Roundup: The reckoning
Sebastopol's legal costs, post-election Letters to the Editor, police logs and more
Update on ACLU Lawsuit vs. Sebastopol
A hearing between the City of Sebastopol and the ACLU was held on October 17 regarding this lawsuit we wrote about a few months ago—one which seeks to block the city from enforcing an RV camping ban it approved two years ago.
The plaintiffs—three homeless individuals and Sonoma County Acts of Kindness, represented by the ACLU and others—hope the Northern District of California court will move to block Sebastopol’s ordinance on the basis that it is vague and discriminates against a protected class (homeless people). A decision has yet to be made on that case, but we are following closely, as a decision could come any day now. We’ll provide more details then.
What we can tell you now is how much the city has spent on legal fees as of August of this year. Here’s a graph sent to us by Mary Gourley. As you can see, more than half of the city’s legal expenditures over the past two years—$554,644.81 of $983,022.90—have been associated with fighting off the ACLU suit.
Post-election Letters to the Editor
On October 13, we put out a call for Letters to the Editor about the election. We didn’t get very many. We got more letters after the election—some more like essays than letters, and we found them quite moving. We’re including them here.
On connection
To the Editors:
The last four days of the post-election have been beyond intense. I’ve gone through a range of emotions—astonishment, anger, sadness, bewilderment, grief, deep concern for our country, youth, the underserved, medicare recipients, immigrants, Ukraine, Gaza, climate, and the global community. The list is quite long.
Where is this all going?
I knew as Nov. 5 was approaching that there would be 70 million or so people celebrating and about the same in despair. This election was traumatic for many. But what about those voters whose candidate lost? They would be hurting....I have been.
What can I do to prevent this uncertainty and fear from evolving into suffering and paralysis? I didn’t want to get stuck there. I needed to hike, be in nature, connect with family and friends and ask for help from all my go-to’s. This was not something to go through alone. CONNECTION was key.
Then I spoke to my wonderful wise daughter, who was disappointed too but wasn't in the rabbit hole digging deeper. She reminded me to step back and observe and detach some even for a brief moment.
So what to do?
I reflected on my new property owners where I have a separate rental house on a shared five acres. They were prepping their home to move in very soon. The new family had already planted an American flag in front of their house. They had a Trump bumper sticker. I had previously strung Tibetan prayer flags on the trees in the shared meadow. Quite a contrast of flags and bumper stickers. Would my flags have to come down at some point? Would they want me to leave? Between my conservative new landlord and the election outcome, my stomach was in knots.
So what to do?
Several days ago they took down dead trees, which had lots of leaves and branches. Friday was trash day where one’s green waste can be put in the barrel and picked up. Earlier in the day, I told the new landlord that he could put his material in the barrel before the pickup early in the next morning. But he was busting butt getting the house ready for his family. Yes, they were different from me. But how different? I didn't need to “other” them—label them in a way that creates distance and separation. Also, their teenage daughter had a white mouse named Tinker Bell, who was cute, and the daughter was kind. I found that I liked them.
So what did I do?
I grabbed my loppers, dragged the barrels up the long uphill driveway, cut up the branches with leaves and filled up the barrels with green waste and took the barrels down to the road for pickup and walked back to my house without saying a word.
I did my best to help bridge the gap that was my creation, not theirs.
Acts of kindness do wonders for the doer and the doee. A great antidote for feelings of despair.
So what's next? More of the same wherever it's needed.
Breathe and be gentle with myself.
Cut down on the news.
Speaking up for injustice wherever it’s needed.
Protecting our natural wonders and their inhabitants.
Giving children and youth all the support I can possibly give.
Working for democracy and the checks and balances of governance.
Going towards my aversions.
Listening more and talking less.
Petting my kitty....whistling... kibbitzing.
Time is precious. My life here is a gift.
Don’t hesitate to reach out for help when needed.
Sincerely,
Gary Abreim
Occidental
The Day After…For A Political Junkie
To the editors:
The day after the election and the realization: Donald Trump did win the election and will be the President of the United States for the next four years until I reach the age of 78.
