On January 29, your correspondent attended a State of the Valley presentation at the Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma, hosted by the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce. It featured a recap of 2025, visions for 2026 and presentations by Congressman Mike Thompson, state Senator Christopher Cabaldon and Sonoma’s Mayor, Ron Wellander.
As anticipated, presenters highlighted the Good, Bad and the Ugly of 2025, and opined on what 2026 might/should/damn-well-better bring in the way of business, economic and socio-political developments. Your correspondent will add his five cents here. As the penny is no longer produced by the U.S. mint, a shorter two-cents account is not possible.
First impression: No sign of ICE anywhere. Second impression: A packed house; every Anybody in the Valley was there. Third impression: Good popcorn.
Of course, the state of the wine business was a feature: Falling sales, changes in generational drinking habits, vineyard and winery closings and consolidations, employment impact, etc.
Just kidding. Wine was barely mentioned, except in presenting a well-deserved Business of the Year award to folks at Jackson Winery.
Nor was there talk of efforts to draw another business/industry to the Valley to pick up the economic slack in wine. Or of attracting entrepreneurs to fill the increasing number of vacant storefronts, some empty for years. And no word about plans for more tourist-trapping events (a la the Film Festival and Transcendence Theater) to fill local hotels with people and local cash registers with digits.
Of course, describing the State of the Valley is a very different agenda than exploring How To Make It Even Better.
Fortunately, at Sonoma City Council’s meeting of February 18, a “Resolution Ratifying the 2026 City Council Goals” was on the agenda, specifying what the City of Sonoma hopes to accomplish this year. Council approved ambitious goals in five major areas: (a) Housing, (b) Parks, Arts, Recreation and Community (PARC) Services, (c) Economic Development/Financial Stability, (d) Sonoma Valley Regional Partnerships, Unification, Immigration Support and Annexations, and (e) Climate Mitigation and Adaptation.
A total of 44 goals were targeted for completion in the next 10 months. Very ambitious indeed, especially with the need to replace the City Manager who is leaving for a job with the County. But if the goal is just to “work on” those goals in 2026, then the vote that approved them arguably “achieved” them, albeit minimally.
Yes, that is silly. Nonetheless, city residents might be more reassured if each goal was a skosh more precise, perhaps designating the employee(s) or committee responsible for completing it and with specific target dates for completion, other than December 31. And maybe some cost-per-goal guesstimates?
Under the category of Housing, for example, the goals are simply to do things such as: ‘assess,’ ‘participate,’ ‘prioritize,’ ‘explore,’ ‘identify,’ ‘continue,’ ‘monitor,’ etc. Absent is any goal to approve or build a specific number of housing units, affordable or otherwise. In short, it seemed a list of things-to-work-on rather than goals-to-be-achieved.
But to be fair, when it comes to Housing, the City’s best efforts are hamstrung by a dense web of city, county, state, and federal regulations – from environmental laws to building codes – that complicate achieving much of anything anytime soon.
It was therefore encouraging to see that one of Sonoma’s 2026 goals is to “Advance the long-term sustainability of City cemeteries.” A well-kept grave (no utilities or wi-fi) is the only Affordable Housing anyone hereabouts should expect to see anytime soon.
State of the Valley, indeed.
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