Local Politics Makes Sense

It does the soul good to see Ken Brown join fellow council members Joanne Sanders and Aug Sebastiani, as he did last week, to delay the expenditure of more than $4 million in city funds to refurbish the council chambers and police station on First Street West.
They say politics makes strange bedfellows. We don’t think so, at least not at a local level. We think it could be a natural majority on this council – members inclined to challenge assumptions, maybe above their inclination to build consensus.
Certainly, all five council members want what’s best for Sonoma, which means they continually need to ask themselves, “Is this matter before me the right thing to do?” As investors know, it doesn’t matter how much you put into something – the essential challenge at any point in time is to choose the best course of action moving forward. In this case, it doesn’t matter how much has been spent to date on plans and other expenses; that’s a sunk cost, and doesn’t create any obligation. We have to look forward, not back.
We expressed in this column over two years ago our belief that the Sonoma police station ought not to be located up a dead-end street, a quarter-mile from the nearest intersection (First Street West at West Spain Street), which itself is not easy. Gridlock happens with every game at Arnold Field and every event at the Veterans Hall.
We do understand that police cruisers don’t necessarily roll from the station in an emergency, but even so, a highly visible location on a major thoroughfare makes a lot more sense. We were perhaps not the first to suggest moving the police headquarters to the old fire station on Patten Street, but we’re pleased to see it being tried out, as its advantages should become more obvious. Moreover, the city already owns it, having sold that site to itself (the Community Development Agency) after the Fire Department moved out.
Are there other uses, as Sanders suggested, for the $4 million of the contract the Council hasn’t approved, and the $2 million more it would take to finish the rebuild? Absolutely! How about more affordable housing? How about a teen center? How about the Community Swim Center? [Full disclosure: Bill Hammett on our board is president of CommonBond Foundation, the group pursuing the pool project.]
And what would become of the empty police station? Certainly, the council could continue to have its meeting chambers there, nicely refurbished and possibly enlarged. The council was unanimous in its support for an overnight shelter at that site; why not use part of the old police station for that purpose? And folks have long wanted bathrooms and a snack bar to serve members of the community attending local sporting events at the Field of Dreams. Why not use the back of the old station for those purposes?
We’re thankful (most of the time) that government moves as hesitantly as it generally does. Eventually, we trust, the right decisions do get made, and we encourage the council in its desire to review this one.
To all our representatives on the council, whatever the decision: thanks for serving, and keep up the good work.