Editorial

Two decades ago, lots of Sonoma County winemakers and innkeepers were jealous over the attention heaped on their counterparts in Napa Valley, but they swore they’d never actually want to be another Napa or another wine country version of Disneyland. Back then, Sonoma’s wine and hospitality people would chortle, “Sonoma’s for wine, Napa is for auto parts.”

With this year’s elections fast approaching both candidates for the 4th Supervisorial District, James Gore and Deb Fudge have represented that they possess the knowledge and skills necessary to manage Sonoma County’s public sector and its problems, one of which is the gorilla in the room—unfunded pension liabilities.

In December I went to a Regional Climate Protection Authority presentation at the Healdsburg city council chambers. The RCPA was created in 2009 to improve coordination on climate change issues and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as was mandated by the ten county government’s partnership with the Climate Protection Campaign in 2005. The goal is to reduce county GHG emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2015. It was the CPC that first championed Sonoma Clean Power in 2004.

During the next year or so, the City of Healdsburg will make important decisions about our future as a community. We see this period as an exciting opportunity, as well as a challenge to get those decisions “right.” And we must start by asking the right questions.

As one of two new Co-Chairs of the Board of the Healdsburg Animal Shelter, I want to take this opportunity to update the community regarding the new Shelter facility and outline a path forward toward its completion in the short-term. Further, I do so not in an effort to point fingers at any of the parties involved to date, but rather to move as quickly as possible to finish what will be an extraordinary facility. Our very achievable goal is that the new facility will continue to serve the many animals in need that have been so well provided for by the existing Shelter and operate to the highest standard possible utilizing the best practices in modern day animal care.

In memory of Mike Brady

Editor: With the sorry shape the county is in right now (I know

Now we know better. The next time we warn ourselves to be prepared for a big disaster we’d better listen to ourselves and be prepared to take it seriously, right? In late spring we warned this could be a record fire season, enabled by the multi-year drought, hotter weather and uncertain funding for sufficient firefighting forces. Editorials here and elsewhere quoted local fire officials, posting repeated warnings to clear a “defensible perimeter” and practice disaster relief drills. The big disaster the next time could be us, we warned.

Despite recent rains, the cumulative average rainfall for the water year to date (July 1, 2013 – March 9, 2014) is still well below average. The Santa Rosa basin currently, as of March 14, has 14.1” compared to an average of 25.2”. The Ukiah basin has 11.45” compared to the average of 30”. While the drought status in much of the county was updated from “extreme” to “severe,” water storage levels in Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma continue to be well below average. Lake Mendocino’s water supply storage capacity was at 50 percent and Lake Sonoma’s water supply capacity was at 73 percent (as of March 14).  

Although a lot of Fitch Mountain is not in Healdsburg’s city limits it has long been considered a Healdsburg community. The Fitch Mountain Association just had its annual potluck meeting at the Villa and several items of local interest were discussed.