On Tuesday night, the Santa Rosa City Council is expected to discuss the hiring of an interim city manager to succeed Jeff Kolin who’s skipping out in mid-January to become top official in Beverly Hills. Even picking an interim chief in Santa Rosa is loaded with politics and could hint [...]
Food for thought: I got a call on Friday from Arnie Riebli, a fourth-generation Sonoma County farmer and co-owner of Petaluma-based Sunrise Farms, one of the top egg producers in the state. We talked about the front-page story about the Thode family raising heritage turkeys on their Sebastopol ranch. “I [...]
Who would really be surprised? In his concession speech made last night, ousted Cotati City Councilman George Barich said that he is “anxiously looking forward to the 2010 election in Cotati.” Barich was recalled by nearly a 2-1 margin, but he claimed he was pleased because his “support base” doubled [...]
It wasn’t particularly inspiring. But Santa Rosa Mayor Susan Gorin’s State of the City talk before a Chamber of Commerce breakfast was at least thorough. She touched on most of the lows facing the city (which we covered in our editorial today.) And she did her best in pointing out some [...]
It looks like George Barich is the first city councilman in Sonoma County to lose a recall election in a generation. With both precincts reporting, about two-thirds of Cotati voters are supporting the recall. It’s beyond unlikely that any remaining absentee ballots will change the outcome. I couldn’t immediately find [...]
Early Wednesday, Santa Rosa Mayor Susan Gorin will be giving a “State of the city” address at a Chamber of Commerce event at the Hilton Hotel on Round Barn Boulevard. In our lead editorial on Wednesday, we offer our own assessment of the state of things in Santa Rosa, including: The [...]
Assemblyman Jared Huffman visited The Press Democrat this week and made an interesting point about the water plan approved by the state Legislature: The framework for protecting the Delta stands even if voters reject the $11 billion bond act. Quandary resolved? Not necessarily. Along with billions for dams and reservoirs, [...]
When local school children get sick, Sacramento benefits. It’s bad enough that Santa Rosa school officials face the daunting task of cutting $5.65 million from the district’s already lean budget this year – with the prospect of having to cut another $4.7 million cut next year. Now the district may [...]
Times are tough, yes even in Beverly Hills, where it appears Jeff Kolin, Santa Rosa’s city manager for the past nine years, is headed. If this job change goes through, Kolin will be taking over the helm of a city that just cut 46 positions and decided to close city [...]
Well, so much for Republican tough-on-crime rhetoric. At least as long as the offense in question is stealing water. As state lawmakers wrapped up a gargantuan $11 billion water bond proposal in an all-night session Tuesday, they gutted provisions to step up enforcement of water rights and increase the penalty [...]
Paul Gullixson
Jim Sweeney
This blog is written by Press Democrat editorial writers Paul Gullixson and Jim Sweeney.