Roundup: Nothing about Jeffrey Epstein here
A new restaurant in town, a chance to meet the county's new director of Health Services, summer camps for the children of Ukraine, a clarification on the Porchfest article and more
Mi Pueblo Sebastopol opens
Mi Pueblo has taken over the former Pleasant Hill location of Sonoma Burger, which was Giovanni's Deli before that. The owners of the new Mexican restaurant, which opened in June, are Tomas Valladarez and Karina Alvarez. Their family owns a restaurant of the same name on 4th Street in Santa Rosa. Word on the street is that the food and service are excellent.
Sebastopol police officer gets recognition from Mothers Against Drunk Driving
From the Sebastopol Police Department Facebook this week:
On July 17, Officer Siar was recognized for his consistent efforts to reduce incidents of DUI on our roads by the MADD (Mothers Against Drink Driving) organization at an awards ceremony in Sacramento. Officer Siar was also presented with his Sebastopol PD badge incorporating his badge number. His father pinned him in the presence of his family, so it was win, win!
We’re proud of you, Officer Siar. You represent Sebastopol well.
“He is leading our department in DUI arrests because of his proactive efforts in looking for those drivers,” said Sgt. Cameron Fenske, noting that Siar was nominated for this honor by his supervisor Sgt. Mykael Thompson.
Summer Camps for the Children of Ukraine
Sebastopol resident John Namkung wrote us about a new project that he’s working on to raise money for camps for kids in the Ukraine. He seeks to “raise as much money as possible within the next two weeks to enable as many children to attend the remaining camps in August.”
John is organizing a benefit showing of Soldiers of Song, a powerful "independent documentary film about Ukrainian musicians inspiring unity and courage amidst the chaos of war." The film will be shown on Monday, July 28, at 7 pm at the Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol.
"From the frontlines to the world stage, 'Soldiers of Song' is a searing and soulful look at the resilience of artists caught in the crossfire of war . . . This powerful documentary offers a deeply human look at Ukrainian musicians who traded instruments for arms to defend their country—and in doing so, redefined the meaning of resistance . . . 'Soldiers of Song' is a must-watch for anyone who believes in the power of art to endure, uplift, and unify."
— FILM DAILY
Following the film, a brief program featuring live Ukrainian music and information about the summer camps will be presented. Go to soldiersofsongfilm.com for more information about the film.
If you can’t make it to the July showing, Sebastopol World Friends will show the movie on August 21.
John works with Type of Wood Charities, a nonprofit organization that gave him opportunities to volunteer in Poland and Ukraine in 2022 and, most recently, in Ukraine in 2024. They co-sponsor Kids Camps throughout Ukraine in the summer. The focus of the camps is to provide a three- to five-day summer camp for children most directly impacted by the war: orphans, children who have lost a parent or relative, and those most severely traumatized by the relentless drone and missile attacks. It costs approximately $50 per child to attend a camp.
Here’s a short video of one of the camps in the Ukraine.
To buy movie tickets for the Rialto showing ahead of time, visit https://rialtocinemas.com/coming-soon/soldiers-of-song-seb-2/.
Anyone can also donate by cash, check or credit card in the lobby of the theater or by mail.
Write a check by July 28 payable to Type of Wood Charities and send it to John Namkung, 1287 Bing Tree Way, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
Use a credit card at https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=Z8KKK57M84WFY to make a donation.
John says that “Every dollar donated will go directly to the organizers of the camps to enable more children to attend.” He plans “to travel to Ukraine at my expense to visit the children and to tell them, the staff and volunteers that they have not been forgotten by Americans, and that we care about their health and well being. And, yes, I will share my photos, videos, and stories with you upon my return!”
John wanted to add a special thank you to Ky Boyd and Roxanne Goodfellow of Rialto Cinemas for making it happen!
County’s New DHS Director to present at August 5 meeting of the Sebastopol City Council
The new Sonoma County Department of Health Services (DHS) Director Nolan Sullivan will give a presentation at the August 5 City Council meeting. His presentation “will provide an overview of DHS’s current priorities and collaborative efforts with local cities, particularly as Sebastopol faces increased public safety concerns related to unsheltered individuals and uncertain future funding for support services.”
The City is encouraging community members to attend. The August 5 Sebastopol City Council meeting, which begins at 6pm, will be held at the Youth Annex and online. (Link for more info.)
Correction and clarification on this week’s Porchfest article
Last week we received a letter from Ron McDonell, a High Street resident who thought that our article about Porchfest unfairly painted the neighbors opposed to hosting Porchfest in a bad light. He pointed out three things in the article which were untrue or misleading. We decided he was right about two—arguably, three—of those points.
