PD Editorial: A year of big stories and unfinished business

This year began with an inspiring story: Santa Rosa’s Kevin Jorgenson and Tommy Caldwell of Colorado Springs, Colo., scaling Yosemite’s El Capitan using only their hands and feet.

After reaching the summit on Jan. 14, a weary Jorgenson popped a cork and sprayed champagne across the granite. “It’s over,” he said. “I can’t believe it.”

The same might be said for this year, which seemed to pass quickly and ends in just five days.

Looking back at 2015 in Sonoma County, there’s much to appreciate.

Unemployment fell to a seven-year low, the median price for residential real estate reached an eight-year high and tax windfalls made budget deficits a fading memory. These are all indicators of a solid, if unspectacular, recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-09.

Many of this year’s top news stories reflect growing confidence in the local economy. The parent company of Fireman’s Fund moved to Petaluma, raising hopes that other employers fleeing high commercial real estate prices elsewhere in the Bay Area will look north.

Construction began on a Nordstrom Rack store at Coddingtown, the latest face-lift for Santa Rosa’s first large shopping mall. Amy’s Kitchen combined vegetarian fare and drive-thru convenience at a new Rohnert Park fast-food outlet. Expect to see more of those.

Lagunitas Brewing’s partnership with Heineken puts the Petaluma craft brewer firmly on the international stage. Consolidation continued in the wine industry, but food and wine weren’t the region’s only attractions. Investors sought out local manufacturing and technology companies, purchasing CamelBak and Cyan Inc., which both remain in Sonoma County.

Some of the big local stories of 2015 are still unfolding as the year winds down - and may still be incomplete 12 months from now.

One is the drought, which has persisted for four years and counting. Then again, the big story in 2016 may be the end of the drought. Weather forecasters predict that drenching rains (as well as floods and mudslides) will accompany El Niño storms. But climate experts warn that this winter’s precipitation probably won’t be enough to replenish strained aquifers. North Coast reservoirs are rising, but conservation mandates probably will continue, along with passionate disagreements about how to ensure long-term water supplies.

Which brings us to another unfinished story: the housing crisis in Sonoma County. Construction all but stopped during the recession, and the rising cost of rentals is making it almost impossible for many low- and middle-income residents to afford homes in the region. Water supplies are just one aspect of a public policy conundrum that includes the impact of development fees and land costs, finding funding sources for affordable housing, conversions of long-term rentals into vacation rentals and ever-present opposition to growth.

As with any new year, there are questions. Will the new Sonoma West Medical Center in Sebastopol thrive? Is there a solution for the region’s deteriorating roads (or the state’s or the nation’s)? Will state officials push ahead with plans to close the Sonoma Developmental Center, the home to some of California’s most vulnerable citizens? What will happen to them?

Sonoma County is expected to launch its independent law enforcement review office in 2016, following up on a recommendation from the Andy Lopez task force. SMART’s commuter rail service is scheduled to begin. It will be an election year, with all the squabbles that entails. And, if we’re lucky, there will be a story as awe-inspiring as Jorgenson and Caldwell’s climb.