Sebastopol City Council race

[Barry]

There's a right-leaning group called "Sebastopol Citizens" that was formed to oppose the proposed leaf blower ban in 2011. SInce then their leader, John Necker, has regularly attended City Council meetings and has published informative, biased, and sometimes entertaining notes about the meetings.

Recently they sent out a questionnaire to the candidates for city council on 10 questions. Neysa Hinton, Michael Carnacchi and Craig Litwin responded. Jonathan Greenberg did not.

The questions are below. Click here to goto the Sebastopol Citizens page with the answers. Click on the question there to see the answers.



1. What is your assessment of the economic vitality of Sebastopol?

2. What would you do to improve the affordability of Sebastopol for young families?

3. How do we get a business in the current CVS retail space that serves the community?

4. What is your analysis regarding the LED public lighting replacement strategy?

5. Do you believe there is enough reputable scientific evidence to support the Council's banning of smart meters because of health concerns? Please explain.

6. Name three things you would do to further the health, safety & well-being of our senior community? How would you pay for these?

7. As a member of the City Council, how would you gather and represent the divergent views of the community, especially when they conflict with your own?

8. Do you believe Council members should be subjected to term limits? Why or why not?

9. Generally speaking, so you believe marijuana is a danger to teen users? How do you know what percentage of students in Sebastopol are regular users?

10. What are the pros and cons of the proposed hotel project on the town square? Are you pro or con?

[b.w. rose]

Only in Sebastopol would this collection of individuals be considered "right leaning."

Necker's coverage of theater before the City Council is must-read stuff if you want to know what's happening in this town.

[Barry]

Only in Sebastopol would this collection of individuals be considered "right leaning."

True dat! However, we are in Sebastopol

Necker's coverage of theater before the City Council is must-read stuff if you want to know what's happening in this town.

Also true.

[Michael Anthony]

Hopefully, everyone who attended this forum knows that my offer of money to Jonathan was only for comedy in response to the nice things that he said about me. Evidently, the Federal Election Commission does not find this funny. Shortly after Barry's post, FEC officials came knocking at my door. In fact, I am presently writing this post from a shared computer at the Sonoma County Jail. Thanks a lot Barry.

Michael Carnacchi tries to bribe Jonathan Greenberg for his support!! *
...

[authenticeye]

Its okay... I found the spot in the video - section 11 around 3min - I showed it to the FEC officials and they've released Michael ~*~

Hopefully, everyone who attended this forum knows that my offer of money to Jonathan was only for comedy in response to the nice things that he said about me. Evidently, the Federal Election Commission does not find this funny. Shortly after Barry's post, FEC officials came knocking at my door. In fact, I am presently writing this post from a shared computer at the Sonoma County Jail. Thanks a lot Barry.

[Peacetown Jonathan]

Who says running for City council can't be fun? Check out this video segment starting at 3:00; by 3:30 I am laughing so hard that I can't keep talking. That's rare for me :)

[Barry]

This thread on the Sebastopol City Council has been all too quiet! Who are you supporting and why? Do you have any questions for the candidates?

I am supporting Craig Litwin, but I am undecided on the second seat. I'll write more about that soon.

In the meantime, the peedee just published an editorial with their recommendation. Any comments?


PD Editorial: Neysa Hinton and Michael Anthony Carnacchi for Sebastopol City Council
​https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinio...ysa-hinton-and
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD | October 19, 2016, 12:11AM

Four years ago, the focus of the Sebastopol City Council race was a controversial plan to build a CVS Pharmacy and Chase Bank branch at the vacant Pellini Chevrolet site, a project that divided the community and pushed it into uncharted territory for campaign spending. Robert Jacob and John Eder, both CVS opponents, were the top vote-getters in a race that saw one incumbent, Kathleen Shaffer, unseated. Overall, Eder spent more than $12,000, which was second to Jacob, the founder and executive director of two Peace and Medicine marijuana dispensaries, who raised more than $35,000, more than all of the other candidates combined and more than any candidate in the city’s history.

This year, much has changed. Neither Jacob nor Eder is running for a second term, and the candidates this time seem to be in a competition to see who can raise and spend the least amount of money. Three candidates have filed to fill the two empty seats on the council and one other is running as a write-in candidate. Among these four, we recommend the election of two newcomers, Neysa Hinton and Michael Anthony Carnacchi, to the City Council.

Mother of an adult daughter and a son who is an Analy High School senior, Hinton, 52, is new to city politics but no stranger to Sebastopol. The former media sales representative, who once worked for The Press Democrat, is now executive director of a senior care facility in Marin County. An active member of Rotary for 21 years, Hinton has many hours of community service to her credit including helping launch the Sebastopol Farmers Market and serving as its first chairwoman. She defends the community’s progressive credentials on issues such as protecting the environment and promoting green energy and would like to see the city be more creative in fostering affordable housing. Given her background in money management, she also takes pride in being a “fiscal conservative” who would like to see the city build up its reserves.

Carnacchi, 54, the owner of Apple Cobbler downtown and an artisan bootmaker, is a director of the Sebastopol Downtown Association and a 23-year resident of the community. He has been actively involved in attending city meetings including the update of the general plan and is a proponent of continuing to look at a possible bypass route to provide Highway 116 traffic relief downtown. Although new to politics, Carnacchi has shown himself to be a diligent student of the community’s planning issues.

The third official candidate is Jonathan Greenberg, 58, a journalist and owner of a public interest communications firm, who moved from New York seven years ago and quickly made an impact pushing for a ban on leaf-blowers and advocating for expanded funding and hours for country libraries. This is his second attempt at the City Council having run unsuccessfully two years ago. He is perhaps best known for his advocacy for Sonoma West Medical Center, which he believes deserves stronger support from the Sebastopol City Council. As we said two years ago, given his intense interest in keeping open the hospital, and its emergency room in particular, Greenberg would be a better candidate for the Palm Drive Health Care District given that the City Council has no direct role in ensuring the hospital’s stability. Furthermore it’s unclear how much public support there would be for the city offering financial assistance at this point, given the institution’s uncertain future.

