Roundup 2: Spooky and Scary
Coming up is Halloween, the Day of the Dead and the November 5 election. Which is more frightening?
Note: The version we sent out this morning had some issues caused by two editors working in the same document and overwriting changes made earlier. Sorry about that. One correction to the earlier version, pointed out by Dennis Rosatti, is that Measure I is a quarter-cent sales tax not a half-cent sales tax. A section on the City Council campaign was missing and is now restored. Plus, as a bonus, Harvey Henningsen sent us a great photo of the completed fence in Libby Park. I’ve added it below.
A comet in the October sky that comes once every 80,000 years. Unsettled weather is coming, bringing rain this week after an October that brought high heat to California and hurricanes and flooding to the southeastern parts of the country. A widening of the war in the Middle East. Now Halloween brings us to the end of October. Front yards in Sebastopol are decorated with fake skeletons and other spooky props as well as political signs, mostly for local issues. Day of the Dead starts off November. Then, a week later, we get to vote — in-person voting opened Oct. 26. Finally, an interminable, exasperating presidential election costing billions of dollars will come to a conclusion. (Maybe.) It has everyone worried.
There’s a ten-year-old Geico commercial, a parody of a scary movie, where a group of teens are frantically fleeing an unseen stalker. “Let’s hide in the attic,” screams one of the teens. “No, the basement,” screams another. Why not get in a running car nearby? “That’s crazy,” shouts one of them, rejecting the best option. Another points out the dark shed filled with chainsaws. “Smart,” says one, and they all agree to go there and hide. A voiceover says: “In a horror movie you make poor decisions. It’s what you do.” The fearless stalker standing behind the chainsaws takes off his hockey mask and shakes his head in disgust.
When people are afraid, they make poor decisions. It’s not just in horror movies. Fear can drive people to make poor decisions in a presidential election. A bad choice looks like a good choice. That’s really scary to watch.
Civics in Action
You don’t have to look far to feel better about things, however. On a beautiful Saturday morning, a group of men from the Rotary Club were placing the final sections of fencing around the duck pond in Libby Park.
Gene Nelson quipped: “How many Rotarians does it take to dig a hole?” Most of the men, staring at the hole, shrugged off the question. One of the Rotarians told me that this was the third weekend of work and more workers came out than before. “I suspect that others noticed how nice the new fencing looked and they wanted to be a part of the project,” he said.
The Rotarians-in-jeans had plenty of admirers, if you counted the many ducks and geese.
As I left, a woman walking her dog thanked me for the work that was going on. I explained that I was just there taking pictures and talking to the workers. She pointed across the way to the picnic area and said I should talk to a woman there. I went to talk to Sara Young, who with her husband was setting up for a birthday party for their son, George, a four-year-old. When she saw the work going on, she exclaimed: “That’s why I love Sebastopol.” Sara and her family have lived in Sebastopol for a few years. “I just love that people in the community are doing the work, not paid contractors,” she said.
If you’d like to consider being part of this action, the Sebastopol Area Senior Center is hosting the following event on Friday:
Sebastopol Service Action Coalition: How to get involved in the community!
Friday, Nov. 1, 2:15-3:15 p.m. FREE for the community!Join us as we hear from reps of the SSAC like Lions Club, Kiwanis, Rotary- learn about the SSAC initiative and how you can get involved in bettering our community! The Sebastopol Service and Action Coalition is a broad coalition of organizations that work towards the common good of connecting local opportunities to volunteer with people ready to pitch in and lend a hand. Created in early 2021, the SS&AC is actively recruiting other member organizations, volunteers, donations for those in need, and helping our Sebastopol community thrive.
Measure for Measure
Can you keep the tax measures straight? Match the letter to the measure.
Choose from I, N, U, W.
____ a local school district-wide property tax of $28 per $100,000 raising $1,400,000 annually
____ a countywide 0.25% sales tax raising $30M annually for early childhood care.
____ a countywide 0.125% sales tax, providing $18,000,000 annually for libraries forever.
____ a citywide 0.5% sales tax raising $1,520,000 annually for 12 years for the city
Answers at the end.
