 | Rotary Times |  |
President: Ross Bickford
Secretary: Kim Menary
Treasurer: Andy Hilldale/Jennifer Rodriguez-Mueller
Meeting time & place:
Upcoming Events
- Plaza Concert, 8/14 @ 6:00 p.m., Brothers of Siren
- Plaza Concert, 8/28 @ 6:00 p.m., The Volkler Strifler Band
- Plaza Concert, 9/11 @ 6:00 p.m., Petty Theft
- Youth Park Hot Dog Stand, Friday 9/19 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Guerneville Cemetery Cleanup, Saturday 9/27 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Crab Feed, 1/31/15, Shone Farm
Upcoming Speakers/Special Meetings
- 8/19: Catholic Charities - Margaret Pettibone
- 8/26: ???
- 9/2: Dinner & meeting at the Guerneville School Garden (end of Carrier Lane)
- 10/7: Service Above Self Award Dinner
- 10/21: District Governor's Visit - Kevin Eisenberg
Welcome!
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Meeting Called to Order
President Ross called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
The Pledge was led by our speaker Efren Carrillo.
Daniela gave an invocation remembering Robin Williams and asking for people with depression to get help.
Ross led us through "That's Amore" after a couple of tries!
Andy had a joke of a bovine nature. "What do you call a cow that has just given birth? De-calf-inated."
Visiting Rotarians: None.
Guests of Rotarians: Erin Rickard and Kathy Smith
Correspondence: Ross brought farewell cards for us to sign for Roscoe and Rich.
Announcements: Chris and Jeff, the new owners of Northwood Restaurant came out and introduced themselves to us.
Lori had several announcements. It was her and Hans' 25th wedding anniversary. On her trip to Montana, she managed to lose her Rotary Pin! She also announced her candidacy for the High School Board of Trustees. Ross pinned her with a Light up Rotary pin as a stopgap. Erin was also asked to pin Mike with his Light up Rotary pin.
Ed announced that our dinner at the Guerneville School Garden will be on September 2nd.
Ross reminded us to RSVP with him if we won't be attending a meeting. He wants to stay on good terms with Northwood by giving them a reasonably accurate plate count ahead of time.
Mike Nicholls passed out petitions to the Public Utility Commission asking that they change their criteria for what constitutes and area being "served" by broadband. You can fill out the petition online as well.
Ross is working to arrange a short visit with Fern for any available Rotarians. More info soon.
Happy Bucks: Mike Nicholls paid $1 for his presentation of the CPUC petition. Ed threw in $1 for his relief of not losing 10 years worth of Quickbooks records that he accidentally deleted.
Fines: Marty and Herman G. were each fined $1 for not having their pins. Lori racked up several: $1 for losing her pin, $5 for announcing her campaign for the School Board, $5 for her vacation/anniversary, and a final $2 for managing to get poison oak while picking blackberries for a pie.
Raffle: Andy drew the winning ticket again, but could only come up with a 2 of clubs.
Program: Supervisor Efren Carrillo joined us to give a "State of the County" talk. He went around the room asking members for their most pressing questions. Some topics were fire department consolidation, Palm Drive, Education, the Roseland Shopping Center, and Roads.
Efren spoke of the improving economy in Sonoma County, but the tax income has not yet caught up with the recovery (it tends to lag 18 months behind).
Tourism has been having its best year ever, a 13% increase this year. Unemployment has fallen to 5.1%. Property tax revenues are up 5%.
Roseland is facing economic and health problems. The Roseland Shopping Center was purchased by the County in 2011. $6 million has been set aside from money previously earmarked for redevelopment to rehab the site. 1 acre has been set aside for a plaza component. Contracting for demolition has been completed and will soon begin. The CDC's vision plan can be seen here: http://www.sonoma-county.org/cdc/pdf/roseland/sebastopol_road_uvp.pdf
Efren then spoke of roads. There are 1,370 miles of County maintained roads and 300 bridges. Approximately 500 miles of those roads are in the 5th District. Approximately $12/year of funds come from state and federal funds to maintain them.
Time began to run short, so Efren spoke briefly about fire department consolidation. There is much long term planning to be done, but it is coming.
Water: We're in the 3rd year of a drought. Despite cutbacks, we are still advertising that our river is open for business!
Efren ran out of time, but gave out his cell phone number (707) 235-9835 to those that want to contact him directly.