Unions and decent wages, relaxed landlord rules: PD letters

Unions and decent wages

EDITORIAL: While I am not a fan of George F. Will, I agree with his October 27 column (“For national security: reconsider university for all”). I was a welder at Newport News Shipyard in the 1970s. During the years I was there the wages weren’t much, but I know a welder makes more these days. This was due to the efforts of workers who went on strike and secured a contract that included decent wages and other benefits.

There is more to this story as the designers at Newport News Shipyard previously went on strike because the company union for the designers was in no way a friend of theirs. By then I had worked my way through the shipyard’s apprenticeship school, from welding to design.

Will has blasted unions in the past. Perhaps when promoting the wages you can earn as a welder, he should know how that came about.

JACOB W. BOUDEWIJN

Santa Rosa

Relax rules for landlords

EDITORIAL: The recent ‘housing summit’ emerged with only one substantive direction: more flexibility in zoning plans (‘Housing stop inspires action’ October 13). While this would help promote housing, care must be taken not to undermine the rule of law and property rights that underpin successful societies.

The summit left out two self-imposed barriers to rental housing construction in California: subsidized housing mandates and overregulation that harms landlords. While these are partly state issues, grassroots lobbying by cities and counties can have an impact if there are plans for reform.

Mandates to subsidize targeted housing harm the economics of rental housing development and should be reduced or eliminated. Actual data shows what this has done to years of rental construction (or non-construction) in California, which lags behind other states.

Overregulation is getting worse with more state and local rent control and eviction protections. It should be clear that such anti-landlord regulation has created a politically murky and economically bleak future rental housing environment. Conducive to making a risky investment? No. The data from the past fifteen years once again shows that fundamental cause-and-effect economics tend to prevail in the long run.

RG WILLAMSON

Santa Rosa

Block traffic

EDITOR: Regarding Petaluma’s D Street bike lanes, I have to make this comment: I don’t mind the bike lanes, although I don’t think they will be as wonderful as some think. The most incredibly stupid thing the city has done is block traffic on Fifth Street, not allowing through traffic or even turning onto Fifth Street, which will get a lot of people in trouble. You don’t help traffic by blocking it.

JOSEPH C. TINNEY

Petal

Province contracts

EDITORIAL: Did The Press Democrat include in its investigation into the county’s association with DEMA the criteria under which the original contract was formed? It was a matter of curiosity for me how the province decides during the selection of suppliers.

I see their frequent email requests for a proposal. I wonder if the county, prior to issuing each RFP, develops a detailed evaluation matrix, usually in private practice an Excel spreadsheet, with a weight assigned to each criterion in the matrix, that can be used in scoring each answer.

And if so, is this matrix assessed by an independent third party for objectivity and completeness? Is the score evaluated in the same way? So that the inevitable tendency of local officials, when allocating public resources, to direct those resources to their political allies is at least somewhat mitigated.

And when all of the above is done, will these matrices, scores, names of the scorers and reviewers be available to the public and the press?

RON FENTON

Santa Rosa

Say no to a new gas station

EDITOR: As a resident of West Santa Rosa, I am against the proposal for a gas station on Wright Road. There is absolutely no reason to build one in this location. There is a Chevron on Stony Point Road near Highway 12, and another further up the road at the entrance to Sebastopol. After perusing the website for Blue Star Gas, located between the two Chevrons, I see that they have “an on-site LPG filling station.” It is also located on Wright Road. How does that fit into the mix? This is clearly not a gas station desert.

Didn’t Santa Rosa make a decision on climate change a few years ago? How does that square with adding a new gas station to an area that is two, maybe three, no more than five minutes apart (depending on traffic)? Additionally, the proposed location is next to the Joe Rodota Trail, which has had its fair share of problems in recent years and does not need additional congestion. Deny the permit.

LAURA GONZALEZ

Santa Rosa

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