Sanders addresses annexation by Sonoma

Sonoma Mayor Joanne Sanders stirred things up last month when she suggested annexing the unincorporated Springs and El Verano areas into the City of Sonoma. It’s an idea that was shot down in the ‘70s and again in the ‘80s, but Sanders and others think it’s worth exploring again.
Speaking before the Springs Task Force Coordinating Committee (STFCC) last week, Sanders explained that she was bringing up the issue again because much has changed since the mid-‘80s, and the impacts of Proposition 13 on local governments are now fully fleshed out. She said that during her four years on the city council, the topic has come up in almost every council meeting in one form or another. “It’s a long way from happening,” she said, “but it’s just got to be discussed.”
She said that one thing driving the discussion is the need to create more efficiency in government – for example, by sharing services such as water districts, ambulance and fire protection.
The other factor is the desire to create a sense of one community. Sanders said that more than half of the audience at Sonoma city council meetings do not live within the city limits. She said she’d be open to creating a borough or district system in which different areas would elect representatives to the council.
A self-described “limited growth person,” Sanders suggested annexing only existing urban areas of El Verano and the Springs as far north as Agua Caliente Road. Agricultural land would not be included.
David Reber, who attended the STFCC meeting and is running for First District Supervisor, does not favor the idea of annexation. “It’s going to quadruple the city limits and triple the population,” he said. Reber predicted that many who now live in the unincorporated county would not want the burden of complying with the city’s ordinances governing design review, historic districts and xeriscaping, among other things.
Reber also said that the transient occupancy tax (TOT) collected by the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn is the highest in Sonoma County and will not be given up easily. In 2007, Sonoma Mission Inn collected $1.81 million in TOT from hotel guests for county coffers. “You will have to pry it out of the county’s cold, dead fingers,” he said.
Patrick Hurley, a resident of Melody Lane in the Springs, said he’d welcome being part of Sonoma. “I don’t want to have to drive 20 miles to Santa Rosa. That’s the largest thing, in my mind. I want to deal with things locally.”