Sonoma County rolls out meetings on roads ahead of special election

With less than a month before Sonoma County’s special election on a proposed five-year, quarter-cent sales tax increase, Sonoma County supervisors are hosting a series of town hall meetings focused on the state of the county’s roads.

The next meeting, hosted by Supervisor Shirlee Zane, is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa. Other topics she plans to discuss include water shortages and the SMART commuter train.

The series of meetings is meant to offer information about road fixes the county has tackled to date, and gather input from residents countywide about the shape of their roads. It comes amid a final push by supporters of Measure A - the only item on the June 2 ballot.

The general sales tax measure would raise $20 million in the first year, with revenue estimated to grow by 3 percent annually. County officials and some city representatives have pledged to spend the proceeds on road repair and related programs, but the tax measure would not obligate them to do so. Forty-four percent of proceeds would go to the county, with the remainder of the sales tax revenue divvied up among the cities, based on population and number of road miles per jurisdiction.

For a schedule of the other upcoming meetings, contact the Board of Supervisors, at 565-2241.

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.