Editor:
Your “Sweet Irony” piece reminded me of something Dennis Miller would have written when he got a job at FOX after his HBO stint ended (“Town Dandy,” April 9). Granted it is the “Town Dandy” column, but calling the release of public documents to the media a “leak” speaks for itself.
If your mind has not already been made up on the question of whether opening Humboldt County to STAA trucks truly represents positive economic and sustainable development, take some time to research who and what are the true drivers to expansion of STAA routes nationwide.
For Journal readers, it’s not too late to let politicians know it’s time to find new solutions. If we can’t draw the line at Richardson Grove, where will we draw it? Visit www.SaveRichardsonGrove.org for more info.
Dave Spreen, Kneeland
Editor:
Thank you, Hank Sims, for shining a light on the county’s publicly funded campaign to convince the public that widening the road through Richardson Grove would be universally beneficial to the economy and is widely supported by the business community. I’m sure administrators of the Headwaters Fund will be more cautious in the future, and hopefully less biased toward a particular outcome.
The most troubling aspect of the proposed project is the assumption that widening the road through the grove is the only option we have for moving goods in and out of the county. CalTrans prepared a DEIR that does not genuinely assess the need for, or alternatives to, the project. Likewise, the Economic Development Department has not explored all the options for future modes of transportation, and has focused solely on STAA truck access. Naturally, when only one option is on the table, people will consider it a done deal.
Perhaps the balance of the money left in the contract “to prepare and disseminate information to the business community and the public” should be used for exploring the alternatives and educating the public about other transportation and economic development options.
Diane Higgins, McKinleyville
This article appears in The CASA.
Thank you Dave.
I’m not sure when Hank Sims stopped caring for the local community.
Diane, the information "leak" regarding the public owned Headwaters Fund advancing the Cal-Trans Richardson Grove project was printed in the Time-Standard over a week before Hank’s vicious attack on the NEC and Friends of Richardson Grove regarding the KMUD radio ads. Hank also called it a "minor tweak" in the road. Read the EIR, it’s much more than that…
Why did Hank suddenly change his tune after the previous slam piece? Was it the avalanche of letters to the NJC supporting the NEC and Richardson Grove? Was it the outrage from the public over the misuse of the Headwaters Fund?(BTW, the fund has never been utilized for what it was intended)
Either Hank doesn’t read the Time-Standard…or he has interests in hiding information and swaying public opinion towards a more commercialized version of Humboldt County.
Only in america can a fund be set up to protect the land be used to destroy it! I spent a number of years trying to save headwaters an all it seemed to have done is give the powers to be more money to destroy what’s left.