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Quote of the week: Tomales Biweekly Poll Question “You have to remember that the hard Do you consider yourself days are what make you stronger. The defeats bad days make you realize what a good an organized person? day is. If you never had any bad days, Tech High Yes ___ No ___ I don’t care___ you would never have that sense of ac- Page 8 complishment!” Please vote online at www.TheCommunityVoice.com Expanded Is the government shutdown ― Aly Raisman Sports affecting you or someone you know? Special class for autism at John Reed Page 3 Pages 8 &12 Data not available Newspaper of Rohnert Park-Cotati-Penngrove January 25, 2019 - 12 Pages A Sunday afternoon with White receives retired football players Matt Walsh Memorial Retired NFL players Cliff Branch, Rudy Nixon, owner of Friar Tuck’s, Honor Jackson, Jerry Robinson, Mervyn Fernandez, Anthony Bell and Brad Kahn during the annual fundraiser held for “Fence at the Top.” Robert Grant By Irene Hilsendager Top organization which provides youths with vital Fun and entertainment is what happens when a life skills that will bring a greater success possible few retired football players come to town and sit for each teen. The approach allows this organiza- and shoot the fat with Honor Jackson, who is the tion to intercept at-risk, troubled and neglected Executive Director of Fence at the Top, a non- youths before they fall, hence the name Fence at profit, comprehensive mentoring program for at- the Top. Shane White, a senior at Rancho Cotate High presents the Matt Walsh Memorial Award to a risk youth in Sonoma County. The average age of the youngsters are nine to School and member of the varsity football team, player that the team votes on.6 Team members are The divisional championship game between the 18 years and have a very low school grade point was presented with the Matt Walsh Memorial asked to search their hearts for a player who has LA Rams and NE Patriots was the draw that average of 2.5 or even less. There is so much in- Award Sun., Jan. 19 at the end of the football ban- respect for his peers on and off the field, displays brought a large crowd to Friar Tuck’s Pub in Cotati stability in the lives of these adolescent teen-agers. quet that was held at Friar Tucks.6 Allyson and leadership and excellent sportsmanship qualities and shake hands with a few retired pigskin throw- There is very little or no supervision in the homes. Claire Walsh (wife and daughter of Matt Walsh) and has integrity, a continual hard worker who ers and receivers. Patrons were saying the Rams They are sexually promiscuous and the temptation and Matt’s brother, Mark Walsh, presented the shows loyalty to the team and someone who has will lose again, but they prevailed after 17 years of alcohol and drugs are everywhere. Because of award to Shane.6 The award is given in honor of Rancho team spirit.6 Shane was awarded a plaque of being close but never being the divisional cham- not receiving the attention they need, many fall by Matt Walsh who died July 6, 2001.6 Walsh was a and his name will be added to a plaque that is pions. the wayside, huge fan of Rancho football and an active member hung up at the school. The event was to raise funds for the Fence at the ‘Retired’ see page 2 of the boosters.6 In honor of his memory, his family Jane Peleti Mackenzie New signs point in the right direction By Joshua Farestveit-Moore tati has had before. It has a repu- The plan’s focus will be on the Commission (MTC) in 2017 It took three organizations the tation, and it has its own unique downtown area and the city’s when this whole process started. better part of two years, but the feel, but before the Wayfinding trails. The MTC allotted the city leavesBy Joshua Farestveit-Moore SMART Cotati City Council approved the Master Plan the city was really It follows a natural theme with a $90,000 to improve its signage The Rohnert Park City Council Wayfinding Master Plan Tues., more of a mish-mash of different red, blue and green pastel and Cotati added to that seed stripped Councilmember Jake Jan. 22. neighborhoods without a unify- palette. The sign posts are money an additional $50,000 Mackenzie of his position on the The Wayfinding Master Plan ing look. The Cotati City Coun- planned to be made of wood— from its 2018-2019 budget. Sonoma Marin Rail Transit is Cotati’s effort to better the sig- cil hopes that through the new African Mahogany, a particu- That was more than enough (SMART) Advisory Board Tues., nage at the various