OPINION Sonoma West Times News A12 February 23, 2012 Editorial Letters to the Editor Support music and dance EDITOR: In the middle of budget cuts to education and a tough economic climate, there is much to celebrate in our local public high schools. Analy's committed administration and teachers have been dealing with these cuts creatively, sharing the pain instead of cutting teachers and important programs. Yes, our campus could use some help from the community, and Measure I funds will soon begin to help fix some of the long deferred maintenance to our facility. Thanks, voters, for voting in Measure I. But throughout the hardship, Analy's music, art and drama programs have continued to flourish.
Though the town comes out to enjoy drama productions regularly, we rarely have a chance to enjoy Analy music in a space large enough to accommodate more than the usual crowd of parents. But here's a chance, this Friday at 7:30 p.m. That's practically now. We warmly invite everyone to come celebrate and support arts in education and enjoy big band jazz and a variety of music by Analy Jazz Band in our wonderful Sebastopol Community Cultural Center for In The Mood! The SCCC is co-sponsoring with us, along with the law firm of Spaulding, McCullough and Tansil, joined by kind community donors of food, wine and ale. If you haven't heard the Jazz Band, you are truly in for a treat.
When you hear these kids solo, it will knock your socks off. Last week we heard them play In The Mood, and almost swooned. There's absolutely no pressure to dance, but if you love to, there's plenty of room. Stephen Nordquist of Nordquist Social Dance and his granddaughter Brina Cimino of Dance Studio have offered us a beginners' dance lesson at 9 p.m. There will be plenty of seating for non dancers, great folks to socialize with, and free dancing as well, to a variety of music, not only swing.
So don't worry if you don't have a partner, don't couple dance, or don't dance at all. No auctions or hard sell, just a glorious good time. Please put aside stress, politics, worries get a babysitter if you need one don't worry if it a bad hair day, just come on out after dinner to enjoy great music, fine wines and ale, delicious light eats and a fabulous time with us. This is a chance to support music education, at an affordable price ($20) and have fun doing so. Did you come to the Core Project and enjoy the amazing crowd there? Isn't it great when so many people from town come together? Aren't we a unique and delightful community? Let's celebrate that too.
Please buy tickets in advance, and well reward you with a free drink from the cash bar. Call 824-2337, go to Copperfield's Bookstore, or buy online tickets at analybandwagon.org. Proceeds support the Analy High School Instrumental Music Program: three concert bands, a jazz band, and a 65-member symphony orchestra. In The Mood! is 7:30 to 11 p.m. this Friday night at the Community Center.
Band starts at 8. Don't be late! Thanks and we hope to see you there, Carey Caccavo Wheaton Analy Band Wagon Doesn't get it EDITOR: Help me understand why people are so fervent and aggressive about supporting the construction of buildings in the center of town to house CVS and Chase enterprises, two national corporations that already exist in Sebastopol locations. They bring nothing to our lovely unique town center. We're loaded with banks and already have two corporations that sell products offered by CVS i.e. Rite Aid and Safeway.
The proposed buildings are not pretty or unique and add nothing new. So why are people including one councilmember in particular so fervent about supporting this? I don't get it. In addition to the obvious, both sides are slinging barbs at each other in support of their position. Come on. We can do better than this.
And we certainly can do better than complying to the wishes of these two corporate companies. If we have patience and look for compatible ideas, well create an even more beautiful town with the opportunity offered by the vacant Pellini property. Calm down everyone. Nancy LoDolce Sebastopol Protesteth Macbeth EDITOR: While it may have been appropriate for Chris Beaty to use a Shakespearean quotation to underscore a point in Letters to the Editor too much," Feb. 16), methinks the lady who protested is not to be found in "Macbeth," but rather, "Hamlet." Andree MacColl Sebastopol Falling in line EDITOR: It would appear that anyone attempting any development project in Sebastopol would be wise to first get Helen Shane's approval.