Additionally, the legislature will be comprised of those who pay tribute to the man along with the Supreme Court that already does.
I feel so betrayed by the media to which I committed. Although I recognized the possibility of such an occurrence, deep in my psyche and my heart, I anticipated the antithetical. I fundamentally believed that we, on the right side, would prevail and enlighten the darkness that threatened us all.
Considering what is bound to come now, my life must change. The television must remain unplugged except for my favorite sports teams and an occasional movie. I must no longer listen to my normal podcasts or YouTubes from political analysts while doing my menial, daily chores. Music must now accompany me on my drives rather than NPR or other talk radio. My morning review of the news online that incited my thinking and my passions each day will need to end. Maybe I will spend more time on Instagram or Facebook meandering through meaningless posts. I must extricate from my life and consciousness all that is political including all the current events in the country and world resulting from politics. I must find a different purpose for my time.
Maybe there is a gift in this debilitating torture. I have learned that I have been an active member of a cultural tribe, my thinking and my perspective shaped by the media that I have selected and the technological algorithms that have been ascribed to me. I became a believer: concerned when directed, hopeful when encouraged, angry when incited, frustrated when confused, and always certain—yes, always certain. I have realized that this tribe really is no different from the other one that I have always derided.
There must be other avenues for me in this retirement. There was a time in my youth when I read genuine literature from literary legends rather than articles and books from journalists and correspondents. There was a time when jazz filling my home, took up the space of silence rather than the ongoing discussions of affairs. There was a time when introspection meant something different from defining what is right and wrong in the world. Certainly there was a time when I did not need to be a righteous member of an assemblage with a devotion to communal ideas and purposes.
Of course, back then—what now seems like another life—there was work with constructive purposes and provocative people for interaction. Each day there was a focus, a task to be completed, or a goal to be achieved through an incremental process. The work was challenging and satisfying, the compensation always a reinforcement. Mostly, there was little time for diversion.
It is different now.
I could learn to fish—silently, serenely waiting on the shore for a strike, feeling the exhilaration of the rod bowing to the pressure of a prey fighting for its survival. I could leave my phone behind so there would be no sounds to demand my attention and inform me of events. The only sound would be a breeze wrestling through the leaves of the trees overhead. Maybe a morning chill would cut through my clothing so my body could involuntarily respond with a shiver. My mind could wander to years past, people from different eras of my lifetime, the successes that were satisfying, and the dreams that were never fully actualized. Mostly, I would feel a great sense of freedom, unshackled by a media that had led me to this disillusionment. It would be so liberating, knowing little about the world beyond me and allowing me to focus on just the moment.
Sincerely,
Ken Ranella
Ken Ranella, retired and living in Sebastopol, is a former Hayward City Council member and a former school superintendent for the Sebastopol Union School District.
Check your sources
Dear Liberal Friends,
I was a diehard Democrat for 35 years until 2020. I have been an environmental activist and even voted for Green Party candidates a few times. So, I understand how you have been led down this current path that has resulted in likely one of your most disappointing political outcomes of recent times—the election of Donald Trump.
It all started for me when the pandemic hit. I began to observe that what the government and the media (colluding together) were ordering us to do, was not making any common sense. So, I began to seek out voices that were asking the same questions that I was. Barring your own opinions on masking, vaccines, and lockdowns, what was missing and suddenly “not allowed”, were simple questions and inquiry. Not only were those not allowed, you could suddenly be canceled, lose your job or worse! Even my trusted sources of media at the time, CNN and NPR, were not allowing any other voices or views that opposed or even questioned the government narrative and COVID mandates. It was then that I realized and understood what authoritarianism and dictatorship could look like. I felt that some of my basic rights were under attack and that realization was an epiphany for me.
Fast forward to 2024 and I am now a registered Independent (non-party specific) here in California and have been for the last three years. The reasons that I left the democratic party are numerous, but what I did not realize prior to 2020 was that all of the mainstream media outlets were biased to the political left, with the exception of one, FOX News, which is biased to the right. The corporate media influences what is covered and how the story is portrayed. In almost all cases, people are getting a one-sided story. Many journalists have left the corporate media due to this situation.
