A Message to Sebastopol Voters from Sebastopol Tomorrow

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A Message to Sebastopol Voters from Sebastopol Tomorrow (the Good Government and Smart Planning Folks)

In Sebastopol’s City Council election the issue is whom we can trust:

• to continue holding firm against CVS/Chase;
• to make the important decisions about the General Plan, traffic, and what our downtown should be;
• to make the important decisions about the Laguna Vista proposal to build 145 new houses in the Laguna, and more.
• to maintain our Urban Growth Boundary

Candidates John Eder and Robert Jacob have spoken out repeatedly against CVS/Chase and are committed to a pedestrian-friendly, local business-friendly small town. They will work to put these ideas into the next General plan.

Eder and Jacob are supported by a large percentage of Sebastopol's citizens, the same folks who turned out by the hundreds against CVS/Chase and who have donated overwhelmingly to Eder and Jacob’s election campaigns - local people supporting their candidates who share a local vision.

John Eder and Robert Jacob are endorsed by the Sierra Club, Sonoma County Conservation Action, Sebastopol Tomorrow, the Progressive Democrats, and hundreds of our friends and neighbors.

Candidates Kathleen Shaffer and Kathy Austin have a track record and it is not good.

Shaffer and Austin have voted and spoken out repeatedly in favor of CVS/Chase, in favor of more traffic, in favor of gridlock intersections at Parkside school, at the library, at the senior center.

By supporting CVS/Chase, they have already ignored the General Plan prohibition against shopping centers downtown. What will they do to the General Plan update, how will they weaken the General Plan?

Kathy Austin has also voted against the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) that prevents sprawl and voted against environmentally-minded architects serving on City boards. Decisions on the renewal of the UGB will soon be up for discussion.

More that half of Shaffer and Austin’s campaign funds come from large contributions from developers and realtors, including $3000 from an LA Real Estate Political Action Committee! What are the realtors and developers hoping for in Sebastopol?

Shaffer and Austin are endorsed by Sonoma County Alliance of builders and developers and former committee members of the Republican Party!

Sebastopol Tomorrow believes that most Sebastopol folks will vote for the thoughtful candidates John Eder and Robert Jacob when we look at the records of both sides.

Sebastopol Tomorrow has been, since 1984, an advocate for a human-scale, walkable, bike-able, local business-supporting, small town. We have advocated for the Plaza, the theater, the development of the Barlow for more than a dozen local businesses, and more.

We believe that these are the issues at stake in this election and that the differences between the two pairs of candidates tell us what they would be like on the Council.

If you share the vision and have determination that Sebastopol should be a human-scale, walkable, bikeable, local business-supporting, small town, then please vote for John Eder and Robert Jacob!

Who We Are

Sebastopol Tomorrow has been encouraging citizen involvement in local issues since 1985. Sixteen years ago SEBASTOPOL TOMORROW helped to elect a City Council that voted to protect the unique small town character of our city against the pressures for sprawl, for more traffic, and for expensive housing. We stopped huge developments that threatened to ring the town and obliterate sacred Native American sites.

We succeeded in writing a General Plan that moderates growth, that protects the existing levels of traffic from becoming worse, and that helps to make our downtown more pedestrian friendly. We fought to build the town plaza, to provide more affordable housing, and to establish an urban growth boundary to control sprawl and moderate expenses for city services.

We looked to promote and welcome local businesses that spring from and serve our small town community, with our agricultural, artistic, and innovative interests.

Much of what we enjoy about our town is a result of those early efforts. Now in these difficult economic times, there is pressure on council members to compromise these hard-won accomplishments. www.sebastopoltomorrow.org