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.

Predictably predictable

When a major new commercial building project is proposed in Sonoma, its appearance is scrutinized, poked, prodded, and otherwise worked-over by committees until it is declared suitably "Sonoma-Style". Thus we see "Sonoma-Style Farmhouse" and "Sonoma-Style Barn" popping up in proposal project narratives reading more like real... Continue

Just ask your doctor

Hospitals in Mogadishu aren’t great and in Syria they are routinely bombed, but in America even low-education voters understand that hospitals are a public service as vital as police, fire, water and Twitter. Fortunately, Sonoma Valley Hospital is a good one, and Measure E will... Continue

Social movement or political realignment?

The swift and massive civic response to the Trump election is a social movement, galvanized by widespread revulsion against the white nationalist element in the Republican base. The Democratic Party political leaders have lagged behind the populist upsurge. They have still not found their bearings... Continue

First date, full disclosure

"I enjoy candlelit dinners, a walk on a moonlit beach, and spending time in the woods enjoying the beautiful nature around us." Oh please. Who writes this smarm? I've perused dating sites and snicker at the profiles. Is there no one looking for love that... Continue

Sonoma’s new oligarchy

The City of Sonoma has always had oligarchs, powerful people of great wealth and the inclination to use it. First among these was General Mariano Vallejo, the Mexican General who owned much of Northern California, including the town of Sonoma. He laid out the city,... Continue

Paranoid leader, paranoid state

America was founded from within a state of paranoia, the persecution experience of the Puritans and other Christian sects in England. Coming to the shores of North America was envisioned by them as their refuge from paranoia, but instead of escaping it, they brought it... Continue

The sound of drums, the call to action

As the drumming intensifies, so does my heartbeat and breathing rate. Stomping feet, twirling bodies, and the intermittent rattle of shakers stir the enveloping smoke of burning incense. This artistic ritual form of dance feels primitive, ancient, and spiritual. The leader, Argelio Girón, is a... Continue

When you love somebody, it changes you

Love is no small thing. When you’ve loved and lost anything that was alive you tell yourself to accept loss, to let go, to flow with life’s changing cycles. You get really busy and try to avoid the loss, but when you’re silent or walking... Continue

Modern man in search of a smart phone

Along with Sigmund Freud's "Civilization and Its Discontents", Carl Jung's "Modern Man in Search of a Soul" formed the foundation for the new field of human psychology at the beginning of the 20th Century. All at once, the human mind itself was revealed to be... Continue

The soul of Sonoma

The hallmarks of civilization are order and bureaucracy, the institutionalization of humanity into concrete rule-bound systems, balanced budgets, statistics, financial analysis, and the businesslike conversion of human beings into calculable units. The governing rationale of civilization is an obsession with the future, looking ahead and wanting... Continue

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