Editorial

Healdsburg’s GMO (Growth Management Ordinance) is a complicated citizen’s initiative that was passed in 2000. In essence it limits the number of homes that can be built in a given year to 30. Since then the population has increased by less than 500 people. It is very difficult to provide housing opportunities for working folks in our community as median home prices have risen dramatically, inventory shrinks and nearly one third of re-sales are for second homes. Two years ago a committee was formed to look at amending the GMO. A compromise was reached that would give us a few more units for a 15 year period and then revert back to the current GMO. It wasn’t perfect, actually far from it. The original author of the GMO measure attended and spoke at the meetings. However he would not support even the modest changes the committee proposed, but agreed to remain neutral. He insisted that the GMO wasn’t broken and didn’t need a fix.

Come journey to the antebellum south, tune your ear to the tender sounds of Bach and Beethoven, and take a cultural tour of Paris through the ages with stops in Medieval times, the Enlightenment, the Belle Epoque, and the 1920s. All of this is available here in Sonoma County with no tests, no grades and no required reading. The magic is, you don’t have to leave the area to start this journey. Sonoma State University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program is pleased to present three of our most popular instructors this fall at our Healdsburg satellite campus, where we have served hundreds of lifelong learners since 2012. Mick Chantler, Kayleen Asbo, and Bruce Elliott are a powerful trio, often referred to as the Pied Pipers of OLLI, as our members follow them everywhere and take anything they might teach.

It hardly seems like a year ago but we recently had our annual Fitch Mountain Association pot-luck and state of affairs at the villa picnic grounds. Donita Proctor opened the get-together by welcoming everyone and promptly introducing 4th District Supervisor Mike McGuire who spoke to us about several issues. This will be Mike’s last FMA attendance as district supervisor as it looks like he is headed to Sacramento as our next state senator.

Water! Everyone needs it. It’s vital to life itself. “Water is a finite resource with no substitute and upon which there is total dependence” (Ana Palacio, June 2007). So, whenever water issues are discussed, everyone comes to the table with a personal interest and a driving need to be heard.  We tend to use buzz words like efficiency and conservation when we talk about water, when what we really need to do is strive toward better stewardship of our water supply. Being good stewards of our water resources and managing those resources wisely is necessary in order to ensure the availability of water for ourselves and future generations.

While some of us long for the days of our younger years, when we spent our summer breaks sleeping in, going to the movies or hanging with friends, we aren’t picturing the realities of hundreds of Sonoma County youth, who have spent the past months raising steer or milking goats, feeding hogs and grooming sheep.

Each time the Healdsburg Armory comes up in our outstanding local newspaper, I am saddened by the omissions of a very significant phase of its history.

Much has been written about the United States Supreme Court decision in the “Hobby Lobby” case that effectively will deny some women access to four types of birth control because it no longer has to be a covered cost under their employer’s health coverage.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Annie Millar, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Healdsburg Unified School District, to discuss, among other things, how the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are affecting the way she goes about her work.

In the past months, much has been written within these pages about who we are as a town and where we are headed with Healdsburg. We’re debating what is sacred about our little burg, what should be protected, and how to continue to thrive as an intimate community, while honoring the benefits that come from being a successful tourist attraction.  

There have been a number of great letters to the editor recently including the ones from John Crevelli and Brigette Mansell. They captured the frustration of being long term Healdsburg residents and seeing our town changing negatively while the town’s leadership isn’t representing the average citizen’s concerns. Most everyone I talk to in town agrees, so I think we are in the majority.