Monte Rio Musings by Chuck Ramsey - April 2018
I’ve been looking at demographics lately. I can tell you it’s challenging to get recent, reliable data. We need good data to determine where we currently stand and what we should be doing for our population going forward. Without good data, or without looking behind the numbers, it can be pretty meaningless. For example, lately there has been a lot of press that Santa Rosa has the second highest percentage of same-sex married households in the country based on Federal tax returns filed. Is this the same Santa Rosa that doesn’t have one gay bar? Looking behind the headlines, you will see that the data is not based on the City of Santa Rosa, it is based on the top 100 “commuting zones” in the US, so yes, we are back to the River.
Our median age is 51, which is 41% higher than the CA average of 36. We have fewer kids here, and we are an aging population. The aging factor is not too much different than Sonoma County as a whole. We need to be focusing on services for seniors, which our Senior Center and our county is now doing.
We have low household income, but respectable per-capita income. This is probably due to having smaller households so we have fewer two-income earners per household. Our estimated per capita income in 2016 was $36,000 which is similar to Santa Rosa, and is higher than CA and US averages. Our people living below Federal poverty level appears to be in-line with county averages of around 11%.
Our 2018 1st quarter median home value per Zillow is $479,800 which is slightly higher than Guerneville’s, and of course much higher than US averages.
One area where we really stand out is educational attainment with over 94% having at least a high school diploma. This is slightly above Guerneville, and compares with only 86% in Santa Rosa. The educational attainment level in the River area is the highest in Sonoma County!
The first of two areas we don’t exceed well in is our unemployment rate. Per EDD in December, Monte Rio’s unemployment rate was 6.3%, the highest in Sonoma County. Sonoma County was 2.8%, CA was 4.3%, and the US was 4.1%.
The second area we don’t exceed well in is our life expectancy. Our River life expectancy is 78 years compared to 82 years for the county. The River area has the lowest life expectancy in the county. Healdsburg has the highest at 85 years.
So, what does this all mean? If you want to be employed and live longer don’t waste years getting educated?
Perhaps we need to work more on getting more jobs out here? More businesses? More county government help getting our downtown vibrant, starting with reopening the Pink? At least we could be enjoying our shortened golden years in good company together? I don’t have all the answers, but I do know we need to work on some of our issues, and we have the brains to do something about it.
Spring is here which is an indication of good things to come.
There are many positive signs this year. Hopefully not the least of which will be the mid-term elections. Locally, our residents are more engaged than ever and you can see the results from progress on our streets. Constructive positive dialogue and engagement is happening. One area this is happening in is with our large non-profit community health and services providers. I’m on an ad-hoc committee with Russian River Health Center. From their perspective they are a nationally recognized leader in providing quality health care for anyone that walks through their front door regardless of ability to pay. From some in the community, they are seen as not doing enough and are allowing people to die on the streets right outside their front door. I have learned that they are basically a primary care doctor facility for their patients. They don’t do urgent care, walk-ins, etc. By opening dialogue, we now have a better understanding of their business. They have a better understanding of the issues and perceptions the community has. We are now trying to work together to improve some of the issues. Some of these issues may require more from the DA’s office, Adult Protective Services, and Sonoma County’s Mental Health Department. This department has recently had 40 layoffs, so the work ahead of us may be challenging, but at least we are now trying to work together for needed solutions and results. Although I am not as engaged with WCCS, I have seen some progress on their end as well as far as being more aware of, and responsive to, community concerns.
On our clean energy front, Monte Rio Rec & Park is looking for quotes on installing an EV charger at the Community Center. Aside from an electrician, we also need a paving quote to make the parking space level for new ADA requirements. The District is also considering putting up solar panels at Creekside Park.
We have some residents also looking at solar and high efficiency mini-split duct-free heat pump systems. This is an area I have experience in. Clean energy is the future and there are good rebates and tax incentives out there, but the road to get there hasn’t been smooth. Due to unscrupulous contractors, and their partnering finance companies, there have been issues with predatory lending targeting seniors and other vulnerable populations. This has now led to new consumer protection laws regulating the PACE (property assessed clean energy) finance companies in CA. In my opinion, while the new regulations certainly help, they do not go far enough to protect consumers. I have seen customers paying more for solar (on their property tax bills) than they were paying for electricity before solar. I have seen customers paying for both as the contractors skipped town, didn’t complete the work, didn’t get final signed off building permits so the utility would not connect them to the grid, but the finance company paid the contractors in full anyway. If you are considering obtaining solar or heat pumps, I would recommend contacting SCEIP (Sonoma County Energy Independence Program) first. They can connect you with contractors and they make sure the work is done properly and building permits are signed off before the contractors are paid. If you get a telemarketing call or see an ad on-line about Free Solar in CA or free government program, run. Also, as usual, get several quotes and check out the contractors on-line before moving forward. There are good ethical contractors and finance companies out there and moving to clean energy is a smart move. Just don’t become a victim to those that aren’t. Please share your experiences with me (chram@aol.com) and on Nextdoor, so as a community we can help each other move forward. sonomacountyenergy.org.
