Stories of the year in Petaluma, 2021 edition

Whether they made you laugh, cry or wonder why, these stories tell the story of Petaluma in 2021.|

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.

Don DeBernardi discusses and shows the affects of recent drought conditions on his dairy farm in Two Rock on Monday, March 29, 2021. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Don DeBernardi discusses and shows the affects of recent drought conditions on his dairy farm in Two Rock on Monday, March 29, 2021. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

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.

Brian Barnacle reacts to cheers and applause from friends who waited for election results with him at The Block in downtown Petaluma on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.  Barnacle was one of two newcomers who were elected to the City Council.(CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Brian Barnacle reacts to cheers and applause from friends who waited for election results with him at The Block in downtown Petaluma on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Barnacle was one of two newcomers who were elected to the City Council.(CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

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 of Education President Joanna Paun. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Petaluma City Schools Board of Education President Joanna Paun. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Petaluma City Schools board elects district’s most diverse leadership to date

While Petaluma’s largest school district continued to maneuver pandemic restrictions and distance-learning, its board launched the new year with the most diverse team in its history. Joanna Paun, who became the city’s first elected Black official when she was elected to the board in 2018, was named board president. Paun’s campaign pledged to improve representation for minority students.

Sheldon Gen became the new clerk of the board. Gen is a Chinese-American son of immigrants who noted a lot of children in the district are immigrants or children of immigrants and said he hoped to represent what is possible for the district and for its schools.

Petaluma City Schools gets a new superintendent

Just one day after Superintendent Gary Callahan announced his retirement, the Petaluma City Schools Board of Trustees announced they had tapped Matthew Harris as the district’s next superintendent.

Harris had served as assistant superintendent of human resources with the district since 2018. The trustees touted Harris’ familiarity with the district in a statement to the district community and media.

Since taking over, Harris has helped Petaluma City Schools navigate the first on-time, in-person return to school since fall of 2019, but he has also been forced to guide the district through a series of hiccups, including phony bomb threats at district secondary schools.

Jaeden Thompson, a second grader at Mary Collins at Cherry Valley School, works on a class assignment on Friday, July 30, 2021. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Jaeden Thompson, a second grader at Mary Collins at Cherry Valley School, works on a class assignment on Friday, July 30, 2021. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Back to school

After coronavirus closed classrooms for a year, Petaluma schools welcome students back

The mid-April return to the classroom for most Petaluma elementary school students marked the end of an unprecedented year of remote learning that has tested educators, strained home environments and led to measurable losses in student achievement.

In the preceding months, calls from parents for a return to the classroom had reached a crescendo, crashing down on school board meetings and flooding the inboxes of education officials countywide, an effort supplemented by rogue signs and billboards urging a quicker reopening of schools.

Amid the melee, school administrators and union leaders scrambled to get school staff vaccinated ahead of the anticipated return to classrooms of some 40,000 students countywide, including thousands in Petaluma this past spring, for the first time since the pandemic struck in 2020.

In-person and on-time, fall semester begins for Petaluma schools

School returned for Petaluma’s year-round campuses beginning July 22, and in August thousands of local students returned to classrooms for the start of Fall classes, marking the first such on-time return since August 2019.

School leaders worked overtime through the summer to prepare for the return of full-time, in-person learning, grappling with seemingly ever-changing guidance from local, state and federal health officials.

A scene for Ali Afshar’s latest production, “City Lights” starring Lauren Swickard, was filmed at downtown Petaluma’s Penry Park on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
A scene for Ali Afshar’s latest production, “City Lights” starring Lauren Swickard, was filmed at downtown Petaluma’s Penry Park on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Popular Petaluma

‘Action!’: On set with Petaluma’s Ali Afshar

Two days before the Fourth of July, a film crew was darting around Petaluma trying to wrap up local shots for the new holiday comedy, “City Lights.”

