Sonoma County Gazette June 2017

JUNE 2017
Right to Die WHY are People Compassion at Birds need Summer of FUN
Protocol Begins at Diagnosis ~ 6
Homeless when We’re Rich? ~ 10
Both Ends of the Leash ~ 18
Water in Summer ~ 21
MUSIC Concerts ~ 44 & 45
Balancing
the Budget
in a Tourism Economy
Supervisors are tackling two budget dilemmas at the same time. How can we increase tourism (thank you for voting for Measure L) while law enforcement has proposed budget cuts which impact communities dealing with the negative impacts of homelessness and drug/alcohol addiction. With more tourism marketing dollars, how do we encourage visitors to support our local economy and maintain our essential services for residents and visitors?
Housing
Nearly 90% of
Affordable Housing
Funds Cut Since 2008; But Growing Support Signals Solutions May Be Within Reach
By Alina Harway
Just as Sonoma County supporters and residents prepare to kick o Affordable Housing Week to explore opportunities and solutions for our region’s housing challenges, a new report demonstrates just how dramatically our area’s a ordable housing challenges have grown.
By Vesta Copestakes
The Sonoma County Board of
Everyone agrees that tourism is a great way to generate income because people come, they spend and they leave. They are our guests, we treat them to fine wine and restaurants, lovely lodging, spectacular scenery, high quality merchandise and all of that helps us while giving them quality entertainment. This industry creates LOTS of jobs, it also creates challenges.
The data, released by the California Housing Partnership, showed that Sonoma County’s rents are rising, even as wages are decreasing. In fact, the median Sonoma County rental now requires a $7,617 monthly income to a ord local median asking prices. Many workers’ wages in our region fall dramatically short, including our County’s teachers and medical professionals.
Low Wage Service Jobs
That means after paying rent, Sonoma County workers have less left at the end of the day to cover other basic necessities, like groceries, transportation, or childcare. In fact, when factoring for high housing costs, Sonoma County’s poverty rate increases from 10.3 percent to 17.9 percent.
Tourist needs to be served and the support staff that serves them tends to be in the service and hospitality industry. These are rarely high paying jobs unless the job is a management position. For every supervisor or manager there are many individuals who clean, serve, cook, host, sing and dance, etc. There may be statistics on
BUDGET cont’d on page 13
PHOTOS © 2017 Aleta Parseghian
Dog Parks - Bike Rides - Hikes with Kids Float Down the Petaluma River - Dance to Live Music all Summer Long & MORE starting on page 36 with a MAP for FUN!
HOUSING cont’d on page 8
with cochairs of Non-Pro t Housing Association of Northern California
The EVERYTHING to DO Calendar: pgs 52 - 71
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