By Jon Wilson
LAFCO Refuses To Go Outside the Box. (Pictured: Map of current SDC boundary)
On December 4, it seemed the place to be was the Sonoma County Supervisor chambers in Santa Rosa. Grabbing most of the headlines was the Board of Supervisors decision to decertify the Environmental Impact Report and repeal the approval of a development plan for the former Sonoma Developmental Center campus. That got the headlines.
The following day, in those same chambers, a less visible hearing was held by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) on the application from the Sonoma Valley Next 100 group (of which I am a supporter) to form a special district – the Sonoma Mountain Community Service District – for the purpose, among other things, of determining future uses of SDC.
While LAFCO has over a dozen service categories, we requested initial powers in six areas: Recreation and Parks, Community Recreation Programs, Transportation, Community Facilities, Habitat Migration and Environmental Protection and Broadband Communication.
I was one of many, on behalf of Sonoma Valley Next 100, who last spring walked the drizzly streets of the Valley, clipboard and sign-up sheet in hand, knocking on doors, asking registered voters to sign a petition in support of the special district’s formation.
Rarely were we rejected and invariably residents were keen to sign, while sharing their personal frustrations. And we collected enough signatures to qualify a ballot measure for voter approval of the district.
Throughout 2024, it has been our experience that the community is eager for innovation in how services are organized and deployed in our Valley. There’s no doubt that change is coming, though when, and in what form, is still unclear – as the Board of Supervisors meeting illustrated.
In preparing the district application, the Sonoma Valley Next 100 team has taken the approach to look ahead, down the road, and to begin to prepare for that future.
That approach reflected the voices and opinions of the community expressed during those signature drives as well as fund raising events, Sebastiani Theater showings of Carolyn M. Scott’s “Small is Beautiful” film and many, many face-to-face interactions.
In each category, we proposed services, many new, and some supplemental to existing offerings – but always complementary to the core services we are provided with today.
Innovation invariably embraces the need to be different and, as the old saying goes, to think out-of-the-box. Among many proposals for the future use of SDC, we included our desire to continue the Valley’s long tradition in the preservation of historic buildings, properties and spaces, as well as providing leadership, continuity, understanding and institutional support for the Sonoma Wildlife Corridor.
At last week’s hearing on the application, it was clear that the LAFCO Committee would prefer that we stay inside existing boxes. Which inevitably, leads to a perceived conflict with the scope and powers of existing services. The Committee also asked that we be much more detailed in terms of the specific services we would offer and how those services would be funded.
The application was rejected. Naturally, we are disappointed, but not disheartened. LAFCO were clear in their decision and we respect it. There will be another day. We will re-group and develop an application that meets the emerging needs of the community, while satisfying the terms required by LAFCO.
Jon Wilson is a resident of Glen Ellen.
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