Make Dewitt Center available to seniors again

This letter is an appeal to the Board of Supervisors to allow the seniors of Placer and surrounding counties to occupy the buildings at Dewitt Center. It was a mistake for the seniors to leave the Dewitt Center. They were forced to leave because Costco was supposed to occupy the space. That did not happen and the buildings have been sitting empty for many years. When the seniors were there, they did much volunteer work and spent a lot of money to make the place safe and comfortable for their meetings. The place and space was ideal for Placer County seniors and their families. An automatic electric door was installed by the seniors for handicap access. The place felt like home to those participating in classes or visiting others of their age. The Dewitt buildings have been sitting empty long enough. Please consider a memorandum of understanding with the Senior Center Board of Directors for re-occupancy of the space for a nominal rent fee and make 1,000 active seniors happy again. The place will again be cared for properly by volunteer seniors in and around Auburn. It is only fair that some of our tax dollars are spent benefitting senior citizens that still like to take part in what life has to offer. In many other communities, the senior centers are big and beautiful and are a part of the county facilities. Please consider making the Dewitt buildings available again for senior functions. Sincerely, Gerda Percival Auburn Love Auburn by voting no on Measure S Auburn voters! These are precarious times. The city wants to make it worse with a record 8½-percent tax rate. Show your love and just say NO to Measure S. S imposes the highest sales tax to be found anywhere in all of Placer County. This includes Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln and all of Lake Tahoe and Granite Bay. This $18 million wallet flush writes a blank check to be "USED FOR ANY LAWFUL PURPOSES." ANY??! S is a business and job killer. It puts a bigger tax burden on the poor and seniors in mobile home parks. It encourages people to go elsewhere to buy things and eat. Proponents are spending thousands of dollars bullying voters into falsely believing the city's biggest risk is to a deadly fire like the 2018 Camp Fire that swept through Paradise in Butte County. Even Paradise, nearly twice our size, has a lower sales tax. Paradise is a far more dangerous place due to limited escape and rescue access, unlike Auburn with easy access to Interstate 80. This is bad timing due to uncertainties over COVID-19 and a possible Depression. When times are this uncertain, the city should be cutting their spending more. That's what families and businesses are forced to do without the city making things even worse. There is no guarantee this measure will help anyone with fire insurance rates or whether property purchases are even insurable. Please help me keep Auburn's great record of saying NO to more taxes in a state with the highest tax burden. THINK AUBURN FIRST! Michael Otten Auburn Few masks at recent ARD Halloween event My family and I dressed up to attend a Halloween event at ARD on Saturday, which I hoped would be an opportunity for our daughter to partake in some holiday fun in lieu of trick or treating this year. We dressed up and we masked up. Upon arrival, I was shocked to see the majority of attendees not wearing masks. What's more, there was a long line of families waiting to join the candy handout trail with zero social distancing being observed. My husband joked, this looks like a super-spreader event, but sadly – it really did. Grateful for these community events, but we left after 15 minutes out of serious safety concerns. How does one explain to their child – when school is doing everything they can to keep teachers, students and staff safe via PPE wearing, hybrid learning models, etc. – that a large community event can occur without the same precautions? To organizers: Please, please think about the safety of our community when you plan and advertise these events. Yes, the outdoor factor is safer but doesn't necessarily safeguard when hundreds of people are smooshed together in a line. The COVID numbers in our county have gone down because mask-wearing is now required in most businesses and public spaces. Let's be responsible. Sommer Naffz Auburn Something happening in your community you have an opinion about? Gold Country Media welcomes Reader Input letters in all of its area publications. Letters should be no longer than 350 words and must include a name, address and phone number for verification. All topics must apply to the local community in which they are to be published. Letters must include publication of the author's name. Letter writers are limited to one letter every 30 days, and content is subject to review and approval by the editorial board before publication. Reader Input letters can be submitted by CLICKING HERE: https://goldcountrymedia.com/live-content/form-letter-to-the-editor/