RoundUp: Breaking new ground
A new director for the community center, a new roundabout in the works, a new RoundUp feature called Recommendations, and more
Philena Chantha is the new executive director of the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center
Philena Chantha, the community center’s new executive director, has been closely connected to the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center (SCCC) since 2020. She stepped in during the early COVID period and remained deeply engaged as a board member and a member of the board’s executive committee, working alongside staff and fellow board members to help keep the Community Center open, active, and responsive to community needs.
Philena brings a people-first leadership style shaped by decades of management experience in financial services and her current work as a local mortgage broker. She is known for building strong teams, listening closely, and following through.
“I’m truly grateful for this community and for everything the Community Center represents,” said Chantha. “I’m proud of how our staff and Board have kept SCCC moving through challenging years, and I’m excited to help support the Community Center’s next chapter—grounded in transparency, partnership, and care for the people who rely on this space.”
Interim Executive Director Tanya Sierra will shift her focus to program leadership, lending her strength and consistency to the center’s community programming. The board emphasized that Tanya’s leadership has been essential in keeping the Community Center welcoming, active, and running smoothly over the last few years.
These staffing changes have been made possible because of the generosity of donors and grant support, including a grant received earlier this year from Sebastopol West 100.
An Invitation to Join the Board
SCCC welcomes inquiries from community members interested in Board service—especially those with experience in finance, accounting, nonprofit governance, HR, facilities, fundraising, or legal support. Community members who would like to learn more are encouraged to email sccc@seb.org.
Caltrans to build a roundabout at Hwy 116 north of Graton
We learned from reader Marcy Greeley that Caltrans is following through with its plans to build a roundabout at the corner of Highway 116 and Green Valley Road, just north of Graton. The roundabout will be approximately 130 feet in diameter and will include crosswalks and shared-use paths for pedestrians and bicyclists. It will be designed to accommodate large trucks up to 65-feet long, the longest allowable in California.
The project was approved this month on Feb. 11, and the design phase will start this spring. Construction will start in spring 2028 and is estimated to take about 6 months. In between, Caltrans will be negotiating with surrounding landowners who will be giving up significant slivers of their properties.
Learn more here.
RECOMMENDATION: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
[Editor’s Note: We received this enthusiastic recommendation this week from reader Sara Alexander about a film currently playing at the Rialto Cinemas. It reminded me that I have long toyed with the idea of adding a recommendation section to our Sunday RoundUp. Do you have something to recommend around town—a favorite restaurant, store, hike, experience or hidden gem—that you’d like to share with other Sebastopol Times readers? Send your recommendation (250 to 400 words) to sebastopoltimes@gmail.com. Put the word RECOMMENDATION in the subject line.]
Mr. and Ms. Nobody
by Sara Alexander
I am seriously crushing on an independently produced documentary film that is (miraculously) showing at our very own Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol. Like many independent documentary films, it went for a year without any distribution and originally opened to only 30 theaters in the whole U.S.A. We are so lucky to have it here!
The film was made with and about Pavel (Pasha) Talankin, a 34-year-old Russian teacher, also social director and videographer at the Karabash Primary School #1. On March 12, 2022, Putin launched a militaristic, pro-war propaganda campaign to eradicate free thinking in the younger generation and prepare all Russian children to fight in the war against Ukraine. Pasha was outraged. His job as school videographer put him and his camera at the center of the story that he wanted to tell the world.
Thanks to a fascinating cocktail of anger, courage, determination, serendipity and the brotherhood of documentary filmmakers, Pasha connected with David Borenstein, an American-born filmmaker living in Denmark. The film’s director of photography is—and will have to remain—anonymous since he still resides in Russia, where being vocally opposed to the war in Ukraine is considered treason, punishable by 25 years in prison.
I went to a showing of this documentary at Berkeley’s Saul Zaentz Media Center, which featured at Q&A with the director. At first, Borenstein said he had no idea what kind of film he was making with Pasha, as he received, in random order, all kinds of video footage from him. The working title “Putin’s Classroom” was changed to “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” when they began collaborating with the BBC for encryption, security and other reasons.
I love the title “Mr. Nobody against Putin” because I wake up too many mornings feeling like a “Ms. Nobody,” especially in this current moment of my country’s political life. The scourge of disinformation in our country is not the same as Russia’s, but, daily, I fend off a growing sense of powerlessness, fear and despair.
This film helps me question whether Mr. or Ms. Nobody really is a nobody. Each time I watch this film, I feel a tiny bit more like some kind of somebody. And I think it will have the same effect on you.
“Mr. Nobody against Putin” is showing at the Rialto Cinemas Sebastopol, Sunday through Thursday, Feb. 22-26 at noon.
Need to update your credit card for your Sebastopol Times subscription?
We’ve gotten several calls from readers having difficulty figuring out how to change or update their credit card information for their Sebastopol Times subscriptions. We do not have access to your credit card information, so you must do this yourself on your computer through Substack, the platform we use to publish the Sebastopol Times. We wish Substack made it easier to do this.
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Whew! If this is too daunting, we will be happy to come out to your house and do it for you. Seriously, we have done this several times.
How do you know if your news sources are truly local?
"Whew! If this is too daunting, we will be happy to come out to your house and do it for you. Seriously, we have done this several times."
Asked and answered, your honor.