We’ve pivoted from shutting our worldwide doors to the opening of stores and social settings. From zoom to podcasts and back to instagram, we squint at another required computer password. Then, pivot again through drought, dreading the fire season, hardly past elections and the tax... Continue
Columnist
It feels like just yesterday that the Board of Supervisors adopted the budget for the 2020/2021 Fiscal Year. Budget hearings were one of many things delayed last year amid the challenges and uncertainty as Sonoma County grappled with the impacts of COVID-19. This year was... Continue
My wife received a phone call and an email the other day announcing that she was a first-place winner in the Reader’s Digest Sweepstakes; $5.1 million was awaiting deposit into her bank account. Wisely, she made no response on the phone other than to say... Continue
Chapter 17: 1920 • Minnesota ~ When the wheels needed to be changed or the axles greased, my father—not yet a man—lifted the more than 200-pound hay wagon with his back, raised it higher with his arms, and held it steady while his older brother Aloysius,... Continue
It will come as no surprise that one of the top issues for residents of the First District is – of course – roads! The last year of shelter-in-place may have meant that we traveled less around the county, but it also caused us to... Continue
Pacaso, this thing is on everyone’s lips. Right now it is the number one topic of discussion. Within this discussion the idea of the “other” has also surfaced. I have no love of this co-ownership business model. It was created by multi-millionaires to make more... Continue
One sign our nation is Back on Track is that Covid could be vaccinated into submission in much of the country by the 4th of July. Once-scarce vaccinations are now available everywhere, from bus stops to taco trucks, and Americans 12 years of age &... Continue
The community is buzzing about Pacaso, the new, well-funded corporation offering fractional home ownership. Already challenged by AirBnB, vacation rentals and vacant second homes, residents are justly worried about Pacaso and its approach to home ownership and how it will affect neighborhoods. A neighborhood without... Continue
When human beings lived tribal lives in relative isolation from one another, before the technology of the wheel and all that followed, tribal culture provided a coherent framework within which each individual had a place and role; individual differences were less significant than cultural similarities... Continue
"Undoubtedly, cannabis is a divisive issue in our community." After more than a year of critical focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, I am happy to see county staff hard at work on other mission-critical areas of focus. We opened the window for vegetation management grant... Continue