Follow us on Newspaper of Rohnert Park-Cotati-Penngrove December 18, 2020 14 Pages Serving Communities Sign up for the FREE e-Edition of and get the latest local news Rohnert Park, Cotati and Penngrove delivered to your mailbox since 1993 Quote of the week: Friedman’s Home Improvement Wishing you all the best that a holiday could offer. Peace, joy, and love to everyone. NOAH strong despite demand ——Unknown Guess Who? I am an actor born in Missouri on December 15, 1949. I had my first acting role in a stage production in 1969. I am best known for a TV gig in the 1980s that followed Florida police detectives. Answer: Don Johnson Don Answer: Inside this issue Stay at home order 2 Chimney fire precautions 2 Letters 2 Season’s eatings 3 Christmas dinner 4 Community Summit 4 Virtual poetry slam 4 Flavorful holiday dishes 6 The Perfect Pairing 7 Neighbors Organized Against Hunger (NOAH), is located at 5443 Snyder Ln. in Rohnert Park and provides food distributions to our community. The next distribution date Grace and Grit 7 is January 6. More information about this non-profit can be found at https://www.noahfoodpantry.org/. Police Logs 11 Tracy Si Local music store 12 By Joshua Farestveit-Moore And Covid-19 hasn’t made these the best of times. confidence to Phillips. She feels that NOAH could still CA Notify 13 A few cans of beans, a loaf of bread and a packet of “All of us feel as time goes on it will get worse,” Dar- support the community in the eventually help from the hot dogs might not seem like much, but for the souls lene Phillips, President of the Board of Directors for Redwood Food Bank dries up. It won’t be easy, Phillips Christmas cheer 14 lined up outside the NOAH Distribution Center, those NOAH said. “One of these days the Redwood Food admits, but she feels they could pull it off. New council members 14small gifts are all that stand between their family and Bank will run out of their grants and it’ll all come back “We’ve done it before,” she said with a shrug. starvation. onto us.” Much of Phillips’ confidence stems from the help they Each Wednesday in the Cross and Crown Church NOAH receives approximately ninety percent of their receive from the citizens of Rohnert Park, Cotati and parking lot in Rohnert Park, Neighbors Organized food from the Redwood Food Bank. The other ten per- Penngrove. Four churches and the Rotary Club provide Against Hunger (NOAH) offer bags of food to any who cent comes from sources like individual donations, gro- much-needed volunteers and financial support; the Cross claim a need. Food banks aren’t glamorous, but they’re cery stores and school food drives. Rancho Cotate High and Crown rents NOAH’s property at a greatly reduced Café Espresso guardians of the community, keeping the beast of hunger School, for instance, donated over four thousand pounds rate; and most recently the city of Rohnert Park, Rotary’s at bay with off-brand boxes of macaroni and cheese and of food this year despite the county’s ongoing stay-at- Ken McCoy of Petaluma Home Loans and a very gen- Feature of the week surplus frozen turkeys. In the best of times NOAH is an home order. erous contractor worked together to install a much- unfortunate necessity. In the worst they’re indispensable. Donations like those which came from RCHS, lend ‘NOAH’ see page 5 CRPUSD 2020 Sonoma County Weekly Columns Thomas Elias 3 December report Climate Summit: Darrin Jenkins 3 Sweeping up solutions 3 By Cassandra May Albaugh Words to ponder 3 The Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District held two meet- Not just a global issue History 3 ings this month. The first was a two-hour special meeting held on December 8. The second was a three-hour regular board meeting on By Natasha Senteney December 15. The special meeting was the last meeting for outgoing I walk around my room, bag in hand, collecting all of the trustees Jennifer Wiltermood and Dr. Tim Nonn. The regular meet- garbage I’ve been too lazy to clean up for the past week, the past ing was the initial meeting for incoming trustees Mark Nelson and month, the past year—cleaning is not my strong suit. Since dis- Michelle Wing. tance learning started last March my kids have taken over my The special meeting recognized Wiltermood and Nonn for their room. Living in a two-bedroom apartment doesn’t leave very service contributions to the school district. Comments included much space for four people to live, to work, to breathe. I toss an board president Leffler Brown thanking Nonn for “how hard you apple core into the bag, a half-eaten drawing one of my children Sportsman’s Report 11 fought for special education kids” and Wiltermood for her work on left on the bed for our pet rats to chew, an empty ramen