RoundUp: Free advice and a farewell
Advice to a stranger, cameras at the library, farewell to Robert Porter and more
The Advice Station
Artist Hunter Franks made the attractive “YOU BELONG HERE” sign on the fence around the property that may one day be the Hotel Sebastopol. He also made two little boxes, filled with little wooden houses. Passersby can take out a little wooden house and write their response to the question, “Share a piece of advice with a stranger,” and tie it onto the fence. Here are a few pieces of random advice from the fence.
“Speak up for yourself and those you care about. There is love all around you always.”
“Do your homework.”
“Actions absorb anxiety. Take steps now.”
“Non-violence is not passivity.”
“Be how you want to be and do the things you want to try because you only have so much time.”
“Don’t get so fixated on where you want to be that you forget to make the most of where you are.”
“You become the seven people you most hang out with.”
As of yesterday, there were no more little houses in the boxes, but the backs of many of the little houses on the fence are blank and you can write your advice there.
Cameras on the outside of the library are turned on
One of the many issues that was a bone of contention between former Sebastopol Library Branch Manager Mathew Rose and the central administration of the Sonoma County Library was the installation of cameras on the outside of the library. Library Advisory Board President Kee Nethery informed us that the cameras, which were installed in 2023, were officially switched on on June 9th.
According to Sebastopol Mayor Stephen Zollman, the city decided it did not have the standing to fight this decision. City Attorney Alex Mog determined that the city’s regulations against surveillance cameras did not apply in this case. Zollman sent the following explanation:
“Chapter 8.80 applies specifically to surveillance equipment used by a city department and its employees. The Sonoma County Library is an independent legal entity, and not a department of the City. The Sonoma County Library leases the building from the City of Sebastopol. However, nothing in the existing lease agreement prohibits the library from installing surveillance cameras and utilizing them for security purposes. There is a clause in the lease that addresses structural modifications, but the installation of CCTV cameras can be done in a way that does not require structural modifications.
In summary, the decision to install and activate CCTV cameras in the Sebastopol Library lies with the Sonoma County Library system.
Rose opposed this decision, as did some library staff members, but others, exhausted by the fight over Rose’s firing in 2024, decided not to protest, fearing a repeat of previous years’ unpleasantness.
Science Buzz Cafe bids farewell to Robert Porter, PhD
By Daniel Osmer, friend and colleague
Robert Porter, PhD, was a scientist, inventor, manager and educator, specializing in product and technology innovation.
He died on Father’s Day, June 15, at 9 pm. He was 86.
Starting as an 18-year-old, Robert served in the United States Air Force from 1956 to 1960, where he was responsible for maintenance repair on long range radar systems and for instruction of American and Japanese military personnel and had a top-secret clearance. On one of his industrial consulting gigs, he traveled to Kuwait to work for the Kuwait Chemical Company where he lead the effort to recover the oil from the destroyed oil fields scattered throughout the country after the first Gulf War in the early ’90s.
Robert had three lifetimes of accomplishments, relationships and fun. Yet, the most important things in Robert's life were his wife Delora and his daughter Meredith. Meredith did a Science Buzz Cafe presentation on epigenetics at Coffee Catz as an 18 year old in 2007. Fifteen years later Meredith did another Science Buzz Cafe presentation titled “The Science, History and Mysteries of Apples.” Only this time, it was Meredith Porter, BS Genetics from UC Davis.
When Robert and Daniel started Science Buzz Cafe in 2007, it was Daniel who came up with Science Cafe, but it was Robert who added the Buzz.
Robert is now included in the Book of Remarkable Men.
June 30, 2025, would have been Robert’s 87th birthday.
The next Science Buzz Cafe is tomorrow, Monday, June 23 at 6 pm in the Abbey at HopMonk. Please bring your stories of encounters with Robert to share before the presentation. We will have a chocolate tribute to Robert before introducing our speaker, storyteller Bill Seidel. Robert would always say that the best science presentations always had great personal stories. For Robert, it was all about the story! And Bill has great stories, actually incredible stories—I know because I have heard some of them.
Wohler Bridge re-opened on Monday
Wohler Bridge, the historic, 103-year-old span over the Russian River northeast of Forestville, temporarily reopened on Monday, June 16, much to the relief of Westside Road residents and wineries. The bridge is currently undergoing a $18 million retrofit. The reopening of the bridge means that our reporter, Rollie Atkinson, who lives on Westside Road, won’t have to drive to Sebastopol via Healdsburg anymore, for which we are all grateful.
Sebastopol Police Logs, June 9-15
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
8:06 p.m. Driving without a license at South Main Street and Maple Avenue. Suspect arrested.
TUESDAY
1:59 a.m. Post-release community supervision violation (felony), possession of a controlled substance and possession of unlawful paraphernalia (misdemeanors) at South Main Street. Suspect arrested.
2:20 p.m. Grand theft (felony) at Bodega Avenue. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
8:09 p.m. Driving without a license and with an expired vehicle registration at North Main Street and Healdsburg Avenue. Suspect arrested.
8:24 p.m. Knowingly receiving stolen property and violation of probation (misdemeanors) at North Main Street. Suspect arrested.
10:23 p.m. Driving without a license, failure to give police officer evidence of financial responsibility, and expired vehicle registration at Virginia and Swartz avenues. Suspect arrested.
WEDNESDAY
12:03 a.m. Violation of probation and possession of a controlled substance (misdemeanors) at Sebastopol Avenue. Suspect arrested.
FRIDAY
4:53 p.m. Theft by using another’s access card information (misdemeanor) and getting credit by impersonation with another’s identification (felony) at Laguna Park Way. Pending further investigation.
8:13 p.m. Battery on a person (misdemeanor) at Sebastopol Avenue. Pending further investigation.
SATURDAY
1:07 a.m. Driving while under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of at least 0.08% (misdemeanor) at McKinley Street. Suspect arrested.
SUNDAY
12:47 p.m. Battery on a person at Bodega Avenue. Suspect arrested.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 159 events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
Rest in Peace, Robert Porter!
I always enjoyed running into him at coffee shops over the years. Thanks for telling his life’s story here, Daniel. What a journey he had and he gifted so many lives touched by him.❤️🙏🏽
Love this: “Actions absorb anxiety. Take steps now.”