Produced by Petaluma’s Ali Afshar, the movie brought together the same cast and crew of “A California Christmas,” including production assistant Lily Oehm, a Casa Grande High School graduate. “A California Christmas” was a surprise Netflix hit and was shot here last year with a skeleton crew at the height of the COVID-19 shutdown.

The Petaluma Buzz: Local Subaru commercial wins fans

In a Subaru commercial released this past spring and titled “Barn Wedding,” the opening shot is of a Subaru Crosstrek, parked in front of downtown’s Hotel Petaluma. A fellow in a tuxedo runs from the hotel, shouting, “Hi Sis!” to the woman behind the wheel and gets in the car. "You’re late!“ she says.

A drive through the country, an untimely road closure, a muddy unpaved road and a lost cat named whiskers are all involved, on the way to a pleasantly corny ending at a gorgeous farmhouse (Olympia’s Valley Estate, a popular wedding and event venue in Petaluma).

A black bear sits in a redwood tree in the backyard of a home on Raymond Heights in Petaluma on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021.(BETH SCHLANKER/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT)
A black bear sits in a redwood tree in the backyard of a home on Raymond Heights in Petaluma on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021.(BETH SCHLANKER/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT)

Wild animals

Reports of mountain lion sightings captivated Petaluma in June, when video caught a juvenile male prowling across town over the course of days. Later, in October, a mother and her cubs massacred chickens at a Penngrove farm. More recently, a Black bear found its way up a tree in the Raymond Heights neighborhood in mid-November.

Finally, The Argus-Courier checked in with Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue, one of just two rescues in California licensed to house wild black bears. The operation is working to raise money to expand its shelter with an apex predator enclosure, allowing its bears, many of which were orphaned during Northern California wildfires, more room to roam.

Johnnie, the painting horse, hosted the first public showing of his paintings on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at Dairydell Canine in Petaluma. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Johnnie, the painting horse, hosted the first public showing of his paintings on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at Dairydell Canine in Petaluma. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Tame animals

Horse paints vivid abstracts

Johnnie, the Gypsy vanner painting horse, captured Petalumans’ - if not the art world’s - attention with his vivid abstract offerings.

He was even offered a spot in a prestigious art show...that is, until organizers found out Johnnie was a horse.

So Johnnie’s owner planned the horse’s very own show, hanging a display of his most impressive works, and including a live demonstration by Johnnie.

Inside story on Petaluma's most famous mascots

In March, Argus-Courier Community Editor David Templeton delved into the surprisingly interesting backstories of some of Petaluma’s most well known animal mascots.

Some are carved out of stone or molded from fiberglass. Others are built from cloth or iron or wood or neon tubes. Many are assembled from parts. Many more are simply stuffed.

John Volpi, right, owner of Volpi's Ristorante & Bar in Petaluma, entertains the crowd at the bar with traditional Italian songs on the accordion on Thursday, May 6, 2021. (JOHN BURGESS/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT)
John Volpi, right, owner of Volpi's Ristorante & Bar in Petaluma, entertains the crowd at the bar with traditional Italian songs on the accordion on Thursday, May 6, 2021. (JOHN BURGESS/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT)

How restaurants rebounded

After a nearly 14-month closure, Volpi’s reopens in Petaluma.

Through the Depression, World War II and the Great Recession, the family-run Italian restaurant remained open. Then the pandemic came, closing it for almost 14 months.

More than 100 diners reserved tables for the long-anticipated reopening of the local institution in mid-May. Manager Ginger Corda-Hermsmeyer said most of them were regulars.

Petaluma businesses adjust to most expansive pandemic restriction easements as state reopens

Across downtown Petaluma in June, signs of the long-awaited reopening burst into view. Some business owners teetered between excitement, cautious optimism and confusion over the state’s most expansive pandemic restriction easements to date.

For a downtown that has been struggling to return to pre-pandemic levels, Petaluma Chamber of Commerce CEO Onita Pellegrini said it’s a step in the right direction, though obstacles remained as businesses search for employees and some maintain they’re not yet ready to toss their masks.