So, I completely understand how you can think, and are maybe convinced of the many things you hear through the corporate-owned media outlets. The problem is you are only getting 50% of the actual story, plus you are getting a biased version of that 50%. Let’s be real with each other about this—how can anybody make a rational and informed decision on a major topic like political candidates, immigration, foreign wars, or the economy if you are only getting half of the information in a completely biased form?! I would argue that you cannot. And if you just absorb information from those media sources and from other people who are also getting information from those same sources, you quickly find yourself in a political bubble and you are unable to see, consider, or even understand how someone can place a vote “for the other side.”
What pains me is to see how this election has caused people great stress, emotional pain and disappointment at historic levels. The ramped-up rhetoric from some of these outlets that has been going on for almost a decade now has taken a visible toll on many of the people that I know. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Personally, I have found a way out, and that pathway has been to open my mind to hearing what the other side has to say. Then, find the independent media outlets and formats that have an uncensored information flow. The latter is absolutely critical, in light of how much the corporate media has been taken over and is no longer providing real, unbiased journalism anymore. Freeing your mind, in this case, means to unshackle yourself from any propaganda that you are ingesting. Remember “The Truth Shall Set You Free.” I have never felt more liberated in my life.
Wishing you peace and happiness,
Your Sebastopol Neighbor
Sean Kallaway
Election 2024 and the need for civic engagement
To the editor:
The November 5th, 2024, national election results left many of us Democrats feeling disappointment and despair. We fought for a woman’s right to reproductive freedom, for worker protections, for an economy that invests in the middle class, for the protection of our environment, and for equal protection under the law for all citizens regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We believe in a vision for America where equity isn’t just a lofty ideal, but a lived reality for all. Yet, despite the alignment of our ideals with a majority of voters, we find ourselves in a moment of political reckoning and losers on the national scale.
Democrats did not connect with the working class who are still grappling with the aftermath of the pandemic and the challenges of a rising cost of living. Many of these voters feel abandoned by a political system that doesn't seem to understand their struggles. The economic gains touted by the Biden administration - beating the pandemic, lower inflation, stronger job numbers - just don’t resonate when they aren’t matched by tangible improvements in people’s everyday lives.
The Republican Party, in contrast, has consistently spoken to people’s fears and frustrations. Donald Trump’s ability to speak directly to the anxieties of voters—especially those in the working class and working poor—has been a key factor in his success. With nearly 900 rallies in eight years, he maintained a constant presence in the lives of his supporters. In contrast, Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party fumbled through the primaries and gave themselves 107 days with their eventual candidate to convince a tired and frustrated electorate that their coastal elitism would be better off for them because “joy” and “a better tomorrow” sound nice.
The Democratic Party's failure to connect with working-class voters isn’t a new challenge—it dates back at least to the 2016 primaries, when millions of voters felt the party undermined Bernie Sanders’ candidacy in favor of Hillary Clinton. President Biden’s handling of the pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates tracked as dividers that pushed voters to third parties or Trump, and then Kamala Harris’ disastrous comment on The View that she would “change nothing” about the Biden administration’s approach further pushed voters away.
Additionally, we face modern-day challenges of voter perception being shaped by misinformation, manipulation, and a loss of trust in the media. The erosion of independent journalism—more than 2,100 newspapers have shut down since the year 2000—has left a serious void, with voters often relying on social media for their information. This is problematic, as social media is ripe with foreign interference, fake news, and the polarizing meme-war campaigns designed to incite anger and division. Sadly, we live in the time of a shrunken middle class and a dumbed-down electorate that spends more time gossiping on social media than they do keeping up on current events, debating politics or volunteering at a civic institution.
Meanwhile, Trump’s message was crystal clear: he spoke to pent-up emotions of frustration and fear. He made seemingly off-the-cuff promises—no taxes on Social Security or tips—but he spoke directly to people about things that they could touch and understand. Harris, by contrast, talked about the improving economy and reforming immigration policy—these are big ideas and the average person wasn’t connecting with how they were going to help them. The fact that male Latinos bumped 13% towards Trump when Trump’s talking about deporting mass numbers of immigrants is telling, possibly explained as a reaction to Harris’ abortion position and their religious leanings.