With that, the City Councilmembers would, more than likely, fall quite nicely into line. Enough already. William Yoes Sebastopol Public Meetings Small steps, long march Sometimes small, almost hidden moments, inform us about some of our biggest events and society's advances. For instance, last week during a Black History lesson at a local school, a visiting educator asked a group of young students if they could imagine that once upon a time black people could not go to the same school as white people. The young students with white, brown and mixed ethnic faces looked at one another with expressions of disbelief and total vacancy.
The idea of race segregation was lost to them. But as the teacher told his stories about slavery and the Civil War, President Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation and about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the modern Civil Rights Movement, the students' faces became more knowing. "We must learn about these terrible times and Dr.
King's dream so it won't happen again," the teacher said. February is Black History Month, first celebrated in this country as "Negro History Week" over 85 years ago when American schools were decades away from being desegregated (1954). Some of the local school programs include musical assemblies, speech contests and a special focus on the life of Dr. King, who would be 83 years old if he had not been assassinated in 1968. The suggestion that hate, prejudice and oppressive laws based solely on ones skin color is now completely alien to our youngest generation offers what educators call a "teachable moment." But when it comes to race relations, civil justice and equal opportunity for all, our country has had many "teachable moments." In a democratic society that first declared that "all men are created equal" but left out black people and women, we must always continue to revisit our history and shared lessons, found in both the big and small moments.
Not all people and places share the racial harmony that our local classroom of young students feel. We cannot be sure that fierce strains of racial hatred do not continue to simmer at the surface of our current national political debates. How else can we account for some of the poisonous and near treasonist verbal assaults against our first black president, Barack Hussein Obama, II? Party politics aside, President Obama has been the target of threats, insults and organized campaigns that we would never tolerate against a white presi- dent. Unceasing and vulgar attacks about his i birthplace, religion and patriotism can not be attributed to only "political differences." Our nation's debate to choose our next president or to elect Obama to a second term has too easily succumbed to bigotry and intolerance. Not all of it is about race, but it is about prejudice, fear and destructive extremism.
It took us 44 years after the ratification of the 1968 U.S. Civil Rights Act to elect our first black president. We stand less than 50 years from the time when dozens of our fellow citizens were killed in race riots in Watts, Detroit and the Deep South. But all of Black History lessons are not just about being black. Dr.
King's 1963 "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom," attracted 250,000 people almost half of them white. Many marched for racial equality, but others were color-blind and marched for economic justice, jobs and an end to rural poverty in white Appalachia. Americans were mobilized with hope for new social and educational opportunities for all. They marched black, white and Jew for a federal minimum wage and an end to the "wage gap" that separated average workers from rich corporation owners. That march for racial equality, political tolerance and economic justice is proving to be a long and tiring one, advancing only by "teachable" small, almost hidden moments.
Rollie Atkinson each month, in the day room at the firehouse on Armstrong Woods Road, 6 p.m. RUSSIAN RIVER PARK RECREATION DISTRICT Board of Directors Meets 3rd Wednesday, Russian River Chamber of Commerce building, 16201 First Street, 7 p.m. SEBASTOPOL CITY COUNCIL Meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, at the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris 7 p.m. RUSSIAN RIVER ROTARY CLUB Meets every Tuesday at Highland Dell in Monte Rio at 6:30 pm. Call 869-0808 for more information.
SEBASTOPOL PLANNING COMMISSION Meets bi-monthly, on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, at the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris 7 p.m. SEBASTOPOL DESIGN REVIEW BOARDTREE BOARD Meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 4 p.m., at City Hall on Bodega Ave. SEBASTOPOL UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 2nd Thursday, in District Office, 761 1 Huntley 6:30 p.m. SWEETWATER SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT Board of Directors Meets 1st Thursday, at Sweetwater's District Office, 17081 Highway 116, Ste. Guerneville, 6:30 p.m.
