Diving into Color: In-Depth Color Mixing with AcrylicsMondays Join Hopmonk for some boot-scootin’ line dances. Dance lessons start at 6 pm. Learn more The Indivisible Sonoma County Film Series: The ProducersWednesday The folks at Ethic Cider are excited to host friends and neighbors to their monthly Cider Salon event. Food pairing with three heirloom ciders. Trivia games. Grab a friend and join Ethic for an evening in the orchard. Advanced ticket purchase is required Our Wild Watershed: Herons and EgretsThursday Film World Premiere: The Eternal SongThursday Live Music at Pax Winery: Dillon ForsytheFriday Hear acoustic folk covers and original music by singer-songwriter Dillon Forsythe Pax has live music on most Friday evenings Spend a casual evening enjoying live music and local wines at this small family-owned and operated winery in The Barlow The tasting room is family and dog friendly so please feel free to bring the whole crew Sebastopol Times is a reader-supported publication Green Valley Food and Wine FestivalSaturday The Eco-Friendly Garden Tour is a public outreach and education program that promotes sustainable landscaping practices by showcasing inspiring gardens throughout Sonoma and Marin counties. The tour highlights Russian River-Friendly and Bay-Friendly landscaping best practices and supports qualified, water-efficient landscapers by featuring their personal or client’s gardens. Learn more Community Market Clothing ExchangeSaturday Bring gently used clothing and browse items others have donated Whether you have clothes to give or just want to find something new everyone is welcome to bring what you can and take what you need any remaining items should be taken to the nearby Goodwill This event is hosted in partnership with Community Market’s Green Team It’s perfect for all ages and supports reuse Join Sebastopol Hardware for a hands-on flower potting event where you can create a beautiful Choose from a variety of vibrant flowers and decorate your own pot Whether you’re potting a gift for Mom or bringing her along for a fun outing this event is a sweet way to celebrate the day All supplies provided while they last — come early for the best selection Join the Senior Center for a lovely afternoon of tea, treats, and great company at the Senior Center. Come connect and enjoy a special day with friends. Afternoon tea attire is encouraged, but not necessary. Space is limited. Registration is required. Members, $10/non-members $15. Reserve your spot Saturday Night Wine Flights and Karaoke NightSaturday [Rescheduled from last week] Join Rocks and Clouds Zendo in Making a Flower Bower (10 am to 12 pm); Buddha’s Birthday Celebration Ceremony See What’s Happening Sonoma County for more music listings Want us to feature your event in “What’s happening this week in Sebastopol?” Submit your events to the Sebastopol Community Calendar. This is one of the many resources I use to put this column together. Sebastopol Times is a reader-supported publication. To support our work, become a paid subscriber. Come to the first Annual Green Valley Food & Wine Festival in Graton this Saturday Join Hopmonk for some boot-scootin\u2019 line dances. Dance lessons start at 6 pm. Learn more The folks at Ethic Cider are excited to host friends and neighbors to their monthly Cider Salon event. Food pairing with three heirloom ciders. Trivia games. Grab a friend and join Ethic for an evening in the orchard. Advanced ticket purchase is required The Eco-Friendly Garden Tour is a public outreach and education program that promotes sustainable landscaping practices by showcasing inspiring gardens throughout Sonoma and Marin counties. The tour highlights Russian River-Friendly and Bay-Friendly landscaping best practices and supports qualified, water-efficient landscapers by featuring their personal or client\u2019s gardens. Learn more This event is hosted in partnership with Community Market\u2019s Green Team It\u2019s perfect for all ages and supports reuse Whether you\u2019re potting a gift for Mom or bringing her along for a fun outing All supplies provided while they last \u2014 come early for the best selection Join the Senior Center for a lovely afternoon of tea, treats, and great company at the Senior Center. Come connect and enjoy a special day with friends. Afternoon tea attire is encouraged, but not necessary. Space is limited. Registration is required. Members, $10/non-members $15. Reserve your spot [Rescheduled from last week] Join Rocks and Clouds Zendo in Making a Flower Bower (10 am to 12 pm); Buddha\u2019s Birthday Celebration Ceremony Mother\u2019s Day Celebration at RegionSunday See What\u2019s Happening Sonoma County for more music listings Want us to feature your event in \u201CWhat\u2019s happening this week in Sebastopol?\u201D Submit your events to the Sebastopol Community Calendar This is one of the many resources I use to put this column together A LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER DEDICATED TO THE SERVICE OF GOD AND MANKIND. Lucy Cochran and Adison Russell led East Union to a 7-0 victory over Union in Game 2 ELLISTOWN – Two-time defending state softball champion East Union came another step closer in its quest for a three-peat with Saturday’s 7-0 victory and MHSAA Class 2A quarterfinals series sweep of Union The Lady Urchins (28-4) are scheduled to host Sebastopol (26-5) in Game 1 of the state semifinals best-of-three series Thursday Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content From Friday nights under the lights to Saturdays on the diamond Prep Rally is your year-round source for Northeast Mississippi high school sports coverage Don't miss any of our Mississippi State coverage Sign up to receive a weekly report plus need-to-know updates dennis.clayton@djournal.com Get a weekly rundown of the top stories from the New Albany Gazette dropped into your inbox each Thursday afternoon Get the latest need-to-know information delivered to your inbox as it happens Sign up to view our weekly e-editions each Wednesday with just a click Sign up to get the Daily Journal e-edition delivered to your inbox each morning Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Get a free dose of heath care news and wellness tips delivered to your inbox each Tuesday morning Powered by North Mississippi Health Services Get our front page stories each morning as well as the latest updates each afternoon during the week + more in-depth weekend editions on Saturdays & Sundays Get a weekly rundown of the top stories from the Monroe Journal dropped into your inbox each Thursday afternoon Get a rundown each Monday morning of all that's going on in the All-America City From local government updates to live music schedules and more and stories sure to get your weekend off to the perfect start Sign up to view our weekly e-editions each Wednesday with just a click.  Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Dear Reader,Unfortunately our comment platform isn\'t available at the moment due to issues with our paywall and authentication vendor The parade is part of the 79th annual Apple Blossom Parade and Festival The Apple Blossom Parade in Sebastopol will prompt parking restrictions and close some streets Saturday in the west Sonoma County city The parade is part of the 79th annual Apple Blossom Parade and Festival runs down Main Street and ends at Calder Avenue at noon in the following areas: High School Road between East Hurlbut and North Main Street; Main Street between Eddie Lane and Palm Avenue; Calder Avenue between South Main Street and Swain Avenue; High Street between Bodega Avenue and Calder Avenue; Willow Street (north side only) between South Main Street and Jewell Avenue; Lynch Road between Gravenstein Highway and Pleasant Hill Road and Pleasant Hill Road between Lynch Road and Bodega Avenue Parking will also not be allowed on the entire length of Petaluma Avenue Authorities request that residents who live in the impacted areas keep their vehicles off the street between these hours The parade will also prompt the closure of several roads: authorities will close southbound High School Road at East Hurlbut Avenue; northbound North Main Street at Healdsburg Avenue; Wallace Street at North Main Street; Johnson Street at Sunset Avenue; Morris Street at the Community Center parking lot and Johnson Street at Laguna Park Way Analy Avenue at North Main Street and Bonnardel Avenue at Wallace Street will close at 9 a.m authorities will close all North Main Street Safeway Maple Avenue and Willow Street between 9:45 a.m arts and crafts makers and kids’ activities Seniors (65 years and up) and students are $12 at the gate For more information about event, go to appleblossomfest.com rewritten or redistributed without permission https://www.sctonline.net/sebastopol-news-152 Click here for additional copyright information about this article Local news coverage is critical for a strong and vibrant community local publications are dying because of monopolistic Big Tech Over 30% of all newspapers are expected to close within the next three years Help support local news by making a donation today You would be supporting a local institution founded upon principles of integrity and strong editorial standards and have roots embedded in our local community Realtime Radar Hourly Forecast 7-Day Forecast Based on data from National Weather Service and OpenWeather If you are an existing Print subscriber click HERE for your login info you can also easily register or login with an existing Google you can also easily use an existing Google User Help/Support Page Copyright tbeeland@sctonline.net © Copyright 2025 The Scott County Times, 311 Smith Ave.- Forest, MS 39074  | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy The pandemic forced almost everyone adapt to working from home. It also accelerated the adoption of new technologies that expanded opportunities to work with others from home. Before Covid, people working from home were "telecommuting" or “teleworking.” They used teleconferencing systems and dial-up modems. Now many have high-speed Internet over the wire or Starlink at home. Covid brought videoconferencing systems like Zoom into mainstream use. Zoom became its own verb and the label for a Generation Z who used Zoom for school during the pandemic. “Can we jump on Zoom?” has become a common request. Zoom became a stock-market phenom, once valued at $139 billion, but its market cap plummeted to $18 billion by 2024 as its revenue growth leveled off. Still, think about how many people knew nothing about using Zoom and now are as familiar with it as doing email. Increasingly, face-to-face communications happens online, even for people who work in an office but work with people in other offices or at home. An interesting trend is that the majority of job interviews now happen online and some are predicting that the interviewer won’t be a person, but an AI avatar asking you to explain your resume. Lawyer Jeffrey Kross relies uses the phone rather than video conferencing to work with clients from his home office in Sebastopol. For scientist Neil Parkin, tools like Zoom allow him as a consultant to connect with colleagues in different countries. “In 2008, I traded a downtown Oakland office for my spare bedroom.” Long before Covid, Jeffrey Koss began working from home, eventually moving from Oakland to Sebastopol. Koss has had a commute to work of “approximately ten steps.” Working from home, he said, “has allowed me a tremendous amount of freedom in terms of my day-to-day activities, as well as vacations.” Kross is an attorney appointed by the Court system in California to represent indigent criminal defendants. “Under the California constitution, prisoners are afforded the right to appellate counsel for free,” Koss explained. “So I function as the public defender, but I'm on a statewide level. I'm not limited to the county.” He handles cases for all six separate Courts of Appeal in California. “Many many years ago, when my eight-year-old niece asked me what I did for a living,” he said. “I explained to her basically what I'm telling you now. And she looked at me and she said, ‘you're the lawyer in pajamas.’ “When we bought this house, the prior owner was a land surveyor or something and he was also very handy with woodworking and such.” There are wooden shelves on both walls with stacks of transcripts. “This was all built into this spare bedroom. It was a perfect office for me.” He doesn’t think he’ll retire anytime soon. “As I say apart from the pay, it's a really terrific way of making a living. I mean it does have its downsides. I occasionally get death threats in the mail and they tell me, you're the worst lawyer ever, but that's not really such a problem. It doesn't dissuade me.” He doesn’t mind working by himself. “It's funny because my clients send me Christmas cards, (addressed) to you and your staff and it's just me.” Kross doesn’t mind not going into an office. “I have many friends that I see outside of work hours. And I don't have to rely on colleagues to be my friends. Plus on a nice day, I'll get up and instead of going to the office, I'll take a bike ride for two hours and then I'll come home and work. So my schedule is very, very flexible.” Kross is not the only court-appointed counsel working in the area. “I know probably upwards of 15 or so in the greater West County area. I know maybe like three, four, five who maintain PO boxes at the Sebastopol Post Office that I bump into on a regular basis.” WFH Profile: “If I want to work three days a week, I can” Neil Parkin is a molecular biologist and virologist, a PhD scientist who once worked in research labs. Since 2009 he has worked from home as a consultant. “I worked in academia, industry and public health including a stint at WHO in Geneva before becoming a consultant,” he said. Until recently he consulted for WHO, managing a quality assurance program for international diagnostic labs testing for HIV drug resistance. As a consultant based in California, he had to be on calls with collaborators in multiple time zones in Europe, Asia and Africa. A lot of the work he does now is technical writing, preparing articles for scientific journals. It is “very technical, very niche” but he likes it and he enjoys working independently from home. He describes his day as variable. “I can pretty much set my own work hours as a consultant. If I want to work three days a week, I can.” He spends most of his day at a computer. He has clients with offices in Europe and in the Bay Area. “I make an effort to go visit those offices about once a year. It’s worth it to meet the people I work with face to face now and then.” But as an introvert, he doesn’t feel lonely or the need for daily in-person interactions at work. He is glad to have communities outside of work (golf, ice hockey) for social activities. Neil and his wife moved from a Bay Area suburb to a home on Ross Station Road about six years ago. “Once my wife retired from her job at Stanford, there was no reason to stay where we were living,” he said. They decided to move to West County, just before COVID hit. That’s also when he jumped on the Zoom wave, something he was already familiar with – so it was a relatively easy adaptation. As a virologist, Neil watched the COVID epidemic evolve with great interest. “There was so much nobody knew, there were new data to incorporate every day, and researchers and public health officials did the best they could with limited and constantly changing information,” he said. Many colleagues he knew switched from working on HIV to SARS-CoV2. “Working from home has been the best thing for me, I love the flexibility and comfort of my home office”, he added. “If there were any upsides to the COVID pandemic, one of them would be the widespread adoption of online meeting platforms and availability of technology that allows remote conference participation.” To receive new posts and support our work, please become a paid subscriber. This is the second of a five-part series that looks at the shift to remote work in Sebastopol and West County, what might be considered a hidden-away-at-home workforce. WFH is changing where and how people work today, offering a good living in a good place to live and work. Catch up on Part 1: Work from where you want to live. Before Covid, people working from home were \\\"telecommuting\\\" or \u201Cteleworking.\u201D They used teleconferencing systems and dial-up modems. Now many have high-speed Internet over the wire or Starlink at home. Covid brought videoconferencing systems like Zoom into mainstream use. Zoom became its own verb and the label for a Generation Z who used Zoom for school during the pandemic. \u201CCan we jump on Zoom?\u201D has become a common request. Still, think about how many people knew nothing about using Zoom and now are as familiar with it as doing email. Increasingly, face-to-face communications happens online, even for people who work in an office but work with people in other offices or at home. An interesting trend is that the majority of job interviews now happen online and some are predicting that the interviewer won\u2019t be a person, but an AI avatar asking you to explain your resume. \u201CIn 2008, I traded a downtown Oakland office for my spare bedroom.\u201D Long before Covid, Jeffrey Koss began working from home, eventually moving from Oakland to Sebastopol. Koss has had a commute to work of \u201Capproximately ten steps.\u201D Working from home, he said, \u201Chas allowed me a tremendous amount of freedom in terms of my day-to-day activities, as well as vacations.\u201D Kross is an attorney appointed by the Court system in California to represent indigent criminal defendants. \u201CUnder the California constitution, prisoners are afforded the right to appellate counsel for free,\u201D Koss explained. \u201CSo I function as the public defender, but I'm on a statewide level. I'm not limited to the county.\u201D He handles cases for all six separate Courts of Appeal in California. \u201CMany many years ago, when my eight-year-old niece asked me what I did for a living,\u201D he said. \u201CI explained to her basically what I'm telling you now. And she looked at me and she said, \u2018you're the lawyer in pajamas.\u2019 \u201CWhen we bought this house, the prior owner was a land surveyor or something and he was also very handy with woodworking and such.\u201D There are wooden shelves on both walls with stacks of transcripts. \u201CThis was all built into this spare bedroom. It was a perfect office for me.\u201D He doesn\u2019t think he\u2019ll retire anytime soon. \u201CAs I say apart from the pay, it's a really terrific way of making a living. I mean it does have its downsides. I occasionally get death threats in the mail and they tell me, you're the worst lawyer ever, but that's not really such a problem. It doesn't dissuade me.\u201D He doesn\u2019t mind working by himself. \u201CIt's funny because my clients send me Christmas cards, (addressed) to you and your staff and it's just me.\u201D Kross doesn\u2019t mind not going into an office. \u201CI have many friends that I see outside of work hours. And I don't have to rely on colleagues to be my friends. Plus on a nice day, I'll get up and instead of going to the office, I'll take a bike ride for two hours and then I'll come home and work. So my schedule is very, very flexible.\u201D Kross is not the only court-appointed counsel working in the area. \u201CI know probably upwards of 15 or so in the greater West County area. I know maybe like three, four, five who maintain PO boxes at the Sebastopol Post Office that I bump into on a regular basis.\u201D WFH Profile: \u201CIf I want to work three days a week, I can\u201D \u201CI worked in academia, industry and public health including a stint at WHO in Geneva before becoming a consultant,\u201D he said. Until recently he consulted for WHO, managing a quality assurance program for international diagnostic labs testing for HIV drug resistance. As a consultant based in California, he had to be on calls with collaborators in multiple time zones in Europe, Asia and Africa. A lot of the work he does now is technical writing, preparing articles for scientific journals. It is \u201Cvery technical, very niche\u201D but he likes it and he enjoys working independently from home. He describes his day as variable. \u201CI can pretty much set my own work hours as a consultant. If I want to work three days a week, I can.\u201D He spends most of his day at a computer. He has clients with offices in Europe and in the Bay Area. \u201CI make an effort to go visit those offices about once a year. It\u2019s worth it to meet the people I work with face to face now and then.\u201D But as an introvert, he doesn\u2019t feel lonely or the need for daily in-person interactions at work. He is glad to have communities outside of work (golf, ice hockey) for social activities. Neil and his wife moved from a Bay Area suburb to a home on Ross Station Road about six years ago. \u201COnce my wife retired from her job at Stanford, there was no reason to stay where we were living,\u201D he said. They decided to move to West County, just before COVID hit. That\u2019s also when he jumped on the Zoom wave, something he was already familiar with \u2013 so it was a relatively easy adaptation. Neil watched the COVID epidemic evolve with great interest there were new data to incorporate every day and researchers and public health officials did the best they could with limited and constantly changing information,\u201D he said Many colleagues he knew switched from working on HIV to SARS-CoV2 \u201CWorking from home has been the best thing for me I love the flexibility and comfort of my home office\u201D \u201CIf there were any upsides to the COVID pandemic one of them would be the widespread adoption of online meeting platforms and availability of technology that allows remote conference participation.\u201D Sebastopol — Caltrans will activate two pedestrian crosswalk beacons on State Route 116 in Sebastopol The signals are located at the intersection of Petaluma Avenue and McKinley Street in the Sebastopol business district as well as Gravenstein Highway and Danmar Drive in northwestern Sebastopol The new beacons will allow pedestrians to cross Route 116 without walking a long distance to a standard traffic signal Caltrans has installed high-intensity activated crosswalk beacons at each location The signals themselves are fastened to a boom overhanging the road The beacons will not flash unless someone presses the crossing button The button activates a series of flashing and solid lights signaling motorists that they must stop to look for pedestrians The flashing red phase resembles how motorists would proceed at a stop sign The City Council voted 3-2 to approve Don Schwartz’s departure with council members Neysa Hinton and Sandra Maurer dissenting The Sebastopol City Council is parting ways with its city manager of 15 months and has agreed to pay him a six-figure severance “The City Council and City Manager Don Schwartz came to a mutual agreement to end its professional relationship effective immediately,” Mayor Stephen Zollman said after a nearly 40-minute closed council session Tuesday night The agreement between Schwartz and the city obtained by The Press Democrat through a California Public Records Act request says that “certain disputes” arose between the city and Schwartz While council members didn’t provide any details Tuesday night the agreement indicates Schwartz will get $183,750 in severance pay which states that “if terminated without cause during his first 18 months of employment the city shall pay the equivalent of nine months of Manager’s then base salary.” Schwartz’s employment with Sebastopol began on Jan Schwartz was not at Tuesday’s council meeting and didn’t respond to requests for comment attended and were part of the closed session that preceded the council’s 3-2 vote to approve Schwartz’s departure Council members Neysa Hinton and Sandra Maurer cast the two dissenting votes Vice Mayor Jill McLewis and Council member Phill Carter joined Zollman in approving Schwartz’s dismissal When asked why she chose to vote against the dismissal Maurer said in a statement Wednesday morning “I am disappointed in the decision to separate Don Schwartz from the City Manager position Don accomplished a lot of good things during his time here and I wish him the best.” All other council members declined to comment The agreement notes that the “city and manager each deny any liability whatsoever to the other” and that both parties “wish to fully and finally resolve any and all disputes they may have with each other.” Schwartz helped guide the city through a number of significant challenges in his year and a half as city manager Schwartz assisted in negotiating an agreement to consolidate the fire department and helped establish a path to solve the city’s financial challenges.” Zollman said the city would be appointing an interim city manager in “a number of days” until a new permanent city manager could be hired Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley will serve as acting city manager until an interim is named Schwartz was named city manager in November 2023, succeeding longtime city manager/city attorney Larry McLaughlin. Schwartz came to Sebastopol from Rohnert Park where he served as the assistant city manager for nine years “We really came away with a great feeling about Don and all that he brings to the position,” Hinton said “We’re a small city and sometimes it’s hard to compete for really good people so we’re just thrilled to have somebody as qualified as Don.” The city declared a fiscal emergency the same night Schwartz’s contract was approved. As Zollman noted, Schwartz led the council through cost-cutting measures, bringing the city’s budget deficit down from nearly $3 million to $669,000 Amid the budget crisis, Schwartz helped the city council bring on a swath of new department heads, including a new city attorney, public works director, community development director and police chief Amie Windsor is the Community Journalism Team Lead with The Press Democrat. She can be reached at amie.windsor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5218. The property was named after Jack Blankenship, the founder of Sonoma County Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, which sells new and used furniture and construction materials. Blankenship, who died in 2021, grew up in poverty with insecure housing. Known as “Mr. Habitat,” he spent his adult life helping other people in need. Asked for a comment about the development, Mayor Stephen Zollman shared the following: The City takes great pride in its ongoing commitment to supporting our most vulnerable residents—not only within our municipal boundaries, but also in partnership with the County in its broader efforts. With the addition of this new initiative—alongside the efforts of Saint Vincent de Paul and our existing services—we are proud to have the following three supportive housing entities: Elderberry Commons, Gravenstein Commons and Park Village. We look forward to working closely with Burbank’s onsite management, whose responsibilities will include addressing behavioral concerns, to ensure that residents are not only housed, but truly embraced as valued members of our community. As we move forward, we recognize that maintaining a peaceful, respectful, and thriving environment is a collective responsibility. Sebastopol is an inclusive city, and it is our shared duty to support one another in building a community where all individuals have the opportunity to succeed—and to feel a true sense of belonging. You don’t have to be a seasoned cyclist to participate. Start by taking the Pledge to Ride Simply commit to riding your bike on Bike to Work Day or throughout the month for errands and other short trips Those who pledge will be entered into a prize drawing there will be a network of Energizer Stations throughout the county swag bags and endless encouragement as riders make their way to work There will be two Morning Energizer Stations in Sebastopol on Bike to Work Day: one at the entrance to the Joe Rodota Trail on Petaluma Avenue and another at Community Market For more information on Bike Month activities, visit bikesonoma.org/btwd. Looking for something to do this afternoon Melanie DeMore leads Joyful Noise Community Sing today at 4 pmJoyful Noise welcomes back renowned song leader Come ready to be lifted in song and united in community The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported possession of unlawful paraphernalia and controlled substances without a prescription and violation of probation (misdemeanors) at Sebastopol Avenue including defacing property (misdemeanor) at Bodega and Washington avenues Petty theft from a building (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway North Driving while under the influence of alcohol and resisting a peace officer (misdemeanors) at Healdsburg Avenue with two or more prior convictions (felony) at Sebastopol Avenue Sodomy with an intoxicated or drugged victim and giving drugs to aid in a felony (felonies) at Sebastopol Avenue Carrying a switchblade knife and violation of probation (misdemeanors) at Pleasant Hill Avenue North Battery on a spouse or companion and disorderly conduct involving alcohol (misdemeanors) at Petaluma Avenue Motor vehicle theft (felony) at North High Street The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 163 other events requiring police action during the period At the ribbon cutting for Blankenship Place. (Photo by Stephen Zollman)Habitat for Humanity and friends celebrated the beginning of construction of Blankenship Place, a four-unit townhome development at 333 North Main St., across from Community First Credit Union. It will consist of four 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,350 square feet homes, all of which are designated as affordable housing. The property was named after Jack Blankenship, the founder of Sonoma County Habitat for Humanity\u2019s ReStore, which sells new and used furniture and construction materials. Blankenship, who died in 2021, grew up in poverty with insecure housing. Known as \u201CMr. Habitat,\u201D he spent his adult life helping other people in need. The City takes great pride in its ongoing commitment to supporting our most vulnerable residents\u2014not only within our municipal boundaries, but also in partnership with the County in its broader efforts. With the addition of this new initiative\u2014alongside the efforts of Saint Vincent de Paul and our existing services\u2014we are proud to have the following three supportive housing entities: Elderberry Commons, Gravenstein Commons and Park Village. We look forward to working closely with Burbank\u2019s onsite management, whose responsibilities will include addressing behavioral concerns, to ensure that residents are not only housed, but truly embraced as valued members of our community. As we move forward, we recognize that maintaining a peaceful, respectful, and thriving environment is a collective responsibility. Sebastopol is an inclusive city, and it is our shared duty to support one another in building a community where all individuals have the opportunity to succeed\u2014and to feel a true sense of belonging. You don\u2019t have to be a seasoned cyclist to participate. Start by taking the Pledge to Ride For more information on Bike Month activities, visit bikesonoma.org/btwd. whose urban garden in Sebastopol is featured on an upcoming Eco-Friendly Garden Tour is “eclectic and eccentric,” and a place she designed to share with Sonoma County’s many pollinators • Sally Anderson's urban garden in Sebastopol is one of 18 gardens featured on the annual Eco-Friendly Garden Tour • She has created a vibrant biodiverse place integrating a wide range of plants in her outdoor spaces Sally Anderson bent over a pipevine coiling along the fence in her front yard facing Sebastopol’s busiest street but she was so engrossed in nature-watching she barely noticed Tune out the noise and tune into nature on a small but significant scale Anderson used a pocket magnifier to scan a leaf for signs of the minute eggs of the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly which will choose only this host plant on which to lay its eggs “I’ve been looking for eggs with absolutely no success,” she says her voice betraying only slight disappointment But I’ve seen the tiniest little ladybug and it’s been zooming around.” Anderson approaches her garden from the upside Some years produce fabulous results with some plants And if there is not one thing to delight her “That’s a very young ladybug,” she said.“ It’s probably first or second stage of metamorphosis into a larger and larger and larger dragon-looking guy until they turn into what we think of as ladybugs,“ she says a retirement passion for a retired librarian who was one of the first in Sebastopol to put in a little free library And in that spirit of sharing she has created a haven for butterflies birds and bees in the compact front yard of her circa 1899 cottage Not only is it a welcoming way station for pollinating visitors but it is so colorful and alive it prompts passersby to pause for over-the-fence chats people can pass beyond the fence and even into the backyard to see up close the spirited world Anderson created Her gardens are among 19 featured on this year’s Eco-Friendly Garden Tour sponsored by the Marin-Sonoma Water Saving Partnership The tour is a showcase for an emerging way of gardening that is organic uses less water and uses plants and trees that are native provide nectar or habitat for wildlife or are easily adapted to California’s summer dry climate vegetable beds and other features that are a far cry from the green lawns and flower beds of the 20th century The tour is free with registration, which includes addresses to all the participating gardens. Ticket holders can visit as many or as few gardens as they choose. They range from community farm gardens in Petaluma and Santa Rosa to a school garden in Rohnert Park, to a multitude of private, home gardens like Anderson’s. This year’s tour also features the new Michael A. Hall Park Pollinator and Rain Garden installed by the Town of Windsor and designed by landscape designer April Owens, founder of the Habitat Corridor Project. The garden is 100% native plants and is designed to slowly filter street pollutants from stormwater runoff back into the ground. Owens will offer tours of the garden in the park on Jane Drive between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Anderson will also be on hand in her own garden to tell its story, and talk about its many plants and features, down to the small dishes of water filled with rocks that she maintains for bees in need of a drink. She began work on the garden in March 2014, only six months after buying the little cottage, which was in need of TLC. “There was a ratty lawn with some sad petunias and some of those roses that are pruned into lollipops,“ she said. There also was a century-old catalpa tree in need of pruning. ”Everything else I put in,“ she said. It is a collection of old and new. A confirmed plant collector with sentimental attachment, she brought 137 containers of plants of various kinds over in her Volvo wagon from her old home on Calder. It took 30 roundtrips. Many were rescued from her mother’s garden in San Mateo County, like a Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick that is more than 70 years old. She trundled a massive Philodendron named Phil - RIP -who didn’t fit in her car, the six blocks from Calder on foot with a wagon. Anderson sheet mulched the old lawn with cardboard and brought in tons of compost to give everything a good start. She had help from Bryce MacMath, who trained at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, laying out the beds and installing the drip irrigation system in her back garden. She waters every four to 14 days during the dry months, depending on the plant and does most of the garden work herself, confining her chores to mornings because of a heart condition. Master aesthetic pruner Curtis Short of Santa Rosa comes by three times a year to train a series of espaliered pear and fig trees along one fence and to keep other favorite trees like a persimmon and Silk Tassel nicely shaped. Anderson took care to use and reuse materials wisely. Boards from an old back fence were cut and repurposed into a picket fence that separates the front yard from the sidewalk. Bricks from a crumbling kitchen fireplace were used to make a patio in the back. Old objects like ger great-grandmother’s two cast iron kettles, used in the 19th century to render lard and make soap, have found a new purpose as planters. The garden is a magnet for Pipeline Swallowtails, Monarchs and Anise Swallowtails and other winged visitors. “In spring it is a spectacle and in summer,” she said, “it’s very quiet. This is our marvelous season of fecund beauty in California.” About 80% of the front garden is native plants with some non natives making the cut. One is a shrub, just starting to unfold with yellow blossoms, called Baptisia that is from the Midwest. “I just loved it and it has done well there and I’ve bought four others. They’ve all promptly turned up their toes and expired. That’s the thing about gardening. You try and try and try and sometimes it works and sometimes they grow too fast. It’s never boring and thank god for that.” Anderson’s backyard garden is more eclectic and “eccentric,” to use her own words. A flat “weed patch” when she first moved in, it is now a cozy place where she keeps the beloved heirloom plants she brought with her. This is her own private refuge, with California fuchsia, fruit trees, salvias, vines for fragrance and “vertical excitement” and shelves of potted succulents arrayed along a back fence, It’s a collection of what she calls “oddball” plants that she simply loves, Many were chosen for their ability to provide nectar, pollen or seed for insects or birds, or fruit for her consumption, like the luscious lemon curd she makes and eats with homemade scones. Birds from barn owns to hummingbirds have settled into the space. She composts material from the garden on one side of the house and her kitchen waste goes into a worm box where the wigglers turn it into soil. In the front yard beneath the aged catalpa tree, beside the busy road is another congested spot. This is a growing little field of California wavy leafed soap plants, which native Miwok used to make sap and stun fish. The 18 bulbs that she initially planted have spread to cover that side of the yard. While automotive traffic passes the soap plant late in the day is a congestion of bees all coming in for a landing. It’s a little more than she envisioned. But she loves that the spot is doing just what she had hoped her garden would do - provide a landing pad for pollinators. “It was really an important plant and these blooms were not here two weeks ago,” she says. “They put out these arms and each arm has 100 little starry white blossoms that open about four o’clock in the afternoon it becomes like an airport out here. On a warm evening it’s just amazing.” You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 707-521-5204 or meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com. • Sally Anderson's urban garden in Sebastopol is one of 18 gardens featured on the annual Eco-Friendly Garden Tour. • Composed mainly of native plants, it was designed to attract pollinators. • She has created a vibrant biodiverse place, integrating a wide range of plants in her outdoor spaces. According to a press release from the city of Sebastopol, sent at 2 am last night, the City of Sebastopol announced that the City Council and the City Manager Don Schwartz have “mutually agreed to end their professional relationship, effective immediately.” This announcement followed a performance evaluation in a closed session on Monday evening. No reason was given for this decision, and Schwartz was not present at the city council meeting last night. According to a council meeting recap email from Councilmember Sandra Maurer, “The vote was 3-2 with Mayor Zollman, Vice Mayor McLewis and Phill Carter in favor, and Neysa Hinton and myself opposed.” Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley said this was “a formal vote to release the city manager from his position for no cause and to approve a general release agreement.” Sebastopol Times is a reader-supported publication. To support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Looking at Schwartz’s employment contract with the city, it seems likely that he will receive a substantial severance package. His yearly salary is $245,000, and he was in the second year of a three-year contract. Since he and the city terminated his contract within 18 months of his hiring, his employee contract indicates that his severance would be around $183,000 (which is nine months of his base salary). Recruiting a new city manager can cost between $23,000 and $32,000, according to Gourley. So all and all, this was a pretty expensive decision. “I am disappointed in the decision,” Maurer wrote in her email. “Don accomplished a lot of good things during his time here, and I wish him the best.” Mayor Stephen Zollman announced the separation after the late-night, closed-session meeting that followed last night’s city council meeting. In his remarks, he credited Schwartz’s work: “During his tenure, Mr. Schwartz helped guide the City through a number of significant challenges in his year and a half as City Manager. Among other things, Mr. Schwartz assisted in negotiating an agreement to consolidate the Fire Department and helped establish a path to solve the City’s financial challenges.” Maurer’s recap of the meeting said that Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley will temporarily step into the role of city manager, which Gourley confirmed: “I will be filling in temporarily as the acting city manager, but still doing my current duties until they hire an interim city manager,” Gourley told the Sebastopol Times this morning. Schwartz’s resume seemed tailor-made for a town in a financial crisis, and this “separation” could not have come at a worse time—with the city in the middle of its annual budget process. Happily, some other long-running city decisions, like the change of garbage hauler and the consolidation of the fire department with Goldridge, are done- or almost-done deals, and just last night, the council approved the development agreement for the Barlow Hotel. ReplyShare1 reply6 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts Former Sebastopol City Manager Don SchwartzUPDATE: On 4/17/25 this article was updated with new information about severance and the wording of the resolution that vote to separate was based on According to a press release from the city of Sebastopol the City of Sebastopol announced that the City Council and the City Manager Don Schwartz have \u201Cmutually agreed to end their professional relationship This announcement followed a performance evaluation in a closed session on Monday evening and Schwartz was not present at the city council meeting last night According to a council meeting recap email from Councilmember Sandra Maurer Vice Mayor McLewis and Phill Carter in favor and Neysa Hinton and myself opposed.\u201D Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley said this was \u201Ca formal vote to release the city manager from his position for no cause and to approve a general release agreement.\u201D Looking at Schwartz\u2019s employment contract with the city it seems likely that he will receive a substantial severance package and he was in the second year of a three-year contract Since he and the city terminated his contract within 18 months of his hiring his employee contract indicates that his severance would be around $183,000 (which is nine months of his base salary) Recruiting a new city manager can cost between $23,000 and $32,000 \u201CI am disappointed in the decision,\u201D Maurer wrote in her email \u201CDon accomplished a lot of good things during his time here Mayor Stephen Zollman announced the separation after the late-night closed-session meeting that followed last night\u2019s city council meeting he credited Schwartz\u2019s work: \u201CDuring his tenure Schwartz helped guide the City through a number of significant challenges in his year and a half as City Manager Schwartz assisted in negotiating an agreement to consolidate the Fire Department and helped establish a path to solve the City\u2019s financial challenges.\u201D Maurer\u2019s recap of the meeting said that Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley will temporarily step into the role of city manager which Gourley confirmed: \u201CI will be filling in temporarily as the acting city manager but still doing my current duties until they hire an interim city manager,\u201D Gourley told the Sebastopol Times this morning Schwartz came to Sebastopol as city manager in January 2024 he had served as the Assistant City Manager of Rohnert Park since 2014 where he had provided leadership to attract new businesses to the city and helped to establish a positive working environment Schwartz brought almost 30 years\u2019 experience working in government community service and nonprofit leadership including nine years with the County Administrator\u2019s Office for the County of Sonoma Schwartz\u2019s resume seemed tailor-made for a town in a financial crisis and this \u201Cseparation\u201D could not have come at a worse time\u2014with the city in the middle of its annual budget process like the change of garbage hauler and the consolidation of the fire department with Goldridge the council approved the development agreement for the Barlow Hotel La Fondita’s Third Street location has been sitting empty for months Dozens of untouched bottles of liquor, colorful chairs and empty tables were still visible Friday behind the windows and locked doors of the empty La Fondita restaurant at 630 Third St For months, questions have persisted about whether the well-known Mexican restaurant, which opened in 2022 Fresh questions arose in the last couple of weeks as a new sign in the window advertised a “restaurant opportunity.” “Business & Commercial,” but there was no contact information available It remains unclear who is occupying the space According to the Sonoma County Health Department the most recent facility permit for the Third Street location — essentially an operating permit — was from July 2024 The owner listed on the records for both restaurant locations was Maria Elena Reyes The Press Democrat has repeatedly reached out to Reyes for a comment but has not received a response and visited the Third Street location on several occasions The Third Street location remained closed and there was no staff available for comment at the Sebastopol Road restaurant according to the Sonoma County Recorder’s Office The Press Democrat also reached out to this company In January, community members speculated about the fate of the restaurant on the Sonoma County Foodies Facebook page “Is La Fondita on 3rd in Santa Rosa closed or are they on vacation I’ve driven by a few times and they have been dark each time.” we went there for lunch and found the doors chained.” read “They have another location on Sebastopol Rd Highly recommend continuing to support them there Downtown is a TOUGH place for business with a lack of parking and such.” the floor manager at Wilibees liquor store at the corner of Third Street said he does not know if La Fondita has permanently closed he has seen many businesses come and leave the storefront at 630 Third St “Downtown is an interesting place right now you walk around and see ‘For Lease’ signs every day,” Arnold said The downstairs restaurant space at 630 Third St. was previously occupied by Mercato Pasta and Produce. La Fondita announced in early 2020 that it would be taking over the space. You can reach Staff Writer Melanie Nguyen at 707-521-5457 or melanie.nguyen@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @mellybelly119 held a public meeting at the Sebastopol Youth Annex so that people with questions about their new garbage service could get their questions answered only seven members of the public showed up to the meeting This is surprising given what a hot issue this was at council meetings earlier in the year “Maybe it’s all kind of died down a little bit,” SCRR’s Administrative Operations Manager Alissa Johnson said hopefully Councilmember Sandra Maurer agreed that members of the public were outnumbered by the folks from SCRR and the city of Sebastopol along with the acting city manager [Mary Gourley].” Maurer attributed the low turnout to the extensive outreach that SCRR has already done around town over the last few months particularly with local businesses and apartment complexes Maurer is a member of the council’s Solid Waste Ad Hoc Committee The vehemence of the public’s response earlier this year to the switch from Recology to SCRR surprised and disappointed her she and Councilmember Jill McLewis had worked for months with the city’s consultant R3 to choose what they saw as the best garbage service for the town What you need to know about SCRR’s service highlighted several points that she thought residents would be interested in knowing (This reporter was attending another event that evening but the Sebastopol Times interviewed several people who were at the SCRR meeting.) The following information comes from Maurer’s notes and the PowerPoint presentation that SCRR gave on Tuesday evening (You can find a link to that presentation at the end of this article.) I wanted the public to know the phone number and the email on how to contact SCRR,” Maurer said Email them at info@sonomacorr.com Visit their website at sonomacorr.com. The new outreach coordinator is Amanda Rivers. Amanda will talk to residents and businesses about how they can reduce the amount of trash they create. She is SCRR’s version of Recology’s popular ambassador Ambrosia Thomson. BILLING: Most residents will be billed quarterly, and they should expect their first bill from SCRR in July, which will cover July, August and September. Multifamily residences and businesses will be billed monthly, and they should expect their first bill in August. OF CARTS, BINS AND BOXES: Carts are made of plastic, and they roll—this is what most residents and some small businesses have. There are four sizes of carts: Bins are larger and made of metal. These are what many businesses that have larger waste needs use. Boxes are 20 feet long and hold 10 yards or more of waste. Maurer noted that all residents will also get a compost pail for their kitchen. “It’s basically a way for you to take your compost from your kitchen to your green cart,” she said. In terms of carts and bins, how is the changeover from Recology to SCRR going to happen? According to Maurer, “This is going to be a coordinated effort between Recology and SCRR. It’s going to start on June 9, and it should end by June 20.” During this time, Recology will be picking up their carts and bins, and SCRR will be delivering theirs.” If you don’t have three new carts from SCRR by June 20—garbage (black), recycling (blue), green waste and compost (green)— you need to call SCRR at 707-795-7470. If Recology hasn’t picked up their bins by that point, you need to call Recology at 1-800-243-0291. WHAT GOES WHERE: SCRR has handouts about what goes where, in terms of compost/green waste (which they call “organics”), recycling, and landfill. One thing to note is that the so-called “compostable plastic” bags you get at the grocery store don’t go in with the compost; they go into the black bin headed for the landfill because, according to Maurer, “they break down into a kind of goo that you don’t want in compost.” BIG ITEM PICKUP: You can schedule two big-item pickups a year Councilmember Neysa Hinton asked how long it took to schedule a big-item pickup from call to pickup SCRR offers automatic curbside pickup of Christmas trees for a certain window of time For those of you who like to keep your tree up for a long time such that you miss the window for curbside tree pickup you can call and schedule a tree pickup — and that won’t be considered one of your two big-item pickups CARDBOARD: For businesses that deal with a lot of cardboard from deliveries SCRR is doing a special cardboard pickup route but businesses also have the option of taking extra cardboard to the city of Sebastopol’s cardboard collection container by the Sebastopol Youth Annex noting that SCRR requests that you break the boxes down and flatten them before you toss them in REDUCING WASTE AT ITS SOURCE: Maurer said that SCRR emphasizes reducing waste at the source, rather than composting and recycling. “So the old model is more compost, more recycling as a measure of achievement, but that is outdated,” she said. “We want to really reduce waste overall.” (To see how far you can go with this, check out our article, “The Zero Waste Tour of Sebastopol,” from 2023.) Loren Bennitt was one of the few members of the public at Tuesday’s meeting She is the Green Team leader for Community Market’s Sebastopol store “I actually had a lot of questions,” she said It remains to be seen how much this change is going to cost us as a business.” Bennitt said that Community Market is meeting with SCRR this coming Monday But we don’t have a definitive answer on that yet because we are looking to see what we can do to mitigate the cost increase,” she said like the public depository for flattened cardboard that they said commercial businesses can use We also use our cardboard boxes for packing people’s groceries so that’s helped reduce a lot of that.” Maurer remains convinced that the switch to SCRR was the right one for the city “I really think they’re doing a great job,” she said “I really appreciate what they’re doing in terms of outreach So hopefully we can iron out some of these more difficult places The Sebastopol Times is working on an article about how local businesses are dealing with the transition from Recology to SCRR. If you would like to talk to us about your experience, please reach out to us at sebastopoltimes@gmail.com. ReplyShare1 reply8 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts \u201CMaybe it\u2019s all kind of died down a little bit,\u201D SCRR\u2019s Administrative Operations Manager Alissa Johnson said hopefully and their project manager,\u201D Maurer said along with the acting city manager [Mary Gourley].\u201D Maurer is a member of the council\u2019s Solid Waste Ad Hoc Committee The vehemence of the public\u2019s response earlier this year to the switch from Recology to SCRR surprised and disappointed her she and Councilmember Jill McLewis had worked for months with the city\u2019s consultant R3 to choose what they saw as the best garbage service for the town What you need to know about SCRR\u2019s service but the Sebastopol Times interviewed several people who were at the SCRR meeting.) The following information comes from Maurer\u2019s notes and the PowerPoint presentation that SCRR gave on Tuesday evening I wanted the public to know the phone number and the email on how to contact SCRR,\u201D Maurer said SCRR\u2019s telephone number is 707-795-7470 Email them at info@sonomacorr.com Visit their website at sonomacorr.com. The new outreach coordinator is Amanda Rivers. Amanda will talk to residents and businesses about how they can reduce the amount of trash they create. She is SCRR\u2019s version of Recology\u2019s popular ambassador Ambrosia Thomson. OF CARTS, BINS AND BOXES: Carts are made of plastic, and they roll\u2014this is what most residents and some small businesses have. There are four sizes of carts: Maurer noted that all residents will also get a compost pail for their kitchen. \u201CIt\u2019s basically a way for you to take your compost from your kitchen to your green cart,\u201D she said. In terms of carts and bins, how is the changeover from Recology to SCRR going to happen? According to Maurer, \u201CThis is going to be a coordinated effort between Recology and SCRR. It\u2019s going to start on June 9, and it should end by June 20.\u201D During this time, Recology will be picking up their carts and bins, and SCRR will be delivering theirs.\u201D If you don\u2019t have three new carts from SCRR by June 20\u2014garbage (black), recycling (blue), green waste and compost (green)\u2014 you need to call SCRR at 707-795-7470. If Recology hasn\u2019t picked up their bins by that point, you need to call Recology at 1-800-243-0291. WHAT GOES WHERE: SCRR has handouts about what goes where, in terms of compost/green waste (which they call \u201Corganics\u201D), recycling, and landfill. One thing to note is that the so-called \u201Ccompostable plastic\u201D bags you get at the grocery store don\u2019t go in with the compost; they go into the black bin headed for the landfill because, according to Maurer, \u201Cthey break down into a kind of goo that you don\u2019t want in compost.\u201D you can call and schedule a tree pickup \u2014 and that won\u2019t be considered one of your two big-item pickups but businesses also have the option of taking extra cardboard to the city of Sebastopol\u2019s cardboard collection container by the Sebastopol Youth Annex Loren Bennitt was one of the few members of the public at Tuesday\u2019s meeting She is the Green Team leader for Community Market\u2019s Sebastopol store \u201CI actually had a lot of questions,\u201D she said It remains to be seen how much this change is going to cost us as a business.\u201D \u201CWe\u2019ll have a better idea on Monday But we don\u2019t have a definitive answer on that yet because we are looking to see what we can do to mitigate the cost increase,\u201D she said We also use our cardboard boxes for packing people\u2019s groceries so that\u2019s helped reduce a lot of that.\u201D \u201CI really think they\u2019re doing a great job,\u201D she said \u201CI really appreciate what they\u2019re doing in terms of outreach and the transition will go smoothly.\u201D The Sebastopol Times is working on an article about how local businesses are dealing with the transition from Recology to SCRR. If you would like to talk to us about your experience, please reach out to us at sebastopoltimes@gmail.com slated for Tuesday at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center is a chance for Sebastopol residents and business owners to learn and ask questions about the upcoming transition Sonoma County Resource Recovery (SCRR) will host a community meeting Tuesday to introduce its services to residents and business owners meeting will take place at the Sebastopol Community Center's Youth Annex The meeting is a chance for Sebastopol residents and business owners to learn and ask questions about the upcoming transition recycling and organics collection services to Sebastopol customers on July 1 The meeting will allow customers to “engage directly with us and to understand the upcoming changes to services and rates,” Alissa Johnson SCRR’s administrative operations manager said in a press release SCRR won a contentious bidding war over Recology, securing a 15-year, multimillion dollar contract and ousting the city’s longtime waste services provider The city’s contract with Recology was slated to end in June 2023 but the city and waste service provider extended its relationship through June 2025 working during the first year of that extension to try to renew a contract at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center Note: With youth baseball season in session parking next to the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center may be limited to street parking As a result, the City Council sent its trash services contract out for competitive bidding in June 2024. SCRR, which has been providing waste hauling services to Windsor since 2017 The City Council chose SCRR in January 2025 saying its decision was based on a series of criteria including rates that officials concluded were better for all constituents Recology publicly disputed that conclusion, and the council’s decision was met with outrage by local business owners who feared the switch will cost them more “The financial ramifications … it came as such a gobsmack,” Roxanne Goodfellow, chief operating officer of Rialto Cinemas, Sebastopol’s sole movie theater, said at the time. Records obtained by The Press Democrat show some — but not all — of SCRR’s rates in its initial proposal to the city were lower than Recology’s. Recology offered lower rates for its 32-gallon can, 20-gallon can for low-income residents and 32-, 64- and 96-gallon cans for apartment complexes and business customers. The 32-gallon is the most popular, comprising more than half all residential customers, city documents show. Murmer’s dance troupe usually consists of nine birds, but Sunday’s flock consisted of seven. They were: Western Meadowlark, Olivia Eng; Dark-Eyed Junco, Jetta Grace Martin; Cedar Waxwing, Hannah Westbrook; Black Crow, Richelle Donihan; Snowy Egret, Sue Li Jue; Nuttall’s Woodpecker, KJ Dallas; and Red-Shouldered Hawk, Sarah Bush. Each performed wholly unique dance moves during an hour-long performance that flowed fluidly through the Lion’s Grove picnic area, drawing the crowd of 100-plus attendees along with it. It was a moving performance with deeply socio-political/ecological undertones. co-founders/directors of Graton-based Weaving Earth Center for Relational Education addressed attendees at a free Bird Language Practice workshop in Ragle Park on Sunday prior to the Sarah Bush Dance Project’s performance of “Murmur.”The performance in Ragle was part of Murmur’s statewide tour which was funded by an Arts in California Parks grant The tour included performances at Oakland’s Lake Merritt Murmur dance artist KJ Dahlaw took time to address the landscape of the redwood grove with the sound technician and support crew and to structure the day’s dance performance around it “The performance we adapt each time because every park is different and has unique features that we’re interacting with,” KJ said “I came up just two days ago to map out the trajectory of the performance sometimes moving through the standing crowd multiple dancers swooped in and out of each other’s orbits and the show ended with all seven dancing around a central “nest” for a lengthy The earliest rendition of the work now known as Murmur was first performed in the Bay Area in 2021 the dance morphed into this tour’s adaptation with a new Black independent record label 7000COILS to produce the soundtrack and included moving philosophic/poetic content spoken by the birds themselves Critically acclaimed SBDP Artistic Director Sarah Bush is the creative force behind the Bay Area repertory and numerous nature-based shows Her website describes the evolution of Murmur: we embarked on a journey of relationship-building with local birds and ecosystems nine dedicated dancers immersed themselves in the study of a beloved bird species deepening their awareness and forging a profound connection to the avian and terrestrial landscapes they inhabit.” “Dance is the vehicle through which I move in the world,” reads Bush’s artist statement “It is the language I use to explore ideas Dance is the tool-kit with which I am equipped to honor and enhance lives and to positively impact society well-rounded women—dances that inspire all women to feel better about our place in the world.” The crowd responded to Murmur’s finale with multiple ovations after which the birds mingled with attendees and the overall mood was elevated and appreciative drove up from Point Richmond to attend the event “The idea of mixing the learning with more about birds and dance was very attractive to both of us,” Ritterman said “It was absolutely perfect,” said Sonoma County resident Erika Pineda There was so much spiritual and emotional connection in the performance “We are heartened by how beautifully this weekend’s event unfolded with over 100 participants coming together,” Weaving Earth co-founders/directors Lauren and Dave Hage wrote to the Sebastopol Times “Many shared afterward how the awareness practice of Bird Language paired with the witnessing of the dance performance opened something deep within them — a powerful combination that invited reflection We are grateful for the meaningful conversations that followed and for everyone who helped bring this experience to life.” Those who missed Sunday’s moving live performance still have the chance to see Murmur at its next and last stop on this tour, in Weed, this coming Sunday, May 4, from 1 pm to 3 pm. Weaving Earth will again offer a 45-minute Bird Language Practice workshop in advance of the performance. All shows are free and open to the public. RSVP on Eventbrite to reserve your spot Learn more about Murmur at sarahbushdance.org. Also, Weaving Earth hosts a free Bird Language and Earth Intimacy group that meets the second Wednesday of every month from 5 pm to 6:30 pm (times change seasonally) at the “Peace Garden” at Ragle Ranch. All are welcome. Murmer\u2019s dance troupe usually consists of nine birds, but Sunday\u2019s flock consisted of seven. They were: Western Meadowlark, Olivia Eng; Dark-Eyed Junco, Jetta Grace Martin; Cedar Waxwing, Hannah Westbrook; Black Crow, Richelle Donihan; Snowy Egret, Sue Li Jue; Nuttall\u2019s Woodpecker, KJ Dallas; and Red-Shouldered Hawk, Sarah Bush. Each performed wholly unique dance moves during an hour-long performance that flowed fluidly through the Lion\u2019s Grove picnic area, drawing the crowd of 100-plus attendees along with it. It was a moving performance with deeply socio-political/ecological undertones. prior to the Sarah Bush Dance Project\u2019s performance of \u201CMurmur.\u201DThe performance in Ragle was part of Murmur\u2019s statewide tour The tour included performances at Oakland\u2019s Lake Merritt Murmur dance artist KJ Dahlaw took time to address the landscape of the redwood grove with the sound technician and support crew and to structure the day\u2019s dance performance around it \u201CThe performance we adapt each time because every park is different and has unique features that we\u2019re interacting with,\u201D KJ said \u201CI came up just two days ago to map out the trajectory of the performance and between \u2014 even over \u2014 picnic tables multiple dancers swooped in and out of each other\u2019s orbits and the show ended with all seven dancing around a central \u201Cnest\u201D for a lengthy the dance morphed into this tour\u2019s adaptation with a new deepening their awareness and forging a profound connection to the avian and terrestrial landscapes they inhabit.\u201D \u201CDance is the vehicle through which I move in the world,\u201D reads Bush\u2019s artist statement \u201CIt is the language I use to explore ideas well-rounded women\u2014dances that inspire all women to feel better about our place in the world.\u201D The crowd responded to Murmur\u2019s finale with multiple ovations \u201CThe idea of mixing the learning with more about birds and dance was very attractive to both of us,\u201D Ritterman said \u201CIt was absolutely perfect,\u201D said Sonoma County resident Erika Pineda \u201CWe are heartened by how beautifully this weekend\u2019s event unfolded with over 100 participants coming together,\u201D Weaving Earth co-founders/directors Lauren and Dave Hage wrote to the Sebastopol Times \u201CMany shared afterward how the awareness practice of Bird Language opened something deep within them \u2014 a powerful combination that invited reflection We are grateful for the meaningful conversations that followed and for everyone who helped bring this experience to life.\u201D Those who missed Sunday\u2019s moving live performance still have the chance to see Murmur at its next and last stop on this tour, in Weed, this coming Sunday, May 4, from 1 pm to 3 pm. Weaving Earth will again offer a 45-minute Bird Language Practice workshop in advance of the performance. All shows are free and open to the public. RSVP on Eventbrite to reserve your spot Learn more about Murmur at sarahbushdance.org. Also, Weaving Earth hosts a free Bird Language and Earth Intimacy group that meets the second Wednesday of every month from 5 pm to 6:30 pm (times change seasonally) at the \u201CPeace Garden\u201D at Ragle Ranch The parade was part of the 79th annual Apple Blossom Parade and Festival the scene at Saturday’s Apple Blossom Parade in Sebastopol was all sunshine and rainbows as hippie-themed floats made their way down Main Street alongside classic cars The parade, which kicked off at Analy High School and ended at Calder Avenue, was part of the 79th annual Apple Blossom Parade and Festival For more information about the event, go to appleblossomfest.com. Now he wants to extend that same control to how the city interacts with the press (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush) CORRECTION: We would like to correct one error in our description of the city’s original press policy from Nov The policy the city ultimately developed did not require council people to alert city hall before talking to the press Although that idea was discussed by the council on Nov 4—and I spoke against—it was left out of the final policy at Councilmember Hinton’s insistence according to Mayor Zollman and Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley This was ultimately rendered in the policy as “Appropriate City staff should always be alerted to media contact.” This article has been edited to remove this error The first sign of trouble came in November of 2024 during what seemed like a prosaic discussion of the roles and duties of the mayor and vice mayor The council’s committee on city protocols suggested that the mayor be the only person allowed to speak for the city council as a whole when talking to the press Council members were still allowed to speak for themselves individually made up of outgoing Mayor Diana Rich and incoming Mayor Stephen Zollman also suggested that anytime a councilmember was approached by a member of the press they had to first alert the city manager and the assistant city manager who would then alert the mayor and all the other council members that one of their number would be talking to the press and I did something I’ve rarely done in all my years of reporting: I got up to speak against this proposal in public comment I said it would slow council members’ ability to respond to reporters’ questions with Councilmember Sandra Maurer dissenting I thought of another reason why this policy was a bad idea—namely that it could have a chilling effect on council members’ willingness to freely speak their minds It would give them the feeling that they were being watched—by the mayor by city staff and by their fellow city council members And I suspected this could transform what was usually an interesting free-wheeling exchange into a more controlled interaction carefully massaged responses of little substance that practice did not make it into the final policy [Mayor] to serve as the City’s primary media spokesperson in coordination with City staff Appropriate City staff should always be alerted to media contact Nothing under the Mayor’s duties shall limit any individual Council Member’s ability to interact with members of the public or media In December, I did a long, in-depth interview with Mayor Zollman Then at the end of our hour-and-a-half interview he said he wanted to tell me about the city’s newest press protocols which were meant to carry out the policy above “If you’re not getting as quick of a response as you’ve been accustomed to I interrupted him: “I knew that would slow things down.” “The council protocols are what the council protocols are A lot of thought went into the council protocols it says that I will—it’s not like maybe—I will work with staff—and when I say staff he rolled out a list of new rules for press coverage—rules about how reporters should (and should not) contact the city government and what questions would (and would not) get a quick response None of these rules had been approved by the city council but Zollman told me that he felt they simply elaborated on the press policy the council passed in November When I explained to him that these rules would make it almost impossible for me to do my job He said he’d laid out these same rules to Press Democrat reporter Amie Windsor and assistant city manager—asking for clarification and a written copy of the new policy “I did not mean to convey that my suggestions about press interactions were to be taken as any type of formal protocols outside of what the full council approved.” But it was clear that something had already changed inside the city government I was told point blank that all press inquiries now had to be routed through city hall in response to questions from me and the Press Democrat’s Amie Windsor the mayor sent a long response outlining these practices in depth (See the full letter at the end of this article) Some of the practices in his letter are harmless but some strike right at the heart of how reporters gather information when covering city government LIMITATIONS ON WHO YOU CAN TALK TO: “For staff the primary and initial points of contact should be the city manager and assistant city manager They may designate department heads to speak as well.” This is a huge departure from how the city has worked in the past when reporters developed working relationships with different department heads and could easily call or text them with questions as issues arose This relationship had other benefits: it familiarized readers with the people who make city government work and rendered them as full humans and not as faceless bureaucrats Having to go through four people (the department head the city manager and the assistant city manager)—for every single press request will vastly increase the amount of time it takes to get a response It is also an enormous waste of staff time Zollman noted that two departments—police and fire—may be contacted directly city manager and assistant manager should be cc’d in any written communication to them LIMITATIONS ON METHODS OF ASKING QUESTIONS “You may use any communications method to reach Councilmembers or staff We prefer questions in writing (e-mail especially) as that will help us respond more effectively and promptly Questions that are submitted in writing via email will result in quicker responses We recognize that some things are more difficult to explain in writing.” This is tricky wording—first it says reporters may reach out in any way they like then it says that only one method—email—will get a quick(ish) response Sometimes emailed questions are fine—it gives sources time to think about their answers I often give people an option of responding via telephone or text (the two quickest for both me and the respondent) I give people this option because some people feel more comfortable talking than writing (or vice versa) Journalistic interviews often involve follow-up questions LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG IT TAKES TO RESPOND: “The more time we have to respond the more likely we will be able to respond” and “Please submit requests for interviews at least 24 hours in advance.” Perhaps the city is unclear on how journalism works Reporters work on tight deadlines—often we work on stories that are due that same day or the next day I am happy to schedule long in-depth interviews—like the one I did with Zollman in December—days reporters need an answer that day or the next day LIMITATIONS ON WHAT TOPICS CAN BE DISCUSSED “We will attempt to respond to questions on all City-related topics Our ability to respond will at times be constrained due to other priorities We will likely be more responsive to questions related to the City’s priorities (as adopted by the Council) or of particularly high public interest Questions not related to City goals may have delayed responses.” Again that deceptively soothing first sentence—but the last sentence tells the real story: the city will decide what’s important for reporters to cover and what’s not—or at least what they’re willing to comment on Sebastopol Times readers may remember a recent article I did about some future development ideas for the Redwood Marketplace I bet people are going to wonder what the city’s new community development director is doing to help this re-development along?” The former CVS building in Redwood Marketplace is one of the largest and longest-running vacancies in Sebastopol I emailed Community Development Director Emi Theriault After briefly explaining the nature of the story I asked “I’m wondering if the city could have any role in moving this along I cc’d City Manager Don Schwartz and got an immediate response from him: “We will discuss and get back to you.” Later that day I got a message from Mayor Zollman: “We have not had a chance to touch base on this the city manager and the mayor—who had to find time to put their heads together to formulate an answer to a