Editorial

Assessment concerning

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.

Failing grade

We have been living in a global village and sharing the same orbiting planet much longer than social scientists have been reminding us, or the first photos from outer space of our fragile blue-green marble confirmed.

Candidate scrutiny

In celebration of National Pollution Prevention Week, Sept. 16 to 20, the Russian River Watershed Association and the City of Petaluma are once again sponsoring the Safe Medicine Disposal Round-Up Week.