bicycle paths, plan the city will find its image. larly dense species that’s known money to put together the Jan. 22 just a few weeks after trails and other high traffic “We didn’t have a comprehen- for its durability. Kiosks with Wayfinding Steering Commit- their criticism of his decision to neighborhoods across the area. sive plan up until now,” Mayor maps, city lore and directions to tee—a hodgepodge of bodies support the CASA Compact. The goal is to beautify the city John Dell’Osso said. “It’s impor- local business are slated for the taken from the Cotati City Coun- The CASA Compact is a pro- and improve economic prosper- tant certainly from a visual downtown area—again, all in the cil, the Cotati Planning Commis- posal put forth by the Committee ity and to do this the Wayfinding standpoint. You see a lot of older city’s color theme. And for the sion and the Design Review to House the Bay Area (CASA) plan creates a system—really a signs in other cities where they trails are little posts that denote Committee. They hired MERJE, that aims to increase California’s unifying aesthetic of sorts—that update only some of the signage direction and length. a Pennsylvania based graphic supply of affordable housing. It will reduce the signage clutter but not all of it. I personally feel A plan of this magnitude does- design company. proposes to do this through a combination of laws that raise taxes, and settle on a stable template of that keeping things uniform n’t come cheap. Luckily for Co- This isn’t MERJE’s first proj- puts a cap on rent and limits city control over local zoning. colors. makes it look a little bit more to- tati, the city landed a grant from ect. In the past they handled That’s a grossly oversimplified explanation. In short, though, it’s A theme is not something Co- gether.” the Metropolitan Transportation ‘Point’ see page 2 not something the rest of the Rohnert Park City Council seems to be in favor of, and Mackenzie, acting as their representative to CASA, signed the compact back in Dec. without consulting them. At the last council meeting the rest of the Rohnert Park City Council rebuked Mackenzie strongly for his decision. “In every other meeting you’re in you give us reports and say, RP investigates new site for Corp. Yard ‘I’m going to be voting on this.’ We didn’t hear nothing until it was By Joshua Farestveit-Moore vandalism, vagrancy and all the ravages of time. voted on,” Vice Mayor Joseph Callinan said at last week’s meeting. The Rohnert Park City Council directed its staff Tuesday to reach Everything told the cost to renovate the Gold Ridge site and move “Personally I think you may have been on these committees way too out to the residents of the G Section over the potential move of the the Corp Yard will run upwards of $5.4 million. The money for that long. Maybe it’s time for change. Change is always good. I’m very city’s Corporation Yard (Corp Yard) to the area in order to make will come from the city’s general fund, which the city manager, Dar- disappointed that you support the CASA Compact.” room for the new Station Avenue Development. rin Jenkins, claims they’ve already set aside. That price tag does not The council opted not to renew Mackenzie’s appointment as the It was never a question of whether to move the Corp Yard, but factor in the potential income from selling the current Corp Yard city’s representative to the Sonoma County Transit Authority rather to where and when. The terms of the Station Ave. Develop- site. (SCTA). They chose instead to send Vice Mayor Joseph Callinan ment Plan slate the land under the current Corp Yard office for park- The only tenant at the 6.04- acre property is the local preschool with a substantial 4-1 majority vote—Mackenzie as the sole dissent- ing, and with construction on the new downtown neighborhood provider, Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County, which ing voice. The loss of the position leaves Mackenzie ineligible for imminent, the time has come, as they say, to pull the trigger. leases a couple of Gold Ridge’s old portables from the city. That his other seat on the SMART Advisory Board and that’s devastating “The horse has bolted out of the stable door. The word is on the leaves the administrative complex completely free, which, as select because his involvement with SMART goes all the way back to the street as of now. This is more than a rough sketch—there’s an ar- members of the council see it, makes the site a promising location.

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