single question I asked Schwartz if they were going to have an answer for me before tomorrow morning The next day I held the Redwood Marketplace story and ran something else The day after that—we post in the morning—I still hadn’t heard from the city Since I didn’t have another story to run in its place I ran the Redwood Marketplace story that morning without the city’s response He said the city had attempted to contact CVS in November to inquire about the property Theriault was working hard on higher priority economic development issues But why did it take three people and 48 hours to formulate that response multiple calls from Sebastopol Times reporters have gone unanswered by city department heads since the imposition of these new rules Important stories—about Sebastopol’s crime rate about its use of county mental health services about the continued flooding of Healdsburg Avenue in heavy rains—have gone unanswered and these stories unwritten When I asked the city manager why this was happening—why the change in policy—he was silent for a long moment Since policies are normally devised to solve a problem “What problem are you trying to solve with these new protocols Mayor Zollman answered like so: “The short answer to all of the questions is that I am doing what I thought was needed to comply with the council’s recently passed protocols.” Then he wrote back “I forgot to add that from my way of thinking the proposed process was a way to provide responses in an efficient and timely manner to press inquiries.” The city staff report on the issue puts it this way: “It is the goal of the City of Sebastopol to keep the public informed about achievements and efforts of the City and staff the Mayor believes the City can maintain a strong and aligned with the City’s goals and values By taking the time to receive the inquiry and provide clean and accurate responses the City can ensure that its communications are consistent Last week the Sebastopol Times reached out to the First Amendment Coalition (FAC) a national nonprofit organization that protects and promotes a free press “This is emblematic of things we’ve been seeing for a while in local government he identified two areas that he found to be likely violations of the First Amendment: the requirement that government employees get permission before they speak to the press (“A clear case of prior restraint,” according to Loy); the requirement that council members contact city hall before they talk to the press (“Prior restraint or close to it,” Loy said.) [NOTE: Again 4 policy was softened to “Appropriate City staff should always be alerted to media contact.”] Loy said there were other issues with the policy as well—issues that didn’t rise to constitutional violations but were more like questions of best practice “I’ve heard of various government agencies at the local state and federal level clamping down on the flow of information demanding more and more control of the flow of information and trying to force the press to only speak to approved people and restrict or at least impede the ability to talk to other staff.” Loy said that’s a model that’s allowed for private business but is dangerous when applied to government institutions “People in government should not be thinking and we get to control the message and control the flow of information as we see fit The press is the guardian of the public interest,” Loy said “and it’s in everyone’s interest for government to be accountable and responsive to it in every way possible.” I couldn’t help but wonder what other reporters thought of the new press policy Amie Windsor of the Press Democrat declined to comment but I ran Mayor Zollman’s email by a couple of retired Press Democrat reporters Former Press Democrat reporter Mary Fricker connected me to the First Amendment Coalition Sebastopol resident and retired Press Democrat reporter Bleys Rose wrote back: “I hope you ignore this [policy] Reporters have the right to respectfully ask whoever and whatever they want The Sebastopol City Council will discuss this issue at their upcoming council meeting on Tuesday, March 4. If you enjoy the Sebastopol Times’ in-depth coverage of Sebastopol and its city government, please email your councilmembers opposing these new policies when transparency in government is more important than ever explain to them that reporters must have free open and timely access to the workings of city government We appreciate any support you can give us on this issue. Your right to know about your city government is at stake. Following up on your inquiry some time ago, I’d like to share the media practices for the City. I believe that following these will provide you with the ability to receive timely, accurate answers to inquiries on City matters. Who on staff and council are we in the media allowed to speak with? The Mayor is the spokesperson for the Council; each Councilmember may also speak for themselves. Thus, you can speak with any member of the Council. Generally, the Mayor will speak on policy issues and major initiatives. He may ask other Councilmembers to speak on areas of their expertise, such as members of Ad Hoc Committees on topics assigned to those Committees. For staff, the primary and initial points of contact should be the City Manager and Assistant City Manager. They may designate Department Heads to speak as well. Generally, staff will speak on administrative and operational issues and budget topics. Staff may also speak to adopted policy issues particularly when there are questions about recommendations in staff reports or to provide background information. What ways (email, text, phone call) are we in the media allowed to reach out to potential sources? You may use any communications method to reach Councilmembers or staff. We prefer questions in writing (e-mail especially) as that will help us respond more effectively and promptly. Questions that are submitted in writing via email will result in quicker responses. We recognize that some things are more difficult to explain in writing. What is the city's preferred timeline for responses to questions? The more time we have to respond the more likely we will be able to respond. We would appreciate your providing ‘real’ deadlines. There have been instances when reporters provide a deadline that we cannot meet, and we do not pursue responses because we believe we have missed a deadline. Thus, If/when we learn about a new deadline we are unlikely to be able to respond because we have stopped (or never started) working on a response. Questions received late in the day, on weekends (including Fridays, when City Hall is closed), and on holidays generally will not be answered until the next business day. Please submit requests for interviews at least 24 hours in advance. Can you confirm: we in the media should not expect responses to questions or topics that do "not align with the city's goals?" We will attempt to respond to questions on all City-related topics. Our ability to respond will at times be constrained due to other priorities, availability of date, deadlines, etc. We will likely be more responsive to questions related to the City’s priorities (as adopted by the Council) or of particularly high public interest. Questions not related to City goals may have delayed responses. Questions on major public safety incidents (crimes, fires, etc.) should be directed to the Police and Fire Chiefs or their designees. When sent by e-mail or text please cc: the Mayor, City Manager, and Assistant City Manager. During emergencies we may designate another staff person as the Public Information Officer, per our Emergency Operations Plan. This may occur before declaration of an emergency, such as when there is a high risk from a wildfire or flood. As always, let me know if you have any questions. ReplyShare2 replies66 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts Mayor Stephen Zollman keeps admirably tight control over city meetings (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush) CORRECTION: We would like to correct one error in our description of the city\u2019s original press policy from Nov 4\u2014and I spoke against\u2014it was left out of the final policy at Councilmember Hinton\u2019s insistence \u201CAppropriate City staff should always be alerted to media contact.\u201D The council\u2019s committee on city protocols suggested that the mayor be the only person allowed to speak for the city council as a whole when talking to the press and I did something I\u2019ve rarely done in all my years of reporting: I got up to speak against this proposal in public comment I said it would slow council members\u2019 ability to respond to reporters\u2019 questions I thought of another reason why this policy was a bad idea\u2014namely that it could have a chilling effect on council members\u2019 willingness to freely speak their minds It would give them the feeling that they were being watched\u2014by the mayor [Mayor] to serve as the City\u2019s primary media spokesperson in coordination with City staff Nothing under the Mayor\u2019s duties shall limit any individual Council Member\u2019s ability to interact with members of the public or media In December, I did a long, in-depth interview with Mayor Zollman he said he wanted to tell me about the city\u2019s newest press protocols \u201CIf you\u2019re not getting as quick of a response as you\u2019ve been accustomed to I interrupted him: \u201CI knew that would slow things down.\u201D \u201CThe council protocols are what the council protocols are it says that I will\u2014it\u2019s not like maybe\u2014I will work with staff\u2014and when I say staff he rolled out a list of new rules for press coverage\u2014rules about how reporters should (and should not) contact the city government He said he\u2019d laid out these same rules to Press Democrat reporter Amie Windsor and assistant city manager\u2014asking for clarification and a written copy of the new policy \u201CI did not mean to convey that my suggestions about press interactions were to be taken as any type of formal protocols outside of what the full council approved.\u201D in response to questions from me and the Press Democrat\u2019s Amie Windsor LIMITATIONS ON WHO YOU CAN TALK TO: \u201CFor staff They may designate department heads to speak as well.\u201D This is a huge departure from how the city has worked in the past the city manager and the assistant city manager)\u2014for every single press request will vastly increase the amount of time it takes to get a response Zollman noted that two departments\u2014police and fire\u2014may be contacted directly city manager and assistant manager should be cc\u2019d in any written communication to them \u201CYou may use any communications method to reach Councilmembers or staff We recognize that some things are more difficult to explain in writing.\u201D This is tricky wording\u2014first it says reporters may reach out in any way they like then it says that only one method\u2014email\u2014will get a quick(ish) response Sometimes emailed questions are fine\u2014it gives sources time to think about their answers LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG IT TAKES TO RESPOND: \u201CThe more time we have to respond the more likely we will be able to respond\u201D and \u201CPlease submit requests for interviews at least 24 hours in advance.\u201D Perhaps the city is unclear on how journalism works Reporters work on tight deadlines\u2014often we work on stories that are due that same day or the next day I am happy to schedule long in-depth interviews\u2014like the one I did with Zollman in December\u2014days \u201CWe will attempt to respond to questions on all City-related topics We will likely be more responsive to questions related to the City\u2019s priorities (as adopted by the Council) or of particularly high public interest Questions not related to City goals may have delayed responses.\u201D Again that deceptively soothing first sentence\u2014but the last sentence tells the real story: the city will decide what\u2019s important for reporters to cover and what\u2019s not\u2014or at least what they\u2019re willing to comment on Sebastopol Times readers may remember a recent article I did about some future development ideas for the Redwood Marketplace I bet people are going to wonder what the city\u2019s new community development director is doing to help this re-development along?\u201D The former CVS building in Redwood Marketplace is I asked \u201CI\u2019m wondering if the city could have any role in moving this along It\u2019s been sitting there for years.\u201D I cc\u2019d City Manager Don Schwartz and got an immediate response from him: \u201CWe will discuss and get back to you.\u201D Later that day I got a message from Mayor Zollman: \u201CWe have not had a chance to touch base on this the city manager and the mayor\u2014who had to find time to put their heads together to formulate an answer to a single question The day after that\u2014we post in the morning\u2014I still hadn\u2019t heard from the city Since I didn\u2019t have another story to run in its place I ran the Redwood Marketplace story that morning without the city\u2019s response Important stories\u2014about Sebastopol\u2019s crime rate about the continued flooding of Healdsburg Avenue in heavy rains\u2014have gone unanswered and these stories unwritten When I asked the city manager why this was happening\u2014why the change in policy\u2014he was silent for a long moment \u201CI think you should ask the mayor.\u201D \u201CWhat problem are you trying to solve with these new protocols Mayor Zollman answered like so: \u201CThe short answer to all of the questions is that I am doing what I thought was needed to comply with the council\u2019s recently passed protocols.\u201D Then he wrote back \u201CI forgot to add that from my way of thinking the proposed process was a way to provide responses in an efficient and timely manner to press inquiries.\u201D The city staff report on the issue puts it this way: \u201CIt is the goal of the City of Sebastopol to keep the public informed about achievements and efforts of the City and staff and aligned with the City\u2019s goals and values I sent them a copy of the mayor\u2019s email \u201CThis is emblematic of things we\u2019ve been seeing for a while in local government and we\u2019re very concerned about it.\u201D the requirement that government employees get permission before they speak to the press (\u201CA clear case of prior restraint,\u201D according to Loy); the requirement that council members contact city hall before they talk to the press (\u201CPrior restraint or close to it,\u201D Loy said.) [NOTE: Again 4 policy was softened to \u201CAppropriate City staff should always be alerted to media contact.\u201D] Loy said there were other issues with the policy as well\u2014issues that didn\u2019t rise to constitutional violations \u201CIn the last couple of years,\u201D he said \u201CI\u2019ve heard of various government agencies at the local and restrict or at least impede the ability to talk to other staff.\u201D Loy said that\u2019s a model that\u2019s allowed for private business but is dangerous when applied to government institutions \u201CPeople in government should not be thinking The press is the guardian of the public interest,\u201D Loy said \u201Cand it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s interest for government to be accountable and responsive to it in every way possible.\u201D I couldn\u2019t help but wonder what other reporters thought of the new press policy but I ran Mayor Zollman\u2019s email by a couple of retired Press Democrat reporters Sebastopol resident and retired Press Democrat reporter Bleys Rose wrote back: \u201CI hope you ignore this [policy] The Sebastopol City Council will discuss this issue at their upcoming council meeting on Tuesday, March 4. If you enjoy the Sebastopol Times\u2019 in-depth coverage of Sebastopol and its city government, please email your councilmembers opposing these new policies If you can, please attend the council meeting to speak in public comment on this issue. I know this is a big ask. The question of press access is listed last on a very long agenda\u2014which means it will probably be handled late at night when most people have dropped off Zoom and there\u2019s no one left in the council chamber but the city council If enough people show up to speak on this issue it might be moved to the top of the agenda that this agenda item will be kicked to the next council meeting We appreciate any support you can give us on this issue Your right to know about your city government is at stake Following up on your inquiry some time ago I\u2019d like to share the media practices for the City I believe that following these will provide you with the ability to receive timely accurate answers to inquiries on City matters Who on staff and council are we in the media allowed to speak with The Mayor is the spokesperson for the Council; each Councilmember may also speak for themselves you can speak with any member of the Council the Mayor will speak on policy issues and major initiatives He may ask other Councilmembers to speak on areas of their expertise such as members of Ad Hoc Committees on topics assigned to those Committees the primary and initial points of contact should be the City Manager and Assistant City Manager They may designate Department Heads to speak as well staff will speak on administrative and operational issues and budget topics Staff may also speak to adopted policy issues particularly when there are questions about recommendations in staff reports or to provide background information phone call) are we in the media allowed to reach out to potential sources You may use any communications method to reach Councilmembers or staff We recognize that some things are more difficult to explain in writing What is the city's preferred timeline for responses to questions The more time we have to respond the more likely we will be able to respond We would appreciate your providing \u2018real\u2019 deadlines There have been instances when reporters provide a deadline that we cannot meet and we do not pursue responses because we believe we have missed a deadline If/when we learn about a new deadline we are unlikely to be able to respond because we have stopped (or never started) working on a response and on holidays generally will not be answered until the next business day Please submit requests for interviews at least 24 hours in advance Can you confirm: we in the media should not expect responses to questions or topics that do \\\"not align with the city's goals?\\\" We will attempt to respond to questions on all City-related topics Questions not related to City goals may have delayed responses Questions on major public safety incidents (crimes etc.) should be directed to the Police and Fire Chiefs or their designees When sent by e-mail or text please cc: the Mayor During emergencies we may designate another staff person as the Public Information Officer This may occur before declaration of an emergency such as when there is a high risk from a wildfire or flood Emails obtained by The Press Democrat reveal that a series of testy exchanges occurred shortly before the Sebastopol City Council and Don Schwartz parted ways In his 15 months as city manager, Don Schwartz steered Sebastopol through a financial crisis, helping the city fill a large chunk of its gaping budget hole That’s among the reasons why Schwartz’s abrupt departure Tuesday — and the $183,750 severance payment that comes along with it — perplexes former City Council member Diana Rich and others in Sebastopol “They were both rowing in the same direction,” Rich said of council members and Schwartz while also noting “there must have been irreconcilable differences.” That policy named Sebastopol’s mayor as the city’s primary media spokesperson with the city manager assisting in “preparing the correspondence” the mayor would provide But the council on March 4 walked back the entire policy amid a citizens’ outcry that it would stymie a free flow of information to the public In between, Schwartz and council members sparred over the policy. Those members included Rich, who during her time on the council criticized Schwartz over his comments to The Press Democrat regarding a permit controversy with the Sebastopol Farmers Market according to the documents obtained under the California Public Records Act At another point, Schwartz had harsh words for Mayor Stephen Zollman Schwartz emailed the mayor to tell him that while Zollman thought “the press protocols that you have approved are helping me as city manager,” the reality was “these protocols actually make my job more difficult They do not follow other common practices.” Sitting council members declined to comment on Schwartz’s departure Multiple attempts to reach Schwartz for comment have gone unanswered In November 2024, a five-month effort to get the popular Sebastopol Farmers Market into compliance with city rules came to a head. At the time, the market had been operating with an outdated permit had moved some market vendors into an outlier parking lot without filing paperwork required by City Hall The move angered some brick-and-mortar business owners who complained customers couldn’t easily access their stores issued warnings to the market and forced it to scale back its footprint It proved a public-relations nightmare for the city as the farmers market rallied support on social media “There’s no indication that (Schwartz) intends to work with market managers or crafters,” Sebastopol resident Trinity Winslow wrote on the market’s Facebook page “Two weeks in a row his responses have been punitive and circular as if he and the city weren’t the ones responsible for making this such a big deal Schwartz maintained that the market needed a new permit “We don’t create permit requirements just because,” Schwartz told The Press Democrat in a Nov. 26 story We want to make sure we’re following rules to protect the health and safety of people.” Schwartz also noted that Hom and the market “had plenty of time to address the problems we called to their attention in June and … had no interest in doing so [Enforcement] seemed like an appropriate step to take.” The newly obtained records show the council admonished Schwartz over those statements the council has designated the mayor as spokesperson for the city council and primary media spokesperson for the city I wrote you an email regarding a statement you made to a reporter about the town’s position on the Sebastopol Farm Market issue.” Rich was wrapping up her term on the council serving as the mayor in the last of her four years 27 email to you I expressed my surprise that you had made a statement to the press on behalf of the city on such a high-profile issue without coordinating with the mayor and reminded you of the council-approved protocol.” Rich downplayed the damage that email might have caused saying the role of the City Council is to push back on its city manager Conversations were had when staff would not agree with what council would propose,” Rich said And city councils are supposed to challenge the city manager Such friction was also evident between Schwartz and Rich’s successor Zollman earlier this year sought council approval to expand the media policy The additional language he proposed would require journalists to reach out to him — preferably via email — with any questions He would then send those questions to staff who could provide answers through the mayor … if those answers lined up with “city goals and initiatives.” In a March 1 email to two Sebastopol Times reporters obtained by The Press Democrat Zollman said the proposed policy was put forth in part to assist “our relatively new GM [general manager].” responded to Zollman on March 3 requesting a meeting with the mayor to “discuss the message.” “I’ve highlighted the line of particular concern,” Schwartz wrote to Zollman “Am not seeing the highlighted line,” Zollman responded “It is in red and highlighted,” Schwartz wrote back Schwartz responded: “Hmm … My concern is the language here: while assisting our relatively new GM.” A better word would have been ‘supporting’ as that is what I consider our council-manager relationship.” “To clarify my concern: I interpret your wording about ‘assisting our relatively new GM’ as suggesting that the press protocols that you have approved are helping me as city manager “As we’ve discussed re: other city practices these protocols actually make my job more difficult In nearly all cases that I am familiar with the city manager or public information officer is the designated contact for the media and handles the vast majority of press inquiries involving council members when appropriate “Our practices require additional time for myself and other staff slow our ability to provide timely responses and address follow-up questions and take away from our ability to work on the council’s priorities.” Schwartz suggested the City Council consider a policy like one in another California city where the mayor serves as the spokesperson only for the City Council — not the entire city — saying that it “better reflects common practices” and was his “understanding of the intent of the approach” the council wanted to take Schwartz was out of office for at least 10 days after the exchange “I am out of the office and unsure when I will return.” Zollman’s proposal to expand the news media policy backfired the council not only refused to accept his changes His $183,750 in severance pay is based on contract language that states that “if terminated without cause during his first 18 months of employment the city shall pay the equivalent of nine months of Manager’s then base salary.” Schwartz also helped the council bring on a swath of new department heads, including a city attorney, public works director, community development director and police chief. On Tuesday night, Zollman expressed best wishes for Schwartz. “The city council thanks Don Schwartz for his services and extends its best wishes for success in his future endeavors,” he said. practice ketamine-assisted therapy in Sebastopol (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)Liminal Medicine is Sebastopol’s only ketamine-assisted therapy practice In every treatment room and even in the hallway the walls are decorated with dandelion seeds drifting away in the wind or birds taking flight It’s a not-so-subliminal suggestion to patients to not attempt to control the psychedelic experience they’re about to have Tamar-Mattis is a board-certified family medicine physician She spent most of her career treating underserved populations such as the homeless in community health centers and Native Americans through the Indian Health Service It was her work with these groups—seeing the extent of mental illness and the relative ineffectiveness of standard treatments—that led her to embrace alternative methodologies like ketamine she did the California Institute of Integral Studies’ certification program in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies & Research Several of the therapists in the practice went through the same nine-month program Tamar-Mattis requires all of her therapists to have training in ketamine-assisted therapy and to have taken ketamine themselves so they can understand what the patient is experiencing the Integral Studies program covers the use of MDMA and psilocybin that’s the only one Tamar-Mattis said she uses in her practice It was approved for use in the United States in 1970 and since then has been regularly used in veterinary medicine (ergo its street reputation as a horse tranquilizer) and in wartime medicine “Ketamine is widely used as a battlefield anesthetic “People protect their airways on ketamine so you don’t have to intubate…It’s been widely used as anesthetic in ERs and on the battlefield—and they started noticing that some people that had had ketamine as an anesthetic were not depressed anymore.” The use of psychedelics to treat mental illness was pushed underground during the War on Drugs It has only become “respectable” again in the last few years “I’d like to acknowledge our debt and gratitude to the indigenous peoples and cultures who’ve used psychedelic medicines for eons and have brought this information forward to us to use at this point in time We also acknowledge our debt and gratitude to the work of underground therapists who’ve also been doing this work since the ’60s and at great personal risk and who have been able to bring this work forward.” As interest in psychedelics as medicine has grown over the years ketamine clinics have proliferated in more psychologically adventurous parts of the country The Sebastopol practice that is now Liminal Medicine was first founded as Evolve Mind Wellness by psychiatrist Dr Tamar-Mattis worked at Evolve Mind Wellness she and Anne started Liminal Medicine in the same spot the clinic has four other employees: three psychotherapists and a part-time nurse psychotherapy is an integral part of the process There are four treatment rooms and when they’re all full of patients She checks on the patients’ medical status while the clinic’s psychotherapists keep the patients company while they’re tripping They take notes on anything the patient says or does and then helps them explore and discuss what they experienced while under the influence of ketamine “My job at the office is to get people the right amount of high,” Dr You’re not going to be able to bring it back So you need to be deep enough in that you’re able to have that psychedelic experience and yet be able to remember it and bring it back to work on it.” You can’t just walk in off the street and go tripping “There are three visits before you get ketamine,” Dr “The first visit is a medical intake with me The second visit is a psychological intake with a therapist and the next one is the prep session where the therapist you’re going to be working with will talk about how the medicine is going to go and just getting people ready for that And then there’s the first medicine visit—and that’s two-and-a-half hours.” The treatment rooms look more like therapists’ offices than doctors’ offices Medical equipment is kept discreetly out of view rather elegant recliners and wear a soft eye mask to encourage them to focus on their inner experience One of the practice’s psychotherapists stays with them throughout the entire experience Tamar-Mattis delivers the ketamine via intramuscular injection She checks in with the patients throughout the experience to make sure they’ve achieved “the right amount of high.” How much of that two-and-a-half-hour appointment is spent in a ketamine state and how much is spent talking about it “It really depends on the client,” said Moksha Donahue one of the psychotherapists who works at Liminal Medicine Donahue is also a graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies’ Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies & Research program “Some people are so out there in the medicine that they’re not able to really respond or talk during that,” she said they’re under the medicine for a good hour and 15 minutes and then we’re helping them find their feet remember the imagery and the feelings they felt remember the things they saw and I’m recording that down.” Sometimes if patients seem frightened or agitated during the ketamine experience This treatment isn’t cheap. According to their website, the three initial intake visits are $875, and every ketamine visit is $950. “Most people do about four to six weeks of treatment, so that’s going to run about $5,000 to $8,000,” said Anne Tamar-Mattis, who runs the business side of the practice. (They sometimes offer special packages so check their website.) Anne also noted that they do group ketamine therapy ketamine therapy is meant to be a short-term treatment—weeks instead of months or years and clients may need to come back for another treatment Donahue said that ketamine can work as a kind of shortcut in psychotherapy “Ketamine offers quicker access to the psyche the undefended part of you that is actually working behind the scenes at all times That’s the part of you that is pulling for something or pushing away from something,” she said “And I think the ketamine really offers you a metaphorical glimpse into your psyche like your psyche is kicking up all these metaphors to help you kind of see what your dilemmas are on a different level.” but Donahue said that clients’ interpretations of the metaphors in their ketamine experience are purely individual There’s no interpretive guide to what the symbols or metaphors mean (unless you’re a Jungian—but that’s a whole other article) Tamar-Mattis says that ketamine has been successful in treating depression Tamar-Mattis and Donahue said it was particularly effective for people who suffer from suicidal ideation Their patients range in age from teens to seniors especially for people who suffer from motion sickness people have extremely intense experiences under ketamine—that happens about once every three months or so There are contraindications for ketamine treatment: While ketamine can be used for bipolar disorder it is not advised during an active manic state Donahue said that some personality disorders are resistant to ketamine “So people who are very stuck in a story of being sick and really blame a lot of people don’t typically do well with psychedelics,” she said “The important thing to know about psychedelics for treating any of these conditions is it’s not just the medicine; it’s the medicine and the therapy together,” Dr She is frustrated with the standard medical/pharmaceutical approach of “‘You get a pill and you just don’t talk to us anymore,’ and that’s it She also finds mainstream medicine’s distrust of anything psychedelic or mystical counterproductive “There are scientists trying to invent drugs like this that will not give you a trip,” she said “There’s a pharmaceutical company right now that is about to start human trials with an LSD analog that’s supposed to not get you high but that should help with depression But people have really profound insights sometimes during the psychedelic part…The research shows that if you get into that psychedelic effect And so we tend to dose up into that psychedelic effect and we feel like that’s not just a good side effect but that’s part of the healing experience.” Learn more at liminal-med.com. ReplyShare1 reply1 more comment...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts Liminal Medicine\u2019s Moksha Donahue (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)Liminal Medicine is Sebastopol\u2019s only ketamine-assisted therapy practice It\u2019s a not-so-subliminal suggestion to patients to not attempt to control the psychedelic experience they\u2019re about to have \u201CIt\u2019s the idea of letting go,\u201D said Dr It was her work with these groups\u2014seeing the extent of mental illness and the relative ineffectiveness of standard treatments\u2014that led her to embrace alternative methodologies like ketamine she did the California Institute of Integral Studies\u2019 certification program in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies & Research that\u2019s the only one Tamar-Mattis said she uses in her practice \u201CKetamine is widely used as a battlefield anesthetic \u201CPeople protect their airways on ketamine so you don\u2019t have to intubate\u2026It\u2019s been widely used as anesthetic in ERs and on the battlefield\u2014and they started noticing that some people that had had ketamine as an anesthetic were not depressed anymore.\u201D It has only become \u201Crespectable\u201D again in the last few years \u201CI\u2019d like to acknowledge our debt and gratitude to the indigenous peoples and cultures who\u2019ve used psychedelic medicines for eons and have brought this information forward to us to use at this point in time who\u2019ve also been doing this work since the \u201960s and at great personal risk and who have been able to bring this work forward.\u201D There are four treatment rooms and when they\u2019re all full of patients She checks on the patients\u2019 medical status while the clinic\u2019s psychotherapists keep the patients company while they\u2019re tripping \u201CMy job at the office is to get people the right amount of high,\u201D Dr and you\u2019re not going to remember anything You\u2019re not going to be able to bring it back So you need to be deep enough in that you\u2019re able to have that psychedelic experience and yet be able to remember it and bring it back to work on it.\u201D You can\u2019t just walk in off the street and go tripping \u201CThere are three visits before you get ketamine,\u201D Dr \u201CThe first visit is a medical intake with me and the next one is the prep session where the therapist you\u2019re going to be working with will talk about how the medicine is going to go and just getting people ready for that And then there\u2019s the first medicine visit\u2014and that\u2019s two-and-a-half hours.\u201D The treatment rooms look more like therapists\u2019 offices than doctors\u2019 offices One of the practice\u2019s psychotherapists stays with them throughout the entire experience She checks in with the patients throughout the experience to make sure they\u2019ve achieved \u201Cthe right amount of high.\u201D \u201CIt really depends on the client,\u201D said Moksha Donahue Donahue is also a graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies\u2019 Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies & Research program \u201CSome people are so out there in the medicine that they\u2019re not able to really respond or talk during that,\u201D she said they\u2019re under the medicine for a good hour and 15 minutes and then we\u2019re helping them find their feet remember the things they saw and I\u2019m recording that down.\u201D Sometimes This treatment isn\u2019t cheap. According to their website, the three initial intake visits are $875, and every ketamine visit is $950. \u201CMost people do about four to six weeks of treatment, so that\u2019s going to run about $5,000 to $8,000,\u201D said Anne Tamar-Mattis, who runs the business side of the practice. (They sometimes offer special packages so check their website.) ketamine therapy is meant to be a short-term treatment\u2014weeks instead of months or years \u201CKetamine offers quicker access to the psyche That\u2019s the part of you that is pulling for something or pushing away from something,\u201D she said \u201CAnd I think the ketamine really offers you a metaphorical glimpse into your psyche like your psyche is kicking up all these metaphors to help you kind of see what your dilemmas are on a different level.