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About SonomaPets

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So far SonomaPets has created 112 blog entries.

Money and water are both in short supply

This is the spring of local government's discontent. One week, city councils and boards of supervisors are searching for ways to reduce spending so their communities don't run out of money. The next week, they are searching for ways to reduce water consumption so their communities don't run out of [...]

By | April 22nd, 2009|0 Comments

Proposition 1A: Am I enabling a failed system?

If it prevents a disaster, I'm willing to vote for Proposition 1A on the May 19 ballot. But I worry: Am I enabling bad behavior? Am I giving comfort to a failed system of government that won't be repaired until after it crashes and burns?Year after year, state government cranks [...]

By | April 19th, 2009|0 Comments

Weary voters face another convoluted ballot

Between October of 2003 and November of 2008, Californians cast ballots in nine statewide elections. Along the way, you decided 66 state ballot measures. But the folks in Sacramento don't think you have suffered enough. Ready or not, absentee ballots for another statewide election arrive in the mail next week. [...]

By | April 12th, 2009|0 Comments

Note to Petaluma: Hometown planning is important

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Eager to unload the costs of planning departments, Petaluma and other cities decided to stick it to developers. Developers made easy targets, and they weren't going to complain. They were just going to pass the costs on to their customers.But [...]

By | April 8th, 2009|0 Comments

And what would you cut from the county budget?

For Sonoma County, a series of public workshops isn't likely to generate surprises or miracle remedies for an $11 million budget shortfall.In recent years, there has been a common refrain to budget meetings. People show up and say: Whatever you do, don't cut spending on my favorite program or project. [...]

By | April 6th, 2009|0 Comments

Garbage politics: Can the cities get along?

While political folks of various stripes this week debate whether the Sonoma County central landfill should be publicly- or privately-owned - see the Bleys Rose story here - one unpleasant financial reality often goes unmentioned.The reality is this: Public or private, the landfill isn't likely to be re-opened unless Sonoma [...]

By | April 1st, 2009|0 Comments

Why would a for-profit company buy the landfill?

When it comes to selling the Sonoma County landfill, the question has been asked again and again: Why would a for-profit company be eager to shoulder the financial liabilities that county government is so eager to unload?At this morning's forum, Phil Demery, the county director of transportation and public works, [...]

By | March 30th, 2009|0 Comments

Chesbro: Whatever you do, expand recycling efforts

Should Sonoma County sell it central landfill to a private company? At this morning's forum in the Santa Rosa City Council chambers, state Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, wasn't eager to provide an unqualified answer. To a question from the audience, he said, "The management of a landfill by a government [...]

By | March 30th, 2009|0 Comments

A decision too important to be secret

The topic isn't sexy. Attending something called the "Landfill Forum" sounds like an act of desperation, what you do if there are no more openings in the lecture series on Best Compost Practices.But Monday morning's forum (8:30 a.m. , Santa Rosa City Council chambers) happens to involve a decision that [...]

By | March 29th, 2009|0 Comments

Would kids walk to school if they could?

If you live in Santa Rosa, you know which days schools are in session. You can tell by the traffic congestion. Once upon a time, kids walked or rode their bikes to school. Now - for a variety of reasons that could be the subject of a longer conversation - [...]

By | March 27th, 2009|0 Comments