Elias is full of gas!
EDITOR: Thomas Elias’s recent column on the Prop. 6 Gas Tax Repeal Initiative (“Ballot Misinformation on the Increase,” July 23) was wrong on so many levels, and the record must be set straight.
First, the Yes on Prop. 6 Gas Tax Repeal campaign has been clear that our initiative will repeal the recently enacted gas and car tax hikes – saving the typical family of four more than $700 a year in unnecessary taxes. That’s not mere pennies per gallon – it is real money for Californians who are already struggling with a sky-high cost-of-living.
Second, Elias fails to tell readers that the Yes on Prop. 6 campaign has a better alternative solution to fixing the roads without a tax hike. In fact, prior to the latest gas tax hike, Californians already paid some of the highest gas taxes in the nation. Unfortunately, the politicians continue to divert the money from roads and what little money is left is wasted. Our alternative solution fixes that problem with a real Citizens Lock Box – not a phony one written by politicians.
Elias should have done his homework – but he didn’t. We urge you to do your homework by getting the facts at GasTaxRepeal.org.
Carl DeMaio
Chairman, Yes on Prop. 6
OB is ‘something worth saving’
EDITOR: I was born at Sonoma Valley Hospital in 1981. I was raised in this town, attended our local schools. I went away to college and grad school and started a family out of state. When it came time to get serious about where I wanted to live and work and raise my family, I moved back to Sonoma. I bought a house and send my kids to local schools. I chose this community because it has a center, not just physically, but morally and spiritually. It has a character. It values work and family and a sense of belonging no matter what your circumstances. My first child was born in a massive hospital in the middle of Manhattan. They put an ankle bracelet on her in the nursery because there were so many babies, she could get mixed up, or worse, kidnapped. In Sonoma, I’m lucky enough to have a health plan that lets me see all local doctors. When I became pregnant with my second child I was so thrilled, beyond excited that I could see a local OBGYN and deliver my child at the very same hospital where I was born. The act of labor was no more fun the second time than it was the first time, but the entire experience was completely opposite. My family was invited to be a part of it. The nurses showed genuine care and concern. They, especially Rebecca, gave me the strength and the ownership to be present and in control of the process. That is rare in modern births and it’s something that will never be reflected in Sonoma Valley Hospital administration’s cost/benefit analyses and income graphs (“Jobs, Health At Risk With OB Closure?” Aug. 3). It’s something worth saving. If the SVH Board of Directors truly cared about providing women’s health services in Sonoma, for our people, our friends and neighbors and colleagues... if that were a real desire, they would have found a way to keep it. Instead, they voted to close it. The board members are elected by the people of this district, and come November, we should remember that they oversaw the situation and voted for the last baby to be born in Sonoma on or before Oct. 31, 2018.