\u201D but Donahue said that clients\u2019 interpretations of the metaphors in their ketamine experience are purely individual There\u2019s no interpretive guide to what the symbols or metaphors mean (unless you\u2019re a Jungian\u2014but that\u2019s a whole other article) people have extremely intense experiences under ketamine\u2014that happens about once every three months or so \u201CSo people who are very stuck in a story of being sick and really blame a lot of people don\u2019t typically do well with psychedelics,\u201D she said \u201CThe important thing to know about psychedelics for treating any of these conditions is it\u2019s not just the medicine; it\u2019s the medicine and the therapy together,\u201D Dr She is frustrated with the standard medical/pharmaceutical approach of \u201C\u2018You get a pill and you just don\u2019t talk to us anymore,\u2019 and that\u2019s it This is not that type of medication.\u201D She also finds mainstream medicine\u2019s distrust of anything psychedelic or mystical counterproductive \u201CThere are scientists trying to invent drugs like this that will not give you a trip,\u201D she said \u201CThere\u2019s a pharmaceutical company right now that is about to start human trials with an LSD analog that\u2019s supposed to not get you high but that should help with depression But people have really profound insights sometimes during the psychedelic part\u2026The research shows that if you get into that psychedelic effect and we feel like that\u2019s not just a good side effect but that\u2019s part of the healing experience.\u201D Learn more at liminal-med.com. On Thursday, we updated our story about the decision by the city and former Sebastopol City Manager Don Schwartz to part ways. We added new information about his severance, the cost of recruiting a new city manager, and how the city council phrase the decision that led to their vote. Recruiting a new city manager can cost between $23,000 and $32,000. So all and all, this was a pretty expensive decision. Former Sebastopol City Manager Don SchwartzUPDATE: On 4/17/25, this article was updated with new information about severance and the wording of the resolution that vote to separate was based on. According to a press release from the city of Sebastopol, sent at 2 am last night, the City of Sebastopol announced that the City Council and the City Manager Don Schwartz have \u201Cmutually agreed to end their professional relationship, effective immediately.\u201D According to a council meeting recap email from Councilmember Sandra Maurer, \u201CThe vote was 3-2 with Mayor Zollman, Vice Mayor McLewis and Phill Carter in favor, and Neysa Hinton and myself opposed.\u201D Looking at Schwartz\u2019s employment contract with the city, it seems likely that he will receive a substantial severance package. His yearly salary is $245,000, and he was in the second year of a three-year contract. Since he and the city terminated his contract within 18 months of his hiring, his employee contract indicates that his severance would be around $183,000 (which is nine months of his base salary). \u201CI am disappointed in the decision,\u201D Maurer wrote in her email. \u201CDon accomplished a lot of good things during his time here, and I wish him the best.\u201D Mayor Stephen Zollman announced the separation after the late-night, closed-session meeting that followed last night\u2019s city council meeting. In his remarks, he credited Schwartz\u2019s work: \u201CDuring his tenure, Mr. Schwartz helped guide the City through a number of significant challenges in his year and a half as City Manager. Among other things, Mr. Schwartz assisted in negotiating an agreement to consolidate the Fire Department and helped establish a path to solve the City\u2019s financial challenges.\u201D Maurer\u2019s recap of the meeting said that Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley will temporarily step into the role of city manager, which Gourley confirmed: \u201CI will be filling in temporarily as the acting city manager, but still doing my current duties until they hire an interim city manager,\u201D Gourley told the Sebastopol Times this morning. Schwartz\u2019s resume seemed tailor-made for a town in a financial crisis, and this \u201Cseparation\u201D could not have come at a worse time\u2014with the city in the middle of its annual budget process. Happily, some other long-running city decisions, like the change of garbage hauler and the consolidation of the fire department with Goldridge, are done- or almost-done deals, and just last night, the council approved the development agreement for the Barlow Hotel. The 79th Apple Blossom Festival got off to damp start on Saturday, but by Sunday it was cloudy and warm and folks were happy to chill out to bands playing music from the sixties, stroll among the vendor booths, and eat the kind of festival food you can’t find anywhere else. ReplyShareTopLatestDiscussionsNo posts The 79th Apple Blossom Festival got off to damp start on Saturday, but by Sunday it was cloudy and warm and folks were happy to chill out to bands playing music from the sixties, stroll among the vendor booths, and eat the kind of festival food you can\u2019t find anywhere else. here are the two gals who poured their hearts into making this the best Apple Blossom Parade and Festival: Ambrosia Newsom-Thomson and Lori Jay Thank you!!Sebastopol Times is a reader-supported publication KQED Live EventsPRX Podcast Garage EventsEvents Around the Bay AreaMember Benefits with KQED LiveVideos from KQED LiveWatch recordings of recent KQED Live events FeaturedThat's My WordAn ongoing exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history See Senior Director of TV Programming Meredith Speight’s recommendations from this month’s KQED 9 Watch recordings of recent KQED Live events Support KQED by using your donor-advised fund to make a charitable gift John Cooper, pictured outside the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, was with the Sundance Film Festival for 30 years. (Gabe Meline/KQED)When John Cooper finally returned to film festivals Having retired to the small town of Sebastopol the former director of the Sundance Film Festival offered to volunteer at a local documentary festival They assigned him to work the sandwich table “Not telling them who I was or anything,” Cooper says on a recent afternoon in Sebastopol recalling his amused relief at being bossed around Cooper’s anonymity didn’t last long he was quickly promoted from sandwich server to help plan the entire 2025 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival After a year-long hiatus so Cooper could reshape it (“Back when the train went down Main Street,” he reminisces.) He attended Santa Rosa Junior College doing Summer Repertory Theatre there as an actor and dancer it’s tempting to think of Sebastopol as a coastal analogue to Sundance’s tiny host city and comes with pressure and expectation for its director Cooper says one of his hardest tasks used to be announcing the films that Sundance had accepted — because he’d also have to send letters of rejection to thousands more going from one of the world’s biggest film institutions to a relatively under-the-radar festival in Sonoma County has its challenges Cooper wants to make the Sebastopol festival over the radar ‘We’ve got to own this town.’ Everybody knows about the Apple Blossom Parade but they don’t know anything about this festival?” Cooper says Many of the festival’s changes over the past year occurred behind the scenes But this year’s attendees will notice one of Cooper’s primary suggestions: show fewer films it’s easy to get overwhelmed looking at a packed schedule and “you have to do so much research just to see what you need to see.” this year’s schedule is more streamlined with 57 films in five different auditoriums it’s among the festival’s most promising in years Festival opener The White House Effect follows the fractured response to climate change by the George H.W The perils of dictatorship are explored in Democracy Noir about the tactics of Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán (“It’s a cautionary tale of literally everything that we’re doing right now,” says Cooper.) Of local interest are The Bird Rescue Center, about volunteers in Santa Rosa who nurse native birds back to health, and Bad Hostage, which examines Stockholm syndrome through the lens of three women: Patty Hearst, Kristin Enmark and the filmmakers’ own grandmother, who was held hostage in Sebastopol in 1973 Music is well-represented, too, with The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane, about the folk singer and activist who once rallied against a proposed PG&E nuclear power plant on the Sonoma coast The Opener is accompanied by a live performance by Philip Labes the film’s subject who goes from street performer to the big stage and Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me including a conversation about the state of documentary filmmaking led by Cooper himself “It’s so bad right now — funding it’s all crashed and burned,” Cooper says about the documentary landscape “after a very hot moment when documentaries were it for a while Netflix was throwing big money at making documentaries And now they’ve all pulled back and stopped.” Cooper’s experience and acumen have been just what the festival needed, according to Serafina Palandech, the executive director at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts “Cooper is so generous with his time and his knowledge You would never know that he has this illustrious career and background,” Palandech says Along with Sebastopol, Cooper has gotten involved in nearby Healdsburg and an effort there to build a three-screen film center from the ground up is set to open in the fall with Cooper as its artistic director And despite his anonymity being blown in Sonoma County he still does grunt work in this small town he found himself driving around the outskirts of town putting up roadside signs advertising the festival next to hand-painted wooden announcements for folk concerts and the local spaghetti feed “I didn’t even know how to put a stake in the ground!” Cooper laughs remarking that the posts he hammered into the dirt are mostly crooked The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival runs March 27–30 at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts and Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol. Details here For the latest in our partnership with the Sebastopol Times KRCB's Noah Abrams talks with the reporter and editor Laura Hagar Rush or the departure of Sebastopol city manager Don Schwartz that seems to be the top of ticket item as far as news in Sebastopol That was a huge shock to a lot of people in town The city council at the end late night after 10:30 at night they went into closed session and and voted three to two to how did they put it [Schwartz is] in the middle of a three-year contract and it's going to cost the city about $220,000 to let him out of that contract That includes severance and then also the cost of finding and re-hiring a new city manager Noah Abrams: Has there been any sort of clues as to why this dismissal happened All the city council people were under closed session They're not allowed to talk about personnel issues either A lot of people in the town are very worried Don seemed to be a really stabilizing presence in the city in terms of really sort of at least running the council [with] kind of extreme sort of levels of professionalism we don't exactly know what's going to happen And a lot of people are pretty angry about it Noah Abrams: A really surprising situation to say the least Should we talk about Analy's new cell phone policy in classrooms Governor Newsom signed a phone free school act That gave all schools in California until 2026 to basically ban cell phones from classrooms decided he didn't want to wait that long and actually he'd been getting a lot of pressure from some of the teachers to move faster on this it's just that cell phones are allowed on campus but must be turned off and put away during class time; and it's kind of up to the teacher about how that's enforced Some teachers just require that students put their phone in their backpacks and zip up the backpack Others actually have little drop off either boxes wooden boxes on their desk where students drop their phones when they come in Analy already had a cell phone policy in place that was basically this they made the punishment a little more serious...But the idea is they're going to enforce it more He says that he has seen really a dramatic downturn in reading ability for his students; you can see it in the test scores obviously but you can also he says see it in day-to-day classroom work He says if he tries to assign even like three or four paragraphs And he says it's not [because] they can't read it's that they don't want to.They don't like it This is super concerning to him and he's hoping that this ban will go some way towards reversing that problem Noah Abrams: If you have anything else to say on that one happy to move on to what's happening at Ives Park I think anybody who's spent enough time around Sebastopol knows and loves the feeling of going to Peace Town and hanging out on the Ives Park lawn but it can be a little funny the way it's bifurcated there by that concrete channel of a creek bed it seems like that might be subject to change a very interesting thing is happening with Ives' Park right now and in particular with Calder Creek There's a group called the California Urban Streams Partnership that several years ago proposed a very extensive day lighting of Calder Creek through Ives Park under High Street opening the creek basically across Main Street across Petaluma Avenue and into the Laguna So they basically want to break apart the channel and naturalize the creek from like High Street up to what's called the Weir or what used to be the little pond area This has caused some controversy interestingly almost everyone in Sebastopol is in favor of a naturalized and open creek The problem is there's another group called Friends of Ives Park who I should say are all also sort of well-known local environmentalists They are kind of grudgingly supportive of phase one of opening the creek but their concern is phase two would open the creek from the middle of Ives Park up to Jewel [Avenue] And it would just basically wipe out about 50% of the event space And so people who are very committed to the use of Ives Park for sort of community activities like Peace Town are worried that that really won't be so possible with this kind of big big creek restoration and naturalization Lawrence Jaffe of the Grange said when I spoke to him not a creek." Which is interesting [because] he's a really a lifelong environmentalist but he cares about keeping the event area a big communal space for Sebastopol to sort of have its celebrations in It'll be interesting to see how far or how that project advances I think there's a couple fun ones you want to tell us about there is the Apple Blossom Parade and Festival And I have one more thing that I want to tell you about He announced sort of several plans and one of them that I thought was super fun was that he wants to have like a mounted volunteer unit like a equestrian unit for the police force made up of like One of the reasons he wanted to do that was as he talked to people in the police station he realized that a lot of them were horseback riders and that gave him this idea and he thought it really matched the kind of rural quality of Sebastopol we'll see if we see them out there at the Apple Blossom Parade Here are links to what's happening RIGHT NOW in Sonoma County Start your weekday mornings with the Sonoma County First News podcast bringing you the top local headlines and a detailed weather forecast to kick off your day Stay informed with the latest breaking news and stories from communities across Sonoma County—from Petaluma to Cloverdale Subscribe to the Sonoma County First News podcast through the NorCal Mobile App, NPR Podcasts or iTunes/Apple Podcasts. Get the latest updates on programs and events. Dear Reader,Unfortunately our comment platform isn\'t available at the moment due to issues with our paywall and authentication vendor. Thanks for your patience. This Thursday at 5 am behind the Sebastopol Youth Annex (Photo courtesy of Apple Tree Morris)Science Buzz Cafe: The Mysteries of BlueMonday a butterfly—all can be blue for different and fascinating reasons Blue can be generated by the structure of minerals and at other times Karen Frindell Teuscher as she unveils the many mysteries of the colors blue Discover Girl Scouts and start a new Daisy TroopTuesday Jewish Film Festival - Resistance: They Fought BackTuesday Art Reception for new murals at the GrangeTuesday Everyone is invited to join Grangers and friends at their monthly general meeting and Art Reception for new murals at the Grange we will be celebrating vibrant new murals by Artstart Sonoma County youth and Analy High School with guidance from Art Instructor Asherah Weiss They display the creativity and skill of our local young artists The art will bring new life into the historic Grange Hall This project reimagines the classic symbolism of the Grange’s Three Graces – Pomona (fruit) Sebastopol Community Meeting with SCRR - Sonoma County Resource RecoveryTuesday at this upcoming community meeting to ask questions and learn more about your new garbage services “Sebastopol Spire” Official Public Dedication of East Entry SculptureWednesday the new Sebastopol East Entrance Sculpture by local and international artist Ned Kahn will be officially dedicated in a public opening ceremony symbolic sculpture is located in a meadow just off the Highway 12/Bodega Avenue entrance to Sebastopol just north and west of the bridge entering town from Santa Rosa This sculpture has been funded by the City of Sebastopol and approved by the Sebastopol City Council The location and sculpture were determined by the Sebastopol Public Arts Committee Dancing at dawn on Beltane, the 1st of May, is an old agricultural custom in England. After the long winter, May signals the lush blooming of spring and the promise of the summer to come. For a quarter century, our community has danced the sun up behind the Sebastopol Community Center Annex. Arrive at 5am to experience the fullness of the transition from the dark to the light. You’ll be so glad you came! Learn more Sumbody Skincare Warehouse SaleThursday through Sunday Are you missing Sumbody since it closed its Main Street location? Find high quality skincare, bodycare, and more, made in Sebastopol, at Sumbody's warehouse sale, starting May 1st. It runs for two long weekends, May 1-4 and May 15-18. May 1: 3:30 to 6 pm. May 2: 12 pm to 5 pm. May 3: 10:30 am to 2 pm. May 4: 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Learn more Stop by to meet your local community of makers You can also have some fun with our hands-on activities and live demonstrations Copperfield's Presents: Dancing at the Bluebird by Christine WalkerFriday Copperfield’s Books welcomes Christine Walker to Sebastopol in celebration of her new historical fiction novel young Mattie and Kip tap dance and ride the rails during the Great Depression Separated by a perceived betrayal and a train crash the two friends lose each other for a lifetime Mattie recalls the roving youth who set her life in motion and confides her deepest regrets to her granddaughter who discovers lessons in the past for present challenges Discussion followed by a Q&A and book signing West County Fixit Fair & Clothing SwapSaturday Volunteers and specialized repair professionals will be on-hand to evaluate and possibly repair your items. We ask that you stay with your item while it's being fixed so you can learn tips for future maintenance This event will also include a clothing swap for adults and children Apple Cider Vinegar for Better HealthSaturday In this five-hour-long class, you will be making a small tote bag with a single handle and the option to add a strap on the sides in the future. We will be learning skills such as how to use a pattern, cut a hide, add simple stamping, dyeing, and finally assembly. We will be stitching by hand, which, once you get the hang of it, becomes very meditative. Learn more at the downtown crossroads of Main Street and Bodega Avenue in Sebastopol Protest against the Trump administration and policies. Learn more Discover an amazing selection of work from local crafters and artisans—perfect for unique gifts or just treating yourself Community Bio-Wellness & Healers Market FairSaturday Discover and experience a range of alternative healing therapies 3 pm; community wellness discussion circle 3:30 pm; and group energy healing and sound ceremony Join Rocks and Clouds Zendo in Making a Flower Bower (10 am to 12 pm); Buddha’s Birthday Celebration Ceremony Succulents + Ceramics Garden Art SaleSunday Presented by the UC Master Gardeners Program of Sonoma County and SebArts Poetry Challenge: Interweaving Found TextSunday Dave Silva & Nick Simmons Annual Student Concert at HopMonk SebastopolSunday teens and grown-ups at our end-of-the-school-year show Join the fun as these musicians of all ages take the stage Art Exhibit: "The Great Oaks Series" by Adam WolpertSunday Join the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation for the opening reception of The Great Oaks Series featuring a special selection of large-scale giclée prints from Adam Wolpert’s acclaimed oak tree portraits This exhibit offers a rare opportunity to see these works together Come and dance the maypole and celebrate the turning of the wheel of the year Be in community with other goddess/pagan/nature worshipers and honor the height of spring Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door but no one will be turned away for lack of funds a butterfly\u2014all can be blue for different and fascinating reasons This project reimagines the classic symbolism of the Grange\u2019s Three Graces \u2013 Pomona (fruit) \u201CSebastopol Spire\u201D Official Public Dedication of East Entry SculptureWednesday Dancing at dawn on Beltane, the 1st of May, is an old agricultural custom in England. After the long winter, May signals the lush blooming of spring and the promise of the summer to come. For a quarter century, our community has danced the sun up behind the Sebastopol Community Center Annex. Arrive at 5am to experience the fullness of the transition from the dark to the light. You\u2019ll be so glad you came! Learn more Are you missing Sumbody since it closed its Main Street location? Find high quality skincare, bodycare, and more, made in Sebastopol, at Sumbody's warehouse sale, starting May 1st. It runs for two long weekends, May 1-4 and May 15-18. May 1: 3:30 to 6 pm. May 2: 12 pm to 5 pm. May 3: 10:30 am to 2 pm. May 4: 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Learn more Copperfield\u2019s Books welcomes Christine Walker to Sebastopol in celebration of her new historical fiction novel In this five-hour-long class, you will be making a small tote bag with a single handle and the option to add a strap on the sides in the future. We will be learning skills such as how to use a pattern, cut a hide, add simple stamping, dyeing, and finally assembly. We will be stitching by hand, which, once you get the hang of it, becomes very meditative. Learn more Protest against the Trump administration and policies. Learn more and artisans\u2014perfect for unique gifts or just treating yourself Join Rocks and Clouds Zendo in Making a Flower Bower (10 am to 12 pm); Buddha\u2019s Birthday Celebration Ceremony Art Exhibit: \\\"The Great Oaks Series\\\" by Adam WolpertSunday featuring a special selection of large-scale gicl\u00E9e prints from Adam Wolpert\u2019s acclaimed oak tree portraits Want us to feature your event in \u201CWhat\u2019s happening this week in Sebastopol?\u201D Submit your events to the Sebastopol Community Calendar. This is one of the many resources I use to put this column together. On Saturday, the rain held off just long enough for the 79th Apple Blossom Parade to wind its way from Analy High School down Main Street. With a ’60s theme of Flower Power, there were tie-dye and peace signs a plenty. The parade was its usual blend of hippies, old time ag, marching bands, VFW, police and other small town heroes—except this time, even some farmers wore tie-dye. Our reporter Mark Fernquest captured all the action from beginning to end. Sebastopol Times is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Just wondering where the HubBub Club band was? I have a friend who was playing Sousaphone.😊 ReplyShare1 reply2 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts On Saturday, the rain held off just long enough for the 79th Apple Blossom Parade to wind its way from Analy High School down Main Street. With a \u201960s theme of Flower Power, there were tie-dye and peace signs a plenty. The parade was its usual blend of hippies, old time ag, marching bands, VFW, police and other small town heroes\u2014except this time, even some farmers wore tie-dye. Our reporter Mark Fernquest captured all the action from beginning to end. If we missed identifying your parade entry (and it\u2019s not obvious from the sign you\u2019re carrying) an international female philanthropic organization and aims to offer grants to nonprofits in Sebastopol and elsewhere A group of Sebastopol philanthropists — concerned about dwindling local state and federal grant opportunities for local nonprofits — have joined forces to create a new funding resource for west Sonoma County charitable organizations an international female philanthropic giving circle with two local giving branches in Sonoma and Santa Rosa The idea is to create a “giving circle” of community stewards that awards nonprofits from Forestville Freestone and Sebastopol with grant dollars The giving circle is composed of members — donors who give at least $1,300 annually plus business sponsors and founding members who are asked to donate at least $5,000 per year At an annual meeting — the group is aiming for October --- the members will vote on how to award the funding to local nonprofits The group has yet to open up its application process for grants “This is really an opportunity to celebrate and honor what’s positive in west county,” said Diana Rich “We started talking about the great financial needs of our area nonprofits,” said Craig Litwin “We put together a short list of community leaders got them together and there was instant synergy.” That short list evolved into the organization’s board of directors which includes Sebastopol business owner and philanthropist Craig Boblitt former Sebastopol Planning Director Kenyon Webster former Sebastopol Area Senior Center Director Linda Civitello Sebastopol Grange and Rotary member Lawrence Jaffe who both served on the Sebastopol City Council connecting with the Sonoma County Community Foundation a nonprofit philanthropic hub that connects donors with area nonprofits “We’re thrilled to support Sebastopol West 100 as they launch this exciting new giving circle,” Oscar Chavez “Their commitment to strengthening the community and supporting local nonprofits aligns with our vision of a vibrant It’s inspiring to see this kind of grassroots leadership in action — we’re proud to help fuel the generosity taking root in west county.” the group has collected more than $170,000 At least 85% of the funds raised will go directly back to the community with no more than 15% of funds going toward administrative costs including 3% back to Sonoma County Community Foundation Many of those donations have come from Sebastopol West 100 memberships she understands the power that a giving circle can have on a local nonprofit “It is really great to be able to maximize your giving impact,” she said But she also felt that west Sonoma County missed out on many grant opportunities during her time with Impact 100 who is serving on the new group’s grant committee says that Sebastopol West 100 will give the area’s 400-plus nonprofits a chance to thrive during a fiscally uncertain time “We can really help make an impact,” she said “There’s a big difference between a $1,000 donation that could mean hiring a grant writer or development director Rossi thinks the group has been successful because despite Sebastopol’s current fiscal situation garbage and sales tax rates to increase since July 2024 people are looking for a way to contribute we’re not going to back pedal,” Rossi said “This is an opportunity to help our neighbors,” Boblitt added The group is clear: They’re not bailing out city leaders who have been dealing with a $1 million-plus budget deficit for the past year The deficit has led city officials to cut the grants it usually allocates to local nonprofits as a means to shore up the budget whose City Council term ended in December 2024 “there are so many things that Sebastopol does well But the board — and Sugg — acknowledge they still have a lot of work ahead especially since they aim to distribute funds by October “I think their challenges will be setting a framework and expectations,” Sugg said Amie Windsor is the Community Journalism Team Lead with The Press Democrat She can be reached at amie.windsor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5218 apothecary gardens and more will host a family-friendly farm tour and seasonal supper will host a family-friendly farm tour and seasonal supper from 2-5 p.m the bucolic property is home to Fledgling Farm Bramble Tail Homestead and others dedicated to regenerative farming practices The guided tour is followed by a family-style supper prepared by chef Melanie Burkett of Inner Temple Foods The menu includes Meyer lemon roasted chicken with smashed baby potatoes vegetables and cheese biscuits with radish butter Cap it off with chocolate buttermilk cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream Tickets are $109 for adults and $34 for children under 10. Purchase at pdne.ws/4jE2ss8 Get a jump on the summer fruit season and learn how to turn its bounty into delicious jams with Leslie Goodrich “queen jammer” and owner of Lala’s Jam Bar Known for her marmalades and creative jam flavors Goodrich will share the secrets behind her award-winning creations Each two-hour class includes a jar of jam and a cotton apron to take home Classes are $75 per person and are limited to three people For more information, see pdne.ws/44tBW0f or call 707-773-1083. 720 E. Washington St. Linda Kelley, a registered nurse for almost 50 years, former Sebastopol mayor, city council member and planning commissioner, and long-time activist and advocate, passed peacefully in her sleep on March 11.Linda grew up in a religious family that was dedicated to service to others, which she transformed into a lifetime of public service. She started her\u2026 “That number is just up and up and up, year over year,” Davis told the Sebastopol Times. “And the older population is just going to continue to increase. So we’re kind of at a pivotal point of growth. We’ve just maxed out of our center.” Davis said they’re turning away about 100 people a month because the center’s classes and workshops are simply oversubscribed. “Our staff really started noticing the waitlist issue about six to eight months ago,” Davis said. “Then maybe three months ago, we started an all-volunteer Expansion Committee.” The Expansion Committee is made up of local community members and Senior Center board members, who are working together to figure out how to get more space for the senior center’s programs. At first they considered expanding the center’s existing building, but Davis said every plan they came up with—enclosing the garage, expanding into their parking lot or the side yard—had problems. “It seems like every time we talked about it, there’s a cost analysis that doesn’t really add up,” she said. “It’s expensive to do construction projects. And then there’s code issues and all kinds of ADA stuff that we’re trying to figure out. And we wouldn’t gain any meaningful amount of space from those kinds of changes.” The Expansion Committee also began looking at other properties. Almost immediately, the perfect site appeared: the Church of Latter Day Saints property at 8100 Valentine Avenue in Sebastopol. The property is selling for $3,095,000 and has been on the market for almost a year. The LDS property at 8100 Valentine in Sebastopol.In the meantime, representatives from the senior center began meeting with the city of Sebastopol, which owns the current senior center building, to see if they could get the High Street property appraised. “We had a meeting with a former city manager and the mayor and Mark [Rincón-Ibarra], the new public works guy, and a couple of our board members, talking about, ‘Okay, can we leverage the value of our property? Maybe the city can sell that property?’ she said. “It’s incredibly valuable. It’s got a commercial kitchen. It’s downtown. The zoning is commercial, too.” According to Davis, “The former city manager approved the appraisal costs for the next fiscal year, so in July, at some point, we’ll be able to get an appraisal of the property, just so, if there’s a property that comes up for sale, maybe we can act on it a little quicker,” she said. They’ve also considered other sites, including the old CVS building and the O’Reilly complex, each of which, according to Davis, had its own problems. The CVS building is priced at roughly $3 million and would require a huge renovation. O’Reilly would be a rental—and that’s a whole other headache. “Right now, we are in a city building and so we pay $1 a year in rent,” Davis said, joking that she didn’t think the O’Reilly owner would meet that price. “If we move to a new place and have to pay rent, that could impact how we raise money and how we're able to offer services.” What about a strategic partnership with another local nonprofit? Davis said the senior center has also reached out to some other nonprofits, like the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, to see if they’d like to look for a new building together. “The community center is struggling with their building,” she said. “It’s not a long-term, viable solution, with being in the floodplain and all, and so, what if we could save this city overhead by kind of operating out of the same space?” Davis is enormously grateful for the city’s commitment to the Senior Center, but she said it’s been a little hard to navigate communications within the city. Mayor Stephen Zollman has floated his vision for creating a large civic and nonprofit hub, that could house the library, city hall, the senior center and many of the city’s nonprofits. Davis said she’s heard about this plan through the city’s nonprofit collaborative. “He wants to advocate for the hub, which I think is great. But I feel like it’s a little abstract at this point. I’m a little worried that it might take too long, and we’ve got seniors that need services now,” Davis said. “But yes, we’re very willing to continue that conversation. I just, quite frankly, don’t know if it will come to fruition.” Sebastopol Area Senior Center Director Katie Davis (Photo from the senior center website)In the meantime In the meantime, the senior center has started holding classes at other sites around town. “In the short term, we’ve just added four new classes at Soft Medicine. They’re giving us a killer deal on rent in one of their downstairs spaces, so that’s been great,” Davis said. “We’ve also worked with Wischemann Hall for a long time. So we do classes over there, and then we do the Dance Art Space. So we’re kind of doing all this off-site programming—kind of trying to put a band-aid on the wait list.” “We’ll continue to explore off-site spaces, but the intent is to offer a kind of hub for seniors to come in and have a meal, meet with friends, socialize, take a class and get wraparound services,” she said. “And when we piecemeal and do things off-site, they don’t get that same level of service.” ReplyShare1 reply4 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts At the recent city council goal-setting meeting, Sebastopol Area Senior Center Director Katie Davis announced during public comment that the senior center had become so popular that it was actually having to turn people away from its events. The center has been growing by about 20% a year, Davis said. It got almost 30,000 visits last year from roughly 2,200 individuals at the center\u2019s picturesque building on High Street\u2014and they are simply running out of room. \u201CThat number is just up and up and up, year over year,\u201D Davis told the Sebastopol Times. \u201CAnd the older population is just going to continue to increase. So we\u2019re kind of at a pivotal point of growth. We\u2019ve just maxed out of our center.\u201D Davis said they\u2019re turning away about 100 people a month because the center\u2019s classes and workshops are simply oversubscribed. \u201COur staff really started noticing the waitlist issue about six to eight months ago,\u201D Davis said. \u201CThen maybe three months ago, we started an all-volunteer Expansion Committee.\u201D The Expansion Committee is made up of local community members and Senior Center board members, who are working together to figure out how to get more space for the senior center\u2019s programs. At first they considered expanding the center\u2019s existing building, but Davis said every plan they came up with\u2014enclosing the garage, expanding into their parking lot or the side yard\u2014had problems. \u201CIt seems like every time we talked about it, there\u2019s a cost analysis that doesn\u2019t really add up,\u201D she said. \u201CIt\u2019s expensive to do construction projects. And then there\u2019s code issues and all kinds of ADA stuff that we\u2019re trying to figure out. And we wouldn\u2019t gain any meaningful amount of space from those kinds of changes.\u201D \u201CWe had a meeting with a former city manager and the mayor and Mark [Rinc\u00F3n-Ibarra], the new public works guy, and a couple of our board members, talking about, \u2018Okay, can we leverage the value of our property? Maybe the city can sell that property?\u2019 she said. \u201CIt\u2019s incredibly valuable. It\u2019s got a commercial kitchen. It\u2019s downtown. The zoning is commercial, too.