Describing the opposition to Porchfest as “a handful of neighbors across several blocks” underestimated the number of neighbors unhappy about the idea of hosting Porchfest again. While we received this information from a credible source within the city, we probably should have noticed that that was speculation on their part. Neither of us, obviously, did a survey of several blocks of High Street.
In noting that no opponents showed up to the council meeting, the article implied that there was little opposition or that they were afraid to make their presence known. All council watchers saw was a parade of Porchfest-on-High proponents. In fact, High Street neighbors that objected to hosting Porchfest were specifically told by two council members that they didn’t have to come to city council because the permit request had been withdrawn and there would be no public comment on this issue.
Finally, McDonnell said a neighbor’s comments about Porchfest’s extensive outreach efforts to neighbors were overstated. This seems a little mushier to us—one man’s “extensive” is another man’s “underwhelming.” Still Ron’s letter offers some interesting explanatory details on this point.
Like all newspapers, we write stories based on the information we gather at the time—that’s why journalism is called the first draft of history not the final word. Ron kindly acknowledged that.
When new information comes to light, however, we like to share that. Therefore, we are publishing Ron’s letter in full.
Interesting historical note: Ron’s great grandfather was once the editor of the original Sebastopol Times.
Dear Laura:
Thank you for inviting me to forward my comments on the Porchfest article.
If the title had been, “Promoters can’t afford permits and toilets, and some residents object to event,” perhaps that might have put people in a more thoughtful—as opposed to angry—mindset. It’s a significant point that the promoters did not have the funds to put on a large-scale event.
In terms of neighborhood opposition, there is a neighborhood history that is important in understanding a key part of the story that was missed. Years ago the City gave a gift to residents, allowing neighbors to come together in the street and have a block party. The intent was for neighbors to have the opportunity to gather, BBQ, etc, building neighborhood connections.
One of our neighbors and his friends outside the neighborhood quickly realized they could close the street and have a “block party,” invite hundreds of friends who don’t live here, have multiple bands in the street, fire dancers, etc. Some years people arrived on buses. Residents were never consulted. Just notified. This was the opposite of community-building.
And all the while the City allowed it. All of these street parties were permitted as block parties. Many neighbors felt used by the event organizers, knowing the permit falsely suggested that the neighborhood was all-in on these parties. As a result, many residents of our neighborhood have become disenchanted about permitted events emanating from High and Maple, with City administrators quietly looking the other way.
In 2024, a group of people again applied for a “block party” permit—this time for a widely promoted, five stage music festival over a multiple block area. Again, they implied the neighborhood was all-in and they accurately anticipated that the City would look the other way. Residents were not consulted. Again, they were notified…after Porchfest 2024 had been advertised widely.
In spring of this year, organizers planned to submit another block party permit for Porchfest 2025, after having advertised the event extensively with the expectation of thousands of attendees. Residents were again notified, “It’s coming.”
Regarding the one neighbor’s quoted statements about outreach—this is either disingenuous or uniformed. But his comments did illustrate one of the issues at the heart of the difficulty here—it’s exactly the kind of event that some would like to define our neighborhood, but some would not. Only one of the event’s board members lives in the neighborhood. The board scheduled one listening session and distributed flyers with an incorrect date. I went to the meeting; but since the date was wrong, none of the event promoters were there. [Editor’s note: It was one of those situations where organizers put the day of the week and the date on a flyer, and they didn’t match. A first listening session was held on that day of the week (but not the date) on the flyer.] When I reached out to them, Greg promised a second listening session, which never materialized.
The next contact was door hangers stating “Porchfest is coming!” They offered a QR code for people to give their input on improving the event. They were not soliciting input as to whether or not people wanted an event of this scale in the neighborhood. It was good to hear that Greg now does not hope to “push Porchfest on High Street…” When I spoke with him months ago about my concerns, he did not have the same reaction.
The article noted that no one opposed to holding the event in our neighborhood was present at the council meeting. We were notified by council members that the agenda item had been pulled and that it wasn’t necessary to attend as there would be no comment on the item.
People did have plans to go. But not all the people who have expressed their opposition. Many were reluctant to speak at the council meeting because they feared or had already experienced name-calling or derisive comments from their neighbors. This is really sad and demonstrates how the approach to this event has torn at the fabric of our actual neighborhood community.
Another neighbor quoted has a poster stuck to the back of her vehicle that says “RESIST” but, in this case, she is saddened by resistance and feels that they should not give in. A council member also used this same verbiage with one of the organizers, saying that they shouldn’t have “given in.” They seem concerned about how they experience joy but are not concerned about how their neighbors might experience joy differently.
