Shop as I say, not as I do
City Hall had a fine chance to put your money where its ‘Shop Local’ mouth is, but when it came time to buy a work truck, it went regional. To replace an oft-broken 1997 Ford flatbed (scheduled for placement in 2006), the $46k purchase went to a Sacramento dealer. A good deal? Probably. But as a symbolic gesture of hometown spending – Sonoma Chevrolet could have used the business – a bad look… Dan Roseland of Sonoma Chevy (the site of all those fundraising car washes) is cleaning up a used car to donate to the high school’s annual Grad Night Party. The car will be raffled off to a graduating senior to culminate the safe and sober celebration held on campus. Bob Nobles started it, and Roseland is keeping the tradition going.
Online shopping is a festering blight on local brick and mortar. The habit, explains Walt Williams, has given rise to the phenomena of ‘showrooming,’ where an online shopper will come in to a real store to try on clothes and check out products, then return to the computer to make the final purchase online… Meanwhile, I’m from Yelp – shouldn’t I have a good table and a free meal?
Percentage-wise, Police Chief Brett Sackett told the city council in his annual report, violent crime looks to be way up. But that’s what happens when the sample size is so small. “It’s important to note the number of reported violent crimes increased by only 11 and is consistent with rates we experienced five years ago.” The addition of Dickie the crime-sniffing K9 officer, and a fully-equipped BMW police motorcycle, was highlights of 2013, Sackett said, as was a focus on drunk driving (kudos to Deputy Eric Smith, winner of the 2013 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) Award)… Troublesome was an increase in gang-related violence and the initial effects of the
State’s Prison Realignment Program… Moving prisoners to the county jail makes for crowded quarters, and an early, or even unwarranted, release of criminals back into the community. That’s why known drunks, drug users and petty thieves are back on the street soon after multiple arrests.
It’s not easy being sustainable. When her boyfriend Austin Blair decided to become an organic farmer, Casey Beck took movie camera in hand to document year one. “Unarguably, there is an elegance and ease that comes with a purely pastoral lifestyle,” Beck says, “however, the choice to be a farmer comes with immense challenge. Turning back to the land in an organic way marks the beginning of a long, uphill battle: not only are you challenging the status quo, you are also, in many places, taking a vow of poverty.” Her film “The Organic Life” shows on May 24.
