Public Citizen

Larry Barnett lives in Sonoma where he was elected to three terms on the City Council and served twice as Mayor. A thirty-five-year resident, he currently serves on Sonoma's Planning Commission, where he recently was Chair for two years. Until her passing, he was married to his wife Norma for 50 years, has two daughters and three grandchildren.

Society recapitulates phylogeny

I recall my high school biology teacher, Mr. Ricci, explaining the phrase "Ontology Recapitulates Phylogeny", as much because his long, snagged teeth made saying it nearly impossible for him to say, an amusing moment for us sophomores, as for the sheer poetry of its sound.... Continue

2019 nonprofit trends

Although the beloved groundhog might be the nation’s best-known soothsayer for predicting when spring will arrive, Punxsutawney Phil makes no such predictions for what will happen in the nonprofit world each year. So, I did a little research on what trends experts expect to impact... Continue

Unleashing the flying monkeys

I imagine it’s no coincidence that my writing began when I was 53, the same age my mother was when she called it a day. Nor that it took me five years to write our chronicles, the same amount of time I lived with her... Continue

New sheriff in town

Congress may have its AOC but Sonoma has its HHH, and that promises to be every bit as exciting. Unlike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, their Congressional generational counterpart, City Council’s new majority of Amy Harrington, Rachel Hundley and Logan Harvey aren’t yet the sujet du jour of cable news but... Continue

Perpetual elections

Is the 2020 presidential election coming too soon or not soon enough? Still in the midst of recovering and adjusting to the realities of Trump, we now find ourselves already in the throes of an active primary season filling with Democratic candidates and murmurings of... Continue

Managing the fire zone

One of the things we love about our county is its rugged beauty -- mighty oaks, waving grasses, towering redwoods, delicate manzanita, the hillsides, mountains and meadows that surround us. After the 2017 fires, the way many of us look at the beauty that surrounds... Continue

Unleashing the flying monkeys

The progressives are in the House

Now that the electoral map comes into full resolution, the full magnitude of the political sea change is in full evidence… the progressives are now the largest caucus in the Democratic Party. We should not engage in naiveté by assuming that that means they are... Continue

Stand up, speak out

I have learned – the hard way – the importance of speaking up. And I know now that neglect, abandonment or being treated in a rude way is not okay. Respect is a fundamental right. We each deserve it. And it is our own responsibility... Continue

Tips for membership renewal

By now, many of us have renewed our annual dues with local nonprofits that are membership-based. Most Sonoma Valley nonprofits are on a fixed-date calendar renewal schedule, with membership starting on the same set date each year. Organizations such as the Sonoma Valley Historical Society,... Continue

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