The skeptical among us never bought the idea that the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center would take public opinion into account. Years and years of meetings, ‘public input,’ citizen committees, surveys… and for what? A plan that ChatGPT could have cranked out on a flip phone: houses, retail, luxury hotel. Generic, high density, maximum profit to the developer. The ‘final’ number of housing units was to be around 600. That was the figure that emerged from the county’s long, expensive Site Specific Plan process. But the development team chosen by the state, The Grupe Company and Rogal & Partners, has formally upped that number to 930 units. Permit Sonoma, the county planning agency, said it was ‘blindsided’ by the increase. Oh really? Clearly the state (the landowner) will do what it wants with the land, which is to make the buyer happy. And have they actually bought it? No sale price has ever been disclosed. Like a creek clogged by plywood and broken concrete, it all smells fishy.
Jeanette Rodriguez-Chien, the new school district superintendent, has barely been on the job long enough to hang office pictures and adjust her chair. But she did share a few thoughts as school got underway for the 3,125 students of District schools. She is still in the process of doing a Listening & Learning Tour, which is part of the job entry process. “As of now, I can say we have many assets in our district. We have strong community partners,” she told The Sun’s Anna Pier. “We have dedicated teachers who want to focus on students and their academic and social-emotional well-being. We have collaborative classified staff. People are our biggest asset.” She will deliver a report to the board of trustees next month. Among the areas of focus: “determine clear outcomes for our students throughout each grade, to have students graduate and enter college or career fully prepared.” Providing safe, welcoming learning environments where students feel engaged and a sense of belonging, is also a priority. “This is a great district with many positives. I am fortunate to be leading this organization. I feel blessed to have the support of many and I can’t wait to see how our collective work will positively impact our students.”
With its annual Muse Gala on October 7, Sonoma Community Center will honor Simon and Kimberly Blattner for their extraordinary philanthropy. Simon is taking a very hands-on approach to promoting the event. Joined by Art Hazelwood, he will use the SCC printing press for a run of commemorative event posters. An expert printmaker, Blattner established Eastside Editions, a fine arts print studio and publisher, in 2000. The studio, which ceased printing in 2008, specialized in etchings printed on handmade paper. Blattner has published several handmade books now in the rare book collections of Stanford University and St. Mary’s College as well as several major private book collections. Free and open to the public, the printmaking demonstration event is on Saturday, September 9, 9am until noon. Sonomacommunitycenter.org.
The Sonoma County Library Summer Reading Challenge was a resounding success, with over 4,000 local readers spending a total of 3.12 million minutes reading over two months. That’s the equivalent of a single person reading non-stop for nearly six years. The challenge encouraged participants of all ages to read 20 minutes a day and track their reading, giving them an opportunity to read, learn and win prizes.
Ada Limón is the Poet Laureate of the United States (even Florida). It’s a lofty honor for a Sonoma High School grad whose first job was at Readers’ Books. The city honored the poet with a commemorative bench, placed in front of the bookstore on East Napa Street. Proprietor Andy Weinberger was justifiably proud. “Here at Readers’ we are cheering her on, naturally. We know just how much words matter in shaping the contours of our world. And here is where Ada’s journey began, so yes, by all means, a bench in her name makes perfect sense. It’s also a neat place to sit and watch the world go by. Which is about as poetic as it gets.”
It was a model that saved California State Parks. In 2011, the state was broke. To save money, huge budget cuts were proposed for the park system. Over 70, including Jack London and Sugarloaf Ridge, faced closure. Then came the bright idea of partnering with nonprofits to help fund, operate and maintain park facilities. Jack London Partners was the first such organization; Sonoma Ecology Center followed by taking over Sugarloaf. The law that allowed such partnerships was set to expire at the end of 2024, but Sen. Bill Dodd has an extension in the works. Richard Dale, executive director of Sonoma Ecology Center, said, “These partnerships have brought thousands of new faces, tens of thousands of volunteer hours, and millions of dollars to our state parks, including several threatened with closure, while deepening relationships between the state and local communities.”
South Lake Tahoe was long plagued by a notorious gang of break-in bears, a mama bear and three cubs who ransacked and damaged homes, cars, and personal property. Biologists used DNA testing to confirm the vandalous culprit, “Bear 64F”, who was captured this summer. She will be relocated to a sanctuary in Colorado. The cubs are headed to Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue in Petaluma. The hope is that they can discontinue the negative behaviors and be returned to the wild. We all should be so lucky.
– Val Robichaud, page3@sonomasun.com
All you had to do is attend SDC meetings, take the flawed survey from the county to know this was a con job from the very beginning. We as a community never had a voice in what will happen. Yet, many tried to change this outcome. We held out hope that this could be something different. That real affordable housing could be built, wildlife protected, and that this could be a model for others to follow, with adaptive reuse and real green building. What we will get is an other burb, a resort for the wealthy and environmental degradation. A bunch of cheerleaders for this thing, screaming about NIMBYs and how wildlife will simply adapt like the raccoons of San Francisco will be thrilled. The rest of us and the animals will either leave, die out or adapt to living in a useless congested burb. Of course the wild card in all this is fire.