\u201D According to Davis, \u201CThe former city manager approved the appraisal costs for the next fiscal year, so in July, at some point, we\u2019ll be able to get an appraisal of the property, just so, if there\u2019s a property that comes up for sale, maybe we can act on it a little quicker,\u201D she said. They\u2019ve also considered other sites, including the old CVS building and the O\u2019Reilly complex, each of which, according to Davis, had its own problems. The CVS building is priced at roughly $3 million and would require a huge renovation. O\u2019Reilly would be a rental\u2014and that\u2019s a whole other headache. \u201CRight now, we are in a city building and so we pay $1 a year in rent,\u201D Davis said, joking that she didn\u2019t think the O\u2019Reilly owner would meet that price. \u201CIf we move to a new place and have to pay rent, that could impact how we raise money and how we're able to offer services.\u201D Davis said the senior center has also reached out to some other nonprofits, like the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, to see if they\u2019d like to look for a new building together. \u201CThe community center is struggling with their building,\u201D she said. \u201CIt\u2019s not a long-term, viable solution, with being in the floodplain and all, and so, what if we could save this city overhead by kind of operating out of the same space?\u201D Davis is enormously grateful for the city\u2019s commitment to the Senior Center, but she said it\u2019s been a little hard to navigate communications within the city. Mayor Stephen Zollman has floated his vision for creating a large civic and nonprofit hub, that could house the library, city hall, the senior center and many of the city\u2019s nonprofits. Davis said she\u2019s heard about this plan through the city\u2019s nonprofit collaborative. \u201CHe wants to advocate for the hub, which I think is great. But I feel like it\u2019s a little abstract at this point. I\u2019m a little worried that it might take too long, and we\u2019ve got seniors that need services now,\u201D Davis said. \u201CBut yes, we\u2019re very willing to continue that conversation. I just, quite frankly, don\u2019t know if it will come to fruition.\u201D the senior center has started holding classes at other sites around town we\u2019ve just added four new classes at Soft Medicine They\u2019re giving us a killer deal on rent in one of their downstairs spaces so that\u2019s been great,\u201D Davis said \u201CWe\u2019ve also worked with Wischemann Hall for a long time So we\u2019re kind of doing all this off-site programming\u2014kind of trying to put a band-aid on the wait list.\u201D \u201CWe\u2019ll continue to explore off-site spaces but the intent is to offer a kind of hub for seniors to come in and have a meal take a class and get wraparound services,\u201D she said \u201CAnd when we piecemeal and do things off-site they don\u2019t get that same level of service.\u201D wind through scenic vineyards and more in the peaceful town of Sebastopol Attendees sampling baked goods from the Sarmentine table during the Snail of Approval awards ceremony held at Grange Hall in Sebastopol Sarmentine baguettes during the Snail of Approval award ceremony held at Grange Hall in Sebastopol on Wednesday The Barlow bustles with activity in Sebastopol Wesley Hammond stocking up rows of natural wines at The Punchdown Natural Wine Bar + Bottle Shop during a friends and family soft opening on Friday were at the friends and family soft opening at The Punchdown Natural Wine Bar + Bottle Shop on Friday Patrick Amiot's distinctive sculptures decorate his neighbors' yards on Florence Avenue in Sebastopol Patrick Amiot's distinctive sculptures decorate Florence Avenue in Sebastopol the Sebastopol park is generally free of large crowds The shade of an old tree proves to be the perfect place to take a nap for this gentleman at the 45th Gravenstein Apple Fair at Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol Marimar Estate Vineyards & Winery in Sebastopol (Courtesy of Marimar Estate Vineyards & Winery) (Courtesy of Marimar Estate Vineyards & Winery) Gold Ridge Organic Farms owner Brooke Hazen focuses on antique heirloom apples like Hoople’s Antique Gold Ashmeads Kernel and Cox Orange Pippin along with many more on the Sebastopol property Fresh pressed olive oil flows through a spigot after a 45-minute process at Gold Ridge Organic Farms in west Sonoma County on Thursday Cocktail lineup at Third Pig Bar in Sebastopol The Handline 'El Coronado' taco with beer battered fired rockfish Handline was built on the site of the old Foster's Freeze in Sebastopol and they continue to keep soft serve ice cream on the menu The outdoor dining patio at Handline in Sebastopol A highlight of west Sonoma County, Sebastopol offers an enchanting mix of rural charm, culinary delights and artistic flair. Whether you’re savoring farm-fresh foods, exploring quirky public art or winding through scenic vineyards, this peaceful town offers something for every traveler Follow this itinerary for a perfect day of local flavors outdoor adventures and unforgettable experiences in Sebastopol Next, head to Ragle Ranch Regional Park (500 Ragle Road), best known as the setting for the signature Gravenstein Apple Fair each August The park’s Veterans Memorial Grove is a sheltered cluster of redwoods atop a beautiful knoll and the Peace Garden is a good spot to pause and come back to center especially after tackling 3 miles of rolling backcountry trails Outside of town, wind along the Bohemian Highway to reach the solar-powered, biodynamically farmed Marimar Estate Vineyards & Winery (11400 Graton Road) run by Marimar Torres and her daughter Cristina Torres whose family’s winemaking history stretches back to the 1600s in Spain Settle into the welcoming tasting room for a glass of Albariño or Godello with housemade tapas inspired by Marimar Torres’s native Barcelona Now through March marks the brief season for olio nuovo the new release of freshly milled olive oil Back downtown, stroll past the shops before seeking out playful vibes at neighborhood standout Third Pig Bar (116 S Main St.) where craft cocktails come served in vintage glassware or — our favorite — a pink pig tiki mug Nearby at Handline Coastal California (935 Gravenstein Highway S.) you’ll be faced with a difficult decision: linger over a bowl of cioppino or excellent fish tacos or pay tribute to the eatery’s humble beginnings as a Foster’s Freeze with a burger topped with St Jorge Fonduta cheese and a side of hand-cut French fries especially when you finish up with a root beer float For more tasty, farm-to-table eats in Sebastopol, find our favorite restaurants here. Authorities discovered nearly half a pound of fentanyl, 155 Xanax pills, a vial of a controlled numbing agent, and a small amount of cocaine in the room. Detectives also found packaging materials and digital scales, which are indicative of narcotics sales. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, depending on a person’s body size, tolerance, and past usage. Both Cooper and Fee were booked into the Sonoma County Jail on charges of possession of a controlled substance for sale and possession of prescription medications for sale. They were later released on zero bail. Yes, you read that right—released on zero bail. The Sebastopol Times reached out to Sergeant Juan Valencia of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office for an explanation. “The court system in the county still has zero bail,” Valencia said. “So if it’s for a non-violent crime, and they meet the criteria for zero bail—there’s a matrix we look at—they basically get released.” “They still have to go to court and face their charges. It doesn’t change our job,” he continued. “So basically, for us, we did our investigation, we got them with narcotics for sale—which is a felony—we arrested them and then our investigation basically goes to the District Attorney’s office, and they’re the ones that seek prosecution on them.” “We issue the citation and then you hope that they show up for court,” Valencia said. He understood why readers might be surprised and frustrated by this. “It’s definitely frustrating,” he said. “This all started during COVID, the zero bail stuff. Each county could get rid of it, but they just, you know, they haven’t gotten rid of it here.” “Here’s the thing, people are selling drugs that are [tainted],” he said. “For example, Hey, you’re buying cocaine. Well, it’s not really cocaine because it’s laced with fentanyl, because fentanyl is cheaper to make, and they use it as a cutting agent to get more product. Same thing with Xanax. It’s Xanax with fentanyl.” “There’s definitely a lot going on with drug stuff, and there hasn’t really been a lot of punishment for it, so they’re getting away with a lot,” Valencia said. “But now, I think people are starting to get fed up with all the drugs and the harm that they're causing people.” Thinking of a lovely young woman, a friend of my daughter’s, who is no longer with us because of a fentanyl-laced Xanax, I said, “I hope that changes.” “You and me both,” Valencia said wearily. I’m especially empathetic to those who have lost family members to the opioid crisis but after reading a lot of literature from the experts I am now firmly on the side of zero bail being better for our community and the country This is the justice system working well and as intended – a reminder to us all that people are innocent until proven guilty I think we’d all want due process applied to ourselves and this is no exception For those open to challenging their own beliefs on this here are a few resources and stats to check out: There is no evidence linking bail reform (i.e zero bail) to higher crime rates (Source 1) Those who await their trial in the community instead of in jail are no more likely to be re-arrested after bail reform was passed than before (Source 1) Cash bail disproportionately punishes poor communities Those who can’t pay bail and stay in jail for non-violent and misdemeanor crimes before court dates return to jail or prison at higher rates Sonoma County jails are already chronically understaffed Putting more people in those jails won’t help staff or inmates One final quote from this report from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Public Safety Initiatives (Source 4) stands out to me – I hope that Sergeant Juan Valencia reads it: “Responsible leaders should demand proof that the changes to the bail laws have caused crime increases (as opposed to a correlation) and that the changes being advocated will address those causes every legitimate analysis of the data has made no such case for change.” If we want to reduce crime and get drugs off the streets Source 1: https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/the-pros-and-cons-of-ending-cash-bail/ Source 2: https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/news-events/news/real-impact-bail-reform-public-safety Source 3: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/county-in-crisis-more-sonoma-county-jail-deputy-jobs-go-unfilled-as-overti/ Source 4: https://www.rit.edu/liberalarts/sites/rit.edu.liberalarts/files/docs/CPSI%20Working%20Paper_2023.04_Bail%20Reform%20Data.pdf The County has an Integrated Justice System that can produce answers to these and other questions with a simple data base query. The fact that the Sheriff's office did not give you this data as part of their account of the event should make you very suspicious. ReplyShare4 replies7 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts On Monday, March 10, the Narcotics Unit of the Sonoma County Sheriff\u2019s Office executed a search warrant at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in south Sebastopol. During the search of a hotel room, 33-year-old Christopher Fee and 39-year-old Alexis Cooper were arrested. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, depending on a person\u2019s body size, tolerance, and past usage. Yes, you read that right\u2014released on zero bail. The Sebastopol Times reached out to Sergeant Juan Valencia of the Sonoma County Sheriff\u2019s Office for an explanation. \u201CThe court system in the county still has zero bail,\u201D Valencia said. \u201CSo if it\u2019s for a non-violent crime, and they meet the criteria for zero bail\u2014there\u2019s a matrix we look at\u2014they basically get released.\u201D \u201CThey still have to go to court and face their charges. It doesn\u2019t change our job,\u201D he continued. \u201CSo basically, for us, we did our investigation, we got them with narcotics for sale\u2014which is a felony\u2014we arrested them and then our investigation basically goes to the District Attorney\u2019s office, and they\u2019re the ones that seek prosecution on them.\u201D \u201CWe issue the citation and then you hope that they show up for court,\u201D Valencia said. \u201CIt\u2019s definitely frustrating,\u201D he said. \u201CThis all started during COVID, the zero bail stuff. Each county could get rid of it, but they just, you know, they haven\u2019t gotten rid of it here.\u201D \u201CHere\u2019s the thing, people are selling drugs that are [tainted],\u201D he said. \u201CFor example, Hey, you\u2019re buying cocaine. Well, it\u2019s not really cocaine because it\u2019s laced with fentanyl, because fentanyl is cheaper to make, and they use it as a cutting agent to get more product. Same thing with Xanax. It\u2019s Xanax with fentanyl.\u201D \u201CThere\u2019s definitely a lot going on with drug stuff, and there hasn\u2019t really been a lot of punishment for it, so they\u2019re getting away with a lot,\u201D Valencia said. \u201CBut now, I think people are starting to get fed up with all the drugs and the harm that they're causing people.\u201D Thinking of a lovely young woman, a friend of my daughter\u2019s, who is no longer with us because of a fentanyl-laced Xanax, I said, \u201CI hope that changes.\u201D \u201CYou and me both,\u201D Valencia said wearily. followed by a brief council meeting.Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival: Online StreamingTuesday Did you miss the live event over the weekend? You can still see the films in the comfort of your own home during the streaming portion of the Festival. Take your pick of dozens of exciting documentaries from around the world. Learn more and get tickets. Films will be available here Sebastopol City Council Goals Setting Session & Council MeetingTuesday Poetic Medicine: An Instrument for HealingTuesdays Are you a business seeking to hire teens and/or young adults this summer? This is a great opportunity to talk to our students about various opportunities with your business. To reserve a table, please contact Stacy Fortin, sfortin@wscuhsd.org Graton Community Club Spring Flower ShowFriday and Saturday handcrafted items including seasonal wreaths This event benefits a scholarship program for local SRJC Students pursuing higher education and a building capital campaign to preserve our historic clubhouse The classic songs of Bob Dylan were the soundtrack to the ’60s revolution and beyond “A Complete Unknown,” the interest in his music has created an itch for more Dylan You can scratch that itch by attending the Bob Dylan Singalong at Soft Medicine Live music featuring the Peacetown All-Star Band and a host of guest singers There will be two shows: 4 pm to 6 pm and 7 pm to 9 pm Come and relive the songs of this magical era and the prolific songwriter who continues to dazzle the world with his music and classic songs Learn the empowering act of erasure poetry in this hands-on workshop. Bring a text that has upset you and talk back to it using a variety of mediums. For grades 7-12. Register to save your spot. Chimera Arts is Sonoma County’s only community arts and maker space located in downtown Sebastopol at the old Ford Garage building Discover this community of makers that offers classes expertise and equipment to anyone interested in bringing their creative ideas to life Our Wild Watershed: River Otters with Mary Ellen KingFriday Community Protest Poster Printing DaySaturday Celebration of the installation and dedication of ‘Koan’Saturday at the Joe Rodota trailhead at Petaluma Avenue in Sebastopol (across from the HopMonk parking lot) Join the city of Sebastopol and its Public Arts Committee for a celebration of the installation and dedication of ‘Koan’ by sculptor Members of Johnson’s family and council members will be there for the dedication The Qadim Ensemble: Sacred Hebrew Song from the Near EastSaturday Qadim is a word found in both Arabic and Hebrew meaning ‘ancient’ as well as ‘that which will come.’ The ensemble’s repertoire includes Arabic, Jewish, Turkish Sufi, Hebrew-Yemenite, Armenian, Greek, Ladino and Moroccan music, celebrating the common musical and spiritual heritage of the region’s cultures, while honoring the great diversity found within them. Get tickets How to Make Great Photos with Your iPhone CameraSunday The Second Annual Friends Of Peacetown Benefit ConcertSunday Our Shared Interest in Fighting Fascism: Building Solidarity and Resistance in Sonoma CountySunday Come to connect, feel and strategize, to make sense of this moment together. We aim to catalyze existing progressive communities, galvanize volunteer energy, share resources, foster networking, and launch a strategizing and action momentum. A number of local organizations, networks and formations will be represented at this event. Learn more Giving up the Ghost: A Daughter’s MemoirSunday Former Press Democrat Reporter and Sebastopol resident Susan Swartz died by suicide in 2020. Her daughter, Samantha Rose, has written a memoir, Giving Up the Ghost: A Daughter’s Memoir, and will be giving a reading at Rialto Cinemas. This event is free. See our article about her story here Author Talk: Jeanne Carstensen and Michael KrasnySunday The Community Center presents an insightful evening as journalist and author Jeanne Carstensen, as she discusses her powerful new book, A Greek Tragedy, in conversation with renowned broadcaster and author Michael Krasny. A special fundraising event for the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center. Get tickets. (See our article on Carstensen.) Sebastopol City Council goal-setting session is Tuesday Did you miss the live event over the weekend? You can still see the films in the comfort of your own home during the streaming portion of the Festival. Take your pick of dozens of exciting documentaries from around the world. Learn more and get tickets. Films will be available here Are you a business seeking to hire teens and/or young adults this summer? This is a great opportunity to talk to our students about various opportunities with your business. To reserve a table, please contact Stacy Fortin, sfortin@wscuhsd.org The classic songs of Bob Dylan were the soundtrack to the \u201960s revolution and beyond \u201CA Complete Unknown,\u201D the interest in his music has created an itch for more Dylan Learn the empowering act of erasure poetry in this hands-on workshop. Bring a text that has upset you and talk back to it using a variety of mediums. For grades 7-12. Register to save your spot. Chimera Arts is Sonoma County\u2019s only community arts and maker space Celebration of the installation and dedication of \u2018Koan\u2019Saturday Join the city of Sebastopol and its Public Arts Committee for a celebration of the installation and dedication of \u2018Koan\u2019 by sculptor Members of Johnson\u2019s family and council members will be there for the dedication Come to connect, feel and strategize, to make sense of this moment together. We aim to catalyze existing progressive communities, galvanize volunteer energy, share resources, foster networking, and launch a strategizing and action momentum. A number of local organizations, networks and formations will be represented at this event. Learn more Giving up the Ghost: A Daughter\u2019s MemoirSunday Former Press Democrat Reporter and Sebastopol resident Susan Swartz died by suicide in 2020. Her daughter, Samantha Rose, has written a memoir, Giving Up the Ghost: A Daughter\u2019s Memoir, and will be giving a reading at Rialto Cinemas. This event is free. See our article about her story here The Community Center presents an insightful evening as journalist and author Jeanne Carstensen, as she discusses her powerful new book, A Greek Tragedy, in conversation with renowned broadcaster and author Michael Krasny. A special fundraising event for the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center. Get tickets. (See our article on Carstensen.) CA — In a world of constant driver distractions Sebastopol Letter Carrier Jeanie Mongaraz-Fletcher maintained her focus on the safety of herself and others on the road over the course of her 35-year postal career This focus on safety earned her entry into the elite National Safety Council’s Million Mile club The secret to staying accident-free starts with staying observant “Sonoma County is beautiful in both landscape and wildlife- a true tourist destination I’ve found it an especially good practice here or even third look both ways when pulling into traffic or changing direction It gives you a chance to see things that were not visible a moment before- a cyclist a car without its lights on or a band of turkeys that suddenly needed to cross the road,” said Mongaraz-Fletcher This is the mindset you’d expect from a Postal Service mail carrier who has driven the equivalent of circling the earth 40 times all without a moving violation or accident while maneuvering hazardous road conditions and avoiding careless drivers along the way our postal drivers take safety very seriously,” said Acting District Manager Aron Jones “I am proud of the dedication made by carriers like Mongaraz-Fletcher who are driven to perform their jobs safely and with concern for the safety of others.” recognizes drivers with 1 million miles of driving or 30 accumulated years driven without preventable incidents. It is a trademark of an expert driver and is recognized as the nation’s highest award for professional safe driving Recipients receive a plaque with the Million Mile Club emblem the NSC logo and an engraved personalized nameplate every Million Mile Award recipient has also earned the respect and appreciation of their fellow USPS employees and the communities they serve USPS drivers operate more than 246,000 vehicles throughout the country as the world’s largest civilian fleet uneven terrain and inattentive drivers seven days a week The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to 169 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America restore long-term financial sustainability dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories and maintain the organization as one of America’s most valued and trusted brands The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage products and services to fund its operations Copyright© 2025 United States Postal Service Sean McDonagh comes to Sebastopol after reaching a “separation agreement” with his previous police department Sean McDonagh, a Colorado transplant and native of Australia, has been named Sebastopol’s fourth police chief in eight years whose hiring was approved by the City Council on March 4 who retired in August but was brought back when city officials were unable to quickly replace him McDonagh’s three-year contract will run through March 3 His annual salary is $174,896 plus benefits which didn’t include a copy of the contract itself “I appreciate the opportunity,” McDonagh told the council “Community engagement has always been my favorite part of the career.” He has a decade of experience in law enforcement executive management and police leadership and security He moved to the United States in 2016 and settled in Colorado in 2022 where he served as that community’s police chief for seven months He resigned from the position in February after apparently filing some sort of legal claim against the city, as reported by the Del Norte Prospector Monte Vista leaders approved paying McDonagh $35,000 as part of “a separation agreement,” the Prospector reported “We will not be speaking any further about this incident,” the Prospector quoted Del Norte City Manager Gigi Dennis as saying “It will help our police department move on so that we can find the person who is going to be the right fit for our community.” The Press Democrat has requested an interview with McDonagh to learn more about his background McDonagh was selected as Sebastopol’s newest chief from a pool of six candidates A panel of current and former police chiefs and community leaders headed up the selection process He also had a final interview with City Manager Don Schwartz Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley and outgoing Chief Nelson “Chief McDonagh has demonstrated experience in working closely with the community and his team,” Schwartz said in a press release “I was particularly struck by his ability to recruit quality officers when they could go anywhere in the country.” Mayor Stephen Zollman said in a press release “The city looks forward to the chief’s leadership to enhance public safety fostering and building strong relationships with our esteemed youth and valued residents through strong community engagement and fostering transparency in our police department.” Sebastopol’s Hippizzazz will continue offering catering until their lease expires in April The pizza shop owners blame rising costs and fewer sales as the reason for the closure While most people watched the ball drop on New Year’s Eve at midnight Alex Britton closed the doors on his family’s Sebastopol pizza shop for the last time who owns Hippizzazz on Main Street with his mother Zeke and father Wayne decided to close their doors after eight years because of mounting costs for ingredients and staff sales were down even more and costs of everything was even higher,” Britton said “Things came to a point where we kind of decided maybe this is a good time to get out Britton said he has worked in several restaurants including some in Alaska when he lived there he and his parents started the pizza restaurant in 2016 after remodeling the space which had previously housed a deli Hippizzazz continued delivering pizzas but it drastically changed the costs for the business and sales dropped off He said although business started to return to normal following the COVID-19 shutdown Britton said business was steady in the last few days the restaurant was opened “A lot of close friends and good customers and locals all came out bit emotional at times,” Alex Britton said We were proud of what we had and then to have to close it down we had people who came in that were not happy about it,” Wayne Britton said “That’s difficult if you care about what you’re going and who you’re serving.” Customers expressed their disappointment on Facebook “Bummer because it’s one of the few restaurants open *somewhat* late in town.” it’s got to be hard to compete in the pizza world Sebastopol has three other pizza options in this small town Hippizazz offers an amazing Mexi style carnitas pizza that I had the pleasure of eating.” Wayne Britton said it was tough having a pizza shop in Sebastopol given all the competition especially once Acre Pizza opened in The Barlow Even though the dine-in restaurant is closed Alex Britton said they will continue taking event catering orders until the lease on the building expires April 1 Their catering menu is on their website, and Wayne Britton said they’ll also take special requests for events such as Valentine’s Day, the Super Bowl or Mardi Gras coming up. Alex Britton said if the catering business is successful, he may consider finding a new location for Hippizzazz, and he hopes to continue cooking. “I feel like, just personally you know, being a business owner is one thing but we really – I felt – just wanted to make people happy. We wanted to have good food, a good place, a good time,” Alex Britton said. who worked with both juvenile and adult offenders Zollman has lived with his husband Jim Haidler in Sebastopol for eight years and he quickly wove himself into the fabric of the town and the boards of the Chamber of Commerce and Sebastopol Center for the Arts He became mayor of Sebastopol last month under a new policy in which the person with the highest vote count in the previous election automatically becomes mayor he has already achieved a remarkable goal: significantly shortening the length of city council meetings by means of his strict whip hand on the agenda (He graciously credits his fellow council members for cooperating with this plan.) We met for the interview in the Sebastopol Times office just before Christmas with the goal of helping our readers get to know Zollman as a person and not just as “the Mayor.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity I grew up in a very small town in northwest Indiana somewhere between Notre Dame and Gary—very small realizing the fact early on that I was from a marginalized community home was a little—probably a lot—dysfunctional My mom had mental health struggles back in the day when depression was treated in lots of ways—some of which are somewhat back in vogue—I mean we’re talking about ECT [electroconvulsive therapy] I don't really know whether that helped or not and there’s expectations of how things will be in the home And if not—they didn’t have therapy back then—so So I have a lot of appreciation for public works because basically he worked for an electric company What would you say were the major values emphasized in your home I picked them up more from my friends in school—as far as just knowing that valuing education just seemed like the right thing to do so what am I going to do to propel myself out of here?’ And education was there I just feel very fortunate that a lot of my close friends were very bright ‘I’m going to university to become an engineer’ and I was like “I’ll just tag along with them.’ So I did that I knew education was what I was going to focus on I left to go to Indiana University at Bloomington in 1981 and that was a blessing in more ways than one It was great because there was all sorts of diversity—for Indiana It just seemed like I could just pick whatever I wanted I knew I wanted to go to law school early on when you give kids books with pictures of people with different job descriptions It started with A for Attorney — and I was ‘This gentleman is very well dressed and has a briefcase I’m going to do that.’ And once I figured out more and more what attorneys did this is great: they advocate for marginalized voices can you name two people who had the greatest influence on you in your life and why Because I do tend to run on the fast side of life I tried to figure out who and what would sort of calm me down realizing you’re connected with the universe I guess I’m thinking about people in the real world—a teacher There was an elementary school teacher—I think we were distantly related—who was very and probably sensed a lot that was going on go get some purple pieces of paper.’ And I was ‘I don't know what you mean.’ And so instead of saying Didn’t your parents teach you your colors?’ She was very understanding So she gave me a good perspective of what it’s like to be compassionate and to take a moment and not jump in with ‘What’s wrong with you?!’ I can very vividly remember being in that class I would say it’s many women—I’ve always gravitated towards the more female energy because I think they’re more intuitive mostly women of color—have been my guiding star I tried to get good enough grades to get to university and you’ll be fine.’ So psychology was my very first course in that first year This explains a lot.’ Then I did a double major with forensic studies which was the old way of saying criminal justice and even though I had undiagnosed dyslexia and dysgraphia I graduated with the two majors in three years I've always had a fond admiration for those who learn what they can learn And I think that comes from where I grew up and how I grew up but there were one or two days overlapping with the Lebanon and Grenada conflicts So that’s how I ended up getting to be qualified for veterans’ benefits Being in the military reminded me that diversity matters that was my first exposure to people from different races and different socio-economic backgrounds I realized not only do you have to go to have a good understanding you're going to rely on the person next to you and I wanted to figure out a way to get out to a more metropolitan area and my clients were all from Cabrini Green on the South Side of Chicago I learned a lot about compassion and understanding You’ve got to take the licensure all over again ‘I don’t understand why this is so difficult?’ So then I got tested for dyslexia Interesting that that didn't come up earlier in school So when kids were out doing heaven knows what and not understanding why it took me so long to understand the concepts How did you end up working as a public defender While I was waiting to become licensed in California and that involved going into all the locked psychiatric units for a nonprofit called Patient Rights along with doing CASA [Court Appointed Special Advocate] work on behalf of abused and neglected kids who was second in command of the Public Defender's office and he knew my passion for working with kids plus my past experience And I think you should just come right into the juvenile unit.’ So I did the juvenile stuff and then I went to the adult stuff—and I learned about how if you don’t get proper services when you’re a child you will simply migrate into the adult system So I was at places like Napa State Hospital advising people about what their rights were I would be sitting across the desk from someone you’re probably not.” But my exterior was always I needed to get out of that work and do preventative stuff for kids because that’s where I feel like the real hope is What lessons did you draw from that experience So no matter what area you walk into and no matter how frenetic and how many channels there are and just try to do the best thing you can at the moment you’ve got to be compassionate because you have no idea…Everyone presents in the way that they feel is the most socially acceptable you really have no idea what’s going on or what they’ve been through I pick up different psychological books—psychological and Buddhist—books that have a spiritual edge And is that the form of spirituality you practice It started with Eckhart Tolle back in San Francisco because as he said in the prologue: ‘You are not your mind.’ I was But I started to meditate—or try to meditate—and I joined different dharma sanghas in San Francisco and since then it’s just been an ongoing thing I try to take a deep breath and center myself—that’s always the aspiration What three words would you use to describe yourself especially when I go into situations and it’s a lot of time and effort has been dedicated to this but I really would like to see movement in some direction.’ try and understand why this seems to be very stagnant and offer up ways to not have it be stagnant.’ I try to go into compassion You’ll have your notepad out and your pencil people who know me know that I start right on time and I do my best to just move things along That’s my experience of how you’re running the council meetings And I gotta say it’s a pleasure not to have to sit through a five-hour meeting it’s about respect and the fact that we all try—I mean traffic is traffic—but we try to arrive early and be prepared Give me one word that your friends would use to describe you Friends and past employers—some have described me as “intense,” which I’m not really a fan of I’d say I’m passionate and focused when I decide I’m going to dedicate myself to something I’m not going to dilly-dally and second guess myself I’m there and I feel like I’ve taken the time to get educated I don’t think that sounds right,’ then I’m open to discussing that But I just want to get together with other people who want to see momentum and if it stays stagnant then I’m probably not that interested Part 2 of this interview, which we’ll post tomorrow, will focus on Zollman’s experience on the council, why he serves on so many boards, and what he’d like to do next. ReplyShare2 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts Sebastopol\u2019s new Mayor Stephen Zollman is a former public defender for the city of San Francisco We met for the interview in the Sebastopol Times office just before Christmas with the goal of helping our readers get to know Zollman as a person and not just as \u201Cthe Mayor.\u201D This interview has been edited for length and clarity somewhere between Notre Dame and Gary\u2014very small home was a little\u2014probably a lot\u2014dysfunctional My mom had mental health struggles back in the day when depression was treated in lots of ways\u2014some of which are somewhat back in vogue\u2014I mean we\u2019re talking about ECT [electroconvulsive therapy] and there\u2019s expectations of how things will be in the home And if not\u2014they didn\u2019t have therapy back then\u2014so I picked them up more from my friends in school\u2014as far as just knowing that valuing education just seemed like the right thing to do so what am I going to do to propel myself out of here?\u2019 And education was there \u2018I\u2019m going to university to become an engineer\u2019 and I was like \u201CI\u2019ll just tag along with them.\u2019 So I did that It was great because there was all sorts of diversity\u2014for Indiana It started with A for Attorney \u2014 and I was \u2018This gentleman is very well dressed and has a briefcase I\u2019m going to do that.\u2019 And once I figured out more and more what attorneys did realizing you\u2019re connected with the universe I guess I\u2019m thinking about people in the real world\u2014a teacher There was an elementary school teacher\u2014I think we were distantly related\u2014who was very so they didn\u2019t realize I was colorblind go get some purple pieces of paper.\u2019 And I was \u2018I don't know what you mean.\u2019 And so instead of saying Didn\u2019t your parents teach you your colors?\u2019 She was very understanding So she gave me a good perspective of what it\u2019s like to be compassionate and to take a moment and not jump in with \u2018What\u2019s wrong with you?!\u2019 I can very vividly remember being in that class I would say it\u2019s many women\u2014I\u2019ve always gravitated towards the more female energy because I think they\u2019re more intuitive many different employers\u2014mostly women mostly women of color\u2014have been my guiding star and you\u2019ll be fine.