The fourth candidate is Craig Litwin, 40, a professional political consultant who served on the City Council from 2000 to 2008. Litwin, a native of Sebastopol, is an experienced and attractive choice. But his explanation for why he did not file on time for this election rings hollow. He says he was on the verge of buying a house outside of the city at the time, but the deal fell through, and he and his family have decided to stay. If that’s the case, why doesn’t he run as an official candidate in two years rather than wage what appears to be an urgent race as a write-in? We fear his motivation is more linked to preventing the election of Greenberg, whom he campaigned against two years ago. Either way, our support goes to neither of these two. The Press Democrat recommends Neysa Hinton and Michael Anthony Carnacchi for Sebastopol City Council.

[Peacetown Jonathan]

Jonathan Greenberg for Sebastopol City Council here, wanting to express what I mean, and do not mean, by our City Council needing to take a more active role in supporting our opened hospital. And, hopefully, to hear some community feedback on what others think of this?

To start with, I am not saying that Sebastopol ought to expend General Funds to assist the hospital.

What I am advocating for is a Council that provides active local political support to the hospital to stand with it in the challenging struggle to attract the sort of County, State, and Federal programs and funding that might be required to help it thrive. This has NOT happened at all during these past two years, and it is needed.

As someone who has worked with various government agencies for decades, it seems to me that it is of vital importance that local government stands firmly and clearly in support of requests to larger governmental agencies for help.

In a world of institutionalized health care that stacks the decks against the sort of humane, personal care that a small community hospital provides, Sonoma West Medical Center will need local governmental support (not funding) to thrive and perhaps survive.

My position is different than the other candidates for Council in that I believe that our local elected representatives have a RESPONSIBILITY to our families and our neighbors, as well as our police and emergency services agencies, to take an ACTIVE role in seeing that an emergency room that has saved lives in our community for more than 70 years stays open. We pay the same hospital tax whether the hospital remains open or closed. I find it unfathomable why anyone would support Palm Drive Health District candidate Jim Horn's plan to shut down our reopened hospital and sell the building.

That is why I am the only candidate to actively support and campaign for Rob Cary and Gail Thomas for the Palm Drive Board to keep our hospital open. And why I am the only candidate for Sebastopol City Council to have received endorsements from the "Doc and the Cop" (Board members Richard Powers and Dennis Colthurst), as well as SWMC Medical Director dr. Jim Gude.

I also support providing free city water and sewage water to the hospital, relieving it of about $50,000 a year in costs. My rationale is that this will not cost our city extra money; there is no incremental cost to our water or sewage system, which operates under Council control with a sizable surplus and its own budget (independent of the general fund), and which has seen a decrease in usage as rates have risen sharply during the past year. If the hospital closes, as all too many local politicians and Jim Horn would like to see it do, then there would be no water revenue coming in anyway. Why not help out, at no cost to taxpayers, until it is on more solid financial footing?

To me, this is a simple solution to assist in a small way without impacting our general fund.

Should our City Council support efforts for SWMC to get federal or state or county programs or funding (as I hope that we would do if I am elected), we can then say that our City, in our small way, is pitching in, and we would like you, the much larger County/State/Federal agency, to pitch in too.

[Shepherd]

Being "quiet" has merit to it. In my opinion, the presidential and 5th District politicking has been way too loud, so I have had to tune it out, in search of some silence to think, feel, and decide how to vote responsibly, as we seek to preserve our democracy.

We live in dangerous times, both here in the U.S. and in West County. The heat is up and many people, even good people, seem to have lost their cool and civility, preferring instead to threaten others.

This thread on the Sebastopol City Council has been all too quiet! Who are you supporting and why? Do you have any questions for the candidates? ...

[Sara S]

from Sonoma West Times and News, 10/20:

Stellar candidate

EDITOR: Sebastopol City Council candidate, Jonathan Greenberg, is a stellar candidate with a solid track record of commitment, compassion and volunteerism on local and national levels. He has consistently risen to provide effective and innovative leadership for the greater public good, advancing solutions for public parks, climate change, library hours, clean air and soil, noise reduction, social justice, affordable housing and an open hospital. He has been our city’s single most effective leader in two pivotal grassroots efforts, keeping the life-saving local hospital open and restoring traditional library hours. 
There is no issue more important than keeping our life-saving emergency room open for local families, seniors, and neighbors. Jonathan is the only candidate that has the endorsement of Palm Drive Board members Powers and Colthurst (the “Doc” and the “Cop”) and Dr. Jim Gude. He is the only candidate willing to create a council subcommittee to assist the hospital in finding government support for funding and program development. He believes in “walking the talk” of a green Sebastopol by adding zero emission electric trucks for our city parks. 

If elected, Jonathan will provide much-needed transparency, collaboration, and innovative leadership that is truly responsive to the key needs of our community.

Andrea Culbertson

Sebastopol

[Dustyg]

I heard Jonathan Greenberg's presentation (and also Neysa Hinton's) as a guest of the Kiwanis Club yesterday at noon. I was amazed by Greenberg's range and length of experience and his commitment to our hospital, as well as to resolving other local issues. Hinton, on the other hand, has a real lack of experience and when asked about supporting our hospital answered that using part of it as an assisted living residence is her approach. Her current job, btw, is managing an assisted living residence in Marin County.

Now that I've heard two presentations and been able to ask direct question of all three candidates, including Litwin as a write-in, I have no reservations at all about voting for Michael Anthony Carnacchi (who is both prepared and well informed) and Jonathan Greenberg. I can see them working well together, and honoring the Sebastopol we love.

[authenticeye]

There's much to be admired about each candidate; service given to this community; social justice activists, local natives; business owners, and they each would bring a unique perspective and contribution to the sitting city council.

As eloquently stated by Dusty I am also in favor of Jonathan Greenberg and Michael Carnacchi for filling John and Robert's seats. They both have admirable tenacity and engagement about issues they are passionate about. They both provide a clear candidate statement of what each wants to attend to while seated on the council.

I also like what Neysa Hinton has been sharing and feel she would make a great addition to the council the next time a seat opens; for her to build on her experience and presence around city politics in the meantime. I liked her suggestion of assisted living being introduced to the hospital until I spoke with a Sonoma West Medical Foundation Board Member and learned the hospital is actually quite full; so much so that the offices for the Foundation within the hospital are having to find new locations off-site to free up much needed space.

Lastly I feel Jonathan and Michael have each been actively preparing themselves for this opportunity to serve Sebastopol for the past two years; Jonathan's last run for council and Michael's response to the council's need to fill Michael Kyes's seat. Since than they have remained committed to being a visible voice for Sebastopol's growth and health as a community.

