Written by: Noah Abrams

Published: 28 October 2022

Planning a vineyard party? Barrel tasting bash or wedding? Events at wineries in Sonoma County are slated for some changes.

 

On Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors will hear a new winery event ordinance - one that has already gone through a lengthy revision process with the county's planning commission.

 

Meant to provide a regulatory standard for winery events in agricultural zones - the ordinance addresses everything from parking and traffic management, to food vending, to noise standards.

 

The new local laws were developed by the planning commission after extensive input from residents in the Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek, and Westside Road areas. That includes a 195 person public workshop. County staff and officials say the ordinance is designed to balance community concerns over traffic congestion, impaired driving, noise pollution, and environmental degradation.

 

If passed, the ordinance will apply to wineries in the county’s agricultural zones with new and modified use permits.

Read more: Winery events may soon get a closer look from County

Written by: Noah Abrams

Published: 27 October 2022

With September’s record heat behind us, and fire risks fading, firefighters and conservation groups are wasting little time, conducting controlled burns ahead of winter. Thursday, October 27th, firefighters intentionally set alight part of Pepperwood Preserve northeast of Santa Rosa---fighting fire, with fire.

Aiming, as the experts say, to 'treat', 105 acres of grassland and oak forest perched high atop the Mark West Springs Area. A dozen engines were among the assets on hand.

 

The controlled burn serves multiple purposes, according to Devyn Friedfel, Pepperwood’s assistant preserve manager.

 

"This is really about fuel loading to reduce the fuels of when a wildfire does come, we'll see less severe intensity of the fire," Friedfel said.

 

This kind of intentional fire or prescribed burn is also critical to prevent oak trees and the habitat they provide, from getting crowded out, Friedfel said.

 

"Douglas Fir, which without fire suppression, will continue to expand its range and move into the oak woodlands," he noted. "It's just pushed right through the top of it, so it starts to shade out the oaks. Stresses the oak because they start stretching for light instead of kind of getting what we typically see of these nice oaks with these kind of rounded edges and lower hanging branches, reducing the stems per acre of the Douglas fir, so it's actually sucking up less water and nutrients. So you're, you're leaving more nutrients and water and sunlight  for your oak trees. Oak trees are so much more fire resilient as well."

 

Long before statehood, California's native tribes conducted similar burns. Friedfel said resuming intentional fire is important.

 

"Douglas Fir are not a bad invasive tree at all," Friedfel said. "They're part of the natural cycle and have their ecological benefits, but without a proper disturbance regime, that balance of oaks and furs gets a little out of whack."

 

Prescriptive burns will continue over coming days, with officials documenting the impacts at Pepperwood into the future.

Read more: Prescribed fire - medicine for nature

Written by: Noah Abrams

Published: 27 October 2022

Next up in our ongoing election 2022 coverage, the race for the fourth congressional district seat in the US House of Representatives.

 

Redistricting after the 2020 US Census changed a number of local districts.

 

Mike Thompson is running for re-election in what is now California’s 4th Congressional District, the new district closely mirroring the current 5th District which Thompson represents.

 

His opponent is Matt Brock, a water district operations supervisor based in Solano County.

 

Brock has a straightforward question for voters in the area Thompson has represented since 1998.

 

"Has your family life, has your life gotten easier or worse in the last few years?" Brock asked. "And then overall in the last 20 years? We're kind of in a status quo hold position right now, and we're doing the same thing. I hear everyone complain about how bad it is in California, and you know, I often ask, Why don't you change the leadership up?"

 

Thompson simply pointed to his record.

 

"We are continually making sure that the folks who interface with the federal bureaucracy are treated fairly," Thompson said. "We are constantly doing work for veterans, for social security recipients on immigration, on taxes. We just settled a case for one constituent who was owed seven and a half million by the IRS."

 

Brock said he feels otherwise about Thompson’s local focus.

 

"He's basically become a rubber stamp for Pelosi, for Biden, and for basically anyone pushing certain agendas," Brock said. "He's huge on the climate change issue. Those are kind of things that I would take a step back from."

 

Thompson noted his local support.

 

"I'm supported by every member of the board of supervisors, every sheriff, every district attorney, school board members, school superintendents, every mayor, council member, state legislator," Thompson said. "And that's because I have been able to deliver for my district."

 

Brock listed a number of top priorities.

 

"Inflation," Brock said. "I mean, obviously we need to do something to get that back under wraps. It's gone out of control. And I think that, you know, it's kind of like we just gave an 18 year old a brand new credit card. The feeling of spending money is kind of gone right now at 400 billion here, 700 billion here. Those used to be big numbers and people really used to open their eyes to that. Energy independence is my other thing. We've shut down pipelines that are quite frankly one of the cleanest way to transport any type of product anywhere. Instead, we're putting oil on ships and steaming across the oceans burning fuel the whole time."

