LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Support for Social Host
EDITOR: The West Sonoma County Union High School District
(WSCUHSD) has partnered with the West County Coalition for Alcohol
and Drug-Free Youth in efforts to stem underage drinking and
associated problems.  As educators, we are concerned about the high
rates of underage drinking and binge drinking reported in recent
surveys of West County youth. 
Teachers, counselors and student leaders are tackling this issue
in each of our West County high schools. However, education alone
cannot solve the problem. We believe that effective prevention
requires multiple strategies, including implementing school and
community policies aimed at local conditions that contribute to
underage drinking.
West County High School administrators favor the Social Host
Ordinance proposed in Sebastopol that limits youth access to and
consumption of alcohol and holds individuals responsible for
hosting parties where underage drinking takes place. The proposed
ordinance will be a deterrent for those considering allowing
underage drinking. A Social Host Ordinance can also be utilized by
parents who feel pressured to host a party for youth who plan to
drink. It gives parents an out to say, “Look, I can’t. It’s against
the law.”
We urge the Sebastopol City Council and greater West County
community to join us in supporting the proposed Social Host
Ordinance.
Keller McDonald,
Superintendent, WSCUHSD
Chris Heller,
Principal, Analy High School
Brenda Hoff,
Principal, Laguna High School
Doria Trombetta,
Principal, El Molino High School
Spill information
Editor: Last Wednesday, just before noon, the City of
Sebastopol’s main sewer line connection to the regional treatment
plant suffered a break, resulting in the spillage of sewage into
the Laguna de Santa Rosa. Upon notification of the break, the City
immediately dispatched its Public Works crews to the site and
notified all of the regulatory agencies with jurisdiction over
these types of matters. Our crews started the effort to create a
containment area for the effluent and contacted a contractor to
come on site to make the necessary repairs. The contractor was on
site at 12:50 p.m.
Those repairs were completed just before 10 p.m. that evening
and the system was back to functioning normally. During the course
of the day, the City asked the Sonoma County Office of
Environmental Services to utilize its reverse 911 system to ask
City residents to reduce or refrain from utilizing City water in an
effort to reduce the volume of sewage in the system. The City’s
public water system was never in any danger of being contaminated.
In addition to City residents, property owners downstream of the
spill site to the Russian River with water wells within 500 feet of
the Laguna watercourse were advised to take notice, particularly
those whose wells were submerged due to the significant rains.
The reverse 911 system experienced some difficulties in that
residents received multiple calls, including in the middle of the
night. We apologize for that. The County identified the issues with
the system and had them corrected later in the day on Thursday,
when we provided a follow-up message that the system was back
on-line.
While these types of incidents are unfortunate, the City reacted
very quickly to this urgent but non-emergency situation and with
the assistance of our contractor, Sonoma County, state water
resource authorities and the public, we were able to provide
accurate information to the public and effect repairs in an
expeditious manner.
Jack Griffin
City Manager
Sebastopol