Many people are not aware that the Board of Supervisors on 1/25/22 gave the cannabis industry a tax holiday. Our Supervisors will revisit this gift in April when the holiday expires. Why did our Supervisors grant this delay? The so-called “legacy” growers are complaining they... Continue
Letters To The Editor
The cannabis industry sold our Board of Supervisors on the fiction that legally grown cannabis would generate abundant taxes. On that basis, the Supervisors approved Measure A, “...to fund essential county services such as addressing industry impacts, public safety, fire, health, housing, roads, and environmental... Continue
With Dr. Rhonda Stallings of Arroyo Veterinary Hospital, I was a co-founder of SVDOG and a former president. I “retired” from SVDOG several years ago and Rich Lee is currently president. Like other organizations SVDOG (Sonoma Valley Dog Owners and Guardians) has understandably, and in... Continue
This is to augment Teri Shore’s great column in the recent Index Tribune Close to Home section. I am so glad she referred to an old mentor of mine, Bill Kortum. Many of us miss his stalwart support for improving and protecting Sonoma County. For Teri’s... Continue
Former publisher/editor of the Sonoma Index-Tribune, Bill Lynch, thinks it a wonderful idea that the Sonoma Developmental Center become a new village, a new town in the heart of Sonoma Valley. I do not, for the following reasons. Perhaps Mr. Lynch, who often waxes nostalgic... Continue
(The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors) has an opportunity to think big with SDC on January 25 by focusing on climate-resilient and democracy-supporting decisions. Rather than proceeding with a Specific Plan and EIR for urban housing infill and hotel, designed to pay for the State’s... Continue
Recently, the cannabis industry has been lobbying the State and County for tax reductions. They claim the recent drop in prices make cultivation and manufacturing taxes unaffordable. Before granting tax relief, let’s review how the industry arrived at this point, the real problem and if... Continue
The North Sonoma Valley Municipal Advisory Council (NSVMAC), an official but non-binding panel that reports to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, rejects the current plans for the Sonoma Developmental Center. "None of the current alternatives reflect the many environmental constraints on the site, nor... Continue
[caption id="attachment_116613" align="aligncenter" width="420"] The City Council had voted 3-1 to for a plan featuring bikes lanes next to the sidewalks, then parking lanes surrounding three lanes of traffic. (City of Sonoma)[/caption] By Eris Weaver, executive director, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition The special meeting that... Continue
After years of protecting open space and wildlands through UGBs and Community Separators, Sonoma Valley finds that more and more housing developments are being proposed in unincorporated rural areas. The State has a policy of transit oriented development to reduce greenhouse gasses through the reduction of vehicle miles... Continue