This is an open letter to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, and since you are all people with names, let’s use them.
I am, therefore, addressing our District 1 Supervisor, Susan Gorin; District 2 Supervisor, David Rabbitt; District 3 Supervisor Chris Coursey; District 4 Supervisor James Gore; and District 5 Supervisor Lynda Hopkins.
Four of you have one or more small, charming and picturesque towns or villages in your districts with populations ranging as low as Asti (District 4) with a population of 29, and Geyserville, also in District 4, with a population of 837. To the west and south in District 5, there is Cazadero, with 419 residents, Bodega Bay with 912 residents, Occidental with 1,061 residents and Graton, with 1,671 residents.
To the south, in District 2, there is Penngrove with 2,184 residents. And over in District 1 there is Kenwood, with 609 residents and Glen Ellen, with 998 residents.
That, dear supervisors, is the context of this conversation. And this is where it’s headed.
Supervisor Gore, do you have any idea how the 837 residents of Geyserville would feel if you announced you had just approved a subdivision, squeezed into less than 180 acres, let’s say between Highway 128 and the Russian River, consisting of 990 housing units with a projected population of 2,300 people, owning 2,726 vehicles? Have you even thought about it? Or maybe you could consider unloading all those homes in Asti. Perhaps its 19 residents are lonely and would welcome the company. There’s some nice bottom land there, along the Russian River.
Supervisor Hopkins, same question. How do you think the fine people of Bodega Bay would react to the news that you had just approved construction of 990 new housing units, with 2,300 people and 2,726 vehicles, just off two-lane Highway One, parts of which keep falling into the ocean. Have you even thought about that? And if Bodega Bay wasn’t receptive, perhaps the 1,061 people living under the redwoods in Occidental would be happy to receive more than twice their current population, cars and all.
Supervisor Rabbitt. Same question. Let’s take Penngrove, as picturesque and peaceful a South County town as you can find. If you told the 2,184 residents of Penngrove that you had just approved a 960-unit subdivision, right on Petaluma Hill Road, just below Sonoma State University, that will double the population of the town while putting twice as many vehicles on Petaluma Hill Road, do you think they would thank you? Or vote you out of office?
Chris Coursey, you represent District 3, which is basically Santa Rosa and environs. You don’t have any villages in your district, but what if you decided it was a best-case solution to the County’s housing crisis to stick 990 housing units somewhere on the fringe of Taylor Mountain adjoining Bennett Valley Drive? Would your constituents stoically accept all those people and all those cars? Or would they rise up in protest, while your fellow supervisors scolded you?
Maybe you could squeeze those homes into the outskirts of Roseland?
And Susan Gorin, you have been a sympathetic and loyal defender of Sonoma Valley interests. You have spoken out for us, defended us. But have you fought for us? Have you carved a path for us to the doors of legislators in Sacramento? Have you convened meetings for us to meet face-to-face with your Supervisorial peers, here on the property in question? We love you Susan. And, honestly, we think you should have done more.
So now, because you five Supervisors did not take us seriously when you joined with the California Department of General Services and promised to develop a plan for the Sonoma Developmental Center that would reflect local interests, priorities and concerns; and because you did not complete a housing element to the Sonoma County General Plan in time to escape the poison pill called a Builder’s Remedy, that allows a developer to build a virtually unlimited number of homes, we in Glen Ellen and Kenwood and, really, all the Sonoma Valley, are confronting the social, environmental, cultural and aesthetic destruction of a historic village, and the quality of life it represents.
Seriously? Do you feel no shame? Do you just not care? Because it’s not in your back yard? After you utterly failed to find a path to development on the Chanate Road property in Santa Rosa, did you think, “What the hell. Let’s dig up Glen Ellen?”
What you are planning to do, or equally bad, planning to simply let happen, is both tragic and absurd. And that is true for all the reasons that a Superior Court judge threw out the entire project plan and EIR you approved for SDC.
This is on the five of you. And you may be through with SDC, but the citizens of the Valley are not.
Well said. This group of clowns has repeatedly lied to their constituents whenever it suited them. They lied to the residents of Oakmont and Kenwood about the duration of the homeless facility in Los Guilicos. They lied about the homeless duration and nature of the encampment adjacent to the county offices. They hired and promoted Barbie Robinson, now under felony indictment in Texas. Chris Godley, the emergency services coordinator who refused to send warnings during the Tubbs fire, costing lives, and subsequently flaunted COVID regulations, was their little darling. And now Linda Hopkins was fined recently by the State of California for steering public funds to an organization employing her husband. These people care nothing for their constituents, only for the power and opportunity afforded them by their office. It’s unfortunate that the electorate cannot see what’s right before their eyes.
Great letter, thank youi!
Thank you for a well-crafted ask. It’s my view that the chase for revenue (Vacation Rental fees & taxes, pot growers’ fees & taxes, etc.) has driven far too many deleterious decisions by the BOS – which have cost, have TAKEN from communities essential housing (much of it charming/affordable smaller homes), peaceful, thriving neighborhoods, dedicated pools of community volunteers, well-funded schools, and so much more. In their place, we are dealing with party properties, more and more disruptive “events” at wineries and dope properties, the stench of outdoor pot cultivation allowed on increasingly smaller lots. That this board has not stepped up to protect small towns is no surprise – it may, in fact, underly the reason those who can have given up and left! All of that said, I’m here for the fight – for a sustainable quality of life, equality at work and home. This place holds a special place in my heart – and in the hearts of thousands who share my view.
Great editorial! A great angle to take on each supervisor’s concerns. Perhaps they are actually listneing, at least a little.Soon after this was posted, the Sup’s decided to reject Permit Sonoma’s recommendation to let the developers go ahead with anything they want. Keep up the good work!
Excellent article. Let’s hope they are finally listening to the voters/taxpayers. Linda Hopkins wasn’t even there to vote at a critical meeting. When asked, she said, she had family obligations. Mr. Rabbit, at the same meeting, literally said he wanted to see “more” houses built at SDC after over 50 of us in attendance expressed our deep concerns .The quality of our lives depends on these five people so we expect them to listen and vote accordingly. In my small neighborhood alone there are 4 Air B&B properties that are mostly empty. Why not address the housing problem starting with vacant homes.
Why worry? Nothing ever progresses or moves forward in Sonoma.