Election 2012

On Tuesday, June 12, at 4:00pm, the Santa Rosa City Council will hear the Charter Review Committee’s recommendation to place district elections on the November ballot. Please be there to show your support or to speak in favor of letting the people vote on district elections. I believe Santa Rosa citizens deserve the opportunity to vote in November to elect City Council members by districts.

Location: Santa Rosa City Hall Council Chambers, 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa

It must be a good year to be a Democrat because so many people claim to be one.

Take, for instance, the folks at the California Voters Guide who just issued a mailer to registered voters in Sonoma County's First Supervisorial District implying that your local Democratic Party is endorsing John Sawyer for supervisor.

Not true. 

Candidates for the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will voice their views on medical marijuana in a public Forum to be held Wednesday, May 23rd at the Sonoma County Central Library located at 3^rd and E Streets in Santa Rosa.  The Forum is hosted by the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana (SAMM) and the Sonoma County Chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and will be facilitated by Santa Rosa attorney, Joe Rogoway. The event begins at 5pm and goes until 7:30pm.

Attached are the questions that we plan on asking at the Bennett Valley Community Association Candidates Forum on Thursday, April 19, at the Bennett Valley Grange, 4145 Grange Road, Santa Rosa.  We have provided these to the candidates.   Please consider attending.  

 

We will begin at 7 PM and may last as late as 9 PM to hopefully allow us to get to all of these questions.  

The essays below were written by people who want you to hear their side - as well as people running for office. Weigh in on any topic that is coming up for vote in June. Send you opinions to vesta@sonic.net

On May 1^st, between 6 and 8 pm, Congressional candidate Norman Solomon will appear at the Russian River Senior Center at 15010 Armstrong Woods Rd. 

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is in a snit because the State Assembly passed Chuck Calderon’s Assembly Bill 1208 placing limits on how much money she and her San Francisco bureaucrats can siphon off from the annual court appropriations.

The bill now heads to the senate where it faces an uncertain future. It shouldn’t. The senate should pass the bill and educate the chief justice about…justice.

Analy High School’s Speech and Debate Team in coalition with the FFA (Future Farmers of America) program is hosting the “The People Speak!” – a public forum debate on Proposition 37, a mandate to label genetically modified food in the state of California.

The following are endorsements anf opinions for local groups who analyze the efforts of people who are running for office for the first time, as well as candidates who have held office. You are welcome to join in the conversation...please e-mail me at vesta@sonic.net

A talk by Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party Candidate for President – Open Presentation on Social Justice in America

Tuesday, September 25, 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Free Open Admission for All Interested Parties

The Sierra Club Sonoma Group enthusiastically endorses Susan Gorin for election as County Supervisor this November, not her opponent, John Sawyer.

Why I endorse Efren Carrillo for 5^th District Supervisor

By Vesta Copestakes

Efren Carrillo is the first supervisor since I have lived in Sonoma County (this time around, 1983 on) who literally devotes every day to the job. It's not a 9 to 5 for him. He treats it like a self-employed person treats their business. He is goal and task-oriented, and has the focus and energy to accomplish what he sets in front of himself to do.

Election 2012 – June 2012
The Politics of Opinion

Gazette Readers,

It must be a good year to be a Democrat because so many people claim to be one.

Take, for instance, the folks at the California Voters Guide who just issued a mailer to registered voters in Sonoma County’s First Supervisorial District implying that your local Democratic Party is endorsing John Sawyer for supervisor.

By Darlene Kersnar

The Right To Know is a grassroots movement to get an initiative on the 2012 CA ballot that would require mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods.

The process used to create GMOs is known as transgenics and is unnatural, imprecise, and prone to side effects. GM plants, such as corn and soybeans have genes from bacteria and viruses forced into their DNA with a “gene gun.” No human trials were ever conducted to assess the safety of the novel proteins, toxins, and allergens that genetic engineering has introduced into almost 80% of our corn, 90% of our soy, and 75% of our processed foods.