The great flaw in our democracy is that the majority can always vote to take a disproportionate price from a minority. Everyone’s vote counts the same regardless of your contributions. Legislating morality, taxing success and generally narcissistic behavior are the great issues of our time.

The California School Boards Association, which represents more than 1,000 school districts, has endorsed Proposition 38 along with Proposition 30. I too support this position because both propositions are good for schools, and they would provide critically needed revenues.

With the fall elections upon us, Californians are reeling under a weak recovery, enduring both historic levels of income inequality and the most severe fiscal crisis in recent history. To address the crisis we must have some common sense remedies: raise taxes on the wealthy and build a movement for a fair and more equitable tax system.

This is in response to the Saturday editorial titled ‘Timing is wrong for local sales tax hikes.’ We strongly disagree. Healdsburg’s Measure V is necessary for the ongoing fiscal health of the city.

A committee is being formed to consider revising the joint powers agreement under which the Sonoma County Library System has operated since 1975. It is imperative to understand what changes are desired before the JPA is revised. The risk is that the changes could do irreparable harm — to the sharing of materials, to funding and to intellectual freedom.

It is bizarre to suppose that Sebastopol can be reconstituted as an old-timey pedestrian-centric village simply by harassing a developer who wants to rebuild on property that is now an eyesore. A property that has always been valued precisely for its accessibility to passing motorists. The demand for an environmental impact study is a stalling tactic and a misuse of that important safeguard.

‘Of immediate concern is that the money to be raised is inadequate to fully fund the projects specified. There remains a $2 million shortfall even if the tax is approved. No source for the additional funding has been identified and given today’s economic environment can likely be found.’

Nearly everyone agrees that our health is important and that biomedical research is an excellent use of taxpayers’ dollars. However, some see science as a luxury that can be cut from the federal budget. In response to pressure from vocal anti-science groups and some shortsighted congressional representatives, the National Institutes of Health budget has been flat-lined for the past several years.

Early Wednesday, the Sebastopol City Council, by a split 3-2 vote, allowed the controversial Chase/CVS development to go forward, with a couple of conditions. However, the struggle against Chase/CVS is far from over, for at least two main reasons — a pending lawsuit and the upcoming City Council elections. Opponents continue organizing to prevent these two major corporations from anchoring the downtown commons.

In an era of fiscal limits, my goal has been to play a leadership role in discussions and decisions about spending our precious tax dollars, with an eye toward balancing the needs and interests of the people who depend on public programs and services, the workers who provide those programs and services, and everyone who pays for them with their tax dollars.