She's Too Busy Saddling Taxpayers

Letters to the Editor

I’m retired and on a fixed income here in Eureka. I see we have a Water Board contest on our ballot here, and I think this couldn’t have come at a better time because our water rates have gone up and up and up over the last four years.

What has the incumbent, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, done about our water rates? Not a thing, as far as I can see. She’s too busy saddling taxpayers like me with burdens such as defending the indefensible Measure T, which was never properly drafted to begin with. Her immaturity and inexperience, with no background in science or law to speak of, will wind up costing our local government tens of thousands of dollars in needless legal fees.

I’ve read up on her opponent, Stephen Davies, and I am duly impressed. He actually has degrees and expertise in water quality science and he’s fought in court and won for local residents affected by environmental degradation (such as the residents of Stafford hit by that landslide). He also has a plan to attract new businesses here to buy some of the water our district isn’t using, which will bring down water rates for us residents.

I’m not in the habit of endorsing candidates for local office, but here’s a cut-and-dried election about what kind of experience and leadership qualities we need for our Humboldt Bay water resources. That’s why I’m voting for Stephen Davies for the Water Board.

Steve Vidnovic
Eureka

Against Scare Tactics From Kaitlin

My experience as a water and wastewater treatment plant operator (Grade 1) for the State of California informs my opinions about our Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District and about the issue of fluoride.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in everyday items and it is important for public health to add a scientifically measured amount into our water supply. These conspiracy theories about fluoride reducing IQ are unfounded and offensive to the people of Eureka who've had fluoride in their water since the 1950s.

Science was turned on its head this year when elected officials voted to prevent the water district from holding a hearing on the fluoridation of all the district's water. Doing so would save us working people in Eureka some money when we need it most by reducing our water bills, since the city wouldn't have to pay for it alone anymore.

I voted for Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap four years ago, but I know I will not make that same mistake after her vote against fluoride. She was elected to serve Division 1, which is entirely within our city limits, and her vote was not in our economic best interest. She doesn't seem to understand what dental health means to the children in poverty in our city.

We need a representative who understands the issue, and doesn't resort to these scare tactics. I'm voting for Stephen Davies, a fellow Democrat, because he actually has real expertise in water testing and environmental law.

James Stratton
Eureka

Trust In Davies

I have practically grown up in Eureka. For over 17 years, I have loved beautiful Humboldt County.
I lived in Blue Lake for awhile, Humboldt Hill, Old Town, now California Street, I love to drink our tap water.

I trust Steve Davies. I am assured and confident of his abilities, as a candidate for Division 1 of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District board.

I know him; he is a frequent early-morning customer at the coffee shop where I work.

I attended his Blind Water Tasting, at Has Beans, this past Saturday.

In short, I encourage anyone who reads this to endorse Steve Davies in full confidence, and to vote or him on Nov. 4.

Sarah Torres
Eureka

Don't Drink The Obama Kool-Aid

A funny thing happened after the conventions in that the media’s darling Barack Obama complained he was targeted by Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate.

That bulldog in high heels crossed Alaska’s tundra to challenge Obama on a sampling of the issues the mainstream media failed to question for months. Liberals smear Palin to an obscene degree. Apparently her major crime is holding right to life views while Obama supports abortions and partial birth abortions and refuses provision of medial care for babies who survive abortions.

There’s abundant irony in Obama’s criticism of Palin’s comments. The media swooned over his rhetoric and Obama opined that he gave a John F. Kennedy speech. I attended Kennedy’s convention address in Los Angeles. To utilize a famous quote on that topic, “Obama is no John Kennedy.” Kennedy advocated limited government, strong national defense, and low taxes. Kennedy rejected the Marxist redistribution of wealth guaranteed by Obama.

Obama’s promises of the same elite medical care given to senators goes unquestioned. Furthermore everyone will have a good job, everyone can go to college, and all schools will have high caliber teachers while everyone drives less and enjoys it more. Furthermore there won’t be a ragtag bobtail problem his utopia won’t solve when rich folks pay huge taxes and the rest of us enjoy a free ride. Hey that’s reasonable. Those people have more houses and cars than we do.

Use horse sense to demolish the media’s hype. Balance its under evaluation of Hillary’s 18-million votes and the discounting of Sarah’s two years as governor against the blind adulation of Obama’s actual 173 days in the U.S. Senate. Consider the ignoring of issues that would have been gigantic scandals about someone they hadn’t anointed. Give the liberal media a six-pack of Kool-aid and don’t give Obama your vote.

Colleen Hedrick
Eureka

Bosnian War Criminal Is The Face Of Evil

As the world watches Bosnian Serb war criminal and leader Radovan Karadic argue with United Nations judges in the Hague War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, it is important not to let his spectacle of psychotic behavior and mentality overshadow the suffering of his Bosnian victims and their families.

Karadic is being charged with the brutal murders of 8000 men and boys from the city of Srebrenica, Bosnia-Hercegovina in July of 1995. The families of the murdered Bosnian children continue to suffer trauma and stress due to Radovan Karadic’s cruelty against their young children. What a shame this beastly act of mass murdering of thousands of children is.

Radovan Karadic is truly the face of evil.

Kevin Beck
Las Vegas, Nev.