This is pretty shocking for people who are claiming to be community builders. I would never presume to, much less feel entitled to, impose my will on my neighbors in the public space we share, without their consent. I’m also very disappointed and confused about the real possibility that the city council would have approved this over the objections of people who live here. Because something is popular, that does not make it right.
We are not against music or the concept of Porchfest. A substantial number of people on our block do not welcome the neighborhood being turned into an event venue, and we want that to be known to the promoters and the city. We know that many people are disappointed, and we sincerely hope they find an appropriate venue(s). I have told organizers several times that I believe there are neighborhoods in town that would welcome the event and that having it at Ives or Ragle or spread throughout downtown might help mitigate the cost.
Speaking of downtown, I share the interest in supporting downtown businesses. After last year’s event, it did not seem like people were heading downtown or that the event included the downtown in any way. Holding events in the downtown area—Ives, Main Street, the plaza, the Barlow—would be a great way to support our town and the people who live here.
Ron McDonell
Just to clarify, as stated in our article, because of neighbors’ objections and resulting divisiveness, Porchfest withdrew their request for a special event permit from the city, and the event will not be happening on High Street. According to Porchfest Sebastopol founder Greg “Ceni” Ceniceroz, the Porchfest board has decided to locate the event at Sebastopol Center for the Arts and Ives Park this year.
Welcome back, Albert!
Albert Levine grew up in Sebastopol and is a former reporter with the SRJC Oak Leaf and former editor of the Sonoma State Star. He worked as an intern for the Sebastopol Times this spring. After traveling in Thailand for the last few months, he is back with us as a reporter and regular contributor. Welcome back to the team, Albert!
Sebastopol Police Logs, July 7-13
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
8:09 a.m. Vandalism with defacement of property (felony) at North Main Street. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
1:05 p.m. Appropriating lost property (felony) at South Main Street. Pending further investigation.
TUESDAY
7:46 p.m. Throwing burning material and possession of less than 25 pounds of dangerous fireworks (misdemeanors) at Morris Street. Referred to District Attorney for review.
WEDNESDAY
1:39 p.m. Causing corporal injury to a child (felony) at Laguna Park Way. Charges unfounded.
8:24 p.m. Challenging to fight in a public place, disorderly conduct involving alcohol, and resisting a public officer (misdemeanors) at Petaluma Avenue. Suspect arrested.
THURSDAY
9:13 a.m. Violation of probation (felony) and possession of burglary tools (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway North. Suspect arrested.
4:17 p.m. Battery on a person (misdemeanor) at McKinley Street. Pending further investigation.
7:35 p.m. Failure to appear in court after promising in writing (misdemeanor) at South Main Street. Suspect arrested.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 163 events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
I’m confused. Ron feels misrepresented and that your original article didn’t speak for all of the people opposed to Porchfest, yet he goes on to speak on behalf of all the people opposed to Porchfest.
Maybe it’s better for folks opposed to Porchfest to acknowledge that they are a diverse group of people opposed for many different reasons — some founded and some ridiculous. Unless they come together to align on why they are opposed, they are just individuals opposed for personal reasons… and they sound cranky at best. Shrug.
Regardless, I live one block over from high street and would gladly welcome Porchfest in my neighborhood! (Note to self: what qualifies as a neighborhood in a city as tiny as ours? Seems like the folks opposed to Porchfest on High St love to claim “outsider!” against anyone who doesn’t meet their personal standard of High St neighborhood resident.)
Anyway, having the event at Ives or Ragle eliminates the Porch part of Porchfest and what makes it unique.
There is definitely opportunity to improve relationships between Porchfest organizers and the community, and it sounds like organizers dropped the ball in a few instances.
That said I can’t help but feel like no matter what organizers do, those opposed will keep moving the goalposts because the reality is that they don’t want this because… they just don’t want this. That’s fine, but please stop pretending you’re open to it when you’re not. It creates false hope for those of us who want to have some fun in this town.
Re Porchfest, our group Gradina plans to play at Ives on Sept. 13, but we had hoped to play in our actual driveway. My feeling is that Porchfest would be best if it can be acoustic and unplugged. I can imagine being a disgruntled neighbor if the music was loud and was not to my taste. The charm of Porchfest is that it can be intimate and nonobtrusive; literally people playing music on their porches, as we already do quite often. Our group has celebrated Porchfest for years now before it became an amped-up event. It would be great to have it be this way and try it with some streets blocked off in different neighborhoods. Then the people who want blasting music can go to other events in other places.