

SUPPORT FAMILY CAREGIVERS

To the Editor:

My 102-year-old mother entered into hospice three months ago. While the hospice personnel were caring and professional, I realized that my mother’s care as she moved toward death would require more than our emotional support. We became experts in the two-person transfer to the toilet, administering medications and treating bed sores. All this 24 hours a day.

The hospice setting was exactly what my mother and we desired. However, the hidden assumption that her family would act as her primary caregivers showed that this system is flawed and not available to all who want it.

It is clear that my mother’s death at home was far less expensive than it would have been in a hospital. Some of those insurance savings should be allocated to provide more professionals available to support family caregivers.

Susan Jeffords

Palm Springs

WE?

Editor:

“When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.” So said the president. “We” being oil companies, investors and campaigns they contribute to make more money. “We” the people pay more for the oil.

The president finds offshore wind turbines to be unsightly hazards for birds and whales, although he wants more permanent offshore oil drilling, to make up for the oil transport difficulties caused by his “temporary” war in Iran. That war has caused a spike in terrorism fears here in the U.S.

I don’t know if anyone in the “war department” at Mar-A-Lago is aware of the risk an offshore oil well presents for a terrorist attack, but given their usual response of “we knew it could happen and planned for it,” after it happened anyway, I wonder …

Anyone who remembers the cleanup from the Deepwater Horizon spill, or the Exxon Valdez, might be forgiven for being concerned about strategic, simultaneous sabotage of a few oil rigs along the California and Gulf coasts. Mix in some radioactive material, and … Yuck!

Maybe the president’s people have thought of it and planned for it, maybe not. Maybe it’s a risk they’re willing to take.

D.C. Galloway

Sebastopol

FUNDING TRUMP’S WAR

Editor:

To buy congressional votes to fund his illegal and immoral war, Donald Trump offers Americans relief from his illegal tariffs and cruel cuts to wildfire aid. Solving problems he manufactured — such an artful deal. Other funding ideas: ask his billionaire ballroom buddies to pay, using the trillion-dollar tax break in the Republicans’ big ugly bill? Ask fossil fuel owners who have done the most to stifle clean energy alternatives, the “oil-igarchs” who are the primary beneficiaries of Trump’s Iranezuela war-making? Ask his petro-state allies on the “Board of Peace,” or auction off that golden gavel he loves so much?

Bruce Hagen

Petaluma

WE'LL HAVE A VERY LONG WAIT

Editor:

We all got the memo: Donald Trump doesn’t care about the poor and governs like a greedy tyrant. After reading about struggling hospitals, I’m left asking a different question entirely: Have Democrats learned anything? Trump is president because many constituents lost trust in Democrats. Even if we win back the House, that underlying reality will be there, waiting to bite us in future elections.

We also know that any social program enacted under a Democratic administration will eventually be run by a Republican. So what are our elected officials putting forward? A single-payer system that hands the next Trump even more power to harm even more people?

All Trump had to do was allow the enhanced subsidies from the Biden administration to expire, reverting to the original Affordable Care Act structure. According to Covered California’s own data, the loss of enhanced subsidies disproportionately affects Latino and Asian households. And instead of allowing children to stay on the same plans as their parents, we’ve required many to be auto enrolled into Medi Cal — deepening a severe access crisis.

I can’t help but wonder what would happen if Democrats started demonstrating basic common sense and asked constituents what they actually want, instead of putting them in harm’s way and then blaming Republicans for acting like Republicans.

Norman Sheehan

Santa Rosa

TRUCKING COMPANIES WRECK ROADS

Editor:

Trucking companies should be paying for our roads and highways. Dave Cooke points out that “heavy-duty trucks are responsible for at least 91 percent of the wear and tear” despite accounting for only 11% of the travel on U.S. roads. The analysis shows that large trucks may be causing as much as 99% of the wear and tear. We already record truck weight at weigh stations, and the companies keep close track of the mileage, so the data for determining how much to charge the trucking companies is readily available.

Of course, we consumers would then have to use our savings from not paying gas tax to pay for the higher cost of goods caused by the increased trucking costs. But non-drivers, who are indirectly causing wear and tear on the roads by buying goods shipped by trucks, would then be paying their fair share of the cost. Will trucking industry lobbyists prevail over fairness?

Robert Plantz

Santa Rosa

KEEPIN' IT CLASSY

To the Editor:

Robert Mueller led a Marine platoon into combat in Vietnam, receiving a Bronze Star for heroism under fire, a Purple Heart and two commendations for valor under fire. As a lawyer he chose to serve for decades as a public servant rather than pursue what would have been a lucrative career in private practice.

On Saturday, upon Mr. Mueller’s death, President Trump, who received five draft exemptions, glibly posted on Truth Social: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!”

We have to decide whether we have completely abandoned any pretense of expecting our leaders to demonstrate character in their words and actions. Mr. Trump is brazenly challenging us; he is working to normalize the idea that character is irrelevant.

All of us desperately need to ask ourselves if we have the individual and national character demonstrated by Mr. Mueller throughout his military and public service to reject this attack on the role of character and basic decency in our national identity.

Richard Schwartz

Longbranch, Washington

HONOR DOLORES HUERTA

Editor:

In light of the recent revelation of the sexual abuse of women and girls by Cesar Chavez, many schools, streets and monuments are being renamed to remove his name. Since Dolores Huerta was also instrumental in the formation of the United Farm Workers Union and worked side by side with Chavez, I think it would be most appropriate to rename these schools, streets and other monuments with her name. She also suffered sexual abuse by Chavez and courageously came forward and cooperated with the investigation that led to these recent revaluations of his sexual abuse of women and underage young women. Huerta rightfully deserves recognition for her lifelong work for the United Farm Workers.

Edward F. Gowen

Cotati

DON’T RUSH TO JUDGMENT

Editor,

The recent Santa Rosa police shooting involving a homeless man is a tragedy, and it is understandable that people have strong reactions. However, as a retired California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation captain, I know it is important to consider the full context before rushing to judgment.

Reports indicate the Santa Rosa Police Department officer first attempted to stop the man with a Taser, a non-lethal option meant to prevent a deadly outcome. When the Taser was ineffective, and the man allegedly threatened the officer and charged at her, the situation became immediately dangerous. In that moment, the officer had seconds to react in order to protect herself.

We should absolutely have compassion for people experiencing homelessness, and work toward better mental health and social support systems. At the same time, officers have a right to defend themselves when facing a direct and immediate threat.

Acknowledging both the tragedy of the situation and the reality officers face in split-second decisions is essential for a fair and honest conversation.

G.J. Stocker

Cloverdale

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