Heneveld named to Planning
Mark Heneveld, long-time Sonoma Valley resident, was appointed to the Planning Commission last week by Mayor Joanne Sanders. Sanders, introducing Heneveld, said, “I take the Planning Commission very seriously, and have interviewed you not once, but twice.” She said Heneveld had undergone stiff questioning, and even though some of his views did not mirror her own, “You were steadfast in your views,” she said, smiling. “You were very enlightening.”
Heneveld said, “It’s an honor to serve the community. Sonoma has been good to me for 30 years, and now it’s my time to give back.” Heneveld, who is a carpenter and handyman, has worked in construction and redevelopment projects for the past 30 years, said in his application that he has attended “hundreds” of planning commission meetings and lists as one of his goals as a commissioner “to work in harmony with other valley groups and commissioners and locals for a sensible conservative growth of Sonoma and the Valley.”
What that would mean, he said in a subsequent interview, is “low cost housing for low cost individuals.” These would be people who can’t afford payment on a typical home in Sonoma, in the $600,000 range. “I’d like to see more equity around,” he said, explaining that he is a slow growth proponent. “We have to have growth, but it should be planned, thought-out growth. I hope I will be impartial and open-minded,” he said. “I’d like to see a way for it to be win-win for everybody, not just the lucky few who can live here.”
Rancho de Sonoma cries foul
“Preposterous,” said council member August Sebastiani, part of the Sonoma City Council’s ad hoc committee. The Rancho de Sonoma residents’ representative had accused him, at the city council meeting Wednesday night, of giving them inappropriate advice.
The issue was a proposed agreement between Preston Cook, owner of the mobile home park, who wants to convert to condominium ownership, and the park residents, who want protection against losing their homes. The two groups had been in acrimonious discussions for months, with the ad hoc committee serving as facilitators of communication. When it was clear the communication had begun to break down, “I reached out for [mobile homeowners’ president] Mr. Warner, to remind him of a deadline that Mr. Cook had set to pull his offer,” said Sebastiani. “The notion that I would have encouraged him to sign a document I’d never seen is preposterous.”
Council member Steve Barbose, the other member of the ad hoc committee, supported Sebastiani, reiterating that the role of the committee was simply to explore the possibilities. He felt that it was working. ”At the last meeting we had, I got the distinct impression that many understood for the first time many of the complexities. We as a committee had no ax to grind, except to get people talking.”
Of the seven members of the public who spoke before the to the council, asking their intervention and help, housing advocate Sam DiGiacomo made a direct request. “I’m asking that the mayor put the condo ordinance back on the agenda.”
Assembly supports wine industry
The State Assembly voted overwhelmingly last Thursday to approve a Senate Joint Resolution proposed by Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) opposing rule changes to wine labeling that would, said Wiggins, “…make it very, very difficult for our wine industry to trade fairly both domestically and internationally.” The changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) would create a Calistoga American Viticultural Area (AVA).
Wiggins, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry, represents the state’s second Senate District, which includes the premium wine growing counties of Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma. She plans to send the select committee’s principal consultant, Susan Boyd, to Washington, D.C. next week to hand deliver the resolution to U.S. Representative Mike Thompson (D – St. Helena) and other members of Congress, as well as to the TTB.
The Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, through the TTB, regulates the contents of wine labels, including brand names, the names and addresses of bottling wineries and indications of the wine’s origin, as well as the use of such information in advertising. Under federal regulations, “appellation of origin” is a geographic designation referring to the place where the grapes used to make a specified percentage of the wine were grown. Appellations of origin include the names of states and counties as well as designated AVAs.
Nominations for Outstanding Teacher
Sonoma Valley Education Foundation will honor outstanding teachers for their contribution to excellence in education in Sonoma Valley Unified School District at the Foundations’ 13th Annual Salute to Education on Saturday, May 10, 2008.
Those interested in nominating a teacher can do so by visiting the organization’s website at sveducationfoundation.org; or may obtain a copy of the nomination form from the administration office at any Sonoma Valley public schools.
Reservations to Salute to Education are available by calling the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation office at 935-9566.
Disaster preparedness Workshop
March 28, 2008,
7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Sonoma Community Center, Andrews Hall
276 East Napa St.,
Sonoma, CA 95476
Cost: $15
The workshop, focusing on small to mid-sized businesses, will:
• Highlight the essential components of business continuity planning
• Feature business preparedness initiatives underway in the community
• Provide valuable local emergency, disaster, and pandemic influenza preparedness information
• Feature speakers from the Sonoma County Department of Health Services and Department of Emergency Services, Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies (COPE), and Business Risk Solutions
Please visit www.scech.org for more information on the Coalition, upcoming workshops, and to download a registration form, or call Julia Roberts at 707-565-6459.
