Editorial

The physical landscape and human culture of Sonoma County is a multi-layered tapestry of many ethnic paths, heritages and contributions. But if we were to only celebrate one perhaps it should be Latinos and Hispanics, as we now seek to do with National Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

A “housing crisis” has been declared for all of Sonoma County by elected officials, affordable housing advocates and by the home building and construction industry. Rents and raw building costs have never been higher. Vacancy rates for rentals are almost zero and new housing construction is years behind the actual demand, these leaders tell us.

The editorial on DUI priorities mentioned many positive results

My husband and I are about to be left behind. I’m talking about something more predictable than the apocalypse: our son will be leaving home in the fall to go to college. We will still have two younger kids at home, so we’re not yet empty nesters, but I nonetheless have a strong sense of nostalgia as I contemplate how quickly time flies and the inevitable changes that are upon our family life.

Last year, I was lucky enough to have been selected as Corp Member for Teach for America, a non-profit organization that places teachers in high need schools throughout the United States. My placement is in the Mississippi Delta, a region that has experienced long-standing high poverty, low graduation, and very poor college admission rates. Here, I have taught English to some wonderful students at Amanda Elzy High School in Greenwood, Mississippi. Unfortunately, many of these students are years behind grade level in a variety of subjects and often do not have the resources or opportunities that I was fortunate enough to receive in Healdsburg.

Healdsburg’s rental housing market is in crisis. Evictions, 60 day notices and often 20 percent-plus rental increases are occurring daily, the most recent eviction being the 21-unit rental housing on Prentice Drive, with all tenants being evicted for building repairs, and rents going from a range of $850 to $1,400 to $2,100 – a 65 percent rental increase and more in one year. How many rental units and people are in Healdsburg? According to the 2010 housing element statistics there are 4,378 total housing units in Healdsburg. Forty-two percent of them (1,857) are rental units. With an average of three persons per unit, this could represent 5,571 people in our community of 12,000 residents.

Probably every issue of this newspaper ever published has contained at least one story or item about a death. That’s because when we share our lives and community together, we also share our passings.