Editor: I image you must of had a great deal of commentary from “peons” to devote a part of your paper to the subject of the fencing at The Red & White Ball. The Plaza Foundation who produced the event for many years passed the torch. Do you know why? Because they were tired of producing an event that could not make financial sense because of all of the “freeloaders, party crashers and Tightwads”. People sneaking in under the catering tables, bringing wine glasses from previous years, etc. The Sonoma Valley Education Foundation is raising money for schools not throwing a party for freeloaders. As far as the symbolic open space, the Plaza is for “rent” The City collected money the use of that open space. The “F” in fundraiser does not mean free. Perhaps if there had been less freeloading in the past the fence around the dance floor would not have been required. So, if any of the “peons” have a suggestion on how to make sure only paying guest attend then I am sure the SVEF would be happy to hear it.
Page 3 rebuttle
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Who was the brightso that shut off comments to the Dennis Hipps rant against AOL/Patch? Are his comments regarded locally as so sacrosanct?
Dennis is swinging from the chandeliers because NY based “Patch” is tapping what little steam there is or ever could be right out of the boilers of the local tabloids, like the Spindex-Fibune causing supposedly precious ad revenue to wander elsewhere….perhaps this is a long overdue poetic justice in a bloated tourist trap that is as grossly overrated as it is overpriced and where everything is dirt cheap except the prices. Long ago when those in city government opted to turn a small and once charming working class town into a sleazy rubberneck trap for stink-rich wine-guzzling dimwits, the slumlords of downtown commercial properties decided that since the place would soon be hosting ungodly hordes of lookie-looers and rich mall rats, the merchants and shop owners they rented floor space to would be tripling their prices, so therefore they were justified in tripling their rents or the cost of their leases, QED ….the rest is ugly and dismal local history none too honestly covered by the local tripe sheet that claims to “cover the city”.
So now the locals who have to live in Sonoma are forced to pay grossly elevated prices for everything because now Sonoma is the wine soaked red carpet gateway to the Sonoma Valley…and of course as “good citizens” all Sonomans should “buy local” (yeah, pay a ransom) because of a crowd of yuppie turistas that have taken the place over. Perhaps it would be most fitting that the Spindex Fibune got the other half of its floor space taken up by the fabric store that it is turning into and Lynch published his final issue before closing the doors on a joke that called itself a news publication.
If anyone in the area is that fearful that AOL will put any local fish wrap out of business, maybe somebody on the Sun might get a clue and want to consider printing the real news for a change and I can guarantee you will run AOL out of town on a freight car.