Yes on Measure I
As a past commissioner on the Status of Women and chair for four years, the work I am most proud of has been giving voice to Sonoma County women and families and their concerns. Voices of Sonoma County Women was a pre-pandemic project that included live listening sessions and surveys, asking what the top issues were concerning women in our county. Access to quality, affordable childcare was a top concern.
The 2021 Voices of Sonoma County Women survey revealed access to quality, affordable childcare as an important challenge across the economic and racial spectrum of respondents and highest among Latinx (39%) and AAPI (38%) families.
Additionally, 33% of Black or African American respondents, 25% of American Indian/Alaska Native respondents and 19% of white respondents reported that access to quality, affordable childcare was one of their most critical challenges.
Besides supporting women’s ability to provide for their families and their own professional growth, quality childcare and early childhood education improve a child’s readiness for kindergarten. 70% of Sonoma County kids are starting school unprepared. Let’s set them up for long-term success by voting yes on Measure I.
Janice Blalock
Santa Rosa
Felicitous Complicity
Donald Trump warned he will jail election officials he considers cheats, is complaining Pennsylvania’s voting is already a fraud, vowed to pardon January 6 rioters, railed against women who accused him of sexual misconduct, and spent hours in recent days on sometimes incoherent rants that raised questions about his state of mind. HOW is he avoiding being sentenced as an insurrectionist? Oh, wait—a complicit judiciary and Congress.
Gary Sciford
Santa Rosa