I heard Jonathan Greenberg's presentation (and also Neysa Hinton's) as a guest of the Kiwanis Club yesterday at noon. ...

[jenielson]

Sorry, I can't agree about Mr. Greenberg being a stellar candidate for a collaborative City Council. I'm not a Sebastopol voter, but I interviewed him for Sonoma County Conservation Action, and came away with deep concerns.

My concerns are centered on his hectoring manner his statements at City Council meetings, which I have witnessed; issues that he has berated the Council about, which were beyond their purview, and claims I have heard him make as a candidate that I knew were untrue. I don't see him as collaborative or stable.

On his website Mr. Greenberg asserts that he is Sebastopol's most effective advocate for re-opening Palm Drive Hospital, restoring library hours, budgeting bike trails and walking the walk of a green Sebastopol. But how effective was/is he really?

Re Palm Drive Hospital, Mr. Greenberg did urge the City Council to somehow prevent its closure. But the hospital was (and still is) governed by the Palm Drive Health Care Special District—a government entity of the State of California. Sebastopol’s City Council had and has no direct authority, and even if it did, nobody could have repaired the unanticipated effects of the Affordable Care Act’s that resulted in lowered Medicare repayments.

What did Mr. Greenberg actually do? I heard him deliver abrasive statements and attacks on the previous Hospital District Board at City Council meetings, which did little to change the course of events—other than to intensify the bitterness of discourse. Were Mr. Greenberg to be elected, his hands would similarly be tied, given that the Local Area Formation Commission has voted (unanimously) to let Russian River area property owners leave the hospital district. The City Council can take a position, express its hope and preferences, but it has no direct authority over the District.

Re library hours, what has been his effect, other than verbally lashing the City Council and the Library Committee about closures?

At Mr. Greenberg’s candidate interview with SCCA and the Sierra Club, he stated that he did not believe Measure Y can pass, and accused Sebastopol’s City Council of having refused to contribute to proposed funding agreement among the Library Commission members (County Board of Supervisors and City Councils), aimed at extending library hours. Having collected Sebastopol’s City Council Minutes since 2004, and acquired DVDs of the meeting recordings since 2013, I’ve found no such a proposal. What, I had to wonder, was he talking about?

He also claimed the the City has been doing nothing to create or improve bikeways, which is also not correct--although the process has been very slow because limited by funding.

At this same candidate interview, Mr. Greenberg claimed to have led the effort to prevent the CVS project. As it happens, I was a member of the “Small Town Sebastopol” Committee that did organize the CVS opposition and brought a lawsuit against it. Mr. Greenberg was not a part of that group, and the leaders of the group categorically deny the claim he made in the SCCA-Sierra Club interview.

His opposition to GMOs is appreciated, but again it's not something that a City Council decides.

[Shepherd]

I agree with our wise geologist Jane. I appreciate Jonathan for the good work that he does, outside of being an elected official, as I have told him. It is my opinion that once elected as a council member, one has to represent more than just himself and those who voted for her or him. This person must represent the entire city. From my work with Jonathan, I do not think that he would be willing to do that. It is not enough to criticize. One must also build allies among those with whom he or she disagrees.

I agree with Sonoma County Conservation Action in their "deep concerns" about Jonathan to govern with fairness to all. This is not Big City New York politics. We live in small town Sebastopol and West County. "Hectoring" is not enough. We are all neighbors here. We know each other and must learn to live together, rather than attack each other, even given our differences of opinion.

A vote for my friend Jonathan is a vote for chaos. If that is what you want, vote for him, and suffer the consequences. "Abrasive statements" may be appealing, but they could wreck the work of the Council.

Vote for Measures J, M, and Y, at least, but not for Jonathan, in my opinion.

Sorry, I can't agree about Mr. Greenberg being a stellar candidate for a collaborative City Council. I'm not a Sebastopol voter, but I interviewed him for Sonoma County Conservation Action, and came away with deep concerns. ...

[Barry]

Editorial ~ Craig Litwin for Sebastopol City Council

I support write-in candidate,Craig Litwin for City Council (https://craiglitwin4council.com/). I am undecided about which of the other candidates to support.

I support Craig because he clearly has the most experience for the job, after serving 8 year on the council (2000-2008). I was quite happy with his leadership during that time. As his website states, he supported "marriage equality, mandatory green building, medical-cannabis regulations, affordable housing, safely walkable/bikeable streets, restoring native habitats like the Laguna, and local nonprofits and businesses."

This time his priorities are similar: affordable housing, "walkability and bikeability", balanced budgets, park expansion, and supporting local business. He has a particularly deep grasp of the economics and policy options around affordable housing which should be very helpful.

Not only are his values solidly progressive, he has the policy and government chops to make it happen. I urge you to to write in his name "and fill in the box" to return him to our council!

Each of the other candidates has something to offer:

Michael Carnacchi is a strong supporter of a bypass around Sebastopol. He also has offered the most innovative idea of the campaign, a 10 cent tax on disposable coffee cups which could raise a surprising amount of money while reducing waste. He is an unconventional candidate, running an unconventional campaign including not producing any signs, no website and not touting endorsements. He as has been closing following city government since he applied to be appointed to Michael Keyes seat after he passed. He's also a goofball, which may council meetings a bit more tolerable.

Jonathan Greenberg ( GreenbergForCouncil.com) is a strong supporter of Palm Drive hospital and proposes the city offer support in the form of free water and sewage service. This amounts to $50,000 subsidy which may or may not make a difference. While it doesn't "cost" the city anything, it does reduce city revenue by $50,000. But has he points out, if the hospital goes under, that revenue would be lost anyhow.

Jonathan is a passionate and eloquent advocate of many other issues as well including expanding Library hours. While this is great cause, I believe his proposal is short sighted as it may lead to a decrease in county funding of the library.

Jonathan acknowledges he can be "abrasive" which led to a hit piece being produced by Craig Litwin and supported by many community leaders to attack his campaign for council 2 year ago. While I didn't support is his campaign then, I was sorry to see the hit piece come out, because it was both mean spirited and most probably unnecessary since it was doubtful he would displace one of the incumbents running for re-election. Craig did earn a black mark in my book for that but he has campaigned in an honorable manner this time. Jonathan, however, still bristles about that mailer which gives me some concerns about how he would get along with Craig on the council should they both win, or for that matter Una, Sarah and Patrick who he campaigned against.

