Lots to talk about
The hospital board has decided to take a closer look at two proposals to sell its South Lot to either DeNova Homes or Caymus Builders. Though not a formal presentation, the board will also accept a letter from Simon Blattner outlining his idea for selling the lot to consortium of local philanthropists for development of workforce/affordable housing… Blattner floated his idea at a public meeting that came after the hospital’s deadline for proposals. The commercial developers aren’t too happy that the Blattner plan, which sounds more community than commercial, was allowed into the discussion.
Meanwhile Jane Hirsch, hospital board chair, reports that CEO Kelly Mather and her team “did an excellent job this past year, increasing revenues and containing costs so that, for the second year in a row, the hospital met its budget.”… Regarding executive compensation, always a hot topic around budget (and election) time, a commissioned study of 21 comparable companies found that SVH executive salaries are at, or slightly below, the mid-point. And the CEO compensation is near the median level.
How heated is the issue of city support for tourism? Councilmember Amy Harrington’s request to agendize a discussion of Sonoma’s $100k annual contract with Sonoma Valley Visitor’s Bureau – an item to merely discuss the contract at a future meeting, not debate it at this one – squeeked by the council with a 3-2 vote. Translated: Madolyn Agrimonti and Gary Edwards favored an embargo on the subject. Harrington was joined in the majority by David Cook and Rachel Hundley, who both support the contract but agreed that a discussion is warranted; Cook said the council will be reviewing all contracts this year… The hospitality industry was well represented during the period of public comment, when the consensus opposed any such future council review. Gotta ask: If the contract is of such benefit to the city, what are they afraid of?
James Cribb, the Sonoma Planning Commission chair, speaking for himself at the meeting, gave a campaign-style, pro-business speech in which he was hostile to councilmember Harrington. Given the impending changes at the Commission, is he positioning himself for a new job? Sure looks that way.
How would you interpret this section of the Sonoma Development Code: “Lot pads should not exceed 5,000 square feet in total area”? Voting to approve three large homes on the hillside parallel to Fourth Street, the Planning Commission took the “guideline” to mean each property could have any number of lot pads, along as none individually exceeded 5,000 sq. ft. So now we know.
A play by Sonoma writer George Bereschik is in production, as part of the Tapas Short Play Festival, through August 27 at the Pegasus Theater in Guerneville. The inspiration for “Derivatives,” he says, “came from having acted in some local productions — the theatrical process fascinates me. It’s a comedy about a director and two actors rehearsing (and revising) a play that the director has written.” Sheesh — everybody’s an editor.
Philip Sales just had a nice visit to Washington D.C. How long was he there?
In terms of political careers, quite a while. “Longer than Scaramuchi.”… Andy Weinberger thinks Trump’s tenure might be curtailed as well. “It will all come crashing down around him on the day we learn that he speaks fluent Russian.”
— Val Robichaud
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