Stories of the year in Petaluma, 2021 edition
From the vaccine rollout to unprecedented drought, 2021 was a year of hope, heartache and continued turbulence in Petaluma.
Residents welcomed the most diverse local school board in history, moved the ball forward on equity with a committee dedicated to community race relations and rejoiced at the return of the annual Veterans Day Parade.
But the community also grappled with a widening homelessness crisis that has overtaken large swaths of the waterfront, a deepening drought that sent dairy farmers scrambling to keep their animals alive and rising concerns with an increasingly concentrated cannabis industry.
Through it all, the Argus-Courier was there to document each sign of the times in Petaluma. We’ve been through it together. And we’re pleased to offer this special Year in Review package as a reflection of that journey.
The year of the vaccine
Petaluma vaccine clinic opens, serving vulnerable seniors
In early February, when John Maher lined up for his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Santa Rosa Junior College Petaluma campus, the man more commonly known as “Petaluma Pete” put into words what many older adults were feeling at the time.
At the end of a dark winter featuring a tragic spike of coronavirus cases and deaths, county operated vaccine clinics had just opened, and were serving residents by the hundred.
“It feels like hope,” he said. “I’m staying hunkered down until the second vaccination, but as soon as I can I’m taking to Facebook and letting folks know the day when Petaluma Pete is going to make his return.”
2021 was the year of the vaccine. It rolled out first to vulnerable seniors and first responders. There was a push for educators to get inoculated, followed by students. Residents living on the streets were also offered vaccines, a recognition of the underlying health conditions that often impact the vulnerable population. Eventually, the vaccine was approved for kids as young as 5.
Dealing with drought
Sonoma County dairies forced to reckon with drought conditions
In Two Rock Valley, a bucolic expanse west of Petaluma near the Marin County line, the lack of rain was already pummeling farmers like Don DeBernardi this past spring.
“I have never seen it like this,” he said one March morning, turning to look out across the valley that unfolds from his 3,000-acres along Tomales Point Road. “They call this the dairy belt out here. But when we don’t have water, well this ain’t too much of a dairy belt.”
As the months wore on, many farmers had to truck water, cull herds or both. Then, the realities of the drought reached cities, which were tasked with cutting back drastically to stave off even greater impacts.
Petaluma enacts new mandatory water restrictions, aiming for 25% citywide reduction
Petaluma joined other Sonoma County cities in establishing water use restrictions, including designated irrigation days and cutbacks on watering at certain city parks, among other efforts.
Following weeks of voluntary water rationing, the Petaluma City Council in late June launched the start of a series of restrictions that would follow in the months to come, ushering in a more aggressive city-led campaign to curb resident water usage.
The new limits both expanded existing water-saving measures and raised the stakes – threatening fines up to $1,000 and shuttered water service for those with multiple violations.
New leadership
Petaluma City Council welcomes new members
The Petaluma City Council welcomed Brian Barnacle and Dennis Pocekay, helping establish a progressive majority on the council for the first time in more than a decade. The new council wasted no time, setting aggressive climate action goals and moving to ban the construction of new gas stations, as well as banning natural gas use in new construction.
The City Council has also dramatically boosted the city’s spending on homelessness solutions, including approving the construction of the city’s first tiny home village using $1.7 million in COVID-19 relief funding.
Petaluma City Schools board elects district’s most diverse leadership to date
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