Page 31 - Sonoma County Gazatte May 2017

Roseland Beautification Week wrapped up on Earth Day, Saturday April
22 with a nice BBQ held at Bayer Farm to honor the dozens of volunteers who helped to clean up Roseland all week. Community Action Partnership brought the xings for the event while Bayer Farm workers such as Jonathan Bravo were on hand to do grilling. On Saturday gra ti in the city limits was painted over o apartment building exterior walls along Sunset Ave. Volunteers also picked up debris and cleaned in the Roseland Neighbor Wood and Nature Preserve near Roseland Creek. Some of the volunteers were there for the rst time and said the area is so lovely they will be back soon. They were helped
by volunteers from the Burbank Ave. Neighborhood Association, Friends of Roseland Creek, and the Hughes Ave. Neighborhood Association.
“The Welcome Roseland videos are a way to engage residents in a
creative, light-hearted manner,” says Caluha Barnes, Director of Community Engagement. “We receive many questions from the public about what impacts the annexation will have on those who live and work in Roseland. Our staff has been working to find new and different methods to getting information about the annexation out to the public.”
Some of the same people at the Earth Day event had been able to share a meal together on Tuesday April 18, 2017 at a small meeting held by Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins. The meeting at the Roseland Library Branch building from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. featured a nice Mexican bu et meal before Ms. Hopkins spoke at 6:30 p.m. A little after 7 p.m. county o cials switched into a meeting to provide information to local residents who may be concerned about current federal policies regarding undocumented immigrants. A short question and answer period at 6:30 with Ms. Hopkins ranged on a number of local topics Roseland asked about. Concerns have been heightened about the appearance of the Roseland Village Shopping Center owned by county taxpayers.
With the help of Culture Pop Films, the videos are available in both English and Spanish, and star youth and adults from Roseland and other parts of Santa Rosa. Staff from the Santa Rosa Police Department, Housing and Community Services, Office of Community Engagement, and Water Department also appear in some of the scenes.
Ruby Court resident Jim Bray emphasized to Ms. Hopkins, “Roseland is worse now than it was ten years ago.” He and others expressed frustration with the slow pace at which the county is dealing with the homeless camp on site and the constant trashing of the area on the side of the Dollar Store. Hopkins response and the inference from her sta at the meeting seemed to be get used
to this. She stated the problems were worse in the “River area” and she and
her sta were busy working on resolving issues there rst. Considering some Roseland residents are working hard to clean up the neighborhoods it was disheartening for some to see the drunk and disorderly men lying around the library as the meeting started.
The Welcome Roseland campaign will run through June 2017. Each week, the City will debut a new video, answering a new question about the annexation. Videos can be found on the following City social media sites:
City of Santa Rosa Website: www.srcity.org
City of Santa Rosa Community Engagement webpage: http://
srcity.org/250/Community-Engagement
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CityofSantaRosa
Video # 1: https://youtu.be/5rzIHzzCBYw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cityofsantarosa/?ref=aymt_ homepage_panel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeMyNeighbor_SR Nextdoor: www.nextdoor.com
Roseland annexation: http://srcity.org/434/Roseland-Annexation
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Roseland Annexation Santa Rosa video series answers questions
Ray’s Real Roseland Realities
The City of Santa Rosa has begun debuting a series of videos on the annexation of Roseland, called Welcome Roseland. Each clip answers a most frequently asked question about the annexation. Some questions include: “will my property taxes go up?” and, “do the taco trucks get to stay?”
This was compounded by stinking blue tarp covered battered old recreational vehicle in the parking
lot which has been there for many months surrounded by piles and piles of fecal matter. (Photo taken April 18, 2017 by De Witt)
Such realities as this disappoint many residents while the community is doing its best to clean up and
be prepared for the May 5 Cinco
de Mayo festival to be held at the Roseland Village. It appears to
many residents there is a disconnect between what county o cials are telling people and what occurs right in front of their eyes.
The headline above comes to mind
now. Ray’s Food Center on the southern end of Dutton Ave. at Hearn Ave. is where Ray Lazzini gave sage advice to generations of Roseland residents while also selling groceries and extending friendship, credit and wisdom to many. He pointed out in the past to this writer, “The reality is actions speak louder than words.” He has been in Roseland 60 + years and he knows what helps or hurts.
Regarding the county o cials and their fecal matters this is a public health hazard right in the middle of a very busy public place. County o cials need
to resolve this matter and get the issues taken care of for the health, safety, and welfare of Roseland residents now no matter what is happening in other parts of Sonoma County. The reality is things are ugly on the land the county tax payers own in Roseland. The annexation of the area into the city of Santa Rosa is moving at a snail’s pace. It has been said the city submitted an application to annex the Roseland County Island to the Local Agency Formation Committee on April 4, 2017. It may take until the end of 2017 to have this resolved. Until then Roseland Review politely asks county o cials to get the fecal matter out of here. Please stop treating this place like a dumping ground and afterthought while ignoring the realities plaguing us.