\u2019 So psychology was my very first course in that first year This explains a lot.\u2019 Then I did a double major with forensic studies So that\u2019s how I ended up getting to be qualified for veterans\u2019 benefits You\u2019ve got to take the licensure all over again \u2018I don\u2019t understand why this is so difficult?\u2019 So then I got tested for dyslexia And I think you should just come right into the juvenile unit.\u2019 So I did the juvenile stuff and then I went to the adult stuff\u2014and I learned about how if you don\u2019t get proper services when you\u2019re a child you\u2019re probably not.\u201D But my exterior was always I needed to get out of that work and do preventative stuff for kids because that\u2019s where I feel like the real hope is you\u2019ve got to be compassionate because you have no idea\u2026Everyone presents in the way that they feel is the most socially acceptable you really have no idea what\u2019s going on or what they\u2019ve been through I pick up different psychological books\u2014psychological and Buddhist\u2014books that have a spiritual edge because as he said in the prologue: \u2018You are not your mind.\u2019 I was But I started to meditate\u2014or try to meditate\u2014and I joined different dharma sanghas in San Francisco and since then it\u2019s just been an ongoing thing I try to take a deep breath and center myself\u2014that\u2019s always the aspiration especially when I go into situations and it\u2019s but I really would like to see movement in some direction.\u2019 try and understand why this seems to be very stagnant and offer up ways to not have it be stagnant.\u2019 I try to go into compassion You\u2019ll have your notepad out and your pencil and you will not be scrambling.\u2019 So yeah That\u2019s my experience of how you\u2019re running the council meetings And I gotta say it\u2019s a pleasure not to have to sit through a five-hour meeting it\u2019s about respect and the fact that we all try\u2014I mean traffic is traffic\u2014but we try to arrive early and be prepared Friends and past employers\u2014some have described me as \u201Cintense,\u201D which I\u2019m not really a fan of I\u2019d say I\u2019m passionate and focused when I decide I\u2019m going to dedicate myself to something I\u2019m not going to dilly-dally and second guess myself I\u2019m there and I feel like I\u2019ve taken the time to get educated I don\u2019t think that sounds right,\u2019 then I\u2019m open to discussing that and if it stays stagnant then I\u2019m probably not that interested Part 2 of this interview will focus on Zollman\u2019s experience on the council The Sebastopol City Council voted Tuesday to override a swell of support for Recology multimillion-dollar contract to Sonoma County Resource Recovery Sebastopol residents and businesses will have a new trash service provider come July — and will see the rates they pay increase The City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday to override a swell of business owners who favored Recology, the city’s current waste hauler Council members also settled on a “gradual” rate increase under the deal Both Recology and SCRR proposed higher rates According to Garth Schultz — president of R3 the consulting firm hired by the city to help procure the new waste hauling contract — SCRR’s rates will be 9% cheaper than what Recology proposed in its contract renewal bid which is used by 52% of residential customers Rates will increase an additional 2% in 2028 Those single-family home garbage rates include one 96-gallon recycling cart and one 96-gallon compost cart Information about the rate structure for multifamily and commercial customers can be found by clicking here. residents will get extra services at no additional charge including holiday tree pickup for single-family and multifamily customers Residents will also be granted two bulky item waste pickups per year (mattresses The SCRR deal also will also give the city solid waste services and portable toilet support at city-sponsored events The company will also assist with abandoned or illegal dumping assistance within 24 hours of a request — 2028: 2% rate increase plus up to 5% annual rate adjustment increase — 2029-2040: Up to 5% annual rate adjustment increase Source: City of Sebastopol council members Neysa Hinton and Phill Carter voted against the change saying they wanted more time to better understand how SCRR’s rate structure for composting and recycling would affect the city’s small business community Vice Mayor Jill McLewis and Council Member Sandra Maurer voted to proceed “This is a super tough one for me,” Hinton said during the meeting also telling those in the crowd that “Recology freaking blew it.” The city and waste hauler first attempted to renegotiate the existing contract back in April 2023 “I didn’t want to be here either,” she continued “A lot of the business community will pay more The approval of the deal came despite more than 40 people who spoke in favor of keeping Recology citing its commitment to Sebastopol’s small businesses and community organizations “This is going to be a huge hit for us,” Bill DeCarli, general manager of Hopmonk Tavern told the City Council DeCarli said he currently pays $1,300 a month for trash compost and recycling services with Recology and expects the tavern’s bill to jump to $4,300 a month under the city’s contract with SCRR “It’s getting harder and harder and harder to do business in this town,” he said But R3’s Schultz said Sebastopol businesses can expect to save money through a process called “right sizing.” is that businesses are likely using recycling and composting bins that are bigger than what they currently need — an accusation that Recology vehemently denied Tuesday night “SCRR is committed to working with customers before services take effect,” Schultz said “They won’t be charged rates before levels of service are reviewed.” Main Street coffee shop owner Danielle Connor whose Retrograde Coffee Roasters has been a California certified “green business” for the last six years said the offer to “right size” was “an insult.” “We divert nearly all our waste,” Connor told the City Council “To suggest we don’t have the right size bin is an insult to our intelligence.” The result of businesses not “right sizing” will be passed-on costs to customers “My prices are going to skyrocket,” she told the City Council “The $6 to $7 resident savings is just going to be absorbed.” larger rate hike with the contract’s approval but decided to approve the gradual rate hike instead The three-year rate increase will escalate rates by 31.6% by 2028 while the onetime rate hike — which included an initial 15.8% hike followed by 5% annual rate adjustments — would have spiked rates by 30.8% by 2028 who served on the city’s ad hoc committee dedicated to finding a new trash hauler said residents and business leaders simply didn’t understand what went into the decision-making process “I wish each and every one of you had done deep dives and had done the interviews,” Maurer said “You don’t know what that experience was like I wish you had the information we had to vote with.” Leaders from both companies attended Tuesday’s meeting Said Recology Senior General Manager Logan Harvey afterward: “It’s disappointing in the face of huge amount of public comment in support of Recology We’re proud of our years of service in this community and are sad to go.” Recology provides trash service to the majority of Sonoma County Santa Rosa and unincorporated Sonoma County SCRR is owned by Kevin Walbridge of The Walbridge Group. The company is tied to Marin Sanitary Service, South San Francisco Scavenger and Garden City Sanitation. In 2017, it bid on Santa Rosa’s garbage contract, but failed to secure the deal SCRR currently provides trash-hauling service in Windsor SCRR officials said they look forward to getting up and running in Sebastopol. “We plan on being a partner here in Sebastopol,” said Alissa Johnson, business manager with SCRR. The Community Church of Sebastopol is thus far the only Sebastopol church to have officially declared itself a sanctuary church, though Saint Stephen’s Episcopal is considering doing so. Last Wednesday, April 16, Broadbent of the Community Church and the Rev. Kate Sefton from St. Stephen’s and members of their congregations attended a rally and press conference of church leaders, congregation members, and immigrant community members announcing this new sanctuary movement. The churches involved in the event included The Community Church of Sebastopol, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Christ Church United Methodist, Congregation Ner Shalom, Emmaus Community (Santa Rosa), First Congregational Church of Santa Rosa (UCC), Redwood Forest Friends, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Rosa, Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma and Windsor United Methodist Church. The rally was organized by the North Bay Organizing Project Religious Leaders' Caucus and the Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition. The Press Democrat reported that several hundred people attended the rally, a large turnout that surprised the organizers. At the Sanctuary Church rally (Photo by Kate Sefton)The Sebastopol Times sat down with Rev. Broadbent on Wednesday afternoon, just before the rally, to learn why the Community Church of Sebastopol had decided to become a sanctuary church. Unsurprisingly, Broadbent said his support for the new sanctuary movement emerged from his religious faith. “I mean, it’s pretty central to Christian faith that we are to serve the least among us, and we do that because Jesus spent time with and served the least among him that were around him. So that’s part of it. Part of it is the scriptures themselves say that you are to treat the foreigner in your land as if they were a neighbor and a citizen,” he said. “There’s a passage in Leviticus that says you shall treat the alien as your neighbor,” he said. “There are other places in Isaiah where it says you shall invite the homeless poor into your home and then within the Christian faith, there are all kinds of references to Jesus providing hospitality to those who are not part of the inside group, but rather on the margins.” The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:34) Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”(Isaiah 58:6-7) For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. (Matthew 25: 35) Broadbent said his church voted as a whole to become a sanctuary church. “We had a congregational meeting. We kind of educated the congregation on it, and then we had a motion and a vote. It was resoundingly supportive,” he said. What exactly does it mean to be a sanctuary church? Historically—and in the popular imagination—people physically sought sanctuary in church buildings. Broadbent said that isn’t necessarily the case these days. “Growing up in the 80s, I remember that sanctuary movement. The church I grew up in in Santa Cruz hosted a family from El Salvador for a period of weeks. In this new sanctuary movement, that could be a possibility. For the time being, though, our church has decided that that’s not something we have the capacity to offer or think would be particularly helpful at this point,” he said, though he said some churches are considering this approach. Given that church buildings are no longer automatically safe spaces, Broadbent said housing immigrants in the church “might actually jeopardize people, because we can't claim that ICE can’t come in.” Instead, Broadbent said they’ve had to learn new legal means of resistance. A sign on the door at the Community Church of Sebastopol. If churches aren’t physically housing immigrants, what does “sanctuary” mean in practical terms? “Mainly we don’t want people to think that they're just all on their own and that people don’t care about them,” he said. “By becoming a sanctuary congregation, we’re saying, ‘No, we see you, we care about you.’ We want to live in a country and a society that values people across the spectrum and isn’t scapegoating certain groups of people, especially those who are scared and most vulnerable. We don’t want them to feel alone.” This impulse is shared by Rev. Kate Sefton from St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Sebastopol, who also attended the rally last Wednesday with eight other members from that church. She said she went to represent St. Stephen’s, not as a sanctuary church, but “as a church which is inclusive, supportive and loving of our neighbors in all justice work.” The Rev. Kate Sefton from St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Sebastopol. (Photo from the church’s website)Sefton emphasized that St. Stephen’s has not declared itself a sanctuary church. “We are having a conversation about sanctuary, what that might mean, what our work for immigration protection and legislation might mean,” she said. For now, they’re working on other ways to support local immigrants. “On Sunday afternoon, we had a fundraiser for Sonoma Secure Families Collaborative,” an immigration rights organization, “and we raised $5,000...And so we are doing that kind of support for that community without declaring ourselves or engaging yet in becoming a sanctuary church.” “For me, showing up right now is to let people know that the interfaith movement is so very important, that religion at work is profoundly different from Christian Nationalism, and that as faith communities we must unite against religious bigotry and persecution,” Sefton said. Back at the Community Church of Sebastopol, Broadbent hopes more churches in the area will do the kind of internal work required to become sanctuary churches. He said he found the process of becoming a sanctuary church extremely heartening. The Community Church of Sebastopol is thus far the only Sebastopol church to have officially declared itself a sanctuary church, though Saint Stephen\u2019s Episcopal is considering doing so. Last Wednesday, April 16, Broadbent of the Community Church and the Rev. Kate Sefton from St. Stephen\u2019s and members of their congregations attended a rally and press conference of church leaders, congregation members, and immigrant community members announcing this new sanctuary movement. \u201CI mean, it\u2019s pretty central to Christian faith that we are to serve the least among us, and we do that because Jesus spent time with and served the least among him that were around him. So that\u2019s part of it. Part of it is the scriptures themselves say that you are to treat the foreigner in your land as if they were a neighbor and a citizen,\u201D he said. \u201CThere\u2019s a passage in Leviticus that says you shall treat the alien as your neighbor,\u201D he said. \u201CThere are other places in Isaiah where it says you shall invite the homeless poor into your home and then within the Christian faith, there are all kinds of references to Jesus providing hospitality to those who are not part of the inside group, but rather on the margins.\u201D Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter\u2014when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?\u201D(Isaiah 58:6-7) Broadbent said his church voted as a whole to become a sanctuary church. \u201CWe had a congregational meeting. We kind of educated the congregation on it, and then we had a motion and a vote. It was resoundingly supportive,\u201D he said. What exactly does it mean to be a sanctuary church? Historically\u2014and in the popular imagination\u2014people physically sought sanctuary in church buildings. Broadbent said that isn\u2019t necessarily the case these days. \u201CGrowing up in the 80s, I remember that sanctuary movement. The church I grew up in in Santa Cruz hosted a family from El Salvador for a period of weeks. In this new sanctuary movement, that could be a possibility. For the time being, though, our church has decided that that\u2019s not something we have the capacity to offer or think would be particularly helpful at this point,\u201D he said, though he said some churches are considering this approach. Given that church buildings are no longer automatically safe spaces, Broadbent said housing immigrants in the church \u201Cmight actually jeopardize people, because we can't claim that ICE can\u2019t come in.\u201D Instead, Broadbent said they\u2019ve had to learn new legal means of resistance. A sign on the door at the Community Church of Sebastopol. If churches aren\u2019t physically housing immigrants, what does \u201Csanctuary\u201D mean in practical terms? \u201CMainly we don\u2019t want people to think that they're just all on their own and that people don\u2019t care about them,\u201D he said. \u201CBy becoming a sanctuary congregation, we\u2019re saying, \u2018No, we see you, we care about you.\u2019 We want to live in a country and a society that values people across the spectrum and isn\u2019t scapegoating certain groups of people, especially those who are scared and most vulnerable. We don\u2019t want them to feel alone.\u201D This impulse is shared by Rev. Kate Sefton from St. Stephen\u2019s Episcopal Church in Sebastopol, who also attended the rally last Wednesday with eight other members from that church. She said she went to represent St. Stephen\u2019s, not as a sanctuary church, but \u201Cas a church which is inclusive, supportive and loving of our neighbors in all justice work.\u201D The Rev. Kate Sefton from St. Stephen\u2019s Episcopal Church in Sebastopol. (Photo from the church\u2019s website)Sefton emphasized that St. Stephen\u2019s has not declared itself a sanctuary church. \u201CWe are having a conversation about sanctuary, what that might mean, what our work for immigration protection and legislation might mean,\u201D she said. For now, they\u2019re working on other ways to support local immigrants. \u201COn Sunday afternoon, we had a fundraiser for Sonoma Secure Families Collaborative,\u201D an immigration rights organization, \u201Cand we raised $5,000...And so we are doing that kind of support for that community without declaring ourselves or engaging yet in becoming a sanctuary church.\u201D \u201CFor me, showing up right now is to let people know that the interfaith movement is so very important, that religion at work is profoundly different from Christian Nationalism, and that as faith communities we must unite against religious bigotry and persecution,\u201D Sefton said. What are you enjoying most about your job as a council person and now as mayor? What I enjoy is learning more about the community. I think people have the perception that I’m sort of a carpetbagger—like I just arrived and what do I know? But I've been kicking around West County for many, many years. My prior partner and I bought a house out on the river in 2006. That was supposed to be a second home, but I met Jim [now Zollman’s husband]…and that turned out to be our primary residence. Sebastopol was always our date night. If you want to go to a movie, a restaurant, be able to be affectionate and hold hands, that was here. And so I was quickly like, ‘Yeah, how do we move here?’ That was my first real foray into what’s happening in Sebastopol. And then I let it be known, I have my own virtual law practice, so I joined the Chamber of Commerce and they're like, ‘Hey, how about you being a board member?’ So I was a board member there for a couple of years. I was also a board member of LANTERN, which was a nonprofit trying to expand the library, and I was a board member of Sebastopol Center for the Arts. And now, being on the council and being mayor, I feel like I get to learn even more about the town and try to figure out, again, how to meet the needs of people in the community. The city did a survey of where people are, and where people are now is about safety. I don’t have a problem with that at all. I mean, we are an older community. But my definition of safety is not just physical. We want to make sure that the EMTs are going to show up, fire is going to come out if you have a fire, but also emotionally and mental health-wise. What I’ve heard from the community is ‘You need to be more responsive about people feeling safe.’ And I hear that. What we’ve done to say we’re listening is to get more 24-hour fire coverage. At our last city council meeting, we set up a stipend program to allow there to be more coverage and set up captain positions. And, of course, then there’s law enforcement. I think law enforcement always has a role when dealing with serious felony-type behavior, but I’m glad that, for lesser things, our local law enforcement takes a holistic view of, like, ‘Why are you running down the street naked at three o'clock in the morning?’ You know, there’s probably something going on there. And then we cover the mental health stuff and the re-triggering of past traumas. Wait, the food delivery thing? I’m confused. Ceres started out just delivering food, but then they wrapped other services around that and now they have Medi-Cal, a steady funding stream. So that’s my goal, with a lot of marginalized, vulnerable people, is to shore up the federal funding. Let’s go back to your work with the council. Tell me about your approach toward working with your different colleagues on the council. What don’t you like about being on the council? I have to breathe when things get really, really, really technical. I mean I like to learn, but I can’t learn everything for every subject matter that the city staff and electeds are responsible for—like engineering and planning. That’s all really complicated. One of the things I admire is the fact that the city council has a lot of ad hocs, whose job it is to delve into these more complicated topics. Some say it’s not great to have as many ad hocs, but I really rely on them for things like choosing a garbage hauler. It’s a specialized area, and it takes time to know it. I’m appreciative of our ad hocs and council members who dig deep on all that stuff. I’m going to read and try to absorb the best I can, but I’m relying on what they’ve learned. And it's the same with planning. I love the ideas of how we're gonna build a more walkable city, infill, all this and that, but as other council members have said, we really rely on the experts on the planning commission, because you can't really mess around. Architecture is a specialized area, so I rely on experts with the schooling and experience to kind of guide me in the right direction. So I guess, to answer your question, I feel like I should have a better handle on the really technical stuff, and I feel bad when I don't. That's challenging at times…It’s just that there’s just so many things that come before the city council, and the staff reports are, as you know, very, very intense, and it does take a lot to absorb it all and feel relatively confident. You are on an astounding number of boards and committees—both on your own and as part of your role as mayor. Why so many? Regionally, it’s the library. Sonoma County Library had a lot of money, and they continue to have a lot of money because Measure W passed, and Sebastopol has a library…So if we can get at, like, where are they going to send money to us and how fast are they going to send money—that is one of my goals. I also sit on the board of Sonoma Clean Power. They also have a lot of money. But when I talk about that, people are like, ‘How does that affect my life?’ So I’ve had many conversations with the executive director of, like, ‘What are you demonstrating that we as citizens of Sebastopol get because we pay into Evergreen, the higher green energy tier?’ And I'm like, ‘I want to be able to talk about how our elders are saving on their bills.’ I also participate in regional boards—I’m the alternate to ABAG (the Association of Bay Area Governments)—and the question there too is ‘Where is the money, and how can we draw it down?’ I’ve always been drawn to nonprofits that do the work that needs to be done to provide a social safety net. That’s the reason why I felt bad when the city could not continue to fund our local nonprofits…but I was like, ‘Well, if you can’t give money, you could give time.’ Sarah Gurney, when she was mayor, got all the different nonprofits together on a list serve, and they met monthly on Zoom. That had kind of petered out. So I just sent emails to all of them, and we’ve started meeting again on a monthly basis. On January 7, the city council will decide whether they’re going to bless a council member to formally sit as a facilitator for these monthly meetings. But working to help children is my real passion. That’s the reason why, through the Mayors and Council Members Association, I put my name in for the Child Care Planning Council, and now I’m the co-chair. I’m also on the board of the Nurse-Family Partnership. Those are nurses who go into the houses of moms who are struggling for a lot of different reasons so that someone has eyes on the situation. They don't wait for trauma; they try to figure out what the problem is and get services. I’ve also been trying my hardest to get connections to all of our schools, elementary school, as well as junior high, and now I have an ongoing, very good relationship with the principal at Analy, Chuck Wade, and we touch base. I really want to start more at the preventative level, like, if they're coming through elementary school, middle school, they're all feeders to the high school. If you could do anything else other than what you're doing now, what could it be? I would—and this is still a goal—figure out how to do philanthropic work through a foundation (or create one by myself) that would be staffed by everyone who could help children going through whatever they were going through: so there would be a lawyer, there would be a psychiatrist, there would be social workers, there would be play therapists, there would be all of that. And I would figure out how to get money for that. That’s what I’d do So it would also play up my legal experience and my psychological interests, but it would have to be child-focused. If it wasn’t child-focused and prevention-focused, I would not be interested in doing it. What would people be surprised to know about you? I am pretty much a recluse. I am very much an introvert, and it takes a lot of energy to figure out what I want to commit to. And then when I get in that mindset, I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ve showed up, and other people here seem like they want to get things done.’ And that’s where I think, ‘Okay, we’re gonna think big, figure it out, and continue talking until we have a path forward.’ But yeah, internally I’m not what people perceive all the time. I’m very self-reflective. I go through my own feelings of self-doubt and self-criticism—that’s all still very real. You know the famous Anne Frank quote: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are truly good at heart.” True or not true? Absolutely true. I mean, I think that we are all one. I get that from the whole Buddhist thing. We are all one, and there are reasons why we are who we think we are, and how we manifest ourselves in dealing with other people. I always try to understand ‘Why is that other person engaging the way that they're engaging?’ And I always strive to take a deep breath and kind of settle and observe and be more curious. You know, it's like ‘I’m hearing you say this. I’m interested to learn more about that.’ To kind of, again, settle in our bodies and engage the normal, logical part of our brain—assuming the fact that everyone is bright and everybody has something to contribute. Most of that work isn’t glamorous. And none of it is easy. They keep things running in spite of ephemeral funding, pilot programs that take us taxing down runways without ever getting airborne long enough to reach a destination. They do all this work and receive much too little appreciation for the work they put in and much too much criticism from people who don’t get it that the city simply cannot afford to accomplish everything we all can agree should have been done yesterday. Perhaps people imagine all this volunteering to work on the city council comes with compensations, let’s see…..a nice city-provided office, at least a modest a salary, a city car to tool around town in. You know, the kind of perks that come to a soldier in our volunteer armed forces. They’d be surprised at how small the stipend for their community service actually is. There is no office space for the Mayor of Sebastopol. No desk even. No veterans benefits, no sir. No car, either. Thank you for these two articles about Mayor Zollman. Laura, you ask good questions that help us deeply understand the people you interview and what makes them tick. He’s clearly a very compassionate human being who is serving our community with a set of values that will help guide the council to make their often very difficult decisions. ReplyShare3 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts This is part 2 of a two-part interview with Sebastopol Mayor Stephen Zollman. See Part 1 here What are you enjoying most about your job as a council person and now as mayor What I enjoy is learning more about the community I think people have the perception that I\u2019m sort of a carpetbagger\u2014like I just arrived and what do I know But I've been kicking around West County for many My prior partner and I bought a house out on the river in 2006 but I met Jim [now Zollman\u2019s husband]\u2026and that turned out to be our primary residence This is our eighth year living in Sebastopol what can I do to give back?\u2019 I went right to the city website do you want to be the Sebastopol appointee to the Library Commission?\u201D I thought I really do.\u2019 When I was a public defender and all my clients didn\u2019t have money I\u2019d send them to the library because no one would kick them out no one would be crawling up into their business \u2018You might be undocumented.\u2019 No one would make them feel uncomfortable or make them feel threatened So I have been a big proponent of the library That was my first real foray into what\u2019s happening in Sebastopol so I joined the Chamber of Commerce and they're like how about you being a board member?\u2019 So I was a board member there for a couple of years which was a nonprofit trying to expand the library and I was a board member of Sebastopol Center for the Arts I feel like I get to learn even more about the town and try to figure out how to meet the needs of people in the community I don\u2019t have a problem with that at all But my definition of safety is not just physical We want to make sure that the EMTs are going to show up fire is going to come out if you have a fire but also emotionally and mental health-wise What I\u2019ve heard from the community is \u2018You need to be more responsive about people feeling safe.\u2019 And I hear that What we\u2019ve done to say we\u2019re listening is to get more 24-hour fire coverage we set up a stipend program to allow there to be more coverage and set up captain positions I think law enforcement always has a role when dealing with serious felony-type behavior our local law enforcement takes a holistic view of \u2018Why are you running down the street naked at three o'clock in the morning?\u2019 You know there\u2019s probably something going on there And then we cover the mental health stuff and the re-triggering of past traumas So one of the things I try to do is to figure out ways to get more mental health services I met with [our State Senator] Mike McGuire\u2014it took a while to have that one-on-one with him\u2014and the conversation was you\u2019re not going to get a steady funding stream for mental health but what I will promise you is to set up pilot programs throughout the state and I\u2019m fine with doing one for west of the 101.\u201D I\u2019m a big believer that we don\u2019t operate in a silo here What happens in West County affects us and vice versa and the staffers are trying to pull it together about how we\u2019re going to have a pilot program similar to Ceres but then they wrapped other services around that and now they have Medi-Cal I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s so secure these days we\u2019ve already heard there will be cuts like \u2018We\u2019re going to slash Department of Education we\u2019re going to slash that.\u2019 So my goal is to work with other marginalized electives to figure out how we can protect the funding streams that we have And if it\u2019s not going to come from the feds strategic way for fundraising for mental health services what are we going to do if we\u2019re left to our own devices Let\u2019s go back to your work with the council Tell me about your approach toward working with your different colleagues on the council I learned early on that when there is conflict the good thing is to lean into the conflict and really understand why the person is as intense as they are It\u2019s also important for me to recognize that internally it\u2019s usually time for me to pause and just try to understand where the emotion is coming from chances are you\u2019re in fight-or-flight\u2014and then just breathe and try to encourage the other person to breathe and try to work through the emotion when you\u2019re out of your fight or flight try to get into cognitive levels and figure out cognitively How can we have a meeting of the minds?\u2019 When I encounter that with anyone\u2014my fellow council members or just in life\u2014that\u2019s my goal because I just think that everyone on the council is incredibly bright We\u2019re older\u2026 we\u2019ve had various different experiences and I think it would behoove all of us to just take a beat and recognize the fact that we\u2019ve all contributed a lot There\u2019s a lot we can continue to contribute but getting locked into a heat usually doesn\u2019t help It\u2019s a missed opportunity because if you have a big dust-up then you both walk away and then there\u2019s no potential to think logically through scenarios What don\u2019t you like about being on the council but I can\u2019t learn everything for every subject matter that the city staff and electeds are responsible for\u2014like engineering and planning One of the things I admire is the fact that the city council has a lot of ad hocs whose job it is to delve into these more complicated topics Some say it\u2019s not great to have as many ad hocs but I really rely on them for things like choosing a garbage hauler I\u2019m appreciative of our ad hocs and council members who dig deep on all that stuff I\u2019m going to read and try to absorb the best I can but I\u2019m relying on what they\u2019ve learned I love the ideas of how we're gonna build a more walkable city we really rely on the experts on the planning commission so I rely on experts with the schooling and experience to kind of guide me in the right direction I feel like I should have a better handle on the really technical stuff That's challenging at times\u2026It\u2019s just that there\u2019s just so many things that come before the city council and it does take a lot to absorb it all and feel relatively confident You are on an astounding number of boards and committees\u2014both on your own and as part of your role as mayor doing statewide policy work through Cal Cities and you learn the particular funding streams you best shake the tree\u2014especially if you\u2019re in a city that\u2019s struggling financially (and we\u2019re not alone in that) So where are we looking for the money?\u201D and they continue to have a lot of money because Measure W passed and Sebastopol has a library\u2026So if we can get at where are they going to send money to us and how fast are they going to send money\u2014that is one of my goals I also sit on the board of Sonoma Clean Power \u2018How does that affect my life?\u2019 So I\u2019ve had many conversations with the executive director of \u2018What are you demonstrating that we as citizens of Sebastopol get because we pay into Evergreen the higher green energy tier?\u2019 And I'm like \u2018I want to be able to talk about how our elders are saving on their bills.\u2019 I also participate in regional boards\u2014I\u2019m the alternate to ABAG (the Association of Bay Area Governments)\u2014and the question there too is \u2018Where is the money I\u2019ve always been drawn to nonprofits that do the work that needs to be done to provide a social safety net That\u2019s the reason why I felt bad when the city could not continue to fund our local nonprofits\u2026but I was like got all the different nonprofits together on a list serve and we\u2019ve started meeting again on a monthly basis the city council will decide whether they\u2019re going to bless a council member to formally sit as a facilitator for these monthly meetings But working to help children is my real passion through the Mayors and Council Members Association I put my name in for the Child Care Planning Council I\u2019m also on the board of the Nurse-Family Partnership Those are nurses who go into the houses of moms who are struggling for a lot of different reasons so that someone has eyes on the situation They don't wait for trauma; they try to figure out what the problem is and get services I\u2019ve also been trying my hardest to get connections to all of our schools very good relationship with the principal at Analy I really want to start more at the preventative level if they're coming through elementary school I learned early on that if you're a city elected When kids start having things attributed to them there are things in those youths\u2019 lives that would drive them to want to do certain things and to self-medicate let me just get busy with the principal and figure out what I can do to help And one of those things is to figure out ways to get more mental health services If you could do anything else other than what you're doing now I would\u2014and this is still a goal\u2014figure out how to do philanthropic work through a foundation (or create one by myself) that would be staffed by everyone who could help children going through whatever they were going through: so there would be a lawyer And I would figure out how to get money for that So it would also play up my legal experience and my psychological interests If it wasn\u2019t child-focused and prevention-focused What would people be surprised to know about you and it takes a lot of energy to figure out what I want to commit to and other people here seem like they want to get things done.