Leaf blower referendum ignores noise issue

On March 21, the City Council passed an ordinance to restrict the use of leaf blowers to electric/battery only. Before this ordinance has even been tested, three non-residents circulated a petition to put a referendum on the ballot to repeal it. Sadly, this is a familiar scenario – the same thing happened in Menlo Park when the city was strong-armed into overturning their nascent ordinance with an industry-funded referendum, despite popular support for the ban on gas blowers.

Repealing this ordinance does not suddenly make gas blowers legal – it simply means that their use will continue in violation of the City’s noise ordinance.

Perhaps those who spearheaded the referendum believe they can fall back on good ole boy cronyism to dictate police prioritization of noise complaints, responding to drum practices and social gatherings while ignoring the industrial din of landscapers. Yet residents have the right to insist that the noise ordinance be enforced, which renders this referendum pointless. Even a ballot measure win will not make widespread violations legal.

“Mow & blow” is the Happy Meal of landscape services. Nominal cost savings are passed on from property owners and managers to everyone else as disruptive noise, particulate matter, and two-stroke engine emissions.

In the arguments of those who oppose Sonoma’s ordinance, no acknowledgment is made of at-home workers whose jobs are compromised by the daily onslaught of leaf blowers. Councilman Gary Edwards, who vehemently opposed the ordinance, calls leaf blower operators “entrepreneurs,” while those who work at home are arrogantly dismissed as complainers.

The only thing this referendum is sure to accomplish is to resurrect the tired debate about leaf blowers… indefinitely.

Lisa Summers, Sonoma