End-of-year lists are of necessity subjective, so according to the pages of the Healdsburg Tribune, here are the 12 months of 2023, from January to December, and the top stories they told.
January: The weather was news as the year began, with a series of “atmospheric rivers” advancing across the state and within months ending the years-long drought. The upcoming year, 2024, begins under a cloud as well.
Also in January came another bit of news that resonated across the year to reappear in this week’s paper: Bird Bikes suspended its local operations because of a labor shortage. While it eventually returned to service, the year ironically ends with Bird Bikes’ parent company, Bird Global, declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December.
February opened with the news that SMART had won a court case allowing it to use state tax money, and a series of grants began flowing toward Sonoma Marin Area Rapid Transit. The long-promised rail service to Healdsburg became ever more imminent.
That led to the city opening discussions regarding where a SMART platform should be located—at the long-assumed Depot on Hudson Street, or perhaps a new downtown location closer to the Plaza area? The decision has yet to be made, but the city council is expected to take it up early in 2024.
March brought a vote by the city council to permit up to two cannabis dispensaries in town, and the process of taking applications, reviewing them, interviewing candidates and finally choosing just two businesses took up much of the coming months. Eight applicants were accepted for the process, and the two finalists—Jane and Solful—were approved by the council in November. The dispensaries are expected to open in 2024.
April saw the move of historic Healdsburg Lumber to its new location up Healdsburg Avenue, and the return of an Earth Day-oriented Climate Fest in the Plaza. That fit right in with community meetings on the Climate Mobilization Strategy (CMS) and another city initiative on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Both were lengthy endeavors to improve government engagement in their spheres; the DEI was approved by the city council in August, the CMS in October.
May marked the city council’s key design approval for the Foley Family Community Pavilion, to be underwritten by a $7 million pledge. It will create a public space for the Healdsburg Farmers’ Market and other indoor/outdoor community events directly across from the West Plaza parking lot. The contract for the project was approved at the council’s last meeting of the year, on Dec. 18, 2023.
May also saw the city council take up a new gun-storage ordinance, requiring residents to safely store personal firearms with trigger locks or in storage lockers to reduce the possibility of tragedy from unprotected firearms.
The issue of gun safety became a community concern: The play at the Raven, If I Don’t Make It, I Love You, was an emotional journey, and a Healdsburg High School arts project erected several installations of miniature school desks like headstones, representing gunshot victims. The ordinance was approved six weeks later.
June saw the return of the Healdsburg Prune Packers to Rec Park for another season of play with the California Collegiate League. The 102-year-old team won the CCL championship for the third year in a row, but rumors of league dissatisfaction persisted all summer—and in December it was announced that the team had joined forces with several other Northern California teams (including former CL partners) to form a new league, the Pacific Empire League (PEL).
July brought news of the 25-year lease of the former Raven Film Center by the group that owns SingleThread Restaurant and Farm, which had earlier taken over ownership of the historic River Belle Inn on Front Street. The move raised alarms among locals who felt the community they grew up in was becoming a culinary destination for wealthy outsiders.
As if to counter-program the point, the Healdsburg Museum opened “We Are Not Strangers Here: African American Histories in Rural California.” The exhibit included a section on the Black families who lived in Healdsburg in the late 1800s and early 1900s whose stories have been overlooked.
August began with the opening of Bill Foley’s Goodnight’s Prime Steak + Spirits, and his symbolic sharing of the Stanley Cup in the Plaza the same night. The same Healdsburg Tribune issue published the results of a press investigation that questioned the legality of the permit for Piazza Hospitality’s residence hotel at 400 Healdsburg Ave.
A month later the city attorney found that the ordinance limiting hotel size was itself invalid, having been “improperly noticed.” That required the city to repass the hotel ordinance retroactively—though with a carved-out exemption for Piazza’s project. (The Planning Commission finally approved the project in December.)
September found native son Mike McGuire elevated to the state legislature’s top post, as President of the Senate (for the year 2024). Labor Day Weekend ended with the closure of Amy’s Wicked Slush, which in retrospect marked an end-of-year trend that saw the shuttering of several Healdsburg establishments. Though Amy’s Wicked Slush was only six years old, its be-happy vibe made an outside impact. As 2023 ends, the lot and building across from Memorial Beach remain available for lease.
October was the month of Zoom Bombing, a new Plaza Performers Permit and more money for SMART, bringing the passenger station decision ever closer. It was also notably the month of the Hamas attack on Israel, and the public wrestled with how to respond, both officially and unofficially. The city council voted to illuminate the Memorial Bridge in white, to symbolize peace, not the blue and white originally requested that would have expressed solidarity with Israel. Neither controversy nor conflict has abated.
November kicked off with another spectacular Día de Muertos the day after Halloween. More than 5,000 people visited the multifaceted, multi-hued half-day celebration at the Plaza and downtown area. Hosted by Corazón Healdsburg and the city of Healdsburg, the event was one of several this year that underscored the harmonious cultural diversity of Healdsburg at its best.
As the month continued two more established businesses disappeared: Adel’s Restaurant on Dry Creek Road and the Oakville Grocery on the Plaza. But new leases were in the works for both, with Oakville already announced as Acorn (get it?) Café. Meanwhile the long-closed Jimtown Store was rumored in the works for a dim sum diner. Change is constant.
December began with the Planning Commission’s approval of Piazza’s hotel project, a new exhibit at the Healdsburg Museum of the historic town in miniature and the Merry Healdsburg! tree-lighting in the Plaza, which despite the rain was another feel-good event the city has become so good at.
So, too, has the city found its way back to the orderly transition of power. On Dec. 18, Mayor Ariel Kelley graciously gave way to new Mayor David Hagele and Vice Mayor Evelyn Mitchell—thus freeing up Kelley’s time to run for the State Assembly District #2.
Did we miss anything you felt was important news in 2023? Send your comments to [email protected].
