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.

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

Susan Gorin’s ‘cold night’ to support the homeless

By Supervisor Susan Gorin During the holiday season, many of us take time to reflect on how blessed we are – blessed and lucky to have our health, our home, our family – or to have the resources to address challenges when they arise. I... Continue

The animate and the inanimate

As living beings we naturally gravitate to other animate things, like plants and pets that become companions in our homes and lives. The feelings we have for inanimate objects can become strong as well; possessions gain value--sentimental, economic, historic--and we protect and ensure their safety.... Continue

No land left for affordable housing? Hogwash!

There seems to be a persistent impression that the City of Sonoma has run out of land for new housing. If we're talking about tens of acres of undeveloped land for tract housing, that's correct, but Sonoma decades-ago rejected construction of large-scale tract-housing development on... Continue

The year of living precariously

We’re reminded again of the horrors of fire and smoke. It’s been over a year, but many of us are still dealing with loss of many different kinds. It’s challenging and humbling. It's also a time for holiday hairballs….mixed emotions about a lot of issues... Continue

Conversations with my grandson

Dead People and Sparkle Fairies ~ “Oma, there’s dead people under those rocks, you know.” I glance over my shoulder to see what Satchel is talking about. My four-year-old grandson is commenting from his car seat about the small cemetery to our left on East... Continue

Eating out side of the box

It's come to this; shopping, food preparation and cooking are so burdensome that corporate America has concluded a smart profit's to be made from a niche target market, namely, those adults who are unwilling to eat frozen dinners or have Grub Hub deliver restaurant take-out... Continue

Columnist