Neysa Hinton (https://www.electneysa.com/) is a newcomer to the city government scene, but she has been a quick and diligent study. She does have management experience which should be helpful. I have found all her positions and comments quite reasonable, though nothing has really stood out for me. I would say Neysa is the safest choice of the 3 candidates listed on the ballot.

To learn more, scan the many posts, articles and videos elsewhere on this thread.

[Peacetown Jonathan]

Before I respond to Jane Nielson's mysterious vendetta against me, the only person in this race who is an active environmental activist, I would like to take some time to respond to Shepherd's reference that he is my "friend," and provide some context to the unfriendly folks who are stepping forward to publicly assail my character.

Shepherd and I worked together six years ago to lead the campaign to reduce leaf blower noise and provide cleaner air in our parks, city, and senior facilities. We did this, by the way, with no assistance from Sonoma County Conservation Action, or the Sierra Club, or Jane Nielsen. Both these organizations in fact endorsed the leading advocate FOR unregulated leaf blowers, Patrick Slayter, who was also the deciding vote to approve the CVS project, when I ran against him during the last election, despite these anti-environmental credentials.

The leaf blower effort resulted not in a ban, but a significant change in the city, and what's been perhaps a 90% reduction in the use and noise of leaf blowers. That's because our effort resulted in the Council voting to alter the decibel level to keep the blowers quieter, as well as ending the practice of weekly leaf blowing in our city parks, where the noise and air pollution impacted our children and seniors and nature lovers.

During that challenging campaign, Shepherd, who initiated the effort by writing a few columns, insisted that I do all the political work in terms of contacting people for meetings, as well as writing and producing and programming this entire website, researching and citing all the facts that are on it, getting 80% of the names on our petition, and eventually writing the compromise solution that out group, the Sebastopol Peaceful Air Effort, offered. Shepherd said that because of his PTSD, and his difficulty hearing, be could not call even one person on the phone to get to a meeting, or do any part of the research, so that I would need to handle all of the grunt work that such an all- volunteer campaign entailed.

Two years ago, when I was running for City Council and so-called progressives were attacking me in the media and starting a negative PAC, run by Craig Litwin, to send a smear mailer about me around the city, I was shocked to see Shepherd write posts and letters denouncing me (as he does here on Wacco today) as someone unworthy of public office, and suggesting that I took credit for work other people did, including the work that he, Shepherd, did on the leaf blower campaign.

I take no issue with Shepherd's needing to collaborate as he is capable--we all offer what we can and I have no judgment of this. But given that he asked me to take the burden of most of the actual work off his shoulder, and that I did that, and then he publicly discredited my role in it as part of his list of reasons to oppose my election, demonstrates the type of "friend" that Shepherd Bliss has been to me.

With "friends" like Shepherd Bliss, you don't need enemies.

Now I read Shepherd's comment below, which suggests that my seven years of volunteer activism for the the public interest in our community as it relates to leaf blowers, restoring library hours, keeping our hospital open, purchasing electric vehicles for our city fleet, creating bike trails, challenging the CVS traffic report, fighting GMO's, creating the non-profit award winning public interest media site, The Sonoma Independent, co-founding the Sonoma County Attainable Housing Coalition and developing a solution that helps address the housing crisis, amount to, in his term, "hectoring."

And that because I have done nothing but "hector" the local government, a vote for me would be, in his astonishing words, "a vote for chaos."

How on earth are the important public interest causes that I work to advance going to cause "chaos?" How could advancing these important causes in our city, as Shepherd suggests, "wreck the work of our city council?"

What does fear-mongering language like "cause chaos" and "wreck the work of our city council" have to do with civil political discourse, Professor Bliss?

I am not attacking people, Shepherd, when I advocate for change. I am not, like you just did, saying that anyone will bring chaos, or wreck our city. I am instead advocating for the public interest. What is so disconcerting to you about the transparency that my advocacy for issues the council is not addressing will bring to our community? After all, I will be just one out of five votes there.

During the last election, five out of five of our council members endorsed Jim Horn, who was dedicated, as he is now, to closing the hospital and using the money to pay bankruptcy and provide service other than the hospital that our parcel tax was created to pay for.

This year, council members Glass, Eder and Jacobs again endorse Jim Horn, who still wants to close the hospital down. Sarah Gurney and Patrick Slayter have made no endorsement yet, suggesting that they are indifferent as to whether someone gets elected who wishes to keep the hospital, by far our city's largest employer, open, or sell the building out from under it to shut it down.

Am I outspoken about the hospital issue? Yes I am. Have I criticized the council for it and for endorsing board members who wish to keep it shut, or shut it down again? Yes I did. Do some people receive me as "abrasive" because I talk, during public comments, about issues they would rather not hear discussed, like the unwillingness of the city to walk the talk of a green Sebastopol to buy a single electric vehicle for our city;s parks, despite a unanimous resolution proclaiming their intention to do so? Yes, they do.

Do I, to this day, speak out for the need for our local government to actively support the hospital by standing alongside them in an effort to secure grants and programs from the county, State and Feds, and provide water for free? Yes, I do.

I am proud of the role that I, and dozens of others played in leading the most successful truly grassroots effort I have ever been part of: to overwhelmingly elect the Doc and Cop during the last election, and get an open hospital, despite the opposition of the virtually every politician in our area. And groups like Sebastopol Tomorrow, whose leaders also supported Jim Horn, and whose members, like Jane Nielson, vehemently oppose my candidacy.

It is, I believe, my public interest leadership on this issue, my outspoken writing and comments to bring transparency to the backroom powers that want this hospital closed, led by the influential Nancy Dobbs, Executive director of KRCB, member and wife of the late co-founder of Sebastopol Tomorrow, and the former Palm drive District Board chair (who steamrolled the closing of the hospital, in record time, despite public outcry) and not my purported character defects, that have caused the attacks against me. And a prime reason for posts denouncing me as though I was going to do something awful once I got elected (like support our hospital).