But despite all this, Kamala Harris, labeled by the right as an ultra-liberal Democrat from problem-riddled San Francisco, performed very well. As Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor pointed out, if Harris had performed just 1% better in key swing states, the election could have been hers. This narrow margin of defeat suggests that despite all the challenges and setbacks, a more progressive future is still possible—but we need to rethink, re-engage and rebuild.
So, where do we go from here? I’m certain that a perfect politics doesn’t exist. I am also certain that civic engagement is absolutely critical for the health of our fledgling democracy, government, non-profit service providers, and democratic institutions. The faster we progressive-minded people get over the disappointment, despair, and frankly, political shock that the idea of a second Trump term brings, the better off we’ll be. Keep in mind that in our local elections, we passed seven out of 10 school bonds, funded early childhood education and libraries, and preserved local agriculture through ballot actions.
We must rebuild, message better, and come back hungrier to win. This doesn’t mean just focusing on national elections, it means getting involved in our local communities, engaging with our neighbors, and becoming active in civic life.
We must re-engage with our local media. We need to subscribe to local papers, write letters to the editor, and use our voices to demand accountability. Our democracy depends on an informed electorate, and we must work to rebuild the information infrastructure and public education infrastructure that has suffered so much in recent years. Investments in housing for our working class—our teachers, nurses, firefighters, tradespeople—have never been more necessary, and we are way behind.
The 2024 election was a bitter reminder of how divided we are as a nation. But this is America, a country that has faced and overcome deep divisions throughout its history. From the beginning of our Republic to the Civil Rights Movement, to the issues we face today, we have always found a way forward. It is up to us as citizens to continue that progress—to stay organized, to stay hopeful, and to stay active in the causes we believe in. We’ve come so far, and yet we have so much more still to do. It’s time to get to work.
Sincerely,
Dennis Rosatti
Dennis Rosatti is a Sebastopol-based political consultant. He did some of the initial groundwork for Sebastopol’s Measure U and then managed the “Yes on Measure I” (Our Kids, Our Future) campaign, which passed overwhelmingly in the Nov. 5 election.
Sebastopol Police Logs, Oct. 28 – Nov. 3
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
1:07 p.m. Grand theft (felony) at Petaluma and Abbott avenues. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
TUESDAY
8:46 p.m. Failure to appear in court after making a written promise (misdemeanor), at North Main Street and Healdsburg Avenue, suspect arrested.
9:32 p.m. Violation of probation (misdemeanor), at Gravenstein Highway North and Hurlbut Avenue. Suspect arrested.
WEDNESDAY
5:31 p.m. Served a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency at South Main Street and Southpoint Avenue. Suspect arrested.
THURSDAY
5:23 p.m. Battery on a person (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway South and Corline Court. Pending further investigation.
FRIDAY
12:00 p.m. Failure to appear in court after making a written promise (misdemeanor) at Covert and Hansen lanes. Suspect arrested.
12:17 p.m. Threatening a crime with the intention of terrorizing (felony) at North Main Street and Bodega Avenue. Suspect arrested.
5:32 p.m. Theft of property with a prior conviction (felony) at Gravenstein Highway North and Hurlbut Avenue. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
SUNDAY
8:01 a.m. Battery of a spouse or companion (misdemeanor) at Golden Ridge and Bodega avenues. Suspect arrested.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 149 other events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
Regarding litigation - Facts matter: ACLU is the plaintiffs' attorney not the plaintiff. I guess it is attorneys as there are three ACLU attorney listed on the complaint. There are also two attorneys from legal aid of Sonoma County and two each from Disability Rights Advocates and California Rural Legal Assistance. The plaintiffs are three homeless individuals and Sonoma County Acts of Kindness. at least two of the plaintiffs may have found refuge at Horizon Shine according to the PD article (December 8, 2022). For the cost of this litigation, we could have bought them a nice condo. It is hard to believe this could not have been settled for the kind of money the city is spending.
Excellent and thought provoking letters. Thank you!