City Watch: News bits you need to know
Tears at the library, no high school bond this November, and some unfortunate news about water and sewer payments
Welcome to City Watch. Every so often there’s news around town that doesn’t require an entire article to explain, but that we think you’d want to know about nonetheless. That’s why we created City Watch, a new semi-regular feature.
Sebastopol’s Library Advisory Board adds their “no confidence” vote regarding the Mathew Rose case
In the ongoing saga of Sebastopol Branch Manager Mathew Rose, Sebastopol’s Library Advisory Board (LAB) this week made a unanimous vote of no confidence in the central administration of the Sonoma County Library. (We reported two weeks ago on a similar vote by Friends of the Sebastopol Library, the fundraising group for the library.)
Because it involved a personnel issue, the LAB was forbidden from discussing the issue per se, but they got around this by putting the Sebastopol Times article, “The battle heats up over pending dismissal of Sebastopol Library branch manager,” on the agenda—and proceeded to comment on what they learned from the article instead.
LAB members around the table expressed their outrage about the administration’s treatment of Sebastopol’s popular branch manager, who is now on administrative leave.
“There’s outrage about this,” LAB member Mary Shiff said. “This is a real overreach, and I think it’s a real mistake.”
LAB member Una Hall called the claims against Rose “vague and trivial” and said, “That can’t be the reason to fire someone who is universally popular among his staff, patrons and board as Mathew is. It just seems really ridiculous.”
LAB member Tong Ginn said the administration’s claims against Mathew set off his “bogusity meter.”
Public commenters were even more critical.
“Using the now popular political vernacular, this is weird,” said Sarah Gurney, a former Sebastopol City Councilmember and a member of the Library’s Oversight Committee for Measure Y. “It’s weird and mean-spirited…We want Mathew back.”
Angela Ford said, “I smell a rat. This is just so disgusting.”
Walt Frazer, a former LAB member, called the decision “senseless and egotistical.”
Neil Herring, a retired labor lawyer, said that in his experience, “You should feel good about all these bullshit pretexts. Every arbitrator who hears these cases knows that if management introduces a lot of trivial or groundless or senseless assertions to justify the discharge, it’s probably a BS discharge.”
All the while, Barbara Maes—Rose’s direct boss and the signatory on the notice of intent to dismiss letter—sat at the table fidgeting and looking deeply unhappy as person after person questioned the wisdom of the administration’s decision. Visibly shaken, she cried silently through a portion of the meeting and fled the room the minute the meeting was over.
“Not the right time” for high school bond measure
Wednesday’s special board meeting for West Sonoma County Union High School ended rather quickly. The meeting was called to consider putting a new $91 million bond measure before voters in November. Attendance at the meeting by the public was light.
Superintendent Chris Meredith made the recommendation that the board not approve the bond measure because he had heard from the community “that it was just not the right time.” The board agreed, sparing all a lengthy discussion. Trustee Debbie Ramirez was so prepared to oppose the bond measure that she insisted on asking questions and raising concerns. Eventually, the board voted unanimously to not approve the bond measure.
Putting the bond measure on the ballot this year could have re-ignited the passion that has somewhat abated since El Molino students were merged into Analy in the 2020-21 school year. Those who want to bring El Molino back are awaiting the results of a feasibility study, as we outlined in “Will the Lions Roar Again?” and many were unhappy about a third bond measure that was viewed as improving the Analy campus.
Also, there was concern about competition on the November ballot, when Sebastopol residents will be voting on a new sales tax increase. Sebastopol residents have also recently seen a steep increase in their water and sewer bills, and if consolidation with a neighboring fire district comes to pass, they will also be asked to pay a $265 parcel tax. It all seemed a bit much.
In a written statement to the Sebastopol Times, Superintendent Chris Meredith said:
The District’s original plan was to go out for a new bond measure in 2026 to continue to address our ongoing facility needs. However, with the glaring project needs, and the escalation of construction costs, we felt we needed to do our due diligence in exploring the feasibility of a bond measure during the 2024 general election.
Our voters have strongly supported prior bond measures, but throughout this process, we have heard our community loud and clear that this is not the right time. For this reason I made the recommendation to the WSCUHSD Board of Trustees to not support the resolution that was presented in our special board meeting last night.
Throughout the past two years we have continued to identify projects at both campuses and have provided the Board of Trustees and our community with updates at our monthly regular meetings. Completed and planned future projects such as HVAC and roofing upgrades at both campuses can be referenced in the links I have provided below.
In addition, I will be hosting a community informational session at the Laguna High School library on August 22, 2024 at 6pm. I invite the community to join me to learn more about the District’s vision.
Links:
The board might reconsider the bond measure for the March 2025 ballot.
No help from the state on your water and sewer bill
When the Sebastopol City Council approved higher water and sewer rates this spring, they were told by Sebastopol Administrative Services Director Ana Kwong that there was a state program that could help low-income people pay their utility bills. Unfortunately, as she wrote to the Sebastopol Times, Kwong has recently learned that that program is out of money.
The North Coast Energy Services (NCES) program has been discontinued due to the depletion of state funding. NCES has also indicated uncertainty regarding additional funding in the next fiscal year. Consequently, they have removed all registered city water agencies (Sebastopol included) from their website, preventing citizens from opening new accounts due to the funding shortfall.
The funding that NCES said [was] depleted originates from the Fed, then passes through the State of California as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and [is administered] by North Coast Energy Services.
Currently, the only available option is the payment plan [from the city of Sebastopol], which we have been offering all customers including to low-income individuals.
Thanks Laura and Dale -
It's really nice to have a good source of what's happening in Sebastopol. And well written!
Your staff are Local Heros. Thank you for thoughtful journalism 🤓