Old Testament prophecies say that after flood and fire comes famine and pestilence.
Having just been battered by historic wildfires and more winter floods, we worry what may be next for Sonoma County.
But, unless we are unseeing to our natural surroundings and our collective human capacities, we do not foresee a plague of locusts or seven years of famine (although we can not rule out more droughts).
As our rebuilding and recovery continues from our 2017 fires and last month’s floods, we are taking inventory of what other events, conflicts or problems might occupy the pages of this newspaper in coming weeks and months. When we are not being besieged by a natural disaster, what other problems do we assign to ourselves and seek the latest news about?
In Sebastopol that answer is all the protesting over the new green bicycle lanes. “C’est affreux!” In Cloverdale the largest buzz and worry is whether the town’s first cannabis dispensary will be located only 600 feet from a school or if there will be a greater distance.
Overflow crowds are turning out at Healdsburg’s city hall to argue about how many seats and tables should be allowed in a new proposed restaurant on the plaza. Windsor town leaders are busy drawing new lines on a map to guarantee equal council representation where in some past elections barely enough candidates filed to run.
We do not mean to downplay or make light of these community controversies. We believe they are all valid concerns where all voices should be heard. Street safety, fair elections, protecting our small town charms and getting our new cannabis laws as correct as possible are vital to all of us. But they are not “feast or famine” questions, or fire and flood disasters.
Most of our complaints and conflicts we encounter in our local “civic squares” would be classified as “quality of life” issues. For that, we are fortunate. And our fortunes here in Sonoma County are many.
Maybe some of us tire of the city hall podium pounding and back-and-forth calls of NIMBYism. Maybe we think no matter what the vote, some people will never be satisfied. But our worst outcome would be if too few, or no one, showed up, spoke up and cared.
There are many communities in America today that lack civic activism, voter participation and community engagement.
In Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor, Sebastopol, and Guerneville and within our Russian River watershed that is not the case. Gratefully we share communities where nearly everybody is doing extra work to make things better, for everyone else and for ourselves.
Some days the donor line at the local charity food pantry is longer than the receiving line. Armies of neighbors are helping right now with the Russian River flood recovery. They are not waiting to see if FEMA or other government funds will eventually arrive. #SonomaStrong could serve as a national model for all those middle America places now flooding and hit by tornadoes.
Originally found in our county’s agricultural heritage, we share a “can do” work ethic. We also value and welcome cultural diversity, learned from our earliest days of Mexico’s land grant expansion and Spanish missions.
What would be the greatest “quality of life” improvement we could achieve by bringing all of our citizen activism, work ethic and spirit of cultural inclusion together to a single crusade?
How about affordability and livability? Could we spare time arguing about green-striped bicycle lanes and the number of tasting rooms or restaurant seats to join a coalition dedicated to making affordable homes for everyone in Sonoma County? We know we have many more cannabis debates to wage, but could we borrow some of that civic passion to focus more on homelessness solutions?
Sonoma County is rich in human capital and civic energy. Let’s not squander any of it.
— Rollie Atkinson