I believe that this my outspoken public championing of the Doc and Cop campaigns and the effort to reopen the hospital in 2014 was the main impetus behind the opposition political action committee created by Craig Litwin and Helen Shane to raise money for the smear mailer about me. This mailer assailed my character as "inexperienced" because I "wanted to wave a magic wand" to reopen the hospital. Many of the signers were the very same people who were endorsing Jim Horn's bid to keep the hospital closed. It was signed by people like Sebastopol Tomorrow's Helen Shane, Jane Nielson, Kathy Oetinger, Bill Shortridge,and Annie-Hobbs Kramer (Nancy Dobbs' daughter). as well as Horn endorser Craig Bobbitt.

I want to point out that neither Jane Nielson nor Shepherd Bliss have ever brought up an issue or a position that I have worked for and supported that they take exception to. They are simply unable to find anything I have stood and advocated for about which they can publicly disagree.

Instead, both Jane and Shepherd diminish their own reputations, and those of the organizations that they have worked for, by persisting in the slimy political tactic that many of us in our community are tired of: attacking someone they want to denounce for my style, my character, where I come from, my effectiveness, my tone, etc.

It seems that both Shepherd Bliss and Jane Nielson have missed the civility memo, despite Shepherd, just earlier on Wacco, endorsing civility in political discourse for other people.

So here it is again:

Most of us here in Peacetown, and indeed all over, would prefer that our political discourse focus on issues and solutions, not mud slinging.

I am pasting below what Dusty, a woman whom I do not know had to say about my capacity to have a constructive, collaborative impact on our city council.

It is not "New York politics," as Shepherd suggests, but the politics of advancing the public interest, for me to campaign for public office on the positive platform that we, as a community, as neighbors, have a responsibility to work together to keep our emergency room open, to restore library hours, to walk the talk of a green future, to complete the sidewalk on Bodega near Burbank Housing, or to add to the supply of attainably priced housing.

And it is not a "friend," Shepherd Bliss, who writes dismissive, misleading, and nasty screeds about well intentioned, hard working neighbors running for public office.


DustyG:
I heard Jonathan Greenberg's presentation (and also Neysa Hinton's) as a guest of the Kiwanis Club yesterday at noon. I was amazed by Greenberg's range and length of experience and his commitment to our hospital, as well as to resolving other local issues. Hinton, on the other hand, has a real lack of experience and when asked about supporting our hospital answered that using part of it as an assisted living residence is her approach. Her current job, btw, is managing an assisted living residence in Marin County.

Now that I've heard two presentations and been able to ask direct question of all three candidates, including Litwin as a write-in, I have no reservations at all about voting for Michael Anthony Carnacchi (who is both prepared and well informed) and Jonathan Greenberg. I can see them working well together, and honoring the Sebastopol we love.

I agree with our wise geologist Jane. I appreciate Jonathan for the good work that he does, outside of being an elected official, as I have told him. It is my opinion that once elected as a council member, one has to represent more than just himself and those who voted for her or him. This person must represent the entire city. From my work with Jonathan, I do not think that he would be willing to do that. It is not enough to criticize. One must also build allies among those with whom he or she disagrees.

I agree with Sonoma County Conservation Action in their "deep concerns" about Jonathan to govern with fairness to all. This is not Big City New York politics. We live in small town Sebastopol and West County. "Hectoring" is not enough. We are all neighbors here. We know each other and must learn to live together, rather than attack each other, even given our differences of opinion.

A vote for my friend Jonathan is a vote for chaos. If that is what you want, vote for him, and suffer the consequences. "Abrasive statements" may be appealing, but they could wreck the work of the Council.

Vote for Measures J, M, and Y, at least, but not for Jonathan, in my opinion.

[Michael Anthony]

He's also a goofball, which make council meetings a bit more tolerable.

According to Random House Dictionary, the word "goofball" is defined as such: "extremely eccentric person." According to the same dictionary, the word "eccentric" is defined as: "deviating from the customary character, practice, etc."

Magick, Sebastopol activist and Tarot Reader tells that my Tarot life card is 22, which among the Major Arcana, I am both the Fool and the Emperor. The Fool is the most powerful card in the Tarot deck because it is assigned the number zero [like zero waste campaign].

In Old English times, the Fool was invited into the courts of Kings and Queens to bring forth serious issues among the citizenry through comedy and whose head would then be spared.

[Michael Anthony]

He as has been closely following city government since he applied to be appointed to Michael Keyes seat after he passed.

To be specific, below is a short list of the city government meetings that I have directly participated in:

1) I have been to nearly every city meeting regarding the Sebastopol General Plan [no less than 20] since its inception 2.5 years ago.

2) I have been to every city meeting concerning the proposed Sebastopol Hotel.

3) I have been to every city meeting regarding the proposed KOWS antenna.

4) I have been to every city meeting with regard to the relocation of the Sebastopol Charter School.

5) I have been to every city meeting throughout the adoption of the Sebastopol Uniform Business Ordinance [prevents future CVS type projects in the Downtown Core] in my official capacity as a director of the Sebastopol Downtown Association, where I have been an active member since 1994.

And that's just to name a few of the hundreds of city meetings that I have attended because democracy is a participatory concept.

[authenticeye]

It looks like the thread has "woken up" Barry! I also feel like I ought to have heeded Shepherd's words in an earlier comment about how nice the silence is*

Yet we were all on the edge of our seats wondering who Barry's second choice would be.
And that led me to chime in again.

I will concede I am not clear on my second choice despite my previous comment; I know for certain Michael Carnacchi has my vote and I am surprised Barry that you didn't feel similarly.

First, I appreciate that Michael has a business on Main Street and has his thumb on the pulse to what is happening on a daily basis in Sebastopol. He has also been a member of the Sebastopol Downtown Association for the 23 years he has been a Main Street business owner; with a dedication to seeing a revised Downtown District Plan be written and for it to be mindful of engaging the Barlow businesses.

He is currently completing the Citizens' Police Academy; attends the city government meetings regularly, and sees an opportunity to partner with the County and Caltrans around developing a strategy to add more vitality and livability to Sebastopol's downtown core.

His choice to run a "zero waste" campaign is unconventional yet we are an unconventional town that makes the "unconventional" mainstream as Craig has often pointed out in the forums. Michael is able to hear both sides of a situation which is vital when seated on a council and will educate himself as needed for being an informed council member. His eight years spent fighting U.S. Bank is proof enough to his ability to dig in deep and research as needed.