\u2019 And that\u2019s where I think and continue talking until we have a path forward.\u2019 internally I\u2019m not what people perceive all the time I go through my own feelings of self-doubt and self-criticism\u2014that\u2019s all still very real You know the famous Anne Frank quote: \u201CIn spite of everything I still believe that people are truly good at heart.\u201D True or not true and there are reasons why we are who we think we are and how we manifest ourselves in dealing with other people I always try to understand \u2018Why is that other person engaging the way that they're engaging?\u2019 And I always strive to take a deep breath and kind of settle and observe and be more curious it's like \u2018I\u2019m hearing you say this I\u2019m interested to learn more about that.\u2019 To kind of settle in our bodies and engage the normal logical part of our brain\u2014assuming the fact that everyone is bright and everybody has something to contribute the ACLU alleges the court substituted its own judgment about the ordinance’s meaning and ignored the ACLU’s arguments The ACLU of Northern California on Thursday appealed a federal judge’s ruling in November that has enabled the City of Sebastopol to resume enforcing its controversial RV parking ordinance this year The ordinance, originally passed by the Sebastopol City Council in February 2022 allows for overnight parking on public streets in commercial areas but effectively bans RV parking anywhere within city limits during daylight hours The City Council approved it following an outcry from businesspeople and residents about RV parking in the Morris Street area Police began enforcing the ordinance — the first of its kind in Sonoma County — in March 2022. But they suspended enforcement after the ACLU and a coalition of civil right groups filed their lawsuit in October 2022. The ACLU argued the ordinance was “cruel and unlawful,” effectively pushing out and criminalizing homeless people while the city provided insufficient services and alternative shelter District Judge Kandis Westmore sided with Sebastopol While acknowledging harms cited by the ACLU Westmore also validated the city’s health and safety concerns and said plaintiffs failed to meet the legal bars for their claims of excessive fines state-created danger and disability rights violations the ACLU now argues that Westmore “substituted” Westmore’s “own judgment about the ordinance’s meaning” and ignored the ACLU’s arguments Those arguments contend the ordinance is “constitutionally vague” and fails to properly inform people about the types of vehicles covered by the ordinance or where those vehicles can park “We demonstrated this by showing that the city officials who drafted enacted and enforce the ordinance disagree about the meaning of its key terms,” said Carmen King senior communications manager with the ACLU of Northern California The nonprofit also says the law violates the U.S Constitution by discriminating against a politically disfavored group The Sebastopol police chief at the time “expressly promised the city council that the police would use their discretion to enforce the ordinance against only certain persons who parked their vehicles in town namely those who lived in them,” according to the appeal “He said: ‘Somebody who drives a vehicle such as a VW van that’s been modified for that purpose into a downtown to eat dinner is probably not going to see a whole lot of us … but if we see that vehicle that is staying in the same spot over and over again for a long period of time the common sense kicks in that somebody’s probably utilizing that vehicle to live in and that would be a violation of the ordinance at that point,” the appeal reads But city officials assert Westmore’s ruling — and the ordinance — should stand “We look forward to the Ninth Circuit upholding that decision,” Sebastopol City Manager Don Schwartz said “The purpose of the RV ordinance was to address the serious public health and safety issues that arise from RV encampments and to ensure adequate street parking for the general public.” the ordinance will remain in effect while the appeal is pending RV dwellers who had camped along streets in Sebastopol — the majority along Highway 116 across from the Lucky’s Shopping Center — had cleared out by mid-January The move was a result of a December warning issued by city officials Since they began to enforce the ordinance in January but have not towed any RVs for violating the ordinance The six violations were for parking during prohibited hours and one was for parking in a city lot Schwartz added that while the city is engaging in enforcement it has also “continued efforts to connect RV residents to service providers.” “We are asking the Ninth Circuit court to reverse the lower court and rule in our favor,” Bill Freeman “The alternative is that they send it back to the lower courts to hold a trial.” The city has until mid-April to respond to the ACLU’s appeal The organization, which launched yesterday, March 28, offers Sebastopol and West County residents a powerful opportunity to counter these trends and directly shape the future by generating funding for the dedicated nonprofits working in the West County community. “This is the most exciting new project in West County in recent memory,” said Sebastopol West 100 Co-President Craig Boblitt. “We’ve already raised significant commitments and are inviting other community leaders to join in. We anticipate significant grant distributions at our annual membership meeting in October.” Like so many good things, Sebastopol West 100 started at Peacetown. “It started with Craig Litwin and I meeting at Peacetown last July, right after the city had pulled back all their funding for nonprofits in Sebastopol, and we just looked at each other and said, ‘Could we raise $200,000 to replace that money?’ So we started meeting,” Boblitt said. Craig Boblitt and Kenyon Webster are co-presidents of Sebastopol West 100 “The Community Foundation of Sonoma County made the whole thing work,” Boblitt said Sebastopol West 100 launched its website yesterday and are now ready to accept donations They are having a big launch party on April 30th at Balletto Vineyards Supervisor Lynda Hopkins will be one of the guest speakers at this event She will share her perspective on how Sebastopol West 100 can leverage its resources to make a difference Annual membership is $1,300 which can be contributed in one payment or spread out monthly Members will have a direct say in where funds are awarded Each member will have a vote in the crucial decision-making process of awarding grants You can also join with a higher financial contribution before June 15 and become a “Founding Member.” Founding members are encouraged to donate $5,000 to $100,000 to expand the reach of the organization Business sponsorships start at $5,000 and have no limit Sponsors receive special recognition at events and online The organization will solicit grant requests from local nonprofits there will be a members meeting in October and everyone will get to vote on which nonprofits should get a grant “Our goal is to be able to have $200,000 to give away to four nonprofits by the fall,” Boblitt said The money should be available right after that.” here are some of the things they’re interested in supporting: Supporting the continuity of beneficial services by community-based 501c3 nonprofits operating (but not necessarily based in) the Sebastopol area Grants to park improvement projects in the area may also be considered and improvements to maintain and enhance social recreational and environmental aspects of the community Providing gap funding to leverage and enhance competitiveness of grant applications as well as help struggling nonprofits through down cycles Encouraging collaboration and cross-pollination among area nonprofits as well as enhance community awareness through effective communication such as a joint newsletter Co-President Kenyon Webster said that many people have asked him how much will be given out in grants: “We have already secured $125,000 in pledged donations and memberships,”—that number is higher now—“and we have multiple people champing at the bit to join,” he said “The real answer to how much we can give is truly up to how deeply each individual is willing to contribute.” To join Sebastopol West 100 or to RSVP for the April 30th launch event at Balletto Vineyards, go to SW100.org, email info@SW100.org or call Craig Litwin at 707-339-8805. ReplyShare2 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts \u201CThis is the most exciting new project in West County in recent memory,\u201D said Sebastopol West 100 Co-President Craig Boblitt. \u201CWe\u2019ve already raised significant commitments and are inviting other community leaders to join in. We anticipate significant grant distributions at our annual membership meeting in October.\u201D Like so many good things, Sebastopol West 100 started at Peacetown. \u201CIt started with Craig Litwin and I meeting at Peacetown last July, right after the city had pulled back all their funding for nonprofits in Sebastopol, and we just looked at each other and said, \u2018Could we raise $200,000 to replace that money?\u2019 So we started meeting,\u201D Boblitt said. \u201CThe Community Foundation of Sonoma County made the whole thing work,\u201D Boblitt said 501(c)(3)\u2014all that stuff is done by them and we just fall under their umbrella.\u201D Sebastopol West 100 launched its website yesterday and are now ready to accept donations and become a \u201CFounding Member.\u201D Founding members are encouraged to donate $5,000 to $100,000 to expand the reach of the organization \u201COur goal is to be able to have $200,000 to give away to four nonprofits by the fall,\u201D Boblitt said The money should be available right after that.\u201D here are some of the things they\u2019re interested in supporting: Co-President Kenyon Webster said that many people have asked him how much will be given out in grants: \u201CWe have already secured $125,000 in pledged donations and memberships,\u201D\u2014that number is higher now\u2014\u201Cand we have multiple people champing at the bit to join,\u201D he said \u201CThe real answer to how much we can give is truly up to how deeply each individual is willing to contribute.\u201D To join Sebastopol West 100 or to RSVP for the April 30th launch event at Balletto Vineyards, go to SW100.org, email info@SW100.org or call Craig Litwin at 707-339-8805. The 28-foot-tall structure is constructed of stainless steel and covered with polycarbonate tabs that move when the wind blows. “For decades, I’ve been intrigued with this idea of dissolving the boundaries of sculpture,” Kahn said. “I mean, most traditional sculpture, it’s metal or stone, and the boundary between the artwork and the environment is very defined. I’ve been intrigued with exploring the opposite of that—like, how can you make a sculpture that’s permeated by the atmosphere, permeated by nature, so that the boundary is this constantly morphing, changing surface.” “When you look at anything in nature closely enough, everything has kind of a granular texture to it—a morphing, changing, granular texture,” he said. “If you look at the surface of molecules and atoms and cells in our bodies and all sorts of living creatures, their boundaries are very porous and intermingle with the environment. I’ve been intrigued with making sculptures on a macro scale that we can see that are reflective of the basic physics and biophysics of the universe.” The moving pieces on the sculpture are made from a bio-plastic. “It’s a polycarbonate that was created from living plants rather than fossil fuels,” Kahn said. The Sebastopol Spire project started eight years ago, when the Public Arts Committee of Sebastopol held a competition for a sculpture to grace the eastern entrance of Sebastopol on Highway 12. Kahn won the competition with a different sculptural concept—another moving wind sculpture that was going to be installed on the Highway 12 bridge—but Caltrans vetoed it. “We presented it to Caltrans, and they said, well, one of our rules is it can’t have any moving parts. So we fought with them for a year and a half, giving them data to show that the thing is totally safe, but they wouldn’t budge from their rules,” Kahn said. “It took eight years to navigate the minefield of Caltrans, Open Space and the City of Sebastopol hoops, but we got to the finish line,” he said. “We had to get the sculpture in before October because of rules about bird migration.” Sebastopol Spire is now located in a small meadow, set back from Hwy. 12, behind the Welcome to Sebastopol sign at the eastern entrance to town. It is barely visible from the road. “Basically, we ended up finding this little meadow, which is outside of Caltrans’ right of way,” Kahn said. “It belongs to the city of Sebastopol. The piece was originally intended as kind of a gateway into Sebastopol, but instead, it’s in this beautiful little meadow, and I actually think it’s a better place because it’s kind of beautiful there. You’re far enough away from the highway that it actually feels like a real place.” Kahn also donated and craned in a giant curving log as a bench to sit and observe the sculpture. “I told the city that I wanted to have a bench to encourage people to hang out there and watch because it is kind of a mesmerizing thing,” Kahn said. “Once you start watching it, you want to be comfortable and watch it for a while.” Rather than being a gateway to the city, Sebastopol Spire will eventually be a gateway to the series of trails running on city property along the laguna. Public works director Dante Del Prete said that the AmeriCorps Trail, which is expected to be finished this year, will connect to the meadow where the Sebastopol Spire is located. The sculpture is a gift of sorts from the artist to Sebastopol. The city paid Kahn $44,000 from the Public Arts budget, but the sculpture ultimately cost about $200,000 to create and install. The original $44,000 didn’t come from the city’s General Fund, but from a special public arts fee that developers pay when they build in Sebastopol. This one came from the public arts fee paid by the Barlow during its construction. Park on Morris Street near Highway 12, and walk around the corner and down the block to the ‘Welcome to Sebastopol’ sign just this side of the Highway 12 bridge over the laguna. Sebastopol Spire is located in the oak-dotted meadow behind the sign. Choose a windy day for the full effect. Sebastopol Spire by artist Ned Kahn was installed in a city-owned lot next to the laguna last Thursday. (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)Some things are worth waiting for. Artist Ned Kahn\u2019s \u2018Sebastopol Spire\u2019 is one of those. After eight years of bureaucratic wrangling, Sebastopol Spire was installed in a city-owned meadow next to the laguna last Thursday, Sept. 19. \u201CFor decades, I\u2019ve been intrigued with this idea of dissolving the boundaries of sculpture,\u201D Kahn said. \u201CI mean, most traditional sculpture, it\u2019s metal or stone, and the boundary between the artwork and the environment is very defined. I\u2019ve been intrigued with exploring the opposite of that\u2014like, how can you make a sculpture that\u2019s permeated by the atmosphere, permeated by nature, so that the boundary is this constantly morphing, changing surface.\u201D The moving pieces on the sculpture are made from a bio-plastic. \u201CIt\u2019s a polycarbonate that was created from living plants rather than fossil fuels,\u201D Kahn said. Kahn won the competition with a different sculptural concept\u2014another moving wind sculpture that was going to be installed on the Highway 12 bridge\u2014but Caltrans vetoed it. \u201CWe presented it to Caltrans, and they said, well, one of our rules is it can\u2019t have any moving parts. So we fought with them for a year and a half, giving them data to show that the thing is totally safe, but they wouldn\u2019t budge from their rules,\u201D Kahn said. \u201CIt took eight years to navigate the minefield of Caltrans, Open Space and the City of Sebastopol hoops, but we got to the finish line,\u201D he said. \u201CWe had to get the sculpture in before October because of rules about bird migration.\u201D \u201CBasically, we ended up finding this little meadow, which is outside of Caltrans\u2019 right of way,\u201D Kahn said. \u201CIt belongs to the city of Sebastopol. The piece was originally intended as kind of a gateway into Sebastopol, but instead, it\u2019s in this beautiful little meadow, and I actually think it\u2019s a better place because it\u2019s kind of beautiful there. You\u2019re far enough away from the highway that it actually feels like a real place.\u201D \u201CI told the city that I wanted to have a bench to encourage people to hang out there and watch because it is kind of a mesmerizing thing,\u201D Kahn said. \u201COnce you start watching it, you want to be comfortable and watch it for a while.\u201D The sculpture is a gift of sorts from the artist to Sebastopol. The city paid Kahn $44,000 from the Public Arts budget, but the sculpture ultimately cost about $200,000 to create and install. The original $44,000 didn\u2019t come from the city\u2019s General Fund, but from a special public arts fee that developers pay when they build in Sebastopol. This one came from the public arts fee paid by the Barlow during its construction. Park on Morris Street near Highway 12, and walk around the corner and down the block to the \u2018Welcome to Sebastopol\u2019 sign just this side of the Highway 12 bridge over the laguna. Sebastopol Spire is located in the oak-dotted meadow behind the sign. Choose a windy day for the full effect. Join Gratonites this Earth Day in caring for the living earth (which includes ourselves and our communities) Support our land and immigrant communities The Earth Care Family Program (4 pm to 5:30 pm) includes pollinator education; crafts and face painting; butterfly pea tea and cookies; yoga Wear your wings and bring cash for butterfly-friendly plants Community Care Program (5:30 pm to 6:30 pm) includes Graton Day Labor Center plus immigrant safety and support presentation by the North Bay Organizing Project Earth Day Climathon: Hatching DIY projects that build community resilienceTuesday Horticultural Garden Tour of Osmosis with Michael Alliger + Michael StusserWednesday Sliding Scale: $55/$65/$75 (limited availability for each price slot) Music: Laurie Lewis and Nina GerberThursday Did you know that over 90% of the bugs you see in your garden are actually good bugs? They’re out there working hard to keep your plants healthy by controlling pests. Encouraging these beneficial insects is one of the easiest and most effective ways to naturally reduce the number of harmful bugs in your garden. Teacher Suzanne Bontempo. Reserve your spot AWS Apple Blossom Art Show ReceptionFriday AWS Apple Blossom Art Show runs throughout the Apple Blossom festival weekend There is an artist’s reception at SebArts on Friday The David Outlaw Band blends the best of Southern rock, Americana, and bluegrass, delivering a sound that spans from swampy bluegrass to jam band-style rock. They will be joined by Jonny Mojo on lead and slide guitar. With a foundation in blues, Jonny Mojo transcends genres, blending rock, folk, fusion, bluegrass, jam band styles and more. Get tickets 79th Annual Apple Blossom Parade & Festival Get ready to bloom with joy at Sebastopol’s most beloved springtime celebration and prepare for a weekend bursting with color Friday Night Pre-Party starts at 6 pm in Ives Park – Kick off the festivities in style featuring The Luminous Cuttlefish by Sepia Lux inflatable art sculptures by Astro Botanicals Saturday Morning Parade at 10 am – Watch downtown Sebastopol come alive with dazzling floats Starts at Analy High School and runs down Main Street Saturday & Sunday Festival – The fun continues at Ives Park with live music, delicious food, local wine & cider, artisan vendors, and family-friendly activities. Saturday from 11 am - 6 pm, Sunday from 11 am - 5 pm. Get tickets for the festival at appleblossomfest.com Willowside School Nursery Plant SaleSaturday Resilient Landscaping: Defensible Space WorkshopSaturday End of Frost: Pinot & Pig PaloozaSaturday To celebrate the end of frost season, Emeritus Vineyards is having a hoedown pitting the vineyard, winemaking, and hospitality teams against each other to come up with the best piggy pairing for our Pinots. (Vegetarian options will be available.) Get tickets 17th Annual Beer Blossom Fest at HopMonk SebastopolSaturday Come to Hopmon after the parade for free music Husary Olive Oil Tour and Tasting with Slow Food Russian RiverSaturday Heirloom Fruit Tree and Plant SaleSaturday Join the folks at Luther Burbank Experiment Farm on Saturday afternoon to enjoy spring blossoms and beautiful plants Our public garden and picnic tables are free to use and provide a lovely place to bring your own picnic after the Apple Blossom parade Stroll through our three-acre demonstration farm and learn about Luther Burbank and his impact on our culinary and gardening world our skilled docents will be providing a free walking tour of the farm sharing stories of the rich botanical history created in Sebastopol Locally grown and Luther Burbank-created varieties suitable for our Sonoma County environment Fruit tree experts will be on hand to answer your questions and help you select the perfect tree or plant for your yard Hot Buttered Rum plus The Sam ChaseSaturday Hot Buttered Rum, a souped-up, left-coast string band, is the brainchild of uniquely gifted musicians who weave their love of bluegrass, folk, jazz and soul into a riveting strain of Americana. Get tickets Murmur: Winged Belonging – workshop and dance performanceSunday Arrive at 1 pm for a free bird language workshop facilitated by Weaving Earth. The dance program, Murmur, begins at 2 pm. Experience a wild, immersive journey where dance merges with flight, blurring the lines between bodies and birds, movement and wind, stage and sky. Our dancers don’t imitate birds; they become them—channeling the wild, the threatened, and the fierce. Get tickets A dance party for the whole family. All ages welcome. Our caller will teach easy-to-learn dances from American and British Isles folk traditions with live music by fabulous local musicians. Snacks provided. Bring your water bottle. Sponsored by North Bay Country Dance. Fourth Sundays from 2 pm to 4:30 pm (3/23; 4/27; 5/25; 6/22). Learn more Dinner and a Movie: Tampopo at Rialto CinemasSunday Join us on a cinematic and culinary adventure as Rialto Cinemas owner Ky Boyd and chef and author Michele Anna Jordan combine their expertise to take diners on six unique cinematic celebrations. See the Tampopo menu and get tickets here Earth Care and Community Care in GratonTuesday Did you know that over 90% of the bugs you see in your garden are actually good bugs? They\u2019re out there working hard to keep your plants healthy by controlling pests. Encouraging these beneficial insects is one of the easiest and most effective ways to naturally reduce the number of harmful bugs in your garden. Teacher Suzanne Bontempo. Reserve your spot There is an artist\u2019s reception at SebArts on Friday The David Outlaw Band blends the best of Southern rock, Americana, and bluegrass, delivering a sound that spans from swampy bluegrass to jam band-style rock. They will be joined by Jonny Mojo on lead and slide guitar. With a foundation in blues, Jonny Mojo transcends genres, blending rock, folk, fusion, bluegrass, jam band styles and more. Get tickets Get ready to bloom with joy at Sebastopol\u2019s most beloved springtime celebration Friday Night Pre-Party starts at 6 pm in Ives Park \u2013 Kick off the festivities in style featuring The Luminous Cuttlefish by Sepia Lux Saturday Morning Parade at 10 am \u2013 Watch downtown Sebastopol come alive with dazzling floats Saturday & Sunday Festival \u2013 The fun continues at Ives Park with live music, delicious food, local wine & cider, artisan vendors, and family-friendly activities. Saturday from 11 am - 6 pm, Sunday from 11 am - 5 pm. Get tickets for the festival at appleblossomfest.com To celebrate the end of frost season, Emeritus Vineyards is having a hoedown pitting the vineyard, winemaking, and hospitality teams against each other to come up with the best piggy pairing for our Pinots. (Vegetarian options will be available.) Get tickets Hot Buttered Rum, a souped-up, left-coast string band, is the brainchild of uniquely gifted musicians who weave their love of bluegrass, folk, jazz and soul into a riveting strain of Americana. Get tickets Murmur: Winged Belonging \u2013 workshop and dance performanceSunday A dance party for the whole family. All ages welcome. Our caller will teach easy-to-learn dances from American and British Isles folk traditions with live music by fabulous local musicians. Snacks provided. Bring your water bottle. Sponsored by North Bay Country Dance. Fourth Sundays from 2 pm to 4:30 pm (3/23; 4/27; 5/25; 6/22). Learn more Join us on a cinematic and culinary adventure as Rialto Cinemas owner Ky Boyd and chef and author Michele Anna Jordan combine their expertise to take diners on six unique cinematic celebrations. See the Tampopo menu and get tickets here Lea el artículo en español aquí. Four residents and 24 pets were forced out of a two-story duplex Wednesday after a fire tore through part of the structure near Sebastopol, officials said. The blaze broke out in a building on Sebastopol Road near Llano Road, just off Highway 12 between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. Flames pouring from the upper level were visible from the road, drawing the attention of passing drivers during the busy late-morning commute. Firefighters arrived just before 11:30 a.m., according to Sonoma County Fire District spokesperson Karen Hancock. The top floor was a Quonset hut — a curved, metal structure shaped like a half circle — built above a lower level made of cinder blocks. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the two couples, along with two dogs and 22 cats, were living on the upper level, the lower floor, or throughout the building, said Battalion Chief Mike Stornetta. Firefighters stopped residents from going back inside to rescue pets, saying it was too dangerous. It’s unclear if anyone was home when the fire started. No injuries were reported. Stornetta said the building’s construction made it harder to fight the fire. The roof, made of tin and insulation materials like straw, newspaper or particle board, couldn’t be safely cut open to release heat and smoke — a common technique used to control fires. “We could not safely put firefighters on the roof to cut the hole,” Stornetta said. “It presented a challenge for us.” The fire was contained around noon, though crews stayed into the afternoon to put out hot spots, search for any missing pets and clean up. The upper floor was heavily damaged by fire, while the lower level had mostly water damage. A county building inspector arrived around 1 p.m. to assess whether the building could still be lived in. Roughly 40 firefighters responded, including crews from Sebastopol, Occidental, Santa Rosa, Rancho Adobe, Graton and Gold Ridge fire departments. You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals. It’s going to take a day or two to pull together the full city council recap but we wanted to get the word out on two important issues: the hiring of a new police chief and the collapse of the mayor’s attempt to impose new press procedures Outgoing Police Chief Ron Nelson (left) and incoming Police Chief Sean McDonagh (right) whose employment contract was approved by the Sebastopol City Council last night (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)The Sebastopol City Council approved the hiring of Sean McDonagh as the City’s next Police Chief McDonagh will officially assume the role immediately with a three-year contract extending through March 3 According to a city press release on McDonagh’s hiring McDonagh brings a wealth of law enforcement experience having served as a Police Commander for 10 years and most recently as a Police Chief in Colorado for the past two years He holds advanced degrees in law enforcement and police leadership and security from institutions in both the U.S McDonagh has successfully obtained California law enforcement certification through the California Police Officer Standards Board ensuring his qualifications align with state requirements.” was chosen from among multiple candidates after extensive interviews explained the selection process in detail at the meeting: Five or six of those candidates were brought forward to a panel of police chiefs from around the Bay Area and three candidates were moved forward out of that panel Those three candidates went through an interview process with a panel of community members and then also an internal interview process with city leadership Then they also went through an interview that same day with a former police background investigator Then the community panel and the investigator’s interviews became advisory for the decision-making process of the city manager the successful candidate [McDonagh] went through a comprehensive reference and background investigation that included in-depth checks into recent employment performance evaluations and also all the documents that were related to anything that happened—we can’t talk about that; it’s a confidential process The background investigator is certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Board and does a thorough job.” This extensive explanation was in response to a question from Kyle Falbo who had obviously been Googling and had discovered that the new chief had two relatively short tenures as police chief in Colorado first in Rocky Ford and then in Monte Vista where he served as police chief for eight months was formally ended with a separation agreement last week that included the payment of a legal claim of $35,000 to McDonagh After Muchmore’s explanation of the hiring process Councilmember Sandra Maurer asked if the new chief could say a few words I appreciate Kyle’s question,” McDonagh said as we saw tonight here with a massive turnout from the community here in Sebastopol With the blessing of the council and policy and the city administration I’m extremely excited because community engagement has been a very important part of my career We have to work in partnership with the community to achieve common goals So I’m really excited to continue meeting people from the city from businesses and the residents of this city so that we can keep pushing forward into a positive place The city press release on McDonagh’s hiring also included these comments from Mayor Zollman and City Manager Don Schwartz Mayor Zollman welcomes Chief McDonagh and stated “The City looks forward to the Chief’s leadership to enhance public safety fostering and building strong relationships with our esteemed youth and valued residents through strong community engagement and fostering transparency in our police department His stated commitment to a holistic approach to policing aligns with our values of creating a safer City Manager Don Schwartz echoed this sentiment adding “Chief McDonagh has demonstrated experience in working closely with the community and his tea m I was particularly struck by his ability to recruit quality police officers when they could go anywhere in the country.” “I’ve always loved the city and surrounding region so it’s a real honor to be able to call Sebastopol home,” said Chief McDonagh “I look forward to working closely and collaboratively with the City Council and administration Community engagement is and has been very important to me in my past roles as chief of police I love to be active in and with the community so that we can work together to achieve common goals for the City of Sebastopol.” You can find an interesting and informative interview with Chief McDonagh here on the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force website. Thanks to an outpouring of letters and an overflow crowd the night of the council meeting opposing the city’s proposed press practices, the Sebastopol City Council scrapped the proposed press practices and revised the short press policy they’d originally approved in November. More details later in our full city council recap, but for now, thank you, thank you, thank you for writing those letters and showing up to support a free press. I agree with the “press rules” outcome. Like many others, I rely on the Sebastopol Times for what’s happening in and around the city. Most importantly, it is the way I learn about what the local government is good at, and what might be missing from its agenda. However, I left the meeting unsatisfied. Why? Why did the Mayor feel the need to put forth a more restrictive press procedure? I respect Mayor Zollman and our city officials. They have broad responsibilities and limited budgets. Mayor Zollman is an experienced public service lawyer. Lawyers know the Constitutional problems with limiting Free Speech and Freedom of the Press. And, no Constitutional right means “anything goes.” Speech can be moderated in “time, place, and manner” if there is a compelling government interest at stake, like public safety. Did Mayor Zollman have a compelling reason to take the approved Council policy and construe it in a more restrictive way? We don’t know if his reason was compelling or not. It wasn’t discussed. We don’t know if those draft procedures were simply a momentary lapse of judgement, an overreaction to something that happened, or an ongoing problem that the Mayor feels he can’t talk about. Yes, the immediate problem was solved, but there is an important question left unanswered. ReplyShare14 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts Last night\u2019s city council meeting agenda was full of meaty, interesting and complex items\u2014and, wow, what a crowd! It\u2019s going to take a day or two to pull together the full city council recap, but we wanted to get the word out on two important issues: the hiring of a new police chief and the collapse of the mayor\u2019s attempt to impose new press procedures. Outgoing Police Chief Ron Nelson (left) and incoming Police Chief Sean McDonagh (right) (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)The Sebastopol City Council approved the hiring of Sean McDonagh as the City\u2019s next Police Chief According to a city press release on McDonagh\u2019s hiring ensuring his qualifications align with state requirements.\u201D Then the community panel and the investigator\u2019s interviews became advisory for the decision-making process of the city manager and also all the documents that were related to anything that happened\u2014we can\u2019t talk about that; it\u2019s a confidential process The background investigator is certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Board and does a thorough job.\u201D After Muchmore\u2019s explanation of the hiring process I appreciate Kyle\u2019s question,\u201D McDonagh said I\u2019d like to be as transparent as I can be I\u2019m extremely excited because community engagement has been a very important part of my career It\u2019s been my favorite part of my career So I\u2019m really excited to continue meeting people from the city The city press release on McDonagh\u2019s hiring also included these comments from Mayor Zollman and City Manager Don Schwartz \u201CThe City looks forward to the Chief\u2019s leadership to enhance public safety adding \u201CChief McDonagh has demonstrated experience in working closely with the community and his tea m I was particularly struck by his ability to recruit quality police officers when they could go anywhere in the country.\u201D \u201CI\u2019ve always loved the city and surrounding region so it\u2019s a real honor to be able to call Sebastopol home,\u201D said Chief McDonagh \u201CI look forward to working closely and collaboratively with the City Council and administration so that we can work together to achieve common goals for the City of Sebastopol.