No vote this time
Thursday, February 20. The full Citizens Advisory Council
(CAC) met to approve the Water Resources Draft Element for inclusion
in the Sonoma County General Plan 2020. However, a parade of public protest
begged the CAC to think about the document in more detail before
voting,. The public urged this delay despite the fact that
the subcommittee had spent a full year researching and fashioning
this part of Sonoma County's future water policies.
Oddly, during this entire year, of what has been obviously
hard work, no one on the three-member CAC Water Resources Subcommittee
(which
includes a lawyer) stumbled on to SB610 and
SB221.Local geohydrologist Dr. Steve Carle asked why the Water Resources
Draft Element omitted mention of these laws and did not make use
of the Draft Guidebook (which was submitted to the full CAC in
a timely manner within the public comment period). This was the
moment when Mr. Carr delivered his eminently quotable
line: "It's only a draft!"
Public protest over the somewhat cursory appearance
of the draft; possible conflict of
interest with two
subcommittee
members
(one
a developer
and the
other a lawyer with ties to the development community); the lack of prohibitions
to stop cities from destroying prime groundwater recharge areas, as
well as numerous other perceived shortcomings, convinced the CAC to postpone
a vote. The full
CAC will meet again on March 6. The public may attend but not speak.
The chocolate chip cookies were especially tasty.
The full CAC meeting |
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The snack table |
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