Page 30 - Sonoma County Gazette February 2020

Beyond our Territory
SVUSD District Reapportionment and Redistricting: Board of Trustees Select Map B To Elect Board Members From Trustee Areas!
The Sonoma Valley Unified School District board agreed at the January 21 meeting that one of the three original maps (Map B) drawn for them was sufficient to allow Board members to run from separate electoral districts in the next school board election.
On January 22, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveiled its annual assessment of global safety in the iconic form of its “Doomsday Clock,” now standing at 100 Seconds to midnight – that is to say, world annihilation is now more imminent than it has ever been in the 73 years of the Bulletin’s existence.
I listened to the talks that accompanied this revelation. The Bulletin had identified three dangerous threats – the nuclear threat, intensely magnified by the breakdown
in negotiations worldwide; climate change; and perhaps most shocking, the spread of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and their likely use in space warfare.
Why did they change the election procedures? The Board of Trustees learned that the old method of electing members to the Board was out of compliance with equal protection of the laws requirements adopted by the California Legislature. (For wording of the statute go on line: California Education Code 5019.5.)
None of it was new to me, but the concise rendering of the unimpeded progression of these lethal forces by three eminent scientists was devastating.
Former Governor Jerry Brown, now the Executive Chair at The Bulletin, in his comments after the scientists’ reports, said it was hard for him, who had written perhaps a million words, to express how he felt. “If you tell the truth about such things, it’s considered deviant,” he said, pounding the table. “No one will listen to you, and you will be viewed as a prophet of doom.”
EC 5019.5 requires that the population of representative districts must be
as nearly as equal as possible to the ratio of one Board member to the total number of members.
In the case of SVUSD where there are five Board members, each district’s population must be as nearly as equal as possible to 20% of the total population.
The Board chose Map B where no single district’s population is more than 4.6% away from the District’s average population. See data below that accompanied Map B. The numbers are from the 2010 Census and will be revised at the end of this year likely in time for an election in 2021. To see the maps go to www.SonomaSchools.org.
But speak he did, growing more and more fervent, declaring that most of the world was asleep to the reality of the dangers we face, and urging media and the audience to find the way wake people up.
With those words reverberating in my head, I proceeded to a meeting of the Sonoma Planning Commission which was devoted to a discussion of a revised proposal by Verizon to install three cell towers in midtown, with seven more expected to follow in undetermined residential areas.
Though promised to be only for 4G, these “small cell” towers are the precursor to the installation of the newest cell technology 5G, (otherwise why bother?) which is one of the very technologies to which William Latiff had alluded. 5G is a global network heartily supported by “this president” whose corrupt behavior has been dramatically exposed, also this week, in the Senate impeachment hearings; it also has disruptive military and surveillance capacity.
The Optimist Daily, January 15, 2020 – Guest Article (In part):
But the Planning Commission can only object to this installation on its “aesthetic” appearance.
The decision of the planners was groundbreaking. They approved the application, with the caveat that the towers be vaulted, that is, placed underground. Verizon was dismayed and probably will appeal, according to Lin Marie de Vincent, the head of the activist group, Neighbors for Safe Technology.
The New York Public Library has been open for 125 years. To celebrate,
it recently dug into records and calculated a list of the ten (10) books most checked out in its history. No. 1 was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. It has been checked out 485,583 times since it was published in 1962.
How many of the top ten have you read?
Meanwhile, Oakmont, where I teach a class, has been rocked, also this week, by the news that the Board of Supervisors has approved a temporary shelter for homeless people across the highway at Los Guillicos, a detention center for delinquent youth. Many Oakmonters have objected to this choice of location as inappropriate and costly, including our supervisor Susan Gorin, who also has a home at Oakmont.
1. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats – 485,583 checkouts
2. The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss – 469,650 checkouts
3. 1984 by George Orwell – 441,770 checkouts
4. Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak – 436,016 checkouts 5. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – 422,912 checkouts
In a casual conversation before class, one of my students, Susan Aiken, told me about angry remarks she had seen on Facebook. She commented she was thinking of doing what she could to help make the situation workable.
6. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White – 337,948 checkouts
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – 316,404 checkouts
8. How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie 284,524
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – 231,022 checkouts 10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle – 189,550 checkouts
“After that, the comments on Facebook changed,” she said. Others started speaking of how they might help. Since then 85 have signed up to volunteer.
Could this experience become a positive exchange between the well-housed and the unsheltered?
Honorable Mention: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, unlisted until 1972.
2019 No. 1 Checkout: Becoming by Michelle Obama
We are all aware of the growing ranks of the homeless, and of the housing crisis that has beset our country, especially California. Of course, there are many different reasons why people become homeless, but for some, surely, the high cost of rents must be a factor. Sustainable Sonoma, of which I am a member, has been working for over a year on designing a framework for building affordable housing. Certainly, one limiting factor is lingering class and race prejudice against sharing space with people of color, like Latinos.
What’s happening up the road? Cannabis in Kenwood and Glen Ellen! After considerable time and discussion, the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Committee approved several measures related to the sale growth of pot. The Kenwood citizens argued at great length over a proposal to allow a cannabis dispensary in the store-wine tasting-Post Office complex at 8910 Highway 12. Center to the debate was traffic problems entering and leaving the market area as well as the granting of a waiver since the store is within 100 feet of homes although a wall separates them. The measure passed on a 7-2 vote.
Speaking of housing, last month I quoted Gregg Benjamin’s comment that there would be lots of housing at the former Developmental Center. He has written to tell me that was inaccurate. My apologies. He was not advocating for lots of housing there. Housing is expected, of course, though not in the 700 acres which the state has promised will be preserved as open space. How much, and how affordable, remains to be seen.
The second argument was over granting permits to grow cannabis on 214 acres at Trinity Road and Highway 12. Center to the argument was the question of sufficient water to support the thirsty plants. Cannabis uses over twice the water that vineyards do. This was passed as well.
The proposals now go to the Board of Adjustments and Board of Supervisors.
Better be extra cautious when driving Highway 12!
30 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 2/20