Hello, Windsor Times readers. I’m happy to meet you, but we’ve met before, haven’t we?
In 1998, when I became the editor of our sister paper, the Healdsburg Tribune, I sat next to Kathie Morgan, who more or less ran the Windsor Times on her own. I ended up writing for the Times as well, and learned a lot about the Town, every week.
Kathie was a chapter in a tale of Windsor Times journalists stretching back to its founding editor, Gabriel Fraire. Other chapters might be named for Pete Mortensen, Bert Williams, Barry Dugan, Mathew Hall, Robin Gordon and recently, Stuart Tiffen.
And now me.
I admit, I inherited the job from Stuart. We’re a small company and everyone wears many hats, works for multiple papers. My official title is managing editor for Sonoma West Publishers, which creates weekly newspapers in Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor and west Sonoma County.
Until recently, I was also the day-to-day editor of the Healdsburg Tribune and the Cloverdale Reveille, while Stuart ably handled the Times. When Stuart was recruited away to work for the county, I asked Patti Roth, another newspaper veteran, to take over at the Reveille, which left me time to concentrate on the Times and the Tribune.
Windsor and Healdsburg are a natural match for a journalist. Just a bit down the freeway from each other, the two communities are an endlessly interesting contrast.
While Healdsburg struggles with (maybe) too much success, Windsor is happy to manage its budget carefully and crow (justifiably) about its large reserve funds.
While Windsor celebrates one “first” after another, befitting a young town, Healdsburg has 167 years of history looking over its shoulder at all times.
While Windsor wonders whether to focus on tourism, Healdsburg wonders where all those pesky tourists come from.
While Healdsburg schools shrink, Windsor’s grow.
All in all, good times and interesting work for a newsie.
My other Windsor connections? In 2006, during a hiatus from the Tribune, I covered the Windsor Town Council election and other local stories, and got to know most of your Town Councilmembers, in one way or another.
During that same hiatus, I worked for Alliance Medical Center and helped bring Alliance’s Windsor clinic to life. I also served on one of the Town’s General Plan advisory subcommittees.
I won’t be covering Town Council this time around. Heather Bailey, a hard-working reporter who lives on Windsor’s eastern flanks, is covering the council as well as the Windsor Unified School District.
When I asked Heather about her connections to Windsor, she said, “I drive my kid to school through Windsor every day and I go home that way at night. We eat there, shop there and play there as a family.”
What’s your editor do, exactly? I set the general direction of the Times, focusing on a mixture of hard news, politics, community events, school and prep sports coverage and the beloved sheriff’s log.
I review and edit the stories Heather, sports editor Greg Clementi and other news team members write each week.
I wrangle the columnists, editing their work to make it conform to our news style. I do the same with the many valued submissions we get from the community (you know who you are, and thank you).
I design and lay out all the pages each week, trying to consistently offer you variety and clarity.
And, when the phone rings and someone yells, “I wanna talk to the editor!” they get me.
So, Windsor. I believe you’re in caring hands and I hope to continue to grow the local paper. If you want to help, email me and tell me what you think Windsor needs from its weekly newspaper.
Ray Holley is listening. He can be reached at ra*@so********.com.