Perhaps Craig and Michael would most fittingly work together with the seated council; my concern is whether there is a conflict of interest between Craig's consulting business where he specializes in cannabis policy reform and being able to weigh in on said topic as a council member. That's an area I would be curious to have clarified.
-----
Finally Michael was recently appreciated in a couple of editorials I want to include here:

Taken from a recent editorial in the Sonoma West Times,
EDITOR: Sebastopol Planning Commission kicks the KOWS antenna can down the road again. In the latest chapter of the proposed KOWS antenna project, the Sebastopol city planning commission approved a new KOWS antenna project submission. The city planners focused solely on the application process in their decision-making. It appeared the neighborhood association SHARPwatch is being relegated to the sidelines as emotional appellants rather than true stakeholders in the process. Shoemaker and prospective city council candidate Michael Carnacchi was the only advocate of a compromise, which could satisfy both parties. With this approval, the city planning commission has most likely drawn the city into a long and expensive legal battle over a project for a private entity and not a city utility.
Patrick Norton
Sebastopol
-----
And by Jim Corbett in Mr. Music's Musings:
Michael Carnacchi, is a world class boot maker, who has had his shop on Main Street for a long time. I admire him because he has probably gone to more City Council meetings over the years than any other citizen in our town. He certainly knows what is going on in the town and how local policy effects local business. He has been a big part of the Downtown Association and organized shopkeepers to come out of their stores on Friday at noon and wave to the other shop owners. It was a small gesture of cooperation in an otherwise competitive environment.

Thanks again as always Barry for providing the community resources to weigh their decisions upon.

...I support write-in candidate,Craig Litwin for City Council (https://craiglitwin4council.com/). I am undecided about which of the other candidates to support.......

[Shepherd]

I am sorry that Jonathan now apparently considers me one of his "enemies." I still consider him a friend.

Perhaps I made a mistake by entering this fray by challenging Jonathan, on the basis of my work with him, and apparently getting now added to his enemy list. I appreciate his persistent presence in the Sebastopol political scene; it is the potential consequences of being on the City Council--with all the work that it needs to do--that concerns me. There is enough chaos and attacking in the international, national, and West County political arenas without adding to it here in Sebastopol.

I agree that Jonathan has numerous clear merits. Some friends and I initiated the leafblower challenge. When Jonathan joined us, he added substantial high tech and video skills, which were very helpful, which added to our success. I thank him for that. I do not remember things the same way he does on other matters, especially as I continued to work hard on the leafblower issue. I am often on the phone with people, for example, and perhaps too often on Wacco and online.

My main concerns are not with Jonathan's ideas, but how he pursues them, which I do consider to be in "Big City" styles. For example, in this email he is attacking long-time activist Jane Nielson and groups such the Sierra Club and Sonoma County Conservation Action. I do not think there is anything "mysterious," as Jonathan contends, about Jane's detailed reasons for objecting to him as a City Councilperson.

He has also been known to attack Sebastopol City staff whom he disagrees with, as well as City Council members whom he will need to work closely with. My concern is that if elected he may not work well with other elected officials and staff members. This is why I have honored his work outside being an elected official and suggest that he continue his good work in that arena. He has a strong voice with substantial merit and enthusiasm to it.

I do not consider his description of himself in terms of representing a "Peacetown" approach to solving difficult issues that many of us are working on, each in our own ways with our own merits, as accurate. Because we differ on certain issues and work styles, that does not have to make us "enemies." Jonathan has a long list of people whom he not only disagrees with, as he notes below, but attacks.

Before I respond to Jane Nielson's mysterious vendetta against me, the only person in this race who is an active environmental activist, I would like to take some time to respond to Shepherd's reference that he is my "friend," and provide some context to the unfriendly folks who are stepping forward to publicly assail my character.
....

[podfish]

I am sorry that Jonathan now apparently considers me one of his "enemies." I still consider him a friend. <... snip... followed by disparaging comments about Jonathan..>

sorry, Shepherd, your claim to be his friend is lowering the credibility of your other points. As such, who cares who is friends with who - this is a political discussion. But challenging someone's temperament (which has a weird echo of the larger political scene) while professing friendship reminds me of the beach scene in Lewis Carroll. Nice little oysters, we do love you so.


(video added by Barry in case my reference was too obscure . Plus it's a fun video)

[beshiva]

Wowzeeee-- you Shepherd --and Jonathan are so full of hot air- maybe hot air is what makes leafblowers blow the leaves about?! i've had to read from both of you the holier than thou posts regarding the Hopkins/Evans debate and
and you both harang people about the tone of posts from people and when on and on about how people can't stand
to read this stuff, are turned off to this stuff and don't even want to go on Wacco because of the crappy tone of the debate.
But, i suppose the Sebastopol City Council debate is a free-for-all and i guess when one is passionate about their candidate, then Their point of view is Valid!?
this back and forth is a turn off-Boys!
of course, i'll give you both this one- Just don't complain any more, after all, it just might sound toooo negative to
Wacco readers and we dare not do THAT...ugh

I am sorry that Jonathan now apparently considers me one of his "enemies." I still consider him a friend.
...

[jbox]

Wowzeeee-- you Shepherd --and Jonathan are so full of hot air- maybe hot air is what makes leafblowers blow the leaves about?! i've had to read from both of you the holier than thou posts regarding the Hopkins/Evans debate and
and you both harang people about the tone of posts from people and when on and on about how people can't stand
to read this stuff, are turned off to this stuff and don't even want to go on Wacco because of the crappy tone of the debate.
But, i suppose the Sebastopol City Council debate is a free-for-all and i guess when one is passionate about their candidate, then Their point of view is Valid!?
this back and forth is a turn off-Boys!
of course, i'll give you both this one- Just don't complain any more, after all, it just might sound toooo negative to
Wacco readers and we dare not do THAT...ugh

Crappy tone, Beshiva? Re-read your posts, you are consistently the Wacco leader in that category.

