There may be a no more decorative deliberating body than Sonoma’s City Council. Its timeless, agrarian pace and capacity for indecision-making make Congress and the UN appear reckless.
In recent years, governments have fallen (in Egypt, twice), the Arab Spring came and went, the Greek debt crisis was resolved (again), an Iranian Nuclear Deal was cinched, the Great ’07 Recession reversed and Ebola was conquered.
In that time, City Council – several of them, actually – has been wrestling with issues that (apparently) would flummox the Prophets. To name but a few: Whether to allow dogs on the Montini Trail; whether to ban leaf blowers; and whether to chop down the stately oaks that spew shade all over Broadway sidewalks and which were maliciously planted by a previous Council to spew shade all over Broadway sidewalks.
The one area where Council acts decisively is issuing Proclamations. On only a few days’ notice, any person or group not on an FBI watch-list and who knows one or more sitting Council members can get suitable-for-framing proclamation printed and presented by The Mayor, complete with fanfare, well-wishing and picture-taking that not even a surprise visit by Pope Francis could interrupt.
None of this should be construed as criticism of the ability or integrity of any of the civic-minded citizens, past or present, who sacrifice their time to serve on Council. At one time or another, each has struggled valiantly to move important City business through, over and/or around low-energy colleagues who, through no fault of their own, were apparently swept into office on a tide of low voter turnout.
Veteran Council-watchers say the word ‘sacrifice’ often doesn’t begin to describe the anguish of watching the current dais deliberate; indeed, being forced to watch may constitute a War Crime. A local wag has noted that ancient crucifixions took longer and involved more suffering but, in the end, at least they accomplished something.
‘Dysfunctional’ may be too strong a word, but what’s the solution? Some say, “Change Nothing; City Council is part of Sonoma’s tourist-trapping Historic Charm.”
Admittedly, this view finds support in the data. For example – and if one believes those opposed to dogs on Montini – dogs are already seen on both Montini and Overlook Trails while Council dithers. Thus, dogs enjoy the trails (pleasing the pro-dog faction) but Council has yet to actually allow them (pleasing the anti-dog faction). A “win-win” result, achieved without any hint of the oft-predicted Mass Wildlife Extinction.
At this writing, the leaf blower ban still twists in the wind, but thanks to elections that brought pro-resident councilpersons Gallian, Hundley and Agrimonti to the dais, blowers could be largely banned “soon.” Not by Council, of course, which after three years of back-and-forth punted the decision to the voters.
But what about the Broadway trees? That crisis could linger into Spring, when baby leaves will be hatching. More studies, more casting of runes. Like Hamlet, Council paces and ponders: To chop or not to chop; that is the question.
Again, Do-Nothing Governance could be the answer. For with patience and in due course, both the property owner demanding they be axed, and the trees themselves, will pass peacefully of old age.
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Mr. Edwards is a retiring attorney and mediator, currently completing the first of a 35-volume set entitled: “Examples of American Exceptionalism: The Dumbest Sh*t You Ever Heard.”
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