You know the phrase, “Harder than herding cats?” Well, in Petaluma nothing gets the local feline pack moving in unison faster than news of a proposed development. Too bad some of that ferocious, feral energy can’t be channeled from outraged protest at just about any change in the status quo, into eager support for some legitimate community benefit. The Dutra project is merely the latest in a long list of proposed changes to our beloved Brigadoon being dragged down by the no-growth pride. But, back to my point. Why is it that the local chorus of naysayers can’t raise their voices in unison for some genuine community good? One answer is that though they be united in common anger, they can never agree about what they love. So I propose this: just to prove that you caterwauled can do more than just…well…caterwaul, I suggest that you pick some local effort and support it to the point where it becomes a source of community pride. Honestly, I don’t care what it is – just put all that heat into something positive for a change. To get the pot boiling I offer a list of local efforts: The Phoenix Theater, COTS, Petaluma Bounty Hunters, the river, the Downtown Association, or any of the numerous struggling PTAs, to name but a few of the groups who daily face great challenges without sufficient resources. Ah, but I hear some saying, there are so many needs. Its not fair to choose one and ignore all the others? To which I say, welcome to reality. And one more thing… If all that ferocity was concentrated on meeting any one of the needs I mentioned, that need might be met before you know it. And VOILA!…you could move on to the next need. In times past – a favorite topic of local no-growthers – people united to build barns…not protest them. However, they could only build one barn at a time.