Jack Ding is Sonoma’s new Mayor

Vice-Mayor Jack Ding was selected as Sonoma’s new Mayor. His term begins immediately and runs until December of 2022. In accepting the position, Jack made the following remarks:

“I am honored to be your mayor, the City of Sonoma.  As a proud Sonoman, I want you to know I know who I am and where I came from.  I will work hard to serve the community with integrity, diligence and respect.

Sonoma is a great historic town.  Today, we gather together to make another piece of history.  We have a great founder to shape the city, General Mariano Vallejo.   Also, we know, the town was built over 180 years ago, but what many people don’t know is that during the early development time 25% of Sonoma’s population were Chinese laborers.

They were forgotten for many years and were not highlighted in our history because of racism and the Chinese Exclusion Act but they lived here, worked here and died here.  Sadly, you cannot find any graves simply because they were not white and Christian.   They were not allowed to be buried in the cemetery.

Still, they were great builders of Sonoma, we see their vineyards, wine cellars and walls all over our community.  Very few had English names; you will see the same name on the Census, listed for all of the Chinese immigrants.  It says: John Chinaman, John Chinaman, John Chinaman…

Today, Sonoma is a great city with inclusiveness and love and is making history again!  I am a first-generation immigrant and also, the first Chinese American serving the City of Sonoma.  I fully understand both challenges and contributions of all our community – people whose families have been here for generations and new comers who just settled down here.

We are blessed to live and work here in Sonoma.   It’s our responsibility to protect Sonoma and make sure that someday in the future, when we pass it on to our younger generation, the city of Sonoma will be stronger, more vibrant and still beautiful.”

Kelso Barnett was selected by the council as Vice-Mayor.