Matt Erickson and Janine Naretto (left), seen here in a September, live at the homeless camp near Steamer Landing Park in Petaluma. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF).
Matt Erickson and Janine Naretto (left), seen here in a September, live at the homeless camp near Steamer Landing Park in Petaluma. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF).

Homelessness crisis

This past spring, as city leaders sketched plans to double city spending for the Committee on the Shelterless and funnel $1 million into a new mental health-focused policing model and launch a mobile shower program, there was little consensus among elected leaders on the type of solutions long sought by homeless advocates and deployed elsewhere in the county - investments in hotel rooms, safe parking, sanctioned encampments or tiny home villages.

By the end of 2021, Petaluma officials had unveiled plans for a 24-unit tiny home village near the COTS-run Mary Isaak Center homeless shelter, as well as plans to apply for state grant funding to buy a hotel to house the city’s growing homeless population.

“We’re going to have to figure out, as a county, as a city, as a region, how we are taking care of our own,” Petaluma City Manager Peggy Flynn said in a phone interview July 15. “We’re a city that’s getting stronger because we’re rebuilding based on the needs that we are seeing. It’s a better approach than not dealing with it proactively.”

Petaluma National Little League All Stars say good by to San Bernardino in August 2021 after coming to within one win of advancing to the Little League World Series. (COURTESY OF ESTHER OKAMURA)
Petaluma National Little League All Stars say good by to San Bernardino in August 2021 after coming to within one win of advancing to the Little League World Series. (COURTESY OF ESTHER OKAMURA)

Sports winners

Season of dreams for Petaluma Little Leaguers

After a promising start in their pursuit of the Little League World Series, the Petaluma National Little League All Stars ended a win short in the West Region Tournament in San Bernardino.

They earned their way into the tournament by winning District, Section and Nor-Cal tournaments and were placed in a good position to continue their dream when they received a first-round bye in the six-team regional tournament. They lost to the eventual tournament winner Honolulu.

A first for Steal Breeze softball: A Western National championship

A determined team of young Petaluma teens made local softball history this summer by becoming the first Steal Breeze team to win a USA Western Nationals Tournament championship.

“We had 12 girls who were playing not only for the name on the front of their jerseys, but also for the entire Steal Breeze organization,” said Billy Brody.

The champion 14-under team is coached by Billy Brody and Jeff Ketchu with help from assistants Kevin Carlomagno and Danny Gemma.

St. Vincent football team comes within one win of state championship

After a nearly 3-hour bus ride, St. Vincent was beaten by Argonaut’s like-named Mustangs 42-12 in the first-round of the California Interscholastic Federation state Division 6AA playoffs.

The loss was only the second of a dream season that saw St. Vincent’s Mustangs go 11-2, win a share of the North Bay League Redwood championship and win a North Coast Section football title.

A woman fills up with gas at the Shell station located across the street from a Chevron gas station at the intersection of Lakeville Street and Caulfield Lane in Petaluma on Thursday, March 4, 2021. (BETH SCHLANKER/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT)
A woman fills up with gas at the Shell station located across the street from a Chevron gas station at the intersection of Lakeville Street and Caulfield Lane in Petaluma on Thursday, March 4, 2021. (BETH SCHLANKER/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT)

Gassed up

Petaluma’s gas station ban believed to be nation’s 1st

Petaluma attracted a wave of media attention over its March decision to prohibit the construction of new gas stations in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The move, which began as a temporary freeze on new gas stations in 2019, was meant to encourage a switch to electric and hydrogen charging stations as the city aims to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Amid resident-led lawsuit, Safeway abandons gas station plans in Petaluma.

In April, Safeway representatives and city officials confirmed that the grocery store chain was walking away from its embattled Petaluma gas station project after years of resident-led pushback.

The decision marked a victory for opposition group NoGasHere, which had been locked in a nearly two-year legal battle with the grocery giant and the city of Petaluma over the project.

Council member Brian Barnacle called the end of the Safeway project “icing on the cake” to the city’s ban on future gas stations.