TWIN HILLS UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 3rd Thursday, in Apple Blossom School's staff room, 4:30 p.m. WEST SONOMA COUNTY UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 4th Wednesday of the month. Call 824-6403 for time and location. To correct or update any of the public meeting listings, please call 823-1022 or e-mail to newssonomawest.com. Be sure to leave your contact information.
GOLD RIDGE RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT Board of Directors Meets 3rd Thursday, at 2020 Barlow Lane, Sebastopol, 7 p.m. HARMONY UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 3rd Thursday, in the Salmon Creek Middle School gym, 7 p.m. MONTE RIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Meets 3rd Monday, noon. Call 865-2166 for location. MONTE RIO REC PARK DISTRICT Board of Directors Meets 1st Monday, at the Koret Club, 7 p.m.
MONTE RIO SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 3rd Thursday, at the Monte Rio School library, 7 p.m. OAK GROVE SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 2nd Wednesday at Willowside Hall, 6 p.m. OCCIDENTAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Meets 2nd Wednesday, at the Altamont, 6 p.m. For information, call 874-91 1 1 OCCIDENTAL COMMUNITY COUNCIL Meets 3rd Saturday at 10:30 a.m., Occidental Community Center. For more information, please call 874-1673.
PALM DRIVE HEALTH CARE DISTRICT BOARD Meets 1st Monday, at the Palm Drive Hospital conference room, 501 Petaluma 6 p.m. RUSSIAN RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Chamber Mixers First Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. various locations. Monthly Board of Directors meetings 3rd Wednesday each month at Fern Grove Cottages in Guerneville beginning at 4:30 p.m. Up with Downturn Guerneville meetings 4th Wednesday each month at 2:30 p.m various locations.
All of the above meetings are open to the public. For information go to www.russianriver.com or call 707 869-9000. RUSSIAN RIVER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Board of Directors Meets the 2nd Wednesday of BODEGA BAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Meets 1st Wednesday, at Bodega Coast Inn, 6 p.m., call 875-3930. BODEGA BAY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Meets 2nd Tuesday, at the station at 510 Highway 1, 7:30 p.m. BODEGA BAY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Meets 4th Wednesday, at the Community Center, 7 p.m.
FORESTVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Meets 1st Wednesday, at Food for Thought, 5 p.m. FORESTVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 2nd Thursday, at Forestville School's Faculty Room, 6 p.m. FORESTVILLE YOUTH PARK Board of Directors Meets 3rd Wednesday, at the Forestville Youth Park on Mirabel Road, 7:30 p.m. FRIENDS OF IVES POOL BOARD MEETING -2nd Tuesday of the Month, Palm Drive Hospital GRATON COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT -Meets the 3rd Monday of each month at 6 p.m at 4515 Ross Road, Sebastopol. GRAVENSTEIN SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 2nd Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., in Room 1 1 (library) at Gravenstein School, 3840 Twig Sebastopol.
GUERNEVILLE REGIONAL LIBRARY Advisory Board Meets quarterly generally 2nd Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Forum Room of the Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Guerneville. GUERNEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Trustees Meets 2nd Tuesday, in the school library, Armstrong Woods Road, 6:30 p.m. GOLD RIDGE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Board of Directors Meets 1st Wednesday, alternating locations between the Twin Hills station on Watertrough Road and the Hessel station on Hessel Avenue, 7 p.m. Word Box "It is a common delusion that you make things better by talking about them." Dame Rose Macaulay (1881 -1958) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY Sonoma West welcomes letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit as necessary.
Letters should not exceed 300 words in length and typewritten or e-mailed letters are preferred. Letters must include the author's name, address and phone number. Send letters to: Editor, Sonoma West Times News, P.O. Box 521, Sebastopol, CA 95473. The e-mail address is newssonomawest.com.
Our telephone number is 823-7845. We would also like to extend an invitation for members of the community to write guest commentaries about happenings that affect the West County. Please limit commentary to 600 words. If you wish to write about larger social and political issues such as the economy, war or personal stories, please be sure to make it specifically relevant to the West County and our readers. As with letters to the editor, we reserve the right to edit, and will strictly adhere to the rules regarding contact information.
