Supervisor Mike Kerns: You sold us down the river!

SUPERVISOR MIKE KERNS:
YOU SOLD US DOWN THE RIVER

Let Mr. Kerns know how you feel: mkerns@sonoma-county.org

MIKE KERNS, PETALUMA’S 2ND DISTRICT SUPERVISOR voted for big business Dutra Co. and against the will of his own district in a straw vote approving the Asphalt Plant at Haystack Landing. If Mike had opposed the project it is unlikely the other Supervisors would have imposed their will over our District.

Despite hundreds of citizens and their children attending the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors hearing yesterday and 3000 signatures on petitions opposing the project, Mike chose to side with Dutra and their friends in the construction industry wanting cheaper asphalt.

Mothers, teachers, docents, artists, homeowners, business owners, and environmentalists presented fact filled testimony about the impact of an asphalt plant. They spoke of concerns about their family’s health, the visual beauty and serenity of Shollenberger Park, the valuable educational asset of a wildlife and wetlands preserve so close to our population center, the accessibility of Shollenberger Park to people with disabilities and life threatening diseases, and the negative impact of an asphalt plant on the image of Petaluma and Sonoma County as a healthy, green, and sustainable place to live, work, and visit.

Mike tossed out a laundry list of additional mitigations to make the plant safer, a short list that would only be added to the over 130 mitigations already attached to the FEIR for the Dutra project. The ability of the City and County to monitor and enforce these mitigations seems doubtful considering their limited resources. This list was handily accepted by the other yea voters with minimal discussion: Efren Carrillo, Paul Kelley, and Valerie Brown. They acted as if they had reviewed the list prior to the meeting, and orchestrated Mike’s presentation to appear responsive to the public’s overwhelmingly anti-Dutra position.

Although Efren Carrillo stated that for now he would vote yes, he at least wanted questions about the project’s water usage as well as its relationship to water table levels answered.

Kerns stated in his closing remarks that 4 years ago he anticipated the problems and questions being raised by the public now, so he held extensive meetings with County Staff and Dutra to work them out. But he never bothered to consult with the City of Petaluma nor with the residents who are affected by the Dutra Plan.

THANK YOU!
SUPERVISOR SHIRLEE ZANE

Shirlee Zane was the only Supervisor who spoke up against the project and voted no. She defended the County General Plan’s vision of Sonoma County and the concerns of Petaluma, its 2nd largest city. She noted that cumulative air quality impacts were not evaluated in the FEIR, and that these would be significant and unavoidable. She stated that Sonoma County’s goal to attract Green Business would be undermined and the long-term economic impacts of locating an asphalt plant at the Gateway to the County were not dealt with in the FEIR. She noted that in order to approve this project the Supervisors would have to amend the General Plan, a plan that was just adopted a few months ago and was the product of extensive public input.

That was supposed to be your job Mike, to defend your District.

There’s still time to stand with your community – Think hard.

Joan Cooper