noodle the bond efforts over her eight years. The other main agenda item cup and a plastic water bottle. At this last item my daughter, sitting was a “Hybrid Planning Update” presented by Superintendent Dr. on my bed with books and classwork piled up around her, flashes Mayra Perez and principals from the various schools. Perez stressed me a reprimanding glare. “What are you doing?” she scolds. Entertainment that this was a draft and continues to be a work in progress. She also “You’re not going to recycle that?” “Sure,” I lie, looking around reminded everyone that currently the schools are “not authorized to me at the mess I’ve barely even dented. The recycling center, reopen” while in the Purple Tier. which used to be a bicycle ride away, has been closed since the Perez then provided a report of her findings from her “Listening first stay-at-home order earlier this year. To be honest, with its Tour” as previously promised. This tour included 75 interviews with long lines and inconsistent hours the motivation to make the trip, staff, parents, students and community members. Some key findings other than the prospect of a few extra dollars, was very little. Also, I could have sworn that I read an were a desire for better communications and community engage- article somewhere on the futility of recycling—or perhaps I had imagined this to ease my guilt. ment. She reported many said communications were inconsistent, Recycling isn’t the only approach towards a more livable climate, and a longer, healthier, more sus- there was limited opportunity for stakeholder input or adequate op- tainable existence, but it is one of the few that many people feel any control over, or a direct connection portunities to be actively engaged from the Latinx community. with. Scott Sheldon 12 The regular meeting had numerous agenda items to cover. Lead- Earlier this week, when I spoke on the phone to Maya Khosla, Media Spokesperson for Sonoma ing off was for Wing and Nelson to execute their oath of office. Then County Climate Activist Network (SoCoCAN!), I reflected on my own sense of defeat and disconnect Ken Weise 12 the required reorganizations of the board occurred. Chrissa Gillies when it came to climate discussions and how many others beside myself share in this dilemma. In our and Joe Cimino were both nominated to serve as Board President; discussion about the upcoming 2021 climate summit—a free, public event being hosted by SoCoCAN! however, Cimino’s nomination failed for lack of a second. Gillies on January 10 from 2-5 p.m.. via Zoom Conference, I searched for something that could bridge the dis- Health... was elected on a vote of 4-1 with Nelson voting against. Cimino was connect. After all, there are a plethora of other sources covering the larger picture, and as a local news- then nominated for Board Clerk and elected on a 5-0 vote. paper, isn’t it our responsibility to highlight local topics? The more expansive sources are most definitely Body... Gillies then announced representatives to District Committees as not doing that for us, and with an issue like climate change, which can often seem far away and abstract Mind... follows: 2x2x2 - Brown and Cimino with Gillies as alternative; in relation to the very real aspects of our daily lives, a closer, more tangible focus is not only valuable, LCAP - Gillies and Wing with Brown as alternative; Facilities but imperative. I can’t sit outside my apartment and watch the polar ice caps melting, or see, in real- Sprit... Gillies and Cimino with Brown as alternative; Budget – Brown and time, our oceans rising or the destruction of our coral reefs, but I can hear the sirens of every emergency Gillies with Cimino as alternative; Special Education – Wing and vehicle that passes down my street, and note, with obvious clarity, the increase in frequency with each Julie Ann Soukoulis 6 Nelson with Cimino as alternative; Wellness Committee – Wing and passing year. I can drive across town and see, without needing to be informed, the check engine light Steven Campbell 6 Nelson with Cimino as alternative; and DELAC (English Language) on my dashboard and the rising prices at the gas station. Maya Khosla, in response to my concerns, brought the discussion closer to home, highlighting the Glenn Mollette 6 – Wing and Nelson with Gillies as alternative. Budget reports and purchases were next. The Parcel Tax Over- many local and statewide issues related to climate, many of which are either set to be topics of interest sight Committee’s Annual Report was accepted and all uses of those at the upcoming climate summit, or otherwise included in the research and work of many of its featured funds were appropriate and within guidelines of the ballot measures.