From the Library
We’re happy to report that the first few weeks of in-person express services at the Healdsburg Library have gone very well. It’s been heartwarming to see our community inside the library again and we encourage you to give it a try. For the moment, we are open for specific hours — on Monday and Tuesday, we are open from 1-2 p.m. and 5-6 p.m.; from Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-noon and 3-4 p.m. We’ll still offer our curbside services for anyone who prefers that to coming into the library. You can make a reservation online or by giving us a call at 707-433-3772; but so far, we have not had to turn anyone away because of capacity requirements. In coming weeks, we do intend to expand our express services further, so please keep an eye out for additional updates.
Let’s be right the first time
Healdsburg’s GMO (Growth Management Ordinance) is a complicated citizen’s initiative that was passed in 2000. In essence it limits the number of homes that can be built in a given year to 30. Since then the population has increased by less than 500 people. It is very difficult to provide housing opportunities for working folks in our community as median home prices have risen dramatically, inventory shrinks and nearly one third of re-sales are for second homes. Two years ago a committee was formed to look at amending the GMO. A compromise was reached that would give us a few more units for a 15 year period and then revert back to the current GMO. It wasn’t perfect, actually far from it. The original author of the GMO measure attended and spoke at the meetings. However he would not support even the modest changes the committee proposed, but agreed to remain neutral. He insisted that the GMO wasn’t broken and didn’t need a fix.
Editorial: General Plan must meet needs of all county residents
The good news about the controversy swirling around the county¹s
Councilman Comes Around on Growth Management Ordinance
"We have finalized a ballot measure for Healdsburg’s voters that encourages housing that is best suited to Healdsburg’s workers," writes Councilmember Chris Herrod, "near the city center, close to transportation and jobs, and where higher density units make the most sense, both cosmetically and economically (and in accord with our climate goals)..."
Marketing wineries
With a 30-year professional background in the local wine industry, including marketing positions at leading Sonoma-Napa wineries, as well as directing tasting rooms and wine clubs, and organizing special events by the score, I would like to make some observations in the context of the current debate over special events at Sonoma County wineries.
Arts & Entertainment
Turning music into magic
“This revolution is different—it is a disruption of creativity," said Nolan Gasser. "So now you can actually create a poem, or an image created or a video created or a piece of music created by artificial intelligence, just by a prompt."












