Letters to the Editor
Kearney, Miller, Healy for Council
EDITOR: I have had the honor of serving on Petaluma’s City Council for nearly six years. During that time, I have served with individuals who are mature, experienced, dedicated and hard working. Three of those dedicated people are up for reelection this fall: Gabe Kearney, Kathy Miller and Mike Healy. I endorse all three and ask that you join me in voting for them as well.
Gabe Kearney grew up in Petaluma’s east side, graduated from Casa and started into public life immediately thereafter working on City Committees before his election to the Council. He is a knowledgeable and tireless advocate for maintaining and improving our public safety, finding meaningful and lasting solutions to our seemingly intractable homeless issues, among other important local issues. He is the only Latinx on the Council and the only one who is running this fall.
Kathy Miller is the Council’s only member who lives on the east aide where two-thirds of the City’s population resides. Kathy represents Petaluma on the Sonoma County Transportation Authority and has been instrumental in securing funding for the much-needed widening of Highway 101 through Petaluma and the region. Kathy (as well as Gabe and Mike) have been tireless advocates for getting our river dredged.
Mike Healy is the most experienced member on the Council having served 20 years. His knowledge of public policy in local government is second to none on the Council or our region. Mike is a strong supporter of affordable and market housing in Petaluma. Mike is also a leader in the League of California Cities, an organization that advocates for cities before the state government on issues such as housing, transportation and climate.
The foregoing is a bit of what these fine people have done on the Council. Going forward, the City will be grappling with issues such as the Fairgrounds, an updated General Plan, climate change policy, housing, transportation and infrastructure repairs. Experience matters. As does representing the entire city, not merely a group of political activists with narrow agendas. Please join me in voting for Kearney, Miller and Healy for City Council this fall.
Dave King
Petaluma
Setting the record straight
EDITOR: It’s fine that Mike Healy thinks the Ellis Creek wastewater plant is one of his three biggest accomplishments (“Healy not done with city politics”). I agree that it is a world class project, one that I visit on a regular basis to go bird watching.
It’s a local treasure. But councilman Healy did not originally support Ellis Creek. He had concerns about the cost. Janice Cader Thompson, then on the council, along with Patricia Johanson, an internationally acclaimed landscape designer, were the driving forces to get this innovative plant on the drawing board.
I was there as staff to the Coastal Conservancy which made one of the key grants for Ellis Creek. Councilman Healy eventually supported the project and his current support for it is laudable but to list it as one of his accomplishments is puffery at its best.
Maxene Spellman
Petaluma
No to incumbents
EDITOR: I was surprised to read Healy, Kearney, and Miller’s defense of their approval of Sid Commons in the Aug. 27 Argus-Courier. I was surprised because their defense is riddled with flaws. Their defense shows why Petalumans must vote them out in November. In defending their false and failed promises around multiple issues, they have provided a clear view of why their brand of “approve-any-development” is horribly wrong for our town.
For both east side and west side Petalumans, it is their failed promise of traffic relief that is most appalling. Traffic is a top-ranked problem here, and it worsens with each project that Healy, Kearney, and Miller approve. Over and over, they use smoke and mirrors to push their approval of any-and-every development.
For the campaign-contributing developer of Sid Commons, they voted to exceed critical traffic levels to over 3,000 cars on Graylawn Avenue, a quiet, tiny road with only eight driveways/houses lining either side. They justified exceeding the City’s 2,000 maximum car limit by claiming Graylawn is the same as “other local residential streets like I Street.” This couldn't be farther from the truth. Graylawn is not the same as I Street.
Graylawn is classified by the City as “residential,” with 1,142 cars per day. It is less than .1-mile in length, with a high cross street ratio of 50:1 per mile, and it has no stop signs or crosswalks.
I Street, in comparison, is classified as a “major collector,” with 4,600 cars per day. It is over a mile in length, with a low cross street ratio of 12:1 per mile, and it features both stop signs and crosswalks.
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