PD Editorial: Key Issues: A Report Card

A year ago, we laid out some key issues that would be the focus of The Press Democrat Editorial Board for 2015. Today, we offer the first part of a two-part report card on how the county, certain cities and the state as a whole are doing in addressing these pivotal issues. Readers are invited to offer their own grades - or suggest new priorities for this coming year - by posting their thoughts on pressdemocrat.com/opinion or by sending them to letters@pressdemocrat.com.

The crisis in housing: B-

This issue has dominated regional debate this past year. Local governments, including the county and the cities of Santa Rosa and Petaluma, certainly deserve high marks for addressing homelessness. In this past year, the county has partnered with Santa Rosa in creating safe-parking areas for homeless people to sleep in their vehicles, has opened up a vacant lot for up to 12 tiny houses for those without shelter and has opened part of the former Sutter Hospital site for a homeless encampment. Most significantly, it has launched a $110 million plan to create affordable housing for 2,000 chronically homeless people. As part of that initiative, the county and city worked with the owner of the Palms Inn on Santa Rosa Avenue to convert the site into 104 units of permanent housing for the homeless, especially veterans. Meanwhile, the Police Department and local nonprofits have coordinated efforts to dramatically reduce the number of homeless living on the streets of Petaluma. But on the issue of helping market-rate renters who are being squeezed by skyrocketing rents and negligible vacancy rates, the results have been mixed. As an example, the Santa Rosa City Council remains divided over whether to move ahead with a rent-control ordinance that includes just-cause evictions. For now, local governments get an A for confronting homelessness and an incomplete for confronting soaring rents. Net grade: B-

Annexing Roseland: B+

This process continues to be slow, but progress is happening. Last year, Santa Rosa held a series of public forums seeking input on plans for incorporating Roseland and four smaller county pockets around Brittain Lane, Victoria Drive, West Hearn Avenue and West Third Street into the city. The city also is seeking feedback on a specific plan for the greater Roseland area and is hosting a community planning session and workshop on Feb. 18 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Roseland Village Neighborhood Center. All residents are welcome to stop by. It’s still not clear how the city and the county are going to share the costs of annexing the area and how supportive residents in those neighborhoods are of the idea. Nonetheless, good things continue to happen, including the launching of a long-desired branch library for the Roseland area and the groundbreaking for a new $40 million home for Roseland University Prep school.

Protecting future of Sutter, SDC sites: A-

The last time we graded this, in July, we gave the state a well-deserved F for its misguided efforts to fast-track plans to close the Sonoma Developmental Center by 2018 and relocate its 400 remained residents to community-based homes and care centers. While we see nothing to suggest the state deserves an elevated mark, we award this high grade to local community leaders, family members and community activists who are persevering in their efforts to ensure the best future for these residents as was as for two of the region’s most significant assets: the Developmental Center and the former Sutter Hospital site on Chanate. Pushed primarily by Supervisor Shirlee Zane, the county is about to go out to bid on a redevelopment plan for the Chanate site. Meanwhile, a coalition of local leaders, led by Supervisor Susan Gorin, and family members of SDC residents are fighting for their community-based plan for caring for the residents who remain at the center while preserving the beauty and rich history of the campus. Their pitch may yet prove too reasonable even for the state to ignore.