Page 37 - Sonoma County Gazette February 2017

Rent Stablization to be decided during Special Election
With a unanimous vote the Santa Rosa City Council put fair and a oradable housing to the voters on the ballot of June 6. The special election allows residents to decide whether or not they want a rent stabilization program
for the city, after the establishment in August 2016 of Ordinance 4072. On September 26, 2016, a Referendum Petition was led with the City Clerk by
the California Apartment Association challenging portions of that Ordinance that established rent stabilization, eviction control and other residential tenant protections in Santa Rosa.
On December 21, 2016, the Registrar of Voters submitted to the City Clerk its determination that the Petition contained a su cient number of signatures of quali ed voters and the council had two options, (a) introduce an ordinance repealing the portions of the Ordinance challenged by the Petition, or (b) direct sta to bring back to Council an appropriate resolution to submit the challenged portions of the Ordinance to the voters at a Special Election to be held on June 6.
“Our city needs fair and a ordable rental housing. Folks may have election fatigue but I hope our residents will turn out to vote Yes on Rent stabilization on June 6,” said Councilwoman Julie Combs who authored the ordinance
to bring rent stabilization to the city multipart e ort make housing more a ordable in Santa Rosa.
The Beat Goes On – 60’s Memorabilia and Art Displayed
Peace, love and rock and roll are exhibited at the Art Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa. The Beat Goes On features an exciting display of
rock posters, artifacts and images that trace the in uence of music and the counterculture in the North Bay and are beyond the limits of San Francisco and the Height Asbury district.
The late 60’s was a time of questioning the status quo along with expanding one’s mind, exploring community and introducing new forms of artistic expression through posters and music. As I looked at and read about each display I got the feeling I was going back in time. A bit of trivia that I discovered, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead graduated Analy High School in Sebastopol in 1959.
A special thank you to Cynthia Leung, Director of Public Programs and Tours for an excellent overview of the exhibit which will be on display through April 2, 2017. You do not want to miss this exhibit. The museum is located at 425 Seventh St.
Historic Community: National Women’s March
comes to Santa Rosa
As reported by Sergeant Summer Black of the Santa Rosa Police Dept.,
the crowd size of the Sonoma County Stands Together For Women march
in Santa Rosa was estimated to be well over 5,000 people gathered in Santa Rosa from the North Bay cities. It was also reported the participants were very peaceful and well organized and consisted of people of all ages. As newly elected President of the National Organization for Women (NOW), I helped to carry our banner along with our secretary, Eileen Bill until two young women volunteered to take over. Being with all those people and reading the creative signs all around me I felt I was not alone in my concerns and fears for our country.
One could see hundreds of “pussy hats” pink knitted beanies with cat’s
ears worn by the marcher. The hats were inspired by the Pussy Project which according to the organizers of the Washington DC march were created as a symbol of solidarity for those involved in the marches across the country. A shout out to the march organizers and the Santa Rosa women who spoke at the event, Councilwoman Julie Combs, Retired Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, Rev. Ann Gray Byrd and KBBF President and Union Organizer Alicia Sanchez all adorned one of those special hats. Special thank you to Congressman Jared Hu man.
Hot o the Press, Scoop for Windsor!
There is fantastic news for Windsor and for the Windsor Golf Club. Symetra Golf Tour, a Tour for up and coming young pre-L PGA
golfers, has chosen Windsor as one of 3 California stops on their 2017 tour. The Tour includes Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Windsor. This is really an honor for Windsor to get this event. The purse is going to be $100,000 and it is supposed to bring visitors to Windsor for a whole week. The Windsor Tournament will be in April, there is a Media Day planned for Feb 8th. Check the Windsor Golf Club website for current updates. www.windsorgolf.com
The Town of Windsor unexpectedly lost one of it’s loyal leaders early in January, Richard Bartlett, Chief of Operations at the Waste Water Plant. It was a stormy weekend and Richard had still been texting at 8 pm on the evening before, making sure everything was going smoothly at work during the bad weather. He passed from a heart attack in his sleep Sunday morning. Town Council had a small memorial during the start of the January 18th Council meeting. It was standing room only including Richard’s wife, son and many Town sta . Former Town Manager, Matt Mullin spoke.
It has been close to a decade since the Trust Application was led with the Bureau of Indian A airs by the Lytton Tribe to acquire 125 non-gaming acres to build homes for tribal members in Windsor. (This has nothing to do with
the other hundreds of acres where a future resort and winery are planned.)
This trust then sat for a long time until last year when the BIA submitted a list of questions to the Town of Windsor for a list of answers concerning the Trust Application. The original deadline for answers was in November. Windsor Council requested an extension to collect public comment. There have been several get-to-gethers in Town about the topic with most ending with the crowd disagreeing on the best choices for Windsor. The questions and proposed answers were presented at the Council Meeting on January 18th with a small audience in attendance. The Council turned in the answers to the BIA questions by the extension date on Monday the 23rd of January. Now we wait again. The great thing is that the line of communication is open and information is going back and forth. For further updates visit www.townofwindsor.com/1075/ Lytton-Tribe-Developments
I spent the last week with a good friend of mine who moved to Nashville
23 years ago and is now planning on moving back. I drove her around and showed her the sites, the businesses and how things had changed. I took her to a few new places to shop, for lunch, dinner and then a snack on her last day at BurtoNZ Bakery, Windsor’s own awesome maker of New Zealand style meat pies. She said to me, “ Wow, everybody around her owns their own place, all the businesses are small. In Tennesee everybody works for big companies.” It was an ah-ha moment for me and it made a lot of things lately make since. I am so happy to be a native Californian, this is the place to thrive.
What was the most inspiring for me was the courage of the mothers who brought their young children to the march. For me this was why I was there to march not only in protest of the threat of women losing all we have gained but also for the future of our children. If our leaders before making any decisions would ask one basic question, “is it good for the children” before they take those important votes we just might have a chance for justice and peace for all.
Happy Valentines Day to all my readers.
This is my favorite celebration as it celebrates love and relationships. I heard this great song, “Weave” by Rosemary Crow which included some of the following lines and expressed some of how I feel, “Weave, weave, weave us together, Weave us together, together in love. We are many textures, we are many colors, Each one di erent from the others. But we are all woven together in one great tapestry.”
Elaine B. Holtz is producer/Host of “Women’s Spaces” on KBBF 89.1FM Monday 11-am-noon and repeats at 11pm to midnight Visit her website at: womensspaces.com Become a fan on FB.
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