\u201D You can find an interesting and informative interview with Chief McDonagh here on the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force website. Thanks to an outpouring of letters and an overflow crowd the night of the council meeting opposing the city\u2019s proposed press practices, the Sebastopol City Council scrapped the proposed press practices and revised the short press policy they\u2019d originally approved in November. More details later in our full city council recap, but for now, thank you, thank you, thank you for writing those letters and showing up to support a free press. The crowd at last night\u2019s Sebastopol City Council overflowed the council chamber and spilled into the lobby (I don\u2019t understand why no one (except reporters) likes to sit in the front row.) At right in the front row are Press Democrat executive editor Chris Fusco and Press Democrat reporter and Community Journalism Team Lead Amie Windsor who regularly reports on the council for the PD (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)Sebastopol Times is a reader-supported publication The switch to a new garbage company and its implications for commercial customers including schools and multi-family apartments has come as a shock for many of those most affected When the Sebastopol City Council raised water and sewer rates in June 2024 the city had to work through a notification process required under a voter-approved law meant to give taxpayers a chance to weigh in on tax hikes The Proposition 218 process required the city to notify all property owners of the upcoming rate changes and allowed time for those property owners to protest the increase before imposing any increase why didn’t the city undergo the same process for its new garbage rates Sebastopol City Attorney Alex Mog said that Prop 218 only applies to “property-related fees imposed by the city.” the “solids waste rates are imposed and collected by the hauler and the city merely regulates the maximum rates the hauler may collect,” he said “This is consistent with how most cities regulate and approve maximum solid waste rates.” And, in a Jan. 3, 2024 letter by R3 the consulting group hired by the city to help staff during the waste hauler selection process “a written notice must be sent to property owners 45 days prior to a scheduled public hearing regarding proposed changes.” director of legal affairs with Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association concedes that rate hikes charged by private companies handling city franchises like solid waste can fall into a legal gray area rate payers can make an argument those rates fall under the tax changes governed by Prop 218 “A lot depends on the relationship between the city of Sebastopol the rate hauler and the customers,” he said Certain elements within a city contract could trigger a required Prop structured rate increases and the city acting as bill collector while the city will not collect bills from residents the city’s contract with SCRR includes both a franchise fee agreement and structured rate increases for all 15 years “I think any customer could file a lawsuit known as a petition for writ of mandate asking the court to order the city to go through the notice procedure,” Bittle said A growing number of Sebastopol businesses are criticizing the city’s decision to award its lucrative waste-hauling contract to a new provider whose recycling and compost rates are set to cost many of them hundreds to thousands of dollars more a month “The financial ramifications … it came as such a gobsmack,” said Roxanne Goodfellow Sebastopol Cookie Company’s Bronwen Shears said the decision “is modus operandi for the City Council,” and adds to a sense of mistrust within parts of the business community “They’re not trained to make multimillion-dollar decisions,” she said Mayor Stephen Zollman said it took more than a year to get to the city’s final decision a process he said “involved extensive work” by an appointed committee headed by two council members assisted by the city’s staff and consultants “The business community is a critical part of what makes Sebastopol special and the city strives to support them whenever possible,” he said the City Council made a decision based on what was best for the City overall The 3-2 council vote on Jan. 7 to approve a 15-year, multimillion-dollar contract with Sonoma County Resource Recovery comes as relations between the city and Recology soured after nine months of failed negotiations and its implications for commercial customers While garbage rates under the new contract will go up minimally for residents — an average of $6 to $7 per month for single family homes — rates for commercial customers especially those requiring additional recycling and composting services commercial customers are charged minimally for recycling and composting services That rate structure was poised to change as well commercial customers will receive one 96-gallon recycling bin and one 32-gallon compost bin with their garbage service Customers requiring more than that — approximately 80 in all — will have to scale up their compost and recycling bins The city says that SCRR will work with commercial customers to help reduce their current bin or dumpster size or see if they are able to jump completely down to the free bin size offered by the waste hauler Doing so should result in an overall cost savings for these customers “While some individual businesses may not need to right-size their service it is common throughout the region for multifamily dwellings and businesses to be paying for excess service levels,” Mary Gourley said in an email on behalf of the city to The Press Democrat But many Sebastopol commercial customers disagree and have decried pending rate changes they say will add undue costs to their already strained margins Rialto Cinemas’ Goodfellow says Ambrosia Thomson worked with the theater after the pandemic to help employees focus on composting and recycling “We’ve tried to cull everything the best we can,” Goodfellow said “We’ve tried really hard not to raise ticket prices,” she said “We’ve been really financially close to the line.” Sebastopol’s restaurants are also feeling the crunch. Hopmonk Tavern’s Bill DeCarli said the tavern’s monthly bill would jump from $1,300 to $4,300 a month DeCarli says the restaurant can manage the increase but admitted that the “A $3,000 delta makes it harder We’ll have to sell 3,000 burgers a month to make it up,” he said He said employees are already breaking down boxes to stretch space in the recycling bin and that the tavern is constantly looking for ways to cut costs “Our bins are generally full though,” he said Papas and Pollo owners Nick and Maureen Tappan said the “Seb-Mex” restaurant’s bill would jump from $432 to over $1,100 per month And Acre Pizza’s Steve DeCosse expects his bill at The Barlow to double Acre Pizza is doing well enough to absorb the cost but he acknowledges that many of the city’s restaurants “are on the edge,” citing rising insurance “Business owners notoriously complain about everything but this one,” he said of the new waste hauler rates It’s not just businesses either that will be affected on the commercial rate shift Sebastopol Union School District Superintendent Sara Gramm says the school district which includes Park Side Elementary and Brook Haven Middle School will likely pay $2,000 more a month in recycling and compost charges under the new contract “We have worked closely with Recology and our garden and sustainability program to teach students and staff how to recycle and compost effectively,” Gramm said we were not charged for recycling and paid only a minimal fee for composting.” Gramm says recycling will cost the district $803 a month and composting will jump from $36 to $600 a month The district serves around 800 transitional-kindergarten through eighth grade students “will place an additional strain on our budget taking funds away from essential resources for student learning.” While the extra cost is a hit to the bottom line for many businesses some owners say they were more frustrated they weren’t notified by the city about the potential rate and hauler change before the council meeting last week had we known about it,” Acre Pizza’s DeCosse said “We’re disappointed and dismayed and a little disheartened,” Goodfellow added “What was really confusing was the lack of transparency to the business community Rialto Cinemas took their frustration public spelling it out on their marquee last week “Thanks Sebastopol City Council for treating businesses like trash Goodfellow said moviegoers followed through including Mayor Jill McLewis and Council member Sandra Maurer said that the confidential nature of the negotiations prevented the city from being able to engage “in significant outreach.” SCRR will be preparing a transition plan which will involve significant outreach to customers to help them with the change in providers and to ensure they receive the appropriate levels of service.” DeCarli hopes there’s still a chance the decision could be reversed let’s pause and make sure this is the right thing for the community,” DeCarli said While the city signed the contract with SCRR the City Council must still officially adopt the resolution at its next council meeting Tim Bittle, director of legal affairs with Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, concedes that rate hikes charged by private companies handling city franchises like solid waste can fall into a legal gray area. That said, rate payers can make an argument those rates fall under the tax changes governed by Prop 218. “A lot depends on the relationship between the city of Sebastopol, the rate hauler and the customers,” he said. Certain elements within a city contract could trigger a required Prop. 218 notice, Bittle said, including a franchise fee agreement, structured rate increases and the city acting as bill collector. In Sebastopol’s case, while the city will not collect bills from residents, the city’s contract with SCRR includes both a franchise fee agreement and structured rate increases for all 15 years. “I think any customer could file a lawsuit known as a petition for writ of mandate asking the court to order the city to go through the notice procedure,” Bittle said. I didn’t think it would be this bad this fast There’s sort of a tricky thing where here in Sonoma County But I think that is a bit of an illusion—we don’t even know the ways that this is going to impact us directly There’s already a very delicate and yet dynamic relationship between homeowners in Sebastopol and the affluent in Sebastopol and our immigrant community … this ecosystem doesn’t work right without the diversity that we have here Clearly it’s immigrants and people of color and queer folks that are first on the chopping block For all the fear and worry and anxiety about what’s happening—I’d encourage people to jump over that divide of starting conversations with people or showing up at a protest It’s really empowering when you can help somebody else And there’s a sense of safety and control in that “This new administration is like opening a Christmas present every day with the positive things that are happening.” I’m doing my spiritual practice more deeply—that equanimity is essential to stay balanced with all this chaos and to really watch and be more mindful of when it lands on me and I’m feeling it in my body—I have to work on that Another thing is that I make it a point to not read the news—just my email and my newsfeeds I mean I don’t go to CNN or anything like that I’ve started not reading it in the morning I try to wait till noon time so it doesn’t affect my day And I watch and am mindful of if I’m in a reactive or an irritable place so that my actions and my words don’t leak out onto other people The 2024 election was the first time I voted Republican for a president The intolerance I have experienced from the Left I still support many causes on the Left and disagree with many on the Right I’ve watched the weaponization of the DOJ against a leading candidate candidates stopped from being on the ballot by the DNC (Kennedy and Phillips) and fought against ideology in my sons’ schools DOGE is exposing corruption and saving billions of taxpayer money USAID’s purpose is to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster not paying $70,000 for a DEI musical in Ireland then funds from USAID can be used for their intended purpose The only outrage should be about how the government was spending our money We also see the waste of our money in our community: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approves $500,000 to support immigrant communities We now have transparency in the White House We don’t have to guess what Trump is thinking I’ll take this kind of leadership over a president who reads prepared speeches from a teleprompter and only answers pre-scripted questions and all of the administration to be successful I feel that our country is going to be in a much worse position with Trump as President Most of my family are the same as me; they don’t think Trump is a good person or president I think most prices—like in any convenience store or grocery store—will go up regardless Because so much has happened in such a short amount of time But it’s important not to let that make it so that you ignore things and gloss over them…they’re kind of trying to overwhelm everybody with everything they’re doing There are a lot of specific things going on that are very troubling to me most of them regarding Elon Musk in his role in the Trump administration The richest man in the world is coming in and gutting programs that feed the poorest people in the world in the name of some false A lot of these actions that Donald Trump is doing renaming the Panama Canal—these are not things that Donald Trump knew himself in his own small collection of knowledge intelligent advisors who are just telling him what he needs to do and what they want him to do He’s just following along and abusing his power As soon as Trump decides that he’s done waiting around he has some pretty broad authority to declare either a state of emergency or martial law [He could] direct those agencies that he controls to come over… ICE is going to have more jurisdiction or authority than the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office So while it’s good that we’re preparing and whatnot I’m trying to think of other things he could do but it’s mostly his executive power—and also the lack of lawmakers doing anything about it And it’s actually really frustrating that the Democrats themselves are not really doing anything about it it’s really frustrating as a Democrat myself It’s being saved actually from what it might have been And I think the majority of Americans believe that’s a good thing I’m feeling apprehensive and determined and still One of the things I’m doing is standing out here on the corner on Fridays and signing petitions after three weeks of what I call the beginning of hell I am trying very hard not to get feeling powerless or even judgmental of the people who voted a certain way what I was going to do is just build my own power my own sense of unity—a sense of trying to find more unity Instead of just being angry and upset about it what I’m doing is really trying to do is find a thread of unity focusing on what is it that we have in common and stick with that and try to create unity through that instead of trying to focus on the differences But more important for me is that I made a commitment to myself ‘What is it that I want and work for?’ And of course being ‘A Woman in Black’ [editor’s note: this is a worldwide network of women opposed to injustice militarism and violence]—that has always been to work toward peace And so what I tried to do now is not get distracted…So all these things are going on right now Don’t turn around and forget the road you’re trying to do.’ it’s just to keep coming here [editor’s note: at the corner of 116 and 12] trying to say ‘Have compassion.’ And when somebody wants to make a big fight or something I feel a lot of hope still because I see a lot of people really reacting in a positive way They’re not just accepting it; I see a lot of movement this is a time where he kind of woke us up and now we are fighting.’ We resisted and we were being proactive There’s no retirement from social movement you just have to learn how to pace yourself You just gotta pace yourself and never give up Don’t ever let yourself get depressed or feel powerless or hopeless Surround yourself with people who are like you in many ways don’t get so closed in; reach out to those other people that have differences My initial feeling on the new administration is cautiously jubilant A new era of prosperity appears to be unfolding in America Our once lethargic leviathan of a federal bureaucracy has shed significant weight and sprung forth with new verve and focus—and the world has taken note We have record investments and cooperation coming from countries and companies around the world Women and children have received protections that should have never been required in the first place Our nation can know that drugs and criminal activity are not flowing into our country unchecked it is too soon to measure most of the actions and performance of the new Administration Propaganda and counter-propaganda muddies the waters and many more on the North Coast have expressed a sigh of relief and are very happy at the Administration’s initial proceedings Many of the calls I receive concern the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) I am encouraged by its initial direction and believe that its success will ultimately depend on delivering tangible I am hopeful that the obstructionists of Congress allow this long-overdue modernization to occur as it could present one of the greatest windfalls for the average American in terms of individual rights and economic opportunity Not to mention the safety and overall health of the nation from the broader actions of the Administration Economic imbalances are inevitable as artificial supports are removed there will be some pain if and when tariffs are implemented but as the body (read: economy) adapts to the changes and begins to carry itself it will become stronger and less reliant on outside sources ensuring long-term independence and self-reliance Just as Biden and the Democrats received in 2020 America has given Trump and the Republican Party a mandate to reform America and the people cannot afford another administration that falls short ran against Congressman Jared Huffman for the 2nd District Congressional seat in 2024 and we’re on the street once a month in Sebastopol down by CVS with our placards and signs just stating our resistance and our support for various things anything that has to do with the well-being of women and children We do postcard writing and the getting-out-the-vote thing I've been to some Indivisible meetings I’m just sort of dipping my toes in right now I call my senators and representatives every day MoveOn’s newsletter—I get a bunch of different information that way There’s a whole list of places that you can check into as far as where you go for your information and what to do and how not to feel powerless right now So there are two pieces to what I’m doing right now One of them is making sure that I keep my inner peace I’ve been saying nobody’s going to take my joy away from me So if I wake up in the middle of the night I’m using breathing and I’m doing some calming practices…just to to get my system to calm down when I need to And I’m keeping up on the news to be aware of what’s happening but only to the extent that I don’t get upset And when I’m around others—when I get a sense that they’re just going down the rabbit hole—I just excuse myself from the conversation or say ‘I can’t go there I need to just think positive and do what I can.’ And then finding other local people who I can talk with about our concerns and also I’m doing things large and small—and I’m looking at those things with the same philosophy I use with philanthropy in general One of the things that I said in a Sister District meeting last year is ‘What are you going to tell your grandchildren you did when this time happened? Were you a part of a solution, or did you just sit back and complain and cry?’ The State Department committed to provide $70,844 in September 2022 to an Irish organization called Ceiliuradh which is part of the Irish South Wind Blows production company The money wasn’t for a “musical,” but rather a musical event put together a program called “Other Voices: Dignity – Towards a More Equitable Future” for the U.S The announcement for the event said it “will showcase the very best of American and Irish talent with a diverse programme which aims to fulfil the U.S Embassy Dublin’s mission to promote diversity The event was streamed live on YouTube and featured several Irish and American artists USAID isn’t listed as providing any money for the event ReplyShare8 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts Our new reporter Albert Levin and I went out and asked people around town the following question: \u201CHow are you feeling three weeks into the new administration I didn\u2019t think it would be this bad this fast There\u2019s sort of a tricky thing where here in Sonoma County But I think that is a bit of an illusion\u2014we don\u2019t even know the ways that this is going to impact us directly There\u2019s already a very delicate and yet dynamic relationship between homeowners in Sebastopol and the affluent in Sebastopol and our immigrant community \u2026 this ecosystem doesn\u2019t work right without the diversity that we have here Clearly it\u2019s immigrants and people of color and queer folks that are first on the chopping block For all the fear and worry and anxiety about what\u2019s happening\u2014I\u2019d encourage people to jump over that divide of starting conversations with people or showing up at a protest It\u2019s really empowering when you can help somebody else And there\u2019s a sense of safety and control in that \u201CThis new administration is like opening a Christmas present every day with the positive things that are happening.\u201D I\u2019m doing my spiritual practice more deeply\u2014that equanimity is essential to stay balanced with all this chaos and to really watch and be more mindful of when it lands on me and I\u2019m feeling it in my body\u2014I have to work on that Another thing is that I make it a point to not read the news\u2014just my email and my newsfeeds I mean I don\u2019t go to CNN or anything like that I\u2019ve started not reading it in the morning I try to wait till noon time so it doesn\u2019t affect my day And I watch and am mindful of if I\u2019m in a reactive or an irritable place so that my actions and my words don\u2019t leak out onto other people I\u2019ve watched the weaponization of the DOJ against a leading candidate candidates stopped from being on the ballot by the DNC (Kennedy and Phillips) and fought against ideology in my sons\u2019 schools USAID\u2019s purpose is to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster DOGE has \u201Cread-only\u201D access to all data We don\u2019t have to guess what Trump is thinking I\u2019ll take this kind of leadership over a president who reads prepared speeches from a teleprompter and only answers pre-scripted questions Most of my family are the same as me; they don\u2019t think Trump is a good person or president I think most prices\u2014like in any convenience store or grocery store\u2014will go up regardless But it\u2019s important not to let that make it so that you ignore things and gloss over them\u2026they\u2019re kind of trying to overwhelm everybody with everything they\u2019re doing renaming the Panama Canal\u2014these are not things that Donald Trump knew himself in his own small collection of knowledge He\u2019s just following along and abusing his power As soon as Trump decides that he\u2019s done waiting around [He could] direct those agencies that he controls to come over\u2026 ICE is going to have more jurisdiction or authority than the Sonoma County Sheriff\u2019s Office So while it\u2019s good that we\u2019re preparing and whatnot I\u2019m trying to think of other things he could do but it\u2019s mostly his executive power\u2014and also the lack of lawmakers doing anything about it And it\u2019s actually really frustrating that the Democrats themselves are not really doing anything about it it\u2019s really frustrating as a Democrat myself I think the country\u2019s turning around now It\u2019s being saved actually from what it might have been And I think the majority of Americans believe that\u2019s a good thing I\u2019m feeling apprehensive and determined and still One of the things I\u2019m doing is standing out here on the corner on Fridays and signing petitions but I know that we\u2019ll need more than that my own sense of unity\u2014a sense of trying to find more unity what I\u2019m doing is really trying to do is find a thread of unity \u2018What is it that I want and work for?\u2019 And of course being \u2018A Woman in Black\u2019 [editor\u2019s note: this is a worldwide network of women opposed to injustice militarism and violence]\u2014that has always been to work toward peace And so what I tried to do now is not get distracted\u2026So all these things are going on right now Don\u2019t turn around and forget the road you\u2019re trying to do.\u2019 it\u2019s just to keep coming here [editor\u2019s note: at the corner of 116 and 12] like I\u2019ve been doing for so many years trying to say \u2018Have compassion.\u2019 And when somebody wants to make a big fight or something you know\u2014they\u2019re doing something They\u2019re not just accepting it; I see a lot of movement and now we are fighting.\u2019 We resisted and we were being proactive There\u2019s no retirement from social movement Don\u2019t ever let yourself get depressed or feel powerless or hopeless don\u2019t get so closed in; reach out to those other people that have differences Our once lethargic leviathan of a federal bureaucracy has shed significant weight and sprung forth with new verve and focus\u2014and the world has taken note and many more on the North Coast have expressed a sigh of relief and are very happy at the Administration\u2019s initial proceedings and we\u2019re on the street once a month in Sebastopol I've been to some Indivisible meetings I\u2019m just sort of dipping my toes in right now MoveOn\u2019s newsletter\u2014I get a bunch of different information that way There\u2019s a whole list of places that you can check into So there are two pieces to what I\u2019m doing right now I\u2019ve been saying nobody\u2019s going to take my joy away from me I\u2019m using breathing and I\u2019m doing some calming practices\u2026just to to get my system to calm down when I need to And I\u2019m keeping up on the news to be aware of what\u2019s happening but only to the extent that I don\u2019t get upset And when I\u2019m around others\u2014when I get a sense that they\u2019re just going down the rabbit hole\u2014I just excuse myself from the conversation or say \u2018I can\u2019t go there I need to just think positive and do what I can.\u2019 And then finding other local people who I can talk with about our concerns and also I\u2019m doing things large and small\u2014and I\u2019m looking at those things with the same philosophy I use with philanthropy in general One of the things that I said in a Sister District meeting last year is \u2018What are you going to tell your grandchildren you did when this time happened? Were you a part of a solution, or did you just sit back and complain and cry?\u2019 I don’t use the word “radical environmentalist” lightly, but there’s no other word to describe Greenfield, who eschews American consumerism, owns very few possessions and is en route to getting rid of those. (Photo from robingreenfield.org)Greenfield has written four books These include Dude Making a Difference: Bamboo Bikes Dumpster Dives and Other Extreme Adventures Across America; Zero Waste Kids: Hands-On Projects and Activities to Reduce and Recycle; Be the Change: Robin Greenfield's Call to Kids—Making a Difference in a Messed-Up World; and Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100% of My Food was self-published—in part so he could give it away The book details his adventures of living without grocery stores or restaurants for a year he turned lawns into food gardens with over 100 plant species and foraged 200 species of plants and mushrooms from the wild Greenfield, who has a BA in biology, also has a background in marketing, and it shows. His adventures are amplified on social media and on his website, robingreenfield.org. His website describes him this way: “Robin Greenfield is a truth seeker, activist, social reformer and servant to Earth, humanity and our plant and animal relatives.” Greenfield grew up poor in Wisconsin, one of four children of a single mother who made $18,000 a year. They were Jews in a predominantly conservative Catholic town. His mother was a hippie. “I always felt like an outsider,” he said. “And the thing that I wanted more than anything was to belong—to just be normal.” He found that sense of normalcy when he moved to San Diego. It wasn’t an easy transition, he said. It took him about four years to make the change. “I definitely experienced some doom and gloom realizing that the government was lying to me; the corporations were lying to me; the average person, society was often lying to me. It was just in an incredible state of delusion that I was living in—that our whole society is living in,” he said. He decided to take his life back one step at a time. “My life was so wrapped up in the web of consumerism. For the next couple of years, it was my full-time job to just unravel the web that I had strung together. And as I clipped each of those strands, I made a new strand in the web that would be one of actually being of benefit to the world, which is really hard to pull off in this society.” He canceled all his credit cards, cashed out his IRA and life insurance, closed his bank accounts. “Another really big change that I made at the age of 25 is I actually got a vasectomy,” he said. “I already knew I was going to dedicate my entire life to what I’m talking to you about right now, and that my mission would not be an alignment for me, personally, to have kids.” And then, as it often does, the person became political. Greenfield doesn’t expect people to live like he does. He said he just wants to make them think about how they’re living. “You don't have to go as far as I do,” he said. “That’s not the point. If people think that that’s the message, they’re not really listening. That’s a defense mechanism. The message is, ‘What can you do to bring more joy and meaning and purpose to your life, and in doing so, align yourself with the earth and with the plants and animals and with community?’” Greenfield’s current journey down the coast is as much of a spiritual journey as a political one. Ghandi is a major guiding light for him. He said that as he’s walking he’s trying to get rid of all his internal hang-ups, fears, embarrassments and secrets. When he reaches Los Angeles, Greenfield plans on giving away the few possessions he has left, including his clothes. “Gandhi, for example, at the end of his life, had like 13 possessions, or something like that,” he said. “And of course, the Buddha, you know, he didn’t own anything, right? You don’t need to own anything when your focus in life is to have a liberated mind and to be a servant to the earth and to humanity.” After divesting himself of all of his worldly possessions, he’s going to do a 30-day Vipassana retreat in 29 Palms. He’s not sure what will happen after that. Robin Greenfield sitting in the Gurneys living room in Sebastopol. (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)Sebastopol Times is a reader-supported publication. To receive support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. ReplyShare2 replies5 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts I don\u2019t use the word \u201Cradical environmentalist\u201D lightly, but there\u2019s no other word to describe Greenfield, who eschews American consumerism, owns very few possessions and is en route to getting rid of those. and Recycle; Be the Change: Robin Greenfield's Call to Kids\u2014Making a Difference in a Messed-Up World; and Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100% of My Food was self-published\u2014in part so he could give it away Greenfield, who has a BA in biology, also has a background in marketing, and it shows. His adventures are amplified on social media and on his website, robingreenfield.org. His website describes him this way: \u201CRobin Greenfield is a truth seeker, activist, social reformer and servant to Earth, humanity and our plant and animal relatives.\u201D \u201CI always felt like an outsider,\u201D he said. \u201CAnd the thing that I wanted more than anything was to belong\u2014to just be normal.\u201D It wasn\u2019t an easy transition, he said. It took him about four years to make the change. \u201CI definitely experienced some doom and gloom realizing that the government was lying to me; the corporations were lying to me; the average person, society was often lying to me. It was just in an incredible state of delusion that I was living in\u2014that our whole society is living in,\u201D he said. \u201CMy life was so wrapped up in the web of consumerism. For the next couple of years, it was my full-time job to just unravel the web that I had strung together. And as I clipped each of those strands, I made a new strand in the web that would be one of actually being of benefit to the world, which is really hard to pull off in this society.\u201D \u201CAnother really big change that I made at the age of 25 is I actually got a vasectomy,\u201D he said. \u201CI already knew I was going to dedicate my entire life to what I\u2019m talking to you about right now, and that my mission would not be an alignment for me, personally, to have kids.\u201D Greenfield doesn\u2019t expect people to live like he does. He said he just wants to make them think about how they\u2019re living. \u201CYou don't have to go as far as I do,\u201D he said. \u201CThat\u2019s not the point. If people think that that\u2019s the message, they\u2019re not really listening. That\u2019s a defense mechanism. The message is, \u2018What can you do to bring more joy and meaning and purpose to your life, and in doing so, align yourself with the earth and with the plants and animals and with community?\u2019\u201D Greenfield\u2019s current journey down the coast is as much of a spiritual journey as a political one. Ghandi is a major guiding light for him. He said that as he\u2019s walking he\u2019s trying to get rid of all his internal hang-ups, fears, embarrassments and secrets. When he reaches Los Angeles, Greenfield plans on giving away the few possessions he has left, including his clothes. \u201CGandhi, for example, at the end of his life, had like 13 possessions, or something like that,\u201D he said. \u201CAnd of course, the Buddha, you know, he didn\u2019t own anything, right? You don\u2019t need to own anything when your focus in life is to have a liberated mind and to be a servant to the earth and to humanity.\u201D After divesting himself of all of his worldly possessions, he\u2019s going to do a 30-day Vipassana retreat in 29 Palms. He\u2019s not sure what will happen after that. Robin Greenfield sitting in the Gurneys living room in Sebastopol will put Sebastopol’s sales tax over a state cap of 10.25% The city plans an appeal to the attorney general to exceed that threshold Sebastopol is about to have the highest sales tax rate in Sonoma County With 57% of the total potential citywide vote counted as of Friday 73% of Sebastopol voters were backing Measure U a half-cent sales tax increase that will be in effect for 12 years which needs only a simple majority to pass “I’m thrilled that our Sebastopol citizens have supported this initiative for our small city to support vital services,” council member Neysa Hinton said “This was a really hard ask to put before the voters,” Mayor Diana Rich said “We did it because we had tried everything else We did it because we have hope and confidence in a bright future for our town and our hearts told us that our neighbors would share that sense and hope and confidence.” sets up an unprecedented case in California is projected to bring in $1.52 million a year to a city facing one of its worst financial crises in decades Both tax increases are set to go into effect April 1 the two measures will put Sebastopol’s sales tax over the 10.25% cap set by the state for Sonoma County giving the city of about 7,400 the highest sales tax countywide and the second-highest statewide But whether that will be allowed is an open question With the Oct. 1 implementation of Measure H, a half-cent sales tax that voters approved earlier this year to bolster firefighting efforts a quarter-cent tax for child health and welfare Sonoma County sales tax rates will increase next year bringing sales taxes to the following rates in these communities: Sebastopol: 10.5% (pending state approval of Measure U) Sonoma: 10.25% (With the passage of Measure T) Cloverdale: 10% (pending approval of Measure DD by voters) Source: Sonoma County Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax-Collector’s Office state-mandated sales-tax caps have never been surpassed as a result of two jurisdictions independently winning approval for sales tax hike measures at the same time Sebastopol leaders plan to appeal to the California Attorney General Rob Bonta who will determine whether the city’s entire half-cent sales tax can be implemented “Our understanding is that an opinion from the state attorney general is required if multiple taxes are passed that would push a jurisdiction above the state limit to determine which will go into effect,” said Emily Jacobs an analyst in the Sonoma County Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax-Collector’s Office acting on behalf of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration will have to analyze state law and determine whether to bless the city’s full half-cent sales tax or keep the city at the state cap by allowing only a quarter-cent cutting its estimated annual revenue to $760,000 City Attorney Alex Mog said he thinks the city will be allowed to implement the entire tax State law “already authorizes the full 0.5% of Measure U and (we) hope CDTFA [California Department of Tax and Fee Administration] will reach the same conclusion,” he said and so there is a possibility that it would be determined by CDTFA and the attorney general that the city could only implement 0.25%” Depending on the attorney general’s decision city leaders also could appeal to the Legislature but they’d have to weigh the amount of time and resources that would entail Given the city’s aging infrastructure and recent water- and sewer-rate hikes, some organized opposition emerged to Measure U But Sebastopol also is home to a historic downtown business district and The Barlow a series of shops and restaurants that attracts both locals and tourists alike so it seems residents reasoned it’s worth taxing out-of-towners who come to the city to eat The City Council has signaled it will spend the bulk of new sales-tax revenue How the rest will be spent is more fluid; it could go toward public safety parks and trails and/or a new library building City staff have noted that a quarter-cent tax “would help to preserve services but would still require substantial reductions provide insufficient funding to preserve city assets Sebastopol’s new sales tax could join these cities in Alameda and Los Angeles counties as having the highest sales tax rates in the state Here’s the list of cities with the highest sales taxes in California as of October 2024,* with Sebastopol’s planned rate factored in Santa Fe Springs (Los Angeles County): 10.5% *All Alameda County rates will remain the same post-election Los Angeles County repealed a quarter-cent countywide sales tax and replaced it with a half-cent sales tax which means rates in that county might rise Source: California Department of Tax and Fee Administration In California, the base for sales tax is 7.25%. Cities and counties can add sales taxes to that base, but those additional sales taxes can’t exceed 2%, for a total sales tax rate of 9.25%. However, in early 2017, state Sen. Mike McGuire introduced a bill signed by Gov Jerry Brown in 2018 that allows taxing jurisdictions within Sonoma County to go over that tax rate cap by an additional 1% She can be reached at amie.windsor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5218.