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.

Particular forms of torment

The methods and strategies devised by ego to sustain itself are largely primitive and barbaric. They display themselves due to the ways we feel and imagine ourselves and others, and the behavior that flows from that. Ego does not conform well to others; a daemon... Continue

Why the Women’s March matters

We, the people, want our voices heard. We can’t accomplish change alone but there is power in numbers. We are empowered when we go eyeball to eyeball. We feel a palpable personal power when we gather. As Dana Jack says, in “Silencing the Self”: “depression... Continue

Rebuilding in the First District

There has been a lot of activity in our District this past year, but our shared fire stories of tragedy and loss are evolving into a focus on rebuilding. It takes all of us grit, patience to learn about insurance coverage, sharing information on builders,... Continue

No, we can’t all get along

Put people together and you're sure to find trouble. Families, husbands and wives, siblings, cousins, politicians; no matter how you find them, people always have trouble getting along. Human society reflects just how terribly difficult it is; when large groups of people organize, it often... Continue

Birds of a feather

Back in the day, it wasn’t possible for kids to grow up without their parents warning: “Be careful of the company you keep!” Cautions abounded that even if we were very good (B+ good), hanging out with The Wrong Crowd -- the Lazy, the Losers... Continue

Conversations with my granddaughter

Char Girl -- I had my four-year-old granddaughter on Saturday. We’re making cookies and she begs to take over mixing the butter and flour. “I do it, I do it! Let me, let me!” After cleaning up, as there was now batter everywhere, we put a... Continue

My 400 mouths to feed

People like to take care of living things, like plants or pets. Watching plants or animals grow and change stimulates physical and emotional reactions only possible between living things. A pet rock may be attractive and a cute idea, but little more. I've grown exotic... Continue

Santa, about that affordable house…

Affordable housing is a many-faceted issue that makes it challenging to fashion quick solutions that a majority of voters can support. Absent my winning the next big Powerball and writing a check to cover the cost of 200 new low-rent apartments, the core solution (as... Continue

Here come the 2018 tax law changes

Late last year Congress signed into law the most massive changes in tax reform (Tax Cuts and Job Act – TCJA) since 1986. It is important to take a quick break from holiday festivities to analyze your tax picture so you are not surprised or... Continue

Send in the jugglers

I’ve written about politics, anger, fear, loathing, and other topics of great concern. But for my own sanity, I thought I’d write about something other than the great divide of wealth and poverty, suffering, ailments, wildfires and assorted seasonal mish-mosh. I’m wondering how to have... Continue

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