LETTERS from Gazette Readers - November 2017
Strength and Unity
My heart is heavy as I observe the devastating toll the firestorm has taken. Amid the ashes of unthinkable loss and destruction, what shines through is the strength and unity at work in our community.
Last week, nearly every school district in the county was closed. As some school sites begin opening their doors again this week, student safety and health will continue to be top priority. Staff are working around the clock to monitor conditions so that school at the remaining closed sites can resume as soon as it is safe to do so. More than anybody, educators and school staff understand the importance of restoring a sense of normalcy and routine to students.
On behalf of the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), I want to extend my sincere gratitude to these men and women, many of whom have lost their own homes in this tragedy. Thank you to custodial staff for providing our students with a clean school environment by replacing air filters, cleaning desks, and power washing school grounds. Thank you to office staff for your diligent record keeping and communication with parents. Thank you to teachers and counselors for adjusting your schedules to provide guidance, comfort, and stability to our children. Thank you to school and district administration for your dedicated leadership and coordination. You all play an essential role in ensuring the success of our students, and you couldn’t be more valuable in these challenging times.
Steven D. Herrington, Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools
In the October Gazette under the Cotati Heart and Soul there is a article of concern to me. The Gazette printed a personal vendetta attack on a shopping center in Cotati.
The Wolf Den Plaza was attacked in this column for simply enforcing their (clearly marked and noted by the writer) customer parking restrictions. The writer of the column was not shopping at the locations and used their parking lot for her convenience while attended a function close by.
I don’t believe this to be a good use of the platform provided by your paper. The suggestion to not shop at these locations is offensive and destructive to the small businesses serving the community. I suggest she follow the rules in the future to alleviate this situation.
Michael Dawson Guerneville
I agree with you Michael. Every innocent business had the potential to be hurt, and not one of them was at fault. Simply following the rules would have stopped any offense before it even began.
Wood Heat
Getting chilly these nights, and I am struck with the realization that our main source of heat is our wood-burning stove, but I simply can’t fathom lighting another fire that would torture this air we are trying to breathe. I wonder what the wood burning community is thinking and what are some guidelines? Is it time to get the gas heaters out and make every day a spare the air day? Thoughts from the community are welcome.
Chris Dec
I heat with wood as well - but love it. It’s a sustainable source of energy. All the logs come from tree services. Trees grow every day. I have an EPA Certified wood stove that literally puts no particulate matter into the air and re-burns smoke until there is nothing going up my chimney. But still - I have plugged in my electric heater - the little oil ones that look like radiators. With Sonoma Clean Power electricity, at least I know that my power source is clean & renewable one. No petroleum products. We do everything we can - and yet - it’s still not enough. But we must stay warm. There are ways to be warmth are clean and sustainable. If you don’t have an electric heater, you may consider one - but be warned - your power bill will go up a lot!
Some wise words on restoration after these fires from our neighbor Ray Krauss:
I’ve watched recovery over a period of more than 25 years of a 60,000 plus acre burn area on the Blue Ridge between Yolo and Napa County that burned twice in less than a decade. Best advise is, if any doubt, do nothing. The areas requiring intervention most urgently will be the fire brakes; the dozer cuts. And there are going to be many miles of those, perhaps more than we can help. That alone will take a massive volunteer effort that someone is going to have manage. CalFire will have a large scale mitigation effort that will at least involve trying to repair to some extent drainages and avoid major gullying. They may also undertake some erosion control seeding, though in my years could not be persuaded to use native grasses. Even if they had, they would have be genetically distinct from the local populations. In 1964, post Hanley fire erosion control consisted of aerial seeding of Harding grass and the panting of thousands of pine trees. Someone should make early contact with CalFire and see if we can closely coordinate our efforts with theirs.