Ron Evenich opposes a proposed commercial cannabis farm in his neighborhood. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Ron Evenich opposes a proposed commercial cannabis farm in his neighborhood. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Cannabis cacophony

Sonoma County set for reckoning over rules for commercial cannabis crop

Ron Evenich’s family has lived on Pepper Lane, just off of Pepper Road, since 1969. His property sits a few houses down from more formal vinyl signs calling for “No Pot on Pepper.”

Evenich still has the tank his family used to haul water daily during the mid-1970s drought, but in the thick of another historically dry year, his focus sits squarely on the push for nearby cannabis cultivation and the fear that a looming change to Sonoma County land use rules could spur a boom in pot farms around him.

“It’s gonna be a free-for-all,” he said.

This rural enclave in the dairylands west of Petaluma is the highly active front in the battle between Sonoma County’s rural neighborhoods and commercial pot operators. Neighbors here have joined far-flung residents across the county in what they see as a fight for their rural existence.

Dry Creek Rancheria tribe files cannabis application with Sonoma County

The tribal government that agreed this past spring to delay its pursuit of a casino in south Petaluma has found another use for a portion of its land: cannabis.

The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians has filed an application with Sonoma County to grow nearly 1,000 cannabis plants outdoors along the southernmost stretch of Petaluma Boulevard South, at the southeast corner of Highway 101 and Kastania Road.

The project still must be approved by county planners, but it has drawn positive remarks from area leaders who have long sought to limit casino activity in Sonoma County.

After missing a year without the annual Veterans Day Parade in Petaluma because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s was the largest one in the north bay area._Thursday, November 1, 2021._Petaluma, CA, USA._(CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
After missing a year without the annual Veterans Day Parade in Petaluma because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s was the largest one in the north bay area._Thursday, November 1, 2021._Petaluma, CA, USA._(CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Welcome back

Petaluma’s Veterans Day parade returns

Thousands of people celebrated the return of the city’s famed Veterans Day Parade which was canceled last year because of COVID-19.

Among the parade entrants were the Petaluma Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, USCG Two Rock and Cotati Harley Club, the Redwood Empire Military Women, Petaluma Korean War Veterans and more.

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, a Vietnam War Veteran and Purple Heart recipient, thanked those who served, as well as their loved ones, in a speech at the event.

“To all the other Veterans, men and women who served, thank you for your service,” added Petaluman Rose Nowak, this year’s Sonoma County Veteran of the Year.

Cinnabar brings back in-person, live theater

When Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater announced its 2021-22 season of plays in April, there was one significant set of details that was not included: the actual dates of the shows being named.

That changed in early July, when the company updated its website to indicate a September return to in-person performances, something the small theater on the hill has not seen since February 2020.

“We’re extremely excited that we are opening the theater this fall, and are finally giving audiences an opportunity to come back,” Cinnabar Executive Director Diane Dragone said.

Sadie Martinez gets support from her friend, Kinyatta Reynolds, in December 2020, before speaking at a press conference outside the Michaels store in Petaluma where she and her husband, Eddie Martinez, were accused of an attempted kidnapping by Instagram influencer Katie Sorensen. Police found no evidence of a crime and the Martinezes believe it to be a case of racial profiling. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Sadie Martinez gets support from her friend, Kinyatta Reynolds, in December 2020, before speaking at a press conference outside the Michaels store in Petaluma where she and her husband, Eddie Martinez, were accused of an attempted kidnapping by Instagram influencer Katie Sorensen. Police found no evidence of a crime and the Martinezes believe it to be a case of racial profiling. (CRISSY PASCUAL/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Reckoning with race

Petaluma committee on race and policing finalizes recommendations

Petaluma’s committee on race relations and policing approved a raft of recommendations in October, pushing for an office of equity, anti-racism training and outreach to diverse groups, as part of the city’s hiring process, in a meeting that marked the culmination of six months of work.

