Ordinary people make the world go ’round whether we’re in a pandemic or not. Here are just a few of the many game-changers in the west county who’ve made an impact in support of their communities through thick and thin in 2021.
5th District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins stepped forward as chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors at the start of the year.
She listed her main priorities for 2021 as lifting the county out of the pandemic with vaccine implementation at full-throttle; building a more effective and accessible government; strengthening equity and communication; and addressing climate change.
In January, Sebastopol locals were struck by the unexpected loss of assistant fire chief Mike Reeser of the Sebastopol Fire Department (SFD). He died Jan. 9, found unresponsive in his office by one of his employees at Santa Rosa Fire Equipment Services the day before his 65th birthday. He’d just rounded out 42 years with the department.
“He was low-key, but with a disposition that is pretty much unseen or unheard of. Cool, calm, collected,” said Fire Chief Bill Braga. “Truly the backbone, and the institutional knowledge of Mike is unbelievable.”
In February, a new face turned up in the Sebastopol Police Department (SPD). New Police Chief Kevin Kilgore came into leadership after the city searched for a permanent police chief for over a year. His extensive education and experience includes creating a California POST-certified (Peace Officer Standards and Training) course in procedural justice and implicit bias, having taught the course throughout the state.
Newly local Elizabeth Smith made waves in the city this year as an advocate for families, child safety, mental health and suicide awareness.
She founded Project Whole Child to head off and heal trauma in children and families and has joined the Peacetown board and the Sebastopol Union Elementary School District Board of Trustees. She also came to volunteer with Parent Voices Sonoma and Sonoma County ACEs Connection, on top of which she leads Soroptimist International of West Sonoma County.
She discussed with Laura Hagar Rush how her own experiences with mental health, surviving a suicide attempt and her recovery with the support of others led her to dedicate herself to supporting other women in community. Among her activities this year was reviving the Soroptimist memorial gazebo at Ragle Ranch Regional Park and helping coordinate another Peacetown family village and snowflake hunt.
Another notable west county resident of 2021 is Ed Case, who turned 100-years-old in March with a drive-by celebration in front of Hessel Church in rural Sebastopol. Friends looped around the parking lot extending cards, balloons and sometimes tiny American flags through the car windows along with a truck and engine from the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District rolling through.
He calls Oakland home now, but a rapper known as J.Lately reflected on how growing up in Sebastopol and his cherished connection to Bodega Bay have influenced his musical journey, coming out with albums “Winnebago” in March and “Bodega” in August.
West county also witnessed key changes in leadership in its schools. In April, the West Sonoma County Union High School District Board of Trustees selected former-Analy principal Shauna Ferdinandson to lead the consolidated school merging Analy and El Molino high schools for the first year. At Twin Hills Union School District, trustees approved alumna Dr. Anna-Maria Guzmán as its new superintendent in May.
Kate Jonasse, owner of K-Tech Automotive and Pauline’s Automotive in Sebastopol, and her crew strove to recondition donated cars over the summer for her 10th annual Good Karma Car Giveaway in August.
Her goal was to give 10 cars away to lucky nominees in need of a fresh start and to cover a smog test, payment of the initial registration cost and a year of free scheduled maintenance services by K-Tech. Recipients would be responsible for operational costs and liability insurance, still.
In 2021, founder Pandora Thomas opened EARTHseed Farm to steward with permaculture principles and African and Indigenous land-tending traditions in Sebastopol, near Graton. Named for the writings of Black science-fiction writer Octavia E. Butler, the farm returns to the approach of respecting ecosystems, elements and dynamics already active in the land rather than rushing changes — or diving straight into commercial farm production.
“Everything you do has a consequence, many unintended. It’s like all that you touch, you change,” Thomas said of how Butler’s writings align with permaculture’s basis in relationships.
She told SoCoNews those at the farm were getting its U-Pick program and wholesale programs up and running this year, open to everyone, with plans to open an education center some years into the future.
In the fall, Keary and Sally Sorenson got the name Trash Trolls for their commitment to providing trash removal services to homeless people living in the Lower Russian River area. Both have lived experience being unhoused, and the couple has been collecting garbage in west county for at least 25 years.
The Sorensons visit the river, the road and downtown Guerneville almost daily to do so, preventing plastics from entering the ocean, keeping things presentable to tourists and less cluttered and overwhelming for the unsheltered neighbors they get to know.
According to Executive Director Tim Miller, West County Community Services (WCCS) began to fiscally sponsor the Trash Trolls so people could make tax-deductible donations to the couple. Keary Sorenson said he and his wife would spend tens of thousands a year on trash bags, dump runs, truck and trailer maintenance and fuel.
