Letter to the Press Democrat, 8/25:
Imperial winery
EDITOR: After reading the article relating Joe Wagner’s desire to develop an industrial-level winery on the Dairyman site east of Sebastopol, I am appalled (“Wagner shifts focus from Meiomi to Dairyman,” Thursday).
This is a young man who obviously wants to make his mark, at the expense of whatever or whomever may be in his path. He will do whatever is required by county officials to get his permit approved. But he doesn’t give a hoot about the effect his corporate dream may have on the community. He is only interested in getting his way.
Wagner’s kind of thinking drove the imperial and corporate colonization and resource grab in much of the non-European world during the past three centuries. In fact, Wagner’s plans feel much the same. He sees Sonoma County as a place to realize what he wants, when he wants — whether it benefits that place or not.
His narcissistic hubris reminds me of another corporate entity with expansive plans for Sonoma County, when 50 years ago, involved citizens prevented the construction of a nuclear power plant at Bodega Head. I hope we can avoid this new corporate overreach.
CHARLES B. COLLINS
Sebastopol
