Meeting topic: Shaping SDC’s future

Members of the Sonoma Developmental Center Coalition believe that the best hope for “saving” the Center is not to fight for the status quo, but to develop an entirely new vision for how the facility can serve a host of community needs and still provide top-line care for those with developmental disabilities.

At a public meeting on May 2, the coalition will launch the “Transform SDC Project” to develop a community response to the state’s call to close SDC. It is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Vintage House, 264 First Street East, Sonoma.

“There has been a lot of confusion, concern and conflicting stories about what the state intends to do with SDC,” said Sheri Cardo, of coalition member Sonoma Land Trust. “There is also deep concern about the well-being of the 400+ clients at SDC and the Center’s workforce, as well as the 750 acres of undeveloped land in the heart of the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor.”

Sonoma Land Trust has hired the Center for Collaborative Policy (affiliated with CSU Sacramento) to facilitate and lead an 18-month public planning process designed to give everyone in the community a voice in shaping SDC’s future. The May 2 meeting will be the first of at least four public meetings.

Cardo said the May 2 meeting will be structured to provide basic information on the health care services, history, natural resources and reuse opportunities of SDC, and to then ask attendees to participate in breakout sessions for idea sharing and dialogue.

The ultimate goal of the Transform SDC Project is to provide the state with a set of recommendations for what a “transformed” SDC could actually look like and how it could be funded.

The coalition has been chaired by Supervisor Susan Gorin, and includes the Parent Hospital Association, Sonoma Ecology Center, Sonoma Land Trust, Sonoma Mountain Preservation and a variety of County agencies and districts. By launching this community dialogue now to a wider audience, Cardo said, “we believe we can get ahead of the closure process and create the best chance to influence the ultimate decisions made by the state.”