Mixed grades for school district; pot on the ballot; and more
Socorro Shiels is on the job as the new superintendent of the Sonoma Unified School District. “I have appreciated the number of opportunities I have had to meet students, teachers, staff and parents and celebrate the end of the year with them,” she notes. “The senior project presentations and senior walk-abouts have really shown what a gem the district is.” This summer (like, next week), she says she’ll speak to more community members, teachers and other district staff “to learn more and start planning for the new year.”… Meanwhile, the search for a new High School principal has stalled. The original timeline called for a shortlist in mid May, finalists emerging from interview panels made up of an administrator, parent, community member, teacher union rep, and high school teacher, counselor and student. A total of 31 people served on two different panels. But feedback from those participants was decidedly mixed, and no consensus emerged. So, like a late term paper, the results were rejected by the hiring committee. The position will be reposted and the process will start anew. It’s unclear if the original applicants can (or should) re-apply.
The recreational use of marijuana became legal in California on January 1. Sonoma County got onboard with permits to sell retail, but each city has the final say (Rhonert Park’s city council voted no; a yes for Cotati, Petaluma, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa). The City of Sonoma can’t decide, other than to put the issue on hold with a moratorium until November. That inaction bugs Jon Early, who’s in the industry and has wanted to bring a retail/delivery operation to town for a long time. Despite Prop. 64 being approved by over 60 percent of Sonoma voters, Early says city officials have been cool to his idea, and not in a good way, for a storefront on West Napa Street. So he had ballot initiative written (not cheap) and is now collecting signatures to qualify for the November ballot: It would create a zoning-use overlay for retail cannabis. He says he needs about 900 signatures (10 percent of the total of registered voters in town, and extras just in case) and the deadline, because the city needs about three months to certify it all, is looming. If the city can’t for some reason conclude its process in time, a special election would be required by law… Seems like pot sales tax would spend just as easy as tasting room tax, but who knows. Anyway, the real money will be operating the Doritos and Oreo next door.
Speaking of pot, please meet the Sonoma Valley Cannabis Enthusiasts (SVCE), a group founded by organic farmers Sam Coturri and Phil Coturri; biodynamic expert Mike Benziger; florist and farmer Natasha Drengson; Erich Pearson, founder of SPARC; growers Sean Kelley and Joey Ereñeta of Terra Luna Farms; Glen Ellen Star restaurateur Erinn Weiswasser; and Sonoma PR man and farmer Michael Coats. The group is similar. Coates says, to a vintners and growers organization; it will promote the high quality cannabis coming from the Valley and adjacent locations such as Moon Mountain and Sonoma Mountain. Protecting small growers, influencing cannabis policy, and supporting local charities are part of the mission, he says, A general meeting is set for June 14, 3-4:30 p.m. on the back patio of Sonoma Grille in Sonoma. All interested enthusiasts are welcome. Bring your own Doritos.
— Val Robichaud
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