Editorial

Jim Brush, in his Tribune Commentary of March 10, shares his discovery of the reason that we have a crisis of unaffordable housing in Healdsburg: lack of supply, and the solution: completely terminate the Growth Management Ordinance.

I’m not a slogan kind of thinker. In fact, slogans really bug me. Whenever I hear one of those pithy little phrases that are supposed to sum up what needs to be said and put me firmly on one side of an issue, I immediately go into question mode.

Before my head and my heart could accept that the end of a decade might be a good transition time, my body made a point of telling me that the chapter as Farmers’ Market Manager was coming to an end. In June, my back refused to be comfortable in my ‘69 Ford Market Truck, and I had a big epiphany after Epiphanio Juarez offered to purchase the truck. When I handed him the keys a few weeks later, I realized it was not that difficult to let go. And so began a summer and fall of small letting gos, until finally, after the market on Oct. 12, my back just stopped working. Fortunately, the market was beginning to wind down, and we had two well-trained assistants, Carl Hubbell and Teo Tomerlin, to work at the market. Thank you Greta Mesics, David and Sally Hubbell, Leslie Kelley Byrnes, Steve and Cheryl Caletti, and Zack Schwa for your help. And thank you to Ann Carranza for cheerfully managing the Pumpkin Fest and the Arts and Crafts Fair.

Recently there has been considerable attention directed towards Healdsburg’s lack of affordable housing, especially in regards to the “missing middle” working class families. This situation could be seen coming a long time ago and essentially took this long to boil over.

In 1988, I made my first visit to Healdsburg. Six months later, my first job out of college included Healdsburg. I was hooked. The town reminded me of my valley community: a dusty working town with a Sunsweet dehydrator, several lumber mills, a river and lots of families. There was a diversity of culture with a common goal of making our community great.

In Healdsburg and throughout Sonoma County, issues related to housing have been in the spotlight for many months. The city is keenly aware of our community’s housing needs and has been working hard, alongside our residents, to address these serious housing problems. Providing affordable housing to working families and building government subsidized, affordable housing units continue to be top City Council priorities. Much has been accomplished and a great deal remains to be done.

Along with the dedication of a new park atop of Fitch Mountain, a community treasure has quietly slipped into the past. On a sunny Sunday in September, Fitch mountaineers gathered for a potluck at Del Rio Beach to share memories of a lake that is no more. Al Pucci, director of the Del Rio Woods Recreation and Park District, Fitch Mountain Association trustee, addressed the group and thanked everyone for their involvement and support. About 30 people came to pay their respects and share stories of their time spent on the Del Rio Woods summer lake.