Established in January, in the wake of months of local Black Lives Matter protests last year, the city’s 28-member ad-hoc committee has already finalized recommendations for police oversight, school equity and inclusion efforts and the creation of a multicultural community center.

“All of this is a part of what we’re trying to say to the city,” said committee member Faith Ross, president of Petaluma Blacks for Community Development. “Diversity in city hiring is at the top of what we need to be looking at. Because it is our city. If we can make a change in that, we can make a change in our community.”

After they were racially profiled during Michael’s shopping trip, Petaluma family speaks out

In the months since a white mom from Sonoma took to social media to accuse a Latino couple of attempting to kidnap her children last year at a Petaluma Michael’s, the Sadie and Eddie Martinez have worked diligently to clear their names while grappling with the newfound spotlight.

The long-time Petaluma residents and parents to five say they’ve struggled to come to grips with what is now widely seen as a brazen instance of racial profiling.

The December kidnapping allegation from Katie Sorensen, a white woman they’ve never met with a large social media following, turned the Martinezes’ lives upside down.

After charges of false reporting were finally brought against Sorensen in April, the case has dragged on throughout 2021. The next court date for Sorensen is in early January.

Sen. Bill Dodd taps Petaluma’s Faith Ross as Sonoma County ‘Woman of the Year’

Faith Ross, co-founder of Petaluma Blacks for Community Development, was named this year’s Sonoma County Woman of the Year.

The honor, bestowed by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, to one woman in each of the counties he represents, is part of a long-running California Senate tradition meant to honor impactful women in March, Women’s History Month.

In a news release announcing the Ross pick this past spring, Dodd’s office highlighted her decades of work curating Petaluma’s Black History Month, as well as her recent leadership throughout the Black Lives Matter movement, and the city’s ongoing efforts to improve race relations and policing.

“Faith kept a spotlight on the many contributions of African Americans and the challenges they continue to face at a time of great reckoning in our country,” Dodd said in the release. “She emerged as a leading voice in our community as we strive for racial equity and social justice. I’m proud to recognize her efforts at this turning point in our history.”

Bill Soberanes stands in front of the wristwrestling statue in downtown Petaluma that was unveiled in 1988 in this 1999 photo. (LEENA HINTSANEN/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
Bill Soberanes stands in front of the wristwrestling statue in downtown Petaluma that was unveiled in 1988 in this 1999 photo. (LEENA HINTSANEN/ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)

Remembering those we’ve lost

Bill Soberanes turns 100

Bill Soberanes was an Argus-Courier columnist from 1954 to 2003. From daily to bi-weekly to weekly, broadsheet to tabloid and back to broadsheet, Bill’s column was a constant.

Soberanes would have turned 100 in October, and so the Argus-Courier honored that occasion with plenty of Bill-centric content. .

“He was one of the last great authentic characters,” Chip McAuley said, “in that he was truly himself. It was a period of time and a culture that had room for it – and allowed it.”

Ross Smith, creator of World’s Ugliest Dog competition, dies at 91

Fifty years ago, with a simple quip, Ross Smith helped put Petaluma on the map and taught a generation that all dogs deserve love.

Smith, who is widely credited with creating the famed World’s Ugliest Dog contest, died May 24 in Sacramento, where he had lived for the past several years after spending most of his life in Petaluma. He was 91.

It was Smith who, during an Old Adobe Association barbecue in 1971, let fly an idea that would morph into a contest that regularly garners international attention.

Longtime Petaluma city official Gene Beatty dies at 74

Gene Beatty was a police officer, assistant city manager, public works director and, well, you name it. Just ask former Petaluma City Council member Bob Lipman, who spoke fondly of Beatty in the wake of Beatty’s death Dec. 2.

“He was a reliable guy, he could fit a myriad of roles,” said Lipman, who works in commercial real estate for Coldwell Banker. “He was an excellent person, as a policeman and assistant city manager - and he was my neighbor too. I liked him a lot and I thought he had a positive impact on this community.”

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