The taxpayers’ checkbook
July 1 is the start of a new fiscal year for local governments. This is when the county, cities and schools start spending new tax money based on recently approved 2016-2017 budgets. All these budgets tend to launch with the same conclusions: there is never enough tax revenue; there are too many unmet needs; employee and pension costs keep going up; and everything could be solved if we only agreed to raise new taxes and vote for more long term debt bonds.
Questions on the Fourth
File this editorial under, “careful what you wish for.” As a nation, we just celebrated our Independence Day. Just before that, a few thousand Sonoma County high school seniors took their first steps toward adulthood and independence. All of us are emerging from a year-plus of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. A few of us are swearing by our independence to not be forced to vaccinate. And, all those 3- and 4-year-olds under our feet keep letting us know that one definition of independence is the ability to say “no.”
Uniquely California: The Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury
When our forefathers drafted the California Constitution in 1849, they included a requirement that “One or more grand juries shall be drawn and summoned at least once a year in each county.” Today, California is the last state still to have a comprehensive standing...
Arts & Entertainment
Fundraiser: Canapés for a cause
While the Paul Mahder Gallery has held fundraisers in the past, this one focused not on the well-to-do, but rather on those who do without.















