Paving Petaluma potholes remains top priority in 2017

Most Petalumans aren’t expecting much positive change to come about in Washington D.C. in 2017. The recent election of Donald Trump, who was opposed by a very large majority of Petalumans turned off by his hateful rhetoric and total lack of experience in government, has triggered a collective sense of dread as to what he will do once he takes office as President next month.

But what can we expect from our locally elected officials in 2017? While hyper-partisanship has nearly extinguished the art of political compromise and consensus building in Washington, our local representatives, including Supervisor David Rabbitt and members of the Petaluma City Council, are well-positioned to tackle and fix tough problems and work collaboratively to achieve shared goals. Their ability to work closely with their counterparts in state and federal government, including Assemblyman Marc Levine, State Senator Bill Dodd and Congressman Jared Huffman, will also be of great importance on matters where state and federal funds are necessary to get the job done.

As our locally elected representatives prepare to set their goals for the New Year, we’re offering up the following priorities we believe they should aggressively pursue.

At the top of the list is the desperate need to rebuild city and county roads. Finding the necessary tax revenues to do the job, whether by crafting a new tax initiative or renewing an existing tax such as Measure M which helped fund the widening of Highway 101, should be local government’s top priority in 2017.

A close second would be completing the Highway 101 widening through Petaluma along with adoption of a construction plan for the long-awaited Rainier crosstown connector designed to alleviate traffic congestion in central Petaluma. More than 12 years after a large majority of Petaluma voters directed city officials to do everything possible to make the Rainier cross-town connector and interchange a reality, there is now a reasonable likelihood that the first segment of the project could be under construction by 2020. Let’s get it done.

Another transportation priority is getting the SMART train up and running and building a second station on Petaluma’s eastside to enable its use by all city residents. The half billion dollar project, authorized by voters in 2008, was expected to be operational by now, but having to replace the engines on the agency’s new rail cars due to a design flaw, along with ongoing challenges getting warning signals at crossings to work properly, delayed the train’s start date into the spring of 2017. Because there is little parking available at the downtown train station, getting a second station built on the eastside is an imperative.

In a place where the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is something north of $1,800, a price that is out of reach for most middle class workers, Petaluma’s housing crisis has reached a boiling point. City officials have an obligation to find new ways to ensure that more affordable housing units are built so that low and middle income people are not shut out of living here.

Another important goal for city officials in 2017 should be concluding negotiations with the Sonoma-Marin Fair board on a new lease. The fair, part of a state-run organization, has occupied the 64-acre parcel in the middle of town since 1936; its current lease expires in 2023. Currently, the $1-per-year lease gives the fair sole discretion over what the grounds are used for, an anachronistic arrangement that city officials cannot continue. Petaluma’s elected officials are, after all, responsible for getting the most efficient utilization of this valuable property for the benefit of its owners, the citizens of Petaluma. To do that will require reconfiguring the fairgrounds property so the fair can operate successfully while opening up space for new public uses, thus enabling the property’s full potential to be achieved.

County Supervisors should make it a priority to finally open the 1,769-acre Tolay Lake Regional Park. Despite being acquired by the Open Space District ten years ago, the park, located off Lakeville Highway just a few miles southeast of town, still gets very limited public use. A final draft of the park’s master plan is anticipated early next year. It can’t come soon enough for the thousands of local hikers, nature lovers, bird watchers, horseback riders and others who have waited more than a decade for the parks’ opening.

Achieving these goals is not exclusively the job of our locally elected officials. Everyone has a responsibility, as part of the democratic process, to stay informed about these very important public needs and find ways to help where possible. Whether by volunteering with an advocacy group, writing a letter to the editor, speaking up at a public hearing or contacting an elected official to share your concerns, you can make a difference by getting involved.

Though you may be dismayed about what’s about the happen in Washington, D.C., opportunities abound to make a positive and lasting difference in your community.