[beshiva]

i am sorry. guess you did not get the point! and you felt the need to anty-up.hmmmm..
it was never my intention!
as you may have noted, i do not post any longer on the Hopkins/Evans debate, i finished...
i was merely, noting that the same propensity to be taking place between Bliss/Jonathan, as they were spiraling into personal, instead of staying with the facts. and they have still yet to acknowledge their own transgressions.?
So, maybe, you should check "yourself", and perhaps, see that you are part of the problem too and not the solution.
i try to walk my talk, do you?!
if we don't acknowledge that some debates need to become a little uncomfortable sometimes, maybe, we will never get to understanding our perspectives on issues to make changes that need to be made.
having lived in this County for over 40 years, i have seen too much white privilege and within THAT white privilege is soft-skinned psuedo-activists who have attempted to quell other peoples harsh criticisms and want it to remain on some nice/nice (white privilege) level....to hell with that!
And, i'm done with this debate too
nite xo

Crappy tone, Beshiva? Re-read your posts, you are consistently the Wacco leader in that category.

[Peacetown Jonathan]

A few weeks ago, Jane Nielson made a number of comments challenging my record of advocacy during the past five years or so, with a series of questions that require complex answers. I have been pretty busy doing the type of advocacy work that she suggests I only talk about doing, so I have not found the considerable amount of time it takes to refresh her selective memory about the answers to these questions until now. These activities include advocacy work that one would think the Sierra Club and Sonoma County Conservation Action, organizations for which Ms. Nielsen sits on the endorsement committees, might find laudable. They include the effort for Native Hawaiians to win an anti-GMO majority on Maui’s County Council, and an ongoing campaign to fight the Monsanto Doctrine, including its potentially democracy invalidating impact here in Sonoma County.

I would like to start my answer by calling on the reading public to notice exactly what Jane Nielsen is accusing me of as her rationale for denying me, a lifelong environmental activist, the support of the Sonoma County Conservation Action endorsement group that she sits on. Did I vote or lobby against issues important to our local ecology? No. In fact, I have longer and more demonstrated environmental activism and policy development experience than either of the candidates that SCAA did endorse. It seems that the reason Ms. Nielsen says that she is speaking in opposition to my candidacy is because I am not as effective a public interest advocate as I claim to be. She takes exception to the claim on my website that “Jonathan is Sebastopol's most effective advocate for sustaining our hospital, restoring library hours, reducing noise, buying electric vehicles for our parks, and walking the walk of a green Sebastopol.”

Jane’s accusatory questions reflect a selective memory loss of facts that I provided to SCAA in 2014 and 2016 that are inconvenient to the “unfit for city council” narrative that she, and her fellow hospital-closing surrogates at Sebastopol Tomorrow, who seem to hate me for my advocacy on behalf of an open hospital, use as the framework for her accusations.

I will go down the list. I realize that these are too many details for a casual reader to follow, so I will provide links and let those who want to go deeper into these issues do so.

Palm Drive Hospital: “What did Jonathan do besides complain to the Council, which can’t do anything anyway?”

The six month long award winning series of articles that wrote, all accessible from this link, revealed critical information that went unpublished elsewhere in the county. This Informing to Empower disclosure shifted the narrative of the hospital closing, and the false reasons that Jane’s politically powerful friends gave to the public before closing it. I also wrote more than a dozen posts on this subject here on Wacco, and helped lead the grassroots effort to get the Doc and Cop elected. Their campaign, not coincidentally, was opposed by our city‘s political insiders, including the leading members of Sebastopol Tomorrow, and Jill Nielsen’s political ally and close friend. Nancy Dobbs (Nancy was the Chair of the Palm Drive Board that decided to close the hospital and reject the foundation led plan to keep it open in April 2014) . I continue to assist the grassroots advocacy effort to maintain an open hospital, including this recent expose about the new effort to close it.
(PLEASE VOTE FOR CARY AND THOMAS ONLY for District Board to keep our hospital open!

What can the Council do to help the hospital?
I answered that here on Wacco in 2014, and again at Wacco this year as part of a series of hospital-related posts that I wrote in this long series on wacko. I am pasting below what I think our Council could and should do to help sustain our hospital and its life saving emergency room.

THE CAMPAIGN TO RESTORE LIBRARY HOURS
I started the campaign to restore library hours (website here) about four years ago, after writing this award winning article on the cover of the Bohemian about the worst funding crisis in county library history.

Jane cites a reference to Measure M, which I helped get to the ballot two years ago (with a series of widely-signed petitions and volunteer lobbying), instead of Measure Y, which is in the ballot next week. When she wrote this I had not yet revised my website and was referring to Measure M: the description of the measures and my work with them was updated and presented here. My work and advocacy for Measure M can be seen on the Restore Library Hours website here, which I created to help get that measure to the ballot in 2014.

Could Sebastopol help fund libraries?
Jane suggests that she has done extensive research and found no record that there was ever an option for our City Council and community to help fund the restoration of library hours. She is incorrect about this, as the attached documents to this post (below) attest. There was in fact a robust debate at the Council that our campaign to restore hours initiated. I wrote about that debate and the lobbying we did for it right here at Wacco, which can be read, with a poll we created, right here. This was only one of the instances during the past five years where this issue has come up. On two occasions, I was told that members of our City Council would not support the co-funding of these hours from the general fund (about $50,000 a year) because there was not enough money, and it was not their responsibility. I have always disagreed with that position. I hope that Measure Y passes and have supported it through emails to petition signers and my campaign literature, as well as our Progressive Sebastopol Voter Guide work. But if it does not pass, I have done a fair amount of spade work on the County’s only Plan B for restoring library hours, which can be read here.

Jane Nielsen falsely claims that I did not work to oppose the CVS project and its faulty traffic report

"Mr. Greenberg claimed to have led the effort to prevent the CVS project. I was a member of the “Small Town Sebastopol” Committee that did organize the CVS opposition and brought a lawsuit against it. Mr. Greenberg was not part of that group."

Jane is recycling the same argument that fellow Sebastopol Tomorrow’s Helen Shane wrote here and everywhere that would print it two years ago. Their self-absorbed argument is that because I did not join their organization, then I was not part of the opposition. Here is part what I wrote about that then with the hyperlinks:

“Certainly, the word “leader” is open to interpretation. Ms. Shane’s odd interpretation seems to be someone who joined her organization and funded its lawsuit. I never did that. What I did do, however, was spend hundreds of hours, over the course of more than two years, to research and publish the County’s most extensive investigation, legal analysis, and commentaries about the CVS issue, lawsuits and related politics. I did this independently, without pay, and on behalf of the public’s right to transparency, information and responsive government.

