Lots of news in the Springs

Because there was no “Springs Eternal” column in December, I have a lot of news and updates for you this month.

The latest regarding the Highway 12 sidewalk project is that the County Public Works Department plans to open bids the first week of February. Deputy Public Works Director Tom O’Kane also told me all the needed permits from CalTrans have been approved. He expects construction will begin in April or May. If all goes as planned, most of the project should be completed in the fall, with the final work finished in early 2016.

The severity of our housing situation in Sonoma Valley is demonstrated by the fact that Mid Pen Housing — the affordable housing developer creating 100 units on Highway 12 by the Sonoma Charter School — has already created a list of interested renters, even though the project’s first phase is two years away from completion. Phase one is 60 units of family housing. Phase two is 40 units of senior housing, for which Mid Pen still has to secure funding.

As I told the “Press Democrat,” this does not surprise me at all. I also pointed out that our workforce housing shortage is worsened by the fact the Board of Supervisors allows the unlimited conversion of our traditional, middle class single family housing into vacation rentals.

Speaking of vacation rentals: the County is holding a community meeting to update its vacation rental ordinance on Monday, February 9, 3:30 to 6 p.m. in La Luz Center’s Booker Hall at 17560 Greger St. It’s disappointing this meeting is being held during the afternoon when many people who live in neighborhoods being transformed by vacation rentals, and those being squeezed out by them, can’t attend.

As I wrote in my October 15, 2014 column, the county views vacation rentals mostly as noise and tax collection problems to be managed. None of the supervisors have personal experience living in communities with vacation rentals. They don’t know what it means to watch numerous houses, that were previously occupied year round by contributing members of the community, now sit empty half the year while various groups of strangers come and go the other half. Former Sonoma City Council candidate Dr. Andrew Sawicki said it best when he described neighborhoods converted into vacation rentals as “eggshells.”

Grange Hall Remodeling

Sunday, February 1 will be the last pancake breakfast at the Sonoma Valley Grange for a few months, as the hall will be closed to construct new bathrooms. This is the first of a multi-phase remodeling project at the Grange, which includes installing a commercial kitchen, new floors and a new roof. The pancake breakfast is 9 to 11 a.m. Tickets are $12.

As a member of the Grange myself, I encourage Springs residents to join. The Grange hall is the closet thing we have to a community center. To join visit sonomavalleygrange.com and download the membership form. Dues for new members is $35.

What can fit into Maxwell Farms Park?

This is the question I was thinking as I left the community meeting that Sonoma County Regional Parks held January 14 to update the park’s master plan. Two-thirds of the park has a conservation easement requiring it be kept rural. As the planning process moves forward, Regional Parks will need to articulate more clearly what that means.

About 40 people, plus county staff, attended the meeting. We sat around tables in small groups and discussed what we thought were the park’s assets, problems, and opportunities. Someone from each table shared with the overall group what their small group thought.

Sitting at my table was unofficial Maxwell Farms Park historian Larry Davis. Davis, who ran for 1st district supervisor in 1992, was in the room in the mid 1970s when then 1st district supervisor Brian Kahn negotiated with the company who owned Maxwell Farms to preserve the western section as rural open space.

There are many of us who remember Maxwell Farms when it was an operating organic farm that included the property now occupied by the shopping center. I believe any attempt to loosen up the restrictions of the conservation easement will be met with firm opposition. The easement does allow for agricultural uses, such as a community garden, which has been suggested.

School Trustees told race matters

Flowery School attendance area trustee on the Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board, Dan Gustafson, Sonoma Valley schools superintendent and Boyes Hot Springs resident Louann Carlomagno, and I attended a symposium in November at the Sonoma County Office of Education where we learned race matters when it comes to closing the educational achievement gap.

We were among school trustees and administrators from throughout Sonoma County who heard from keynote speaker, Glenn E. Singleton, principal of the Pacific Educational Group, and author of “Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools.” Singleton works with school districts to facilitate dialogue about race among staff, administrators and trustees.

The County Board of Education and the County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Steve Herrington, hosted the symposium. My board colleagues and I heard Singleton speak the previous year at a California Counties Board of Education meeting. What we heard inspired us to bring him to Sonoma County. He received a standing ovation.

Gina Cuclis has been a resident and community activist in Boyes Hot Springs since 1990. She also represents Sonoma Valley on the Sonoma County Board of Education. Reach her at [email protected].