People come and people go, but the memory of their actions remain. We call this form of memory "history" and in the case of institutions like government, that history is recorded. Among the methods used by government are minutes of meetings. Meeting minutes record what... Continue
Editorials
A new Sun story reexamines three past General Plans from 1964, 1974 and 1985. Each in its own way points to the cultural biases and social movements of its decade while simultaneously acknowledging the unique history and natural features of Sonoma Valley and the City... Continue
Historically, Sonoma's city government has placed measures on the ballot infrequently, and almost exclusively for matters of revenue or taxes; for instance, to raise the Transient Occupancy Tax or increase the sales tax. Only rarely, and then in cases of annexations (Maxwell Village Shopping Center),... Continue
The Sonoma City Council has once again failed to exercise leadership, this time on the issue of leaf blowers. After months of dithering, debate and delays the final result of this week’s meeting was... let the voters decide. This is not what council members are elected... Continue
The opportunity to choose our political leaders is the heart of democracy. To be sure, this is not the only way a society can be organized politically, and like any other political system democracy has its plusses and minuses. For most of western history monarchy... Continue
Perhaps a better way to phrase our editorial question is: Can government leave the 18th Century? It was during the 1700s that many of the conventions and methods used by democratic government were developed and refined, and many of those were borrowed from even earlier... Continue
On September 9th the Sonoma City Council will meet to consider its ban on leaf blowers. When a straw-vote was taken a while back there appeared to be three votes in favor of a ban, but if history teaches us anything about the leaf-blower issue,... Continue
We hear considerable talk from politicians and so-called experts about the need to ‘grow our economy.’ Call us contrarian but more than grow, we believe our Valley’s economy needs to evolve. Growing the same wine/tourism industry that is putting unsustainable pressure on our environment and... Continue
If the recent activity surrounding Rico Martin's facade and painting projects in Boyes Hot Springs is any indication, a community is arising with interest in investing in its own future. Between the long-delayed street and sidewalk improvements to the upcoming affordable housing project, The Springs,... Continue
In 1999 the City of Sonoma passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of homes in residential zones as short-term vacation rentals. Exceptions were made for historic homes in the historic overlay zone and, as noted in this edition of The Sun, some uses were "grandfathered"... Continue