I also brought these uncovered issues to the public and City Council attention by speaking out at public meetings. In December, 2011, I strategized and launched the second CVS petition (pledge to boycott if they moved their store), and introduced it to the Occupy Sebastopol volunteers, who circulated it for months at their town square table (Helen Shane was invited to join this action, but chose not to participate).

The reporting, letters and columns that I voluntarily contributed appeared numerous times in the Press Democrat, Sonoma West, and on Wacco BB. They were read by thousands of West County citizens, and provided a legal and argumentative framework that significantly influenced the public debate, built public support for both lawsuits, and provided policy insight for our public officials. The hard-hitting columns and voter guide that I collaborated on and distributed helped to unseat one of the two Council boosters of the CVS Project—Kathleen Shaffer.

A list of CVS related exposes that I uncovered, for the first time, and on which I reported extensively and exclusively, with documentation here on Wacco, include: ( See further detail here)


What Sebastopol's City Council can do to help Sustain Our Open Hospital:

( see a more detailed version of these points here on WaccoBB)

1) First, do no harm. During the last election, every member of our City Council, that means Robert Jacobs, John Eder, Una Glass, Sarah Gurney, and Patrick Slayter, endorsed Jim Horn...

candidates Rob Cary and Gail Thomas, who will work to keep it open, or candidates Jim Horn and Eira Klich-Heartt, who will force it to close.

2) Provide water and sewage for free. If the hospital closes, there will be no water income from the closed building. Providing free water and sewage is a way for our city to help its largest employer without spending a dime from our general fund. Water and sewage are billed from and to a separate city fund, which runs at an ample surplus, especially with recently increased rates. Our city does not buy water and there is no incremental cost of supplying it, or sewage costs, to the hospital. This will save the hospital about $60,000 per year. Not a lot, but something, and, more importantly, it demonstrates "skin in the game" to other potential governmental and institutional funders.

3) Assist and support the District Board and hospital in seeking funding and program support from County, State and Federal agencies.

...
What I am suggesting is that this is a very important way that Sebastopol's City Council can, and should, be part of the solution. Our City Council needs to create a sub-committee to assist with this important effort for our collective future. If elected, I would be honored to serve on it.

These three specific suggestions work in tandem with one another. Other government agencies need to see that a local hospital has local government support before committing to provide county, state or federal support. And the District Board and hospital need to see that the Council truly supports its existence, and future.

I believe that Sebastopol's City Council can, and should, do more to provide this support. It is one of the main reasons that I am running for office, and one of the main deliverables I will work to provide if I am elected.

Sorry, I can't agree about Mr. Greenberg being a stellar candidate for a collaborative City Council. I'm not a Sebastopol voter, but I interviewed him for Sonoma County Conservation Action, and came away with deep concerns.

My concerns are centered on his hectoring manner his statements at City Council meetings, which I have witnessed; issues that he has berated the Council about, which were beyond their purview, and claims I have heard him make as a candidate that I knew were untrue. I don't see him as collaborative or stable.

On his website Mr. Greenberg asserts that he is Sebastopol's most effective advocate for re-opening Palm Drive Hospital, restoring library hours, budgeting bike trails and walking the walk of a green Sebastopol. But how effective was/is he really? ...

[Peacetown Jonathan]

This sweet surprise greeted me in today's Press Democrat Letters Page:

EDITOR: Jonathan Greenberg is plugged in. To what, you might ask. To us, and to our well-being. He must spend 12 hours a day reading about topics that affect us all. His interest and concern about what is happening around us seems insatiable. Every time I see him he enlightens me about another topic. I do my best, but Greenberg is light-years ahead of me. I can’t think of anyone I would want more to sit on the Sebastopol City Council. He has no ego about his work. He only wants us to be part of a transparent system so that we can create an informed democratic society. Jonathan Greenberg is a true community asset, and we are lucky to have him watching our backs. I just wish I lived in Sebastopol so I could vote for him. ---- GUY ERDMAN, Forestville

[Barry]

According to the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, the results for the Sebastopol City Council election are:

It's hard to imagine these are the final results, since it's quite possible that all absentee ballots have not been counted since, again according to the Registrar "Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked before or on Election Day and delivered to the Registrar of Voters office via USPS or a bona fide private mail delivery company no later than three days after Election Day."

Assuming the results stand, congrats to Neysa and Michael! May your wise leadership serve us well!

[Barry]

Here's the PD's article on this race. I just checked the results at the county and they haven't changed yet.


Sebastopol’s Neysa Hinton a clear winner for City Council
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6285588-181/sebastopols-neysa-hinton-a-clear

MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | November 9, 2016, 5:51PM

A four-way race for two seats on the Sebastopol City Council has produced a clear winner in candidate Neysa Hinton, who closed out Tuesday night with more than 39 percent of the ballots counted, one of the strongest showings in recent city history, according to county election results.

Hinton, a political newcomer and director of a Novato senior care home, drew a far larger share of votes than anyone else in the race, though current runner-up Michael Anthony Carnacchi appears poised to win a council seat, as well.

Carnacchi, an artisan boot maker and cobbler, won 24 percent of the votes counted so far, despite eschewing campaign contributions, organizational endorsements and campaign literature.

But only 162 votes separate Carnacchi from presumed third-place candidate Craig Litwin, a former two-term councilman who joined the race later than his competitors. Litwin, a local political consultant, ran a write-in campaign that required voters to know about his candidacy and add his name to their ballots.

The Sonoma County Elections Office has so far reported 1,065 write-in votes, and, while it’s unclear if some may bear names other than Litwin’s, most, including him, assume the majority will count toward his candidacy.

City Mayor Sarah Glade Gurney, a Litwin supporter, said his vote count reflects an impressive effort, given the challenges he faced as a write-in candidate.

But she said she thought it was unlikely that the final results, while numerically different, would change the outcome of the race, leaving Hinton and Carnacchi to assume seats on the council next month.

“Chances are pretty slim” of overcoming Carnacchi’s second-place standing, Litwin said Wednesday. “I went into the race with my eyes wide open.”

The fourth-place candidate, Jonathan Greenberg, collected about 16 percent of the vote, and said the uncounted ballots could still change the race.

But Greenberg was philosophical. “I have a lot of confidence that Neysa and Michael are going to do a very good job,” he said.