The city council endorsed a “small market for a small town” with a 3-2 vote to retain the current Farmers Market management team.
The Sonoma Valley Certified Farmers Market, which has operated the event for nearly 20 years, was awarded a one-year contract to begin with the season’s first event on April 6.
“We have a fantastic market,” said Councilman August Sebastiani. “I don’t want to be known as the city council that killed it.”
Mayor Steve Barbose and Councilwoman Joanne Sanders joined him in a majority which opted for stability and experience over change and marketing savvy.
Jim Cahoon, SVCFM board chair, told The Sun he was very pleased with the outcome. “I felt like the three councilmembers really weighed the pros and cons of both proposals,” while the nay voters, Laurie Gallian and Ken Brown, “brought their prejudices to the table.”
Cahoon said the Barbose vote was the key. “I think it was on his head. He looked at both sides, and saw the dangers the market would have faced having to make radical changes in a very short time.”
The other contender for the management contract, a three-person group named Fair Bounty, proposed a festival approach to Tuesday evenings, enlarging the market in size and scope. To detractors, this ambitious model proved to be too commercial and urbanized.
In comparison, Cahoon had described his organization’s philosophy as “a small market for a small town,” and proposed no outward changes to the farmer-focused event.
Sanders questioned Fair Bounty’s aggressive business plan that, with increased stall fees, would double the current number of 40 vendors. If projected revenue fell short, “the city might be on the hook to make up the gap,” she said.
Councilman Ken Brown emphatically opposed retaining the incumbent, describing the group as autocratic, secretive and resistant to city and community input. “You rent space from the city of Sonoma. It’s not your market, it’s everybody’s market,” Brown said.
Even councilors who voted for the group expressed concern over its historic lack of accountability, but seemed satisfied by its pledge to become more transparent.
Brown disagreed. “It’s Pollyanna-ish to believe that management is going to change its ways,” he said.
“I value the market in terms of how the community values the market,” Cahoon said this week. “I have a deep sense of obligation.”
After approving the choice, the council added provisions to the agreement including instituting a comprehensive garbage and recycling plan, bringing the market to the north side of City Hall, and seeking out more prepared food vendors, particularly those offering healthy choices. It also called for a representative from Sonoma’s Community Services and Environment Commission to act as liaison to the management’s board. Cahoon said he agreed in principal to the stipulations.
The protracted process “has been personally consuming and personally expensive,” Cahoon admitted, and there remains “a lot to be done in a short time frame.”
Had his organization not won out, Cahoon admitted it had a “Plan B” – widely rumored to be forming a rival market in another location. “We’re grateful to the community that there wasn’t a need to resort to a Plan B,” he said.
The Sun Poll
Which candidate should have received the Farmers Market contract?
Fair Bounty 58%
Current team 42%
Asked through Tuesday at SonomaSun.com
