An eco-village for Eldridge?

Reader opinion by Stephanie Hiller The disposition of the 864-acre property that has housed the Sonoma Developmental Center for decades has been fraught with uncertainty, largely because the State has undertaken a process it has not used before. “It’s unorthodox,” said Daniel Kim, Director... Continue

Meeting topic: The future of the Sonoma Developmental Center

[caption id="attachment_37006" align="aligncenter" width="420"] The Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children, on the eastern slopes of Sonoma Mountain, in 1910.[/caption] Scheduled to close by the end of this year, the Sonoma Developmental Center will soon undergo transformations sure to affect... Continue

Closed SoCal developmental center will go to university, not private developers

The recently closed Lanterman Developmental Center, the Southern California counterpart to the Sonoma Developmental Center, will be handed over to Cal Poly Pomona, according to the 2015-2016 Governor’s Budget Summary. The 302-acre property would be transferred to Cal Poly for academic purposes and to expand... Continue

President’s Message April 2015

Note; The following guest blog is a personal letter published by the Parent Hospital Association of the Sonoma Developmental Center written by the Association’s President Kathleen Miller. INTRODUCTION- Clearly Sonoma Developmental Center along with Fairview Developmental Center is under attack. Both Assemblymember Grove and Senator... Continue

Sister of SDC resident speaks out against closing

It is with great sadness that I send you this response to the May 6, 2015 article by Nancy Gardner entitled Guest opinion: another view of the SDC. Thank you for respecting my point of view that represents SDC clients and my sister who has... Continue

Closing Development Center puts lives at risk

This letter is in response to Nancy Gardner's opinion piece about the Sonoma Developmental Center that ran in the April 30 issue of The Sun. A mortality rate which was 80 percent higher for those who were taken out of SDC and the other developmental... Continue

Guest opinion: another view of the SDC

By Nancy Gardner I first toured Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) over 35 years ago, just out of graduate school and eager to change the world for people with developmental disabilities. Having worked in community services for children with disabilities since a teenager, I was shocked... Continue

Reflections on the Commons

For a species whose prime adaptation is cooperation, the Commons -- lands and resources owned and shared by all -- have always represented the ground on which society as a whole can rely. From our trajectory as hunter-gatherers to pastoralists, agriculturalists and finally to our... Continue

Whither SDC?

In a public meeting about the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center, it seemed clear to the hundreds present, including elected state and county officials, that SDC’s closure would be a tragic political failure. Bills have been introduced in the legislature that would close it... Continue

Sonoma Developmental Center: A future in the balance

(By Will Shonbrun) Changes are coming to the Sonoma Developmental Center – but what kind, and when? The unknowns -- forced by a state mandate to close the facility within 10 years – were the focus of a public meeting convened and chaired by the center’s... Continue