City Council Race is Lightly Contested
The race for two seats on the Sebastopol City Council is not exactly hotly contested, judging from the money raised by the candidates for their campaigns. Incumbent Neysa Hinton has raised $12,180 through October 24 (Form 460). Hinton has more yard signs around town and she’s an obvious favorite for one of two seats.
The other seat is a toss up between Kee Nethery and Phill Carter. They have few yard signs around town, although Nethery gets some credit for a few hand-painted signs, like Stephen Zollman’s in the last election. Neither Carter or Nethery have declared any campaign contributions from supporters for their campaign. One of them is going to win on the cheap!
The City’s Measure U has raised $30,000 through October 24 with $20,000 coming from the SEIU Local 1021 Issues PAC (Form 460). The Sebastopol Police Officers Association PAC has contributed $2,500 in support of Measure U. More money equates to more yard signs and more visibility.
The Trashlantis Festival rolled into town yesterday
Did you miss the first annual Trashlantis Festival? Catch some of the action in photos and video on the Facebook pages for Santa Rosa Taco Tuesday Ride and Jeff Savage. Jeff got some particularly nice photos of the Trash Fashion Show.
Sebastopol Police Logs, October 14-20
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
9:34 p.m. Driving with a suspended license at North Main Street and Healdsburg Avenue. Suspect arrested.
WEDNESDAY
5:39 p.m. Battery on a person on school property (misdemeanor) at Analy Avenue and North Main Street. Cleared by circumstances beyond police control.
SATURDAY
12:14 p.m. Battery on a person (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway North and Hurlbut Avenue. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 130 other events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
NEED A QUICK ELECTION REFRESHER?
Correction
A couple of people pointed out that, contrary to our title, the Little Free Art Gallery on Brookside is not the first one in the town. There is still a Little Free Art Gallery on Baker, just south of town, and there used to be one at Art and Soul.
The week of October 21-27
Measure for Measure answer: The correct letters are N, I, W, U.
Did anyone else receive a No on Measure U flyer which spoke about the fact that Sebastopol will receive money from Measure H and also get a parcel tax of $275 when/ if there is consolidation? It looks like there will be plenty of money for fire. Also, you forgot to mention that Gurney, Glass and Rich - all the same people who voted to remove the hotel revenue from Sebastopol, which at this point is $1.6 million and counting (more than enough to cover the current deficit) - all are paid supporters of Measure U. Is there any reason to trust these people as they are the very same people who drove the town (and in Glass's case the Art Center, too) into financial ruin? Why did they give away critical revenue when Sebastopol's budget is so small? Why didn't they fund roads, police and fire? Why did they drive the water and sewer enterprise funds into ruin and did not keep up with infrastructure repair? Nothing in Measure U prevents these same types of financial mismanagement and misuse of public funds. Measure H is in place for funding the fire department. That was already voted on and we are already paying for it. There is no binding plan for Measure U. Maybe to pay Union salaries since they donated so much money? Big signs = Big money but what does it really mean for Sebastopol except for having the highest tax rate in Sonoma County? 10.25%
First, a big thank you to the Rotarians for their volunteer work enhancing Libby Park, and to Trashlantis for bringing joy to our community this weekend.
Regarding the Times' coverage of the council race: characterizing it as "not hotly contested" and focusing on campaign sign numbers misses substance of this election. The candidates are dedicating significant time and energy to serve our city. Using campaign financing as the primary metric for electoral viability undermines our democratic ideals, especially when we're trying to reduce the influence of money in politics.
For clarity, I have positioned 35 signs thoughtfully throughout Sebastopol, including 12 pieces created by a local artist - a choice that reinforces my commitment to fostering arts and community vibrancy. Whether Kee or I succeed, it won't be because we ran low-budget campaigns. Our investment has been in time and meaningful community connections, which is exactly what our small town needs.
I've raised $1,500, demonstrating my ability to manage resources effectively while focusing on what matters most - engaging with our community.