Valleyville, California

Valleyville, California
We appreciate Gay Kisbey’s thoughtful letter to us, in which she correctly notes that the Springs Area Redevelopment Advisory Committee tackles a large number of issues. We’re pleased to continue covering the meetings of that group, appreciating as we do the importance of self-governance. And since informed citizens are empowered citizens, we in the press fill a key role.
Kisbey points out the need for more than a few volunteers to handle civic matters, for more than one committee to do the work of several, for more than just an advisory role. We’ve long agreed. Perhaps it’s time, at last, for the Springs community to coalesce around incorporating itself, as a real city (Sonoma Springs?).
With its own police force, its own fire department, its own city council, its own mayor. And yes, its own bureaucracy, too, but then getting sidewalks would not be a matter of waiting on CalTrans. It’d not a matter of competing with other needs in the County. With its own tax base, the new city (West Sonoma?) would have the responsibility to set its own priorities for improving the area, and the resources to act on them.
Caliente City, anyone? How about Ville de Valle? Creating a better life for one’s family and friends through hard work, persistence, and self-reliance – that’s the American Dream. And that’s what the RAC is trying to do. Welcome to Boyesburg?
Don’t Go Camping
That’s what families do in the summer, right? Go camping. The Boy Scouts do it year-round, of course, rain, sleet, or scorch.
Maybe, says pollster Charles Rund, camping is not such a good idea. At the meeting Monday evening of the Sonoma Valley Health Care Coalition, Rund gave false praise to the voters of Sonoma Valley, finding that we, on average, thought we already knew a lot about the various options available and, moreover, that we weren’t inclined to change our minds. He issued this warning, “Somebody has to blink — if everybody stays in their own camps, we won’t have a new hospital.”
Pondering the survey numbers that Rund presented, and listening to audience chatter, we were reminded of Mark Twain’s disdain for statistics. There were so many permutations of options and questions, that it seemed anybody already in a ‘camp’ easily could pick out support for staying right where they are:
• The Broadway site reached 62 percent favorable rating when posed as a simple yes/no choice.
• The In-Town Option (now going by the name “Ito,” like some Olympic mascot) polled 58 percent on that basis, probably also within reach of 67 percent.
• The Cirrus proposal on Eighth Street was the most popular option when cost was taken into account.
• The Small Hospital option … well, actually that option didn’t look so good, no matter what was taken into account.
Clearly, the 67 percent voter approval needed to pass a new tax is weighing heavy on the coalition. The hospital board is meeting on Wednesday evening, as the first copies of this edition of the Sun are being distributed, and is expected to authorize CEO Carl Gerlach to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding with Cirrus for a “hybrid” operation. That’s based, interestingly, on the District’s desire to put significant money into that project, in the belief it’s necessary to secure the emergency room and other services the community wants.
Though we’re uncertain what is the best option, or what will be by the time we might vote, we’re pleased to see the hospital board again being active in developing the basis for making another decision. It’s been over a year since the Measure C defeat, and we’re ready – past ready – for the voters to speak again.