Thanks from Kiwanis
EDITOR: On behalf of the Sebastopol Kiwanis Club, I would like to thank this wonderful community for coming out on the 3rd of July for the fireworks and music festival. We collectively apologize for the cold weather, although it didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of those who came to see the show.
We want to thank Chief Weaver and Captain Braga for their support and Jennie Bruneman and her staff at the school for working with us to make sure that all stayed safe and the new field and track were respected.
Sebastopol Kiwanis is a service club. We have put on this event for 44 years to raise funds, which we then spend the rest of the year deciding who needs it most. We sincerely appreciate all of our sponsors, restaurants and volunteers. Thank you all. We could not do it without you.
Patti Stack, Event Coordinator
Sebastopol
People’s Budget
EDITOR: While members of the Republican majority are competing to see who can make the deepest cuts, there is a budget proposal before Congress that would boost the economy for all of us while cutting the number of people in poverty in half. It’s The People’s Budget, proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The People’s Budget invests in safe and productive infrastructure, education, affordable housing, health care and nutrition, child care and working family tax credits. It calls for increasing the minimum wage.
These investments will create 3.6 million jobs, and set us on a path to cut poverty in half in 10 years. The People’s Budget invests $2 trillion in infrastructure spending, expanding rural broadband, universal pre-K and free college tuition at state and community colleges.
Every year without fail our elected representatives give over half of the discretionary budget to the Pentagon, leaving less than half to be divided up to fund education, healthcare, environmental spending, infrastructure, and everything else.
Michelle Skinner
Guerneville
Letter full of fallacies
EDITOR: It is widely known a subcommittee of the Sebastopol City Council has been working on a concept known as Pine Grove Square, which is the exploration of the highest and best use of city-owned land bounded by Burnett Street, Petaluma Avenue and Main Street. A subcommittee report was recently made to the entire council and community at large. As this work has progressed, the subcommittee has relied on valuable feedback from our consultants, city staff and the residents of Sebastopol.
There is misinformation and some inaccuracies in the public conversation about this project. A recent letter to this publication contained several incorrect assumptions and failed to grasp the current stage of work.
The writer indicates a member of the subcommittee is involved in the real estate industry. Neither council member on the subcommittee works in real estate; one is a mediation and collaborative attorney and the other is an architect specializing in the design of single-family residential new construction and remodels.
The writer incorrectly assumes the massing studies presented to the community and council are a final design; they are anything but. Rather, the studies are a useful tool to see what fits on the site in order to calculate financial feasibility. They are in no way design, architecture or reality.
The writer says the possible project would eliminate parking, and this was a concern the subcommittee heard during the recent presentation. As such, the subcommittee commissioned a parking study to obtain professionally derived parking data. It is true some parking spots could be relocated and changed in orientation, but the creative thinking required to answer this question is not beyond us.
The writer also derides the 103 unrestricted, publically available new spaces located right across the street from the area under consideration. Parking at CVS is free. Every owner and employee of every business in downtown can park there all day, at no cost, leaving street parking and other municipal parking lots open for their customers.
The writer correctly states the extension of Willow Avenue to Petaluma Avenue is a concept under consideration. This extension could add, rather than eliminate, a significant number of parking places, reduce vehicle counts and provide more storefront space along a pedestrian-scaled block aligning with the Joe Rodota Trail. At this early stage, the ultimate cost and funding source of this work is unknowable; assuming it would be paid by the general fund is fallacy.
The writer believes the concept continues the process of making Sebastopol look like an “ugly SoCal-type city.” It has been erroneously stated that a denser downtown will lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions. This thinking induces sprawl, which Sebastopol wishes to fight. Compact, walkable downtowns have been shown to be highly popular and sustainable, with significant greenhouse gas benefits due to a decrease in automobile use.
The writer, who is member of the board of directors for the Western Sonoma County Historical Society, assumes the society’s boxcar will be removed and lost. This project could allow for greater office, workspace and storage so the museum’s mission can be enhanced. The relocation of the train car to another prominent location is a possibility, but to assume it will be lost is a significant leap into fantasy.
The writer makes assumptions that particular building materials are already being ordered. Architectural sensitivity to the existing fabric of our downtown, and especially to the existing historic features, is of upmost importance to the subcommittee. While the zoning ordinance now allows three and four story buildings in our downtown, allowing creative architects and designers to maximize the use and benefit of a site while respecting the existing built environment.
The writer asks his readers to contact the city council; I agree. Please contact your city council and let us know you are in favor of a pedestrian friendly downtown, workforce and senior housing, a comprehensive parking plan, interesting and delightful architectural and landscape design; that you desire a sprawl-fighting urban form with higher densities at the core, mixed uses, mixed incomes, mixed ages and a more vital and alive downtown; that you prioritize humans over cars, and see the potential and possibilities for Sebastopol’s unique, authentic and special downtown.
Patrick Slayter
City of Sebastopol City Council, Vice Mayor
