Page 32 - Sonoma County Gazette 12-2019

Roseland Residents Request Real Power
KBBF Reports on the Kincade Fire in Four Languages
With Christmas coming, it is always important for Roseland residents to put their Christmas wishes out there. Perhaps WE may get something better for Roseland for Christmas, and far beyond in the future if we ask. How about this for a wish? Buy a “living” Christmas tree, and plant it somewhere in Roseland after Christmas. Many local trees are being cut down for development projects. There is always a need for more trees in Sonoma County, especially after two large fires within two years. Yeah for Trees!!
In the future Roseland Review will discuss this meeting in- depth, but this month there are some Christmas wishes relayed to the column by readers which need to be talked of as soon as possible because the city of Santa Rosa has released a request for comments regarding the city efforts to forever alter the Roseland NeighborWood on Burbank Ave. First, the city has released “an Initial Study and Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/Proposed MND) for the City’s Roseland Creek Community Park Project.” It has a “Review Period: November 19, 2019, to December 18, 2019.”
KBBF Board Secretary Michaele Morales described how the station made a difference for many people in Sonoma County during the Kincade Fire.
She shared that KBBF “...stepped up to the plate, providing information, and food distribution, to not only the Spanish-speaking community, but also our indigenous communities.” Edgar Avila, Director of Programming, helped organized bilingual and trilingual volunteers fluent in Mixteco and Triqui to report on the fire, containment, evacuations, and resources available.
There is news to report on about the city of Santa Rosa hosting various meetings in Roseland. Often these meetings are where WE residents have
to listen to city officials give us their version of what they are going to do
to us. Sometime there may be a bit of a difference such as on Weds. Night Nov 13th when Santa Rosa Police Chief and many police officers hosted a Community Listening session at Roseland University Prep High School. The main topics of the sessions chosen by the city were Homelessness and Traffic. A “Community of Impunity” is what Roseland has become in regards to both of these issues in the two years since Roseland was annexed into
the city. Basically many local Roseland residents feel law enforcement is not dealing with these issues very well here.
Leila Miller reported in the Los Angeles Times that SRJC professor Rafael Vazquez went on the air when the fire started. He began by describing its progress and directing people to shelters but, by the middle of the night, also included an important update. Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore went on the air. Vazquez wanted the County Supervisor to assure people in Sonoma County that they could seek help without being asked about their legal status.
PLEASE READ IT AND MAKE COMMENTS before Dec. 18th.
The Kincade Fire delayed the sentencing of Bryan Daniel Webster, who
was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter after stabbing and killing Cristian Nuñez. Though a judge found Webster guilty on several charges in July 2018, Sonoma County D.A. Anne Masterson and Jill Ravitch offered a plea deal of involuntary manslaughter. This would reduce the sentence to six months served. After three years probation, the felony would be reduced to a misdemeanor. With Webster’s defense asking for home confinement, he might wind up never spending a day behind bars for killing Nuñez.
Comments may be directed to the attention of Ms. Jen Santos at 55 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95401. jsantos@srcity.org
Many Roseland residents are concerned the city has discriminated against Roseland in this process while serving the residents of eastern Santa Rosa better in regards to park planning. Such as with the Southeast Greenway planning effort, The Kawana Springs Community Park planning effort, and the Downtown Specific Plan. In those processes politically well-connected citizens were allowed to guide some of the process and power in the decision making process. This has not been the case for Roseland residents who are routinely ignored by Ms. Santos and city staff.
Add your voice to those calling for the D.A. to do her job. Call her at 707- 565-2311 and remind her she should be on the side of justice.
For updates, see the Sonoma County Injustice Facebook page.
There was a city-sponsored meeting at Roseland Library
Supporters can join the Nuñez family in court at 600 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa, on 12/3/2019 at 1pm to hear the judge’s decision.
Further, Vazquez had Gore commit, in English and Spanish, that any county employee who did ask evacuees about their legal status would suffer consequences. Vazquez added, “I think that as a result, a number of people, instead of sleeping in their cars, instead of staying in other places, they were able to go to shelters.”
Board President Alicia Sanchez reflected on how this coming together was in line with the station’s mission. “They truly fulfilled KBBF founders’ vision of creating a strong multilingual voice that empowers and engages the community through its 24-hour coverage in four languages during this year’s Kincade fires.”
The Ongoing Fight for Justice for Cristian Nuñez
Support KBBF Join the supporters of KBBF by logginfg on to KBBF.org (where we live-stream our programs )- and choose your best way to help us continue to serve our community.
THANK YOU!
on Saturday, Nov 23, 2019, at 10 am for the Downtown Specific Plan which includes land from Dutton Ave. and Sebastopol Rd. going north and east. But the local residents faced another listening session where they were not allowed to be a part of the decision making process.
Trish Tatarian and Mary Goe, long-time residents of Roseland have pointed out to various elected officials repeatedly we need help. Here are some excerpts from an opinion piece they had published in the Press Democrat in the past. Santa Rosa elected officials, as well as Sonoma County officials and Roseland School Board officials, still drag their heels on these needs rather than helping the community. Ms. Goe and Ms. Tatarian pointed out, “Recently annexed to Santa Rosa, Roseland is at a disadvantage compared to most neighborhoods and, due to the cost of the fires, residents have been informed that infrastructure improvements will not be happening quickly. However, one disadvantage that should be corrected is parkland acquisition.”
Based on the 6/1,000 formula, Roseland should have 102 acres of parks. Instead, Roseland has a total of 25.5 park acres including the 6-acre Bayer Farm Community Park and the 19.5-acre Roseland Creek Park.
“Roseland has the lowest level of park acreage per
The 2035 General Plan calls for 6 acres per 1,000 residents, half of which may be outside the area. The last census identified approximately 17,000 people residing in Roseland (Hearn Avenue north to Highway 12 and Stony Point Road east to Highway 101).
32 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/19
They asked long ago, “How do we assure that Roseland gets the additional 34 acres of parkland before the space available is paved over?”
population compared to other sections in town.
Roseland Review recommends the city buy more open space in Roseland now! Save nature and provide more open spaces as the city General Plan requires.
Even if we follow the existing General Plan goal for 3.5-acres of city parks per 1,000 residents, our neighborhood should have 59.5 acres of parkland.”