The debate (and endless meetings) over the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center continue as the County of Sonoma moves into the environmental review phase. Ultimately the County will hand the final, absolutely final, site plan to the state, which owns the property. But after that, anything could happen – and won’t involve Sonoma County, which will have no role in setting price or choosing the buyer. “The State will go through what is technically known as the disposal process,” says Bradley Dunn, county policy manager. “The State can walk away from the process if the County doesn’t produce a Specific Plan that meets the requirements of the agreement between the State and the County.” The agreement requirements include prioritizing housing, protecting open space, being financially feasible, and meeting the prescribed timeline, he says. “Due to preemption, if the County doesn’t meet requirements, the State could chart their own path without including the County’s voice in the process.”
If you’re looking for sweeping changes at the Sonoma Valley Unified School District, which is still mired in a legal fight among the Trustees and mass administrative resignations, there’s nobody coming to the rescue. The County Board of Education and County Superintendent have no authority to step in, according to Gina Cuclis, Sonoma Valley’s representative on the Sonoma County Board of Education. “I’ve seen comments on Facebook of people saying SVUSD should be taken over by SCOE. But county offices of education have no legal authority to take over school districts.” Says the Boyes resident, “the quality of governance of a school district lies with the voters, in that they are the ones responsible for selecting and replacing the board members.” Can we send them all to the principal’s office?
Can the homeless be evicted? You wouldn’t think so – I mean, how much worse could it get? And yet homeless – even those fortunate enough to have cars – will be out on the street when Sonoma ends its Safe Overnight Parking Program in June. Parking from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. had been allowed at the city-owned lot at 175 First St. W., where clients could also access a toilet and shower provided by Sonoma Overnight Support, which shares the lot with the police station, the city council chambers, a dog park, and the Field of Dreams ball fields. But the city took increasing heat from neighbors and baseball parents who found the whole set-up, well, unseemly. The pressure mounted to move the program somewhere (anywhere) else. SOS hired a security guard for the overnight hours, and a part-time case worker to deal with clients during the day. But regardless, the city council says it must end this summer… For its part, the city has hired a short-term consultant (at $75k) to study its homeless problem, according to Kathy King, SOS executive director. She doubts that report, due in 90 days, will deliver an alternative site for the safe parking program.
The Sonoma City Council has returned to the old “in-person” meeting format, that quaint style of civic gathering employed back when masked dinosaurs roamed the earth. The panel meets on the first and third Wednesday of every month, but you’ll have to turn off Zoom, change out of your sweatpants and show up in person. Democracy. Nobody said it’d be easy.
Next year will mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of Mission San Francisco Solano (Sonoma Mission), the last of California’s 21 missions and the only one to be founded after Mexico’s independence from Spain. But how do you properly commemorate the bicentennial of a historic landmark that represents great pain and loss for California Native Americans? That’s what California State Parks, which operates what is now Sonoma State Historic Park, is grappling with. As the department begins planning the anniversary, “the voices and perspectives of California Tribal Nations and community members are crucial in identifying appropriate, meaningful, and impactful ways to reflect on the consequences of the mission’s founding.” In a sense, it’s history in the making. Be part of it Parks.ca.gov/SonomaMission200.
I would rather continue to “Zoom” city council meetings. Even before Covid, each time I attended one of these meetings I came home feeling like there was sandpaper under my contact lenses and my sinuses needed a day to recover. So after Covid hit and they had hybrid meetings and I went in with a mask on, I could not help but feeling a bit apprehensive. The ventilation in the room is not optimal or healthy.