Please call or e-mail first to ensure space availability and appropriate topics. Got Words 7 Send your Word Box submissions Box," P.O. Box 521 Sebastopol, CA, 95473 or e-mail to: newssonomawest.com. Visit us on the Web at www.sonomawest.com. Commentary Law and order service.
New rules take effect this year that, among other things, will require anyone who clerks in a liquor store to take a course in "responsible beverage service." What about people in Guerneville getting arrested "over and over again, 70 or 80 times?" asked Tom Lynch, the Planning Commission chairman and one of the Commission's 5th District representatives. Bret Sackett, the Sonoma County basis." The truth is, I don't know where Brian gets his booze. Maybe he has someone buy it for him. It seems impossible that anyone doing business in downtown Guerneville could not know who he is. Brian's been convicted of public drunkenness eight times in the last two years.
Court records show he was arrested in November 2011, pleaded guilty and f. by Frank Robertson This is how the criminal justice system deals with a habitual drunkard in Guerneville. We (the people) arrest him, take him to jail, tell him not to drink, and let him go. Sheriff's deputy who is also police chief in the city of Sonoma, said the law regarding businesses that sell alcoholic beverages to "habitual drunkards" can be difficult to enforce, but it is addressed in the was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Before that he was arrested in October and convicted of a 647(f) violation.
Before that, he was arrested in July and convicted with a sentence that included probation and a condition that River Gas convenience store. Before that he was arrested in May 2010, but the charge was dismissed. Before that he was arrested in February 2010 and pleaded guilty. Before that he was arrested in January 2010, pleaded guilty and was put on probation with a stipulation that he stay out of Pat's Bar. This is how the criminal justice system deals with a habitual drunkard in Guerneville.
We (the people) arrest him, take him to jail, tell him not to drink, and let him go. Then we do it again and again and again. Does this mean the system is working? On New Year's Day, I watched a deputy arrest Brian in the town plaza, where Brian looked barely able to stand up. Brian and the deputy seemed to have a good understanding about how this arrest would proceed. The deputy spoke briefly to Brian and Brian turned around to be handcuffed, then slid into the back of the patrol car and they drove away.
A couple of days later Brian was standing outside the post office asking for spare change. On Valentine's Day last week Brian was scheduled to appear in court regarding violation of his probation. He didn't show up. That afternoon I saw him weaving down Main Street toward the plaza. Frank Robertson's commentary runs every other week in Sonoma West Times News.
Brian was drunk outside the MD Liquor and Food store on Superbowl Sunday. He was panhandling and his words were nearly unintelligible. "Hiyohha spah chan?" he seemed to be saying. Have you got any spare change? He was weaving back and forth, red-faced, blood-shot eyes barely focused. He looked pretty beat-up.
Lately, I've been sort of keeping track of Brian who is a familiar face in Guerneville. For as long as I can remember, he's been one of the town drunks. Often his name shows up in the daily sheriff's log where it's noted when he's arrested and charged with 647(f) of the California Penal Code prohibiting public drunkenness. The Brian syndrome came up recently at a Sonoma County Planning Commission workshop about new county regulations covering alcoholic beverage sales and state Business and Professions code. "No person may sell or give alcohol to anyone who is a habitual drunkard (a person who has lost control over his or her drinking)," says the code.
"A server may discover a habitual drunkard in one of two ways: (a) A family member tells you the person has a drinking problem and asks you not to serve, or (b) the patron is a regular and unable to handle drinking on a regular he stay 100 yards away from the Guerneville town plaza. Before that he was arrested in March a year ago and pleaded no contest. Before that he was busted in February, pleaded no contest and got 90 days in jail. In December 2010 he was arrested but the charge was dismissed. Before that he was arrested in October 2010, convicted, sentenced to attend 60 AA meetings and ordered to stay away from the.
