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Election Year Budget Bushwah

Budget.jpg"> No matter whether it's Washington, D.C., California or Petaluma, politicians willingly ignore simple arithmetic, cast fiscal prudence to the wind, and put future generations in hock, in order to curry favor with this or that interest group in hopes of hanging on to a job that they're clearly not fit to do.

By | May 28th, 2010|0 Comments

Local Politics Are Scrum-tious

Getcher scorecard! Getcher scorecard! You can't tell the players without a scorecard! Welcome to the scrum that constitutes Petaluma politics.

By | April 15th, 2010|0 Comments

Petaluma waits to shop…and waits…and waits

Petaluma is a lovely place to eat, stroll, and browse antique shops and art galleries. We have entertainment and beautiful scenery. But if you want to shop for school clothes, electronics, computers, and many other items necessary for day-to-day life, you have to burn fossil fuel in order to reach stores that sell these items. To me this raises an interesting conundrum: because many of our local folk are vociferously opposed to certain types of retailers (I guess they don't need school clothes, and such), their obstinacy increases the carbon feetprints of other folks who are forced to drive out of town to purchase their day-to-day needs. But then vociferous folks always seem to love to tell others what do.

By | April 8th, 2010|0 Comments

Sonoma Gothic – AKA – Grazin’ in the Grass

2010-02-25 Sonoma Gothic Far out, man. Like, Sonoma County is going to pot. Can you dig it?

By | March 2nd, 2010|0 Comments

Petaluma Hybrid

2010-02-04 Petaluma Hybrid Well you can't say that we haven't been here before. I can personally attest to standing rain soaked in a parking lot having a tire repaired that was flattened thanks to a pothole near my house. That's why both Colleen and I drive 21st Century station wagons, that is to say, small SUVs. Actually, they're both 2-wheel drive vehicles. Given our local roads, we don't need to go four-wheeling to experience the thrill of driving over rugged, torturous terrain.

By | February 5th, 2010|0 Comments

Red Tape

2010-01-14 2009 Red TapeThe City Council Majority is nothing if not predictable. Even though Mayor Pam and Councilperson Glass are running for new office - and presumably would like to demonstrate to the voters some behavior other than ritual obfuscation, hibitual dissembling, and rigid a adherence to hidebound liberal orthodoxy - they still can't resist further attempts to stymie the Regency Center project. Other other hand, perhaps the majority of local voters really want robot progressives in all elected positions. If so, right on, guys.

By | January 15th, 2010|0 Comments

Grinchaluma

2009-12-31 Grinchaluma Yet again, Petaluma's City Council demonstrated its commitment to meeting the needs of our town's citizens. In this case, Petaluma's elderly and school children.

By | December 31st, 2009|0 Comments

No Sparrow Shall Fall…

2009-11-19 All Creatures Great and Small Ah, our compassion for animals: Personally, I'm quite fond of dogs and cats, not to mention all those photogenic non-domestic mammals that populate the NatGeo channel. Not so much birds, fish, reptiles and insects, though I do marvel at the beauty and design of a great many non-mammalian genera. You can thank the Disney True Life Adventure movies narrated by Rex Allen for that. Locally, it seems there is a group that will rise up in defense of any definable species. PETA must hold tutorials. Still, I'll bet that getting folks to sign up for a workshop on consciousness-raising about non-cuddly creatures must be challenging.

By | November 22nd, 2009|0 Comments

Petaluma Revenue Posse

2009-11-05 City Revenue Posse The City rips up the turf around City Hall. They say it's to remove the thirsty grass (OMG I can hear my own lawn drunkenly guzzling H20 as I write this) as a cost-saving measure. But I suspect that the Queen of Petaluma and her loyal courtiers plan a moat around their castle with a drawbridge they can pull up when the evil Duke of Moynihan approaches. I mean, if they really wanted to generate revenue they could approve any of the pending developments that are literally begging to set up shop in River Town. Which, in itself, is amazing because development in other parts of our region is at a virtual standstill.

By | November 7th, 2009|0 Comments

Feral City Council Agenda

2009-10-08 Feral Agenda I guess Mayor Pam is just the "girl who can't say, No," at least to special-interest groups, tree huggers and labor groups. But she turns functionally deaf when it comes to the will of Petaluma's citizens. Disagree? What about her obstinancy in ignoring the overwhelming local support for the Rainier over-, under- or whatever-pass?

By | October 10th, 2009|0 Comments