 

Thompson acknowledged the economic concerns.

 

"Are we in some tough economic times right now? We most certainly are," Thompson said. "We're in a global pandemic. There is a global recession. The illegal and immoral invasion of Russia has exacerbated all of that. Everything from our ability to purchase fertilizer, to sell agricultural products, to import agricultural products, to have access to fuel supplies."

 

Brock, a 16 year veteran of the water industry, said nuclear power needs greater attention.

 

"There's a large push for cleaner energy and things to that and, and to take care of our environment," Brock said. "And I think the amount of hoops that we go through and the type of stewards that we are already with the environment is very good. Trying to produce energy using green sources. And there's pros and cons to, to that. And there's pros and cons to, to fossil fuels. We have the ability here to use nuclear power. It's kind of been a bad word for a long time to, to mention nuclear, but quite frankly, I mean, it is what powers our Navy. It is what gets our ships around the world to protect us and all other countries."

 

Thompson reiterated that he knows what residents of the district truly care about.

 

"I come home from Washington every weekend and I'm here during the district work periods," Thompson said. "I'm constantly out in the district meeting with folks, finding out what their needs and desires are and working to make sure that we facilitate that."

 

Thompson also touted his environmental and disaster relief accomplishments.

 

"Protecting over a million acres of habitat and permanently protecting that," Thompsonsaid. "Everything from the North Coast Wilderness Act to the Berryessa-Snow Mountain Wilderness Act. I was particularly successful in this last congress getting help for my constituents who were harmed by fires. I was able to get everything from increased funding for federal government share of cost to tax credits to help build new affordable units."

 

Brock emphasized border security.

 

"I don't know if we need a barrier, a huge wall or anything like that, but we definitely need some way to vet and, and check individuals that are attempting to, or entering this country legally," Brock said. Even as a father, I worry about it. The fentanyl deaths are way up and a lot of those drugs are coming from overseas, but they basically have an open door at our southern border and it's a free pass in."

 

Brock said he feels leadership changes are needed.

 

"I mean, he's been there since 1999," Brock said. "That's a, a very long time in my opinion. I'm just afraid that the world that we grew up in and myself and, and my parents and their parents even may not be around or we may not have the same opportunities in the future if we kind of continue down the road that I think we're leading to."

 

Thompson said he's confident he will continue to serve North Bay residents in the House.

 

"Well, I don't even know who my opponent is," Thompson said. "He has absolutely no presence in any part of my district. He has no support from anyone in my district. I think folks are pretty confident that I work very hard on their behalf and that's why they gave me 68% of the vote in the primary."

Read more: Thompson, Brock spar on vision for 4th Congressional District and the nation

Written by: Marc Albert

Published: 27 October 2022

A confluence of demographic trends, COVID impacts and rising costs are pinching many local school districts, likely forcing some tough choices.

 

"The new normal is declining enrollment, learning to live with less students in the public schools, which means the revenue is going to be down. The new normal is, we have a local teacher shortage, a state teacher shortage and a national teacher shortage."

 

That's Steve Harrington, Sonoma County's Superintendent of Public Instruction. In California, state revenue flows to districts based on attendance. While illness and hooky play a role, enrollment is a big part.

  

According to US Census data, there were nearly nineteen thousand fewer children in Sonoma County in 2020 than two decades earlier.

 

That, Herrington said, is part of what's led several districts, including Santa Rosa City Schools, to launch studies exploring possibly combining districts.

 

"In the financial part of the study, which is what we shared with the board, was, yes, unification would generate a cost savings, and enhanced revenue."

  

Herrington said the study found as much as $35 million dollars could be shaved from operating costs.

  

While figures are large, don't expect major changes overnight.

  

"This is a very deliberate and long process. It doesn't happen in eighteen months. The shortest I could think of it happening would be two or three years. The longest I've seen one of these take is ten years."

  

Any school district, city council, the county's LAFCO and Board of Supervisors can however request the county's Committee on District Reorganization launch a process.

  

Classrooms aren't the only places with empty seats. There's quite a few on a number local school boards. Districts are filling them with appointments. While there are fewer contested school board races this year, Herrington said appointees are being vetted transparently.

  

"They have to interview in a public board meeting, they have to vote in a public board meeting. There's no closed-session discussions, everything is out in the open."

Read more: Declining enrollment pressuring school districts; some exploring consolidation