Page 37 - Sonoma County gazette September 2018

HOT TOPIC: Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District has operated responsibly for many
promote the cause of peace and justice by honoring the peacemakers among us. Every year we infuse the peace wall with life by adding four peoples’ names to the granite panels and by putting on an Induction Ceremony and Celebration. This year’s honorees are: Daniel Ellsberg, Dolores Huerta, Tui Wilschinsky and Therese Mughannam.
years, and has been an excellent steward of the public’s trust. However, the District faces a severe financial crisis that could lead to drastic measures, including laying off personnel and closing stations.
This year’s Ceremony / Celebration will be held in the Sebastopol town square, on Saturday, September 15, 11:00 AM to Noon.
If property values decline in the future, our financial shortfalls could be even worse. Future needs for staff retention, new capital equipment, and overdue capital improvements to stations will impose additional strains on the budget. Also, RAFPD could better protect the lives and health of residents by adding paramedic ambulance service.
Daniel Ellsberg is best known for releasing The Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, which revealed the government’s duplicity and helped to bring an end to the war. Dolores Huerta, along with Cesar Chavez, is the co-founder of the United Farm Workers and has worked for many years for farm workers and women’s rights.
● Major budget shortfall in beginning in FY 2018/19
● Potential loss of $300,000 Graton Casino revenue in two years ● Possibility of station closures – response times can double
● Employee retention:
Tui Wilschinsky is a beloved spiritual teacher who for many years has promoted peace by leading Dances of Universal Peace, sometimes simply called Sufi Dancing.
Promoting PEACE
The Sebastopol Living Peace Wall
I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine. ~ Kurt Vonnegut
By Michael Gillotti
I created the Sebastopol Living Peace Wall in downtown Sebastopol to
Engineers and Captains paid 22% less salary than neighboring departments Part-time firefighters paid minimum wage and no benefits.
Losing staff to larger agencies frequently.
What motivated me to build the Living Peace Wall was the recognition that peace activists are almost always marginalized and/ or not taken seriously. Their voices are seldom heard during the lead up to war. Instead we hear from ex generals, hawks and professional pundits, often without attribution to their connections to the military industrial complex, which benefits from war making.
Deferred maintenance long overdue.
The need to replace firefighting equipment in the future. ● Current $40 parcel tax inadequate
Current measure 24 years old. Worth $23.02 in 1993 dollars Neighboring districts pay parcel taxes from $70 to $520.
No cost of living adjustment.
Ballot initiatives to increase assessment have failed by narrow margin.
For these reasons, Rancho Adobe Fire District must
IMMEDIATELY explore all these options:
Non violent alternatives to war are rarely discussed in any serious manner. Conflicts between individuals or nations may be inevitable, but violent
Therese Mughannam was born in Palestine and has worked tireless for the rights of the Palestinians and for peace in the Middle East.
● Growth in Cotati, Rohnert Park and SSU Increased demand on public safety. More people, more housing, taller buildings.
● Capital improvement projects; equipment replacement
• Explore efficiencies to be gained by services shares with neighboring districts and departments.
resolutions are not. We must find nonviolent, peaceful resolutions to conflicts, whether they are personal, national or international.
• Work to ensure Graton Casino mitigation funds are continued for another five-year period.
Of course all this starts by finding ways to become more peaceful ourselves
in our daily lives. The inscription on the granite bench behind the peace wall reads: “PEACE BEGINS WITH ME.” We won’t be able to create a more peaceful world if we are not more peaceful individuals. I believe this begins with listening, listening and connecting with the peaceful spirit inside and really listening to others, especially to those with whom we disagree, in order to find the “common ground” between us.
• Ask SSU to begin paying for services it has long enjoyed at no cost.
• Ask Green Music Center to also pay its fair share for services.
• Attempt to get Sonoma County to contribute more than its current share of
tax revenues.
• Propose a ballot initiative for a parcel tax increase that would help the
District maintain services even if the Casino funds disappear and property
values decline.
The inscription on the central granite panel of the Living Peace Wall reads as follows:
Presented by the Administrative Staff and Board of Directors, Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District, February 2018.
“We honor the peacemakers, whose names are inscribed, who have during
Contact: Jennifer Ober, Administrative Manager, jober@rafd.org (707) 795-6011.
their lives worked for peace and against war, for justice and against injustice, for nonviolent resolutions and against violence and for the common good and against selfishness and greed.
Rancho Adobe Fire District Town Hall Meetings:
September 5th: Penngrove Fire Station Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. October 10th: Liberty Fire Station Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. October 24th: Penngrove Fire Station Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. October 29th: Cotati Fire Station Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
By honoring these outstanding individuals we also honor all who share in the collective desire to rise above differences of race, religion, nationalities and ideologies to that place where we are all brothers and sisters, where we share a common humanity and a common desire to live in peace with all the people of the world.”
NOTE: Agenda items will include state of the District, financial outlook for the future, possible rolling station closure.
Sign up for their email news: rancho-adobe-fire.org
wsebastopollivingpeacewall.com
Red Sky at Night: Dog Leader Mysteries Update
Selling my novel with Redwood Writers at the Sonoma County Fair was fun. Made some friends, sold books and met book lovers. Plus, I chatted with Roger Lubeck, current RWC president, Rebecca Rosenberg, novelist, Jean Slone, historical novelist, and Roger Good, memoir writer.
Sign up on www.dogleadermysteries.com for an invitation to my book launch party, updates, and enter our book launch contest.
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