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New council member, hospital CEO, and pot farm

Posted on March 5, 2021 by Sonoma Valley Sun

Kelso Barnett is your new Sonoma City Councilmember, appointed March 1 to fill the seat vacated by Rachel Hundley, who stepped down in January. Barnett, 40, a native Sonoman, had been a member of the City’s Planning Commission, and before that served on the Design Review Committee. He was one of five applicants interviewed for the gig, which runs through the election of November 2022. Mayor Logan Harvey is a fan. “Kelso’s deep love of Sonoma, comprehensive knowledge of how to develop affordable housing, and years of service to our town made him an excellent and unanimous choice.” As for his local bonafides, Barnett was born at Sonoma Valley Hospital… Hundley, by the way, thinks him a great choice as well. “There is no one in our city who collectively knows as much about the history, recent and current issues, and our local government.” Barnett was “fiercely suspicious” of Hundley when she first ran for office, but after they met they became fast friends. 

John Hennelly

Meet John Hennelly, Sonoma Valley Hospital’s president and CEO, who comes aboard next month to replace Kelly Mather. Most recently the CEO of a major hospital in Gilroy, and before that an executive with two Chicago hospitals, Hennelly emerged from a field of hundreds of candidates. “Great care and outcomes are driven by the medical and hospital staff, but that commitment, that dedication, is only part of the equation,” he says. “Community support makes it all possible. Sonoma has the great fortune of having both.”

The long-ago Gordenker Turkey Farms property in Glen Ellen has been approved by the County for a new farming venture — cannabis cultivation and processing. The 27-acre site along Highway 12 north of Trinity Road, will be operated by the company Sparc with an indoor processing barn and a 70k sq.ft. greenhouse. Anticipating the usual objections, the plan calls for blackout curtains to prevent light pollution, and odor neutralizing agents to counter the strong smell of the product… Sparc is high on the farm’s potential, with additional permits, as an example of cannabis tourism. of a on the farm. Retail sales, farm tours, glamping, a destination as a “hospitality-centered experience.”…

 

Back in downtown Glen Ellen, all two blocks of it, the rebuilt Garden Court building, at Arnold and Warm Springs, will open soon after a lengthy overhaul. The restaurant will return, along with more retail space and upstairs apartments. 

 

 




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