Residents resolve to improve in the new year

Each new year should be treated as an opportunity to get things right, a fresh start; a blank slate that’s full of promise. Sometimes it’s filled with too many promises. People make New Year’s resolutions to get fit, save money or get organized, hoping that the new year will help them keep their promises to themselves.
Some people, like Steve Herrington, Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools, dream big. After recent years of shaky finances, Herrington said his resolution is to “bring economic stability to the schools in Sonoma County.” He also said he hopes to “help districts develop plans to rebuild and restructure their school programs for 21st century teaching methods and practices.”
At Costeaux Bakery in Healdsburg, the goals were a little more basic. “I usually don’t make (New Year’s resolutions),” said the bakery’s owner, Will Seppi, “Just last night I was saying, ‘I’d really like to get my desk cleaned off.’”
“If you saw my  desk you’d probably say it would take all year to do it.”
Rebecca Forth Kelch, assistant to the director at the Sonoma County Library, is a big fan of New Year’s resolutions and had a quiver full; both personal and professional.
“My library-related resolution is to look for opportunities to learn and grow, with an emphasis on serving both library users and my colleagues,” she said. “I see all kinds of bridges to be built and connections to be made, and discovering these will be my goal in the new year.”
Marjie Pettus, Healdsburg’s city manager, has a few different goals for 2013, but topping her list is a resolution to “develop a standardized process for the allocation and reporting of Measure V funds to ensure transparency. Measure V was approved by voters this past November and effectively raises the sales tax rate in Healdsburg from 8 to 8.5 percent for 10 years.
Pettus said she hoped to “continue efforts to provide high quality core services to Healdsburg residents” and “work with the management team to develop, acknowledge and retain existing employees.”
If readers are looking at this article and thinking, “I have no idea what my resolution would be if I had one,” you’re not alone. Several of the people contacted for this story were stumped.
For those of us who truly could not make up our minds on how to resolve to perform in the coming year, Rebecca Forth Kelch at the library recommended an online resolution generator built by a chicago-based graphic designer at http://moninavelarde.com/newyears.