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Keep the professional fireworks, but ban the sale of fireworks to the “amateurs!”
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“Petaluma would benefit more by this money going towards our local schools.”
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“Spend the money on street and road repairs.”
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“They are dangerous. Plus, I think all the explosions and rockets and everything glorify violence and war. I think they should be stopped. Maybe we could have a peace gathering of song singing and inspirational readings instead.”
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“This is an American tradition. When we set aside American traditions we start to lose track of what it is to be an American. If that is not politically correct, I don’t care! If it offends someone, I don’t care!”
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“The fireworks show is a nice thing to have; it is not a need.”
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“In today’s economy, government at all levels should be focused on the needs of a community. If the show can be completely funded with donations then the show should go on.”

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If it cannot be funded by donations then the community has spoken about the show’s worth.”

Please stop trying to shut down this fun family event! Whether it be from the NIMBY’s (not in my backyard), who are too over politically correct, or others, who do not donate to help. And please stop trying to remove the sale of fireworks. Don’t let a few bad eggs who are too dumb to understand the concept that fireworks near dry grass is a bad idea, ruin it for the rest of us responsible 4th of July fireworks admirers.

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This is important to many of us – people come from miles around because their towns no longer do this. Children love it! Let’s not get too politically-correct/ socialistic to get rid of this!

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What would the 4th of July be without being able to watch things blow up?

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“We need to outsource more services, not just the animal control. We could save a bundle.” ——

“Not if it means cutting the pay and benefits of the employees. I’m tired of civil servants getting the shaft. We work hard and deserve the money we get. If cuts have to be made or the number of animals needs to be reduced then so be it, but the employees should not be laid off. Stand up for the people who work there. I am quite sure a nonprofit could give better service to the animals but we are talking about living, breathing human beings here, we matter too. I say for once let’s side with the humans. We are union members and have a right to the wage we earn.”

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“I think this is a highly progressive idea. Genius.”

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“Yes, absolutely. If there is a nonprofit entity that is interested in taking over control of the animal shelter, the possible upside is tremendous. A prior nonprofit proposal, presented to the City of Petaluma last year, included a plan to save the city a significant amount of money and increase services to the animals. If an outsourced organization can provide the current level of service the city is providing, plus add services such as basic obedience training and socialization for the animals, it will be a win-win for the city, and especially for animals in need.”

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“But there also needs to be a real mechanism to ensure that the outsourced services are at the same level or enhanced. In my experience with outsourcing of services (I work in the Marin Department of Public Health, where this has occurred over the past few years), while there is discussion about oversight upfront, once the service is outsourced there is little or no community oversight to ensure that promises and services are kept.”

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“Petaluma should outsource Animal Services only if it outsources the Petaluma Police Department, if we’re really serious about saving money.” ——

“Private industry can do everything better than government. We won’t have to pay for bloated pensions and excessive benefits. Outsource the City Council too.”

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“Consider it, yes. It doesn’t hurt to explore options. However, the way the City Council handled the feral cat ordinance gives me pause that they even give a hoot about animals.” “Animal services has played a big part in the community all these years. The two people who act as animal control officers are part of this community and they have young families to support. The Police Department only cares about their pensions and if outsourcing can keep two people employed and save money then that is the way to go. Enough with adding more to the unemployment line to save union pensions

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When the question is phrased in the manner that you did, I would be hardpressed to say anything but yes, but, who will take over the shelter and will they truly “enhance” or “preserve” the current level of service? I don’t know, no one knows, because we haven’t seen any information on the one viable bid, the Petaluma Animal Services Foundation. Sorry, but I need more information.

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Usually the term “outsourcing” is a code word for ‘costs the taxpayers more money.’ Let people keep their jobs, and eff the ‘poor’lice’ (police).

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I’m all for it if it will make it better. I’ve called numerous times about a dog next door barking all night, almost every night, making sleep impossible, but nothing is ever done. I have dog crap I always pick up in my front and back yards everyday. Nothing is ever done about loose dogs. I won’t even mention people and their cats crapping on everyone’s yard. I’ve spent a small fortune on ways to keep them out of my yard along with their crap but nothing or no one helps. I’m not the only one. I hear it from lots of people.

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A city is valued by the way it handles animal control services. If they outsource this service it is telling all that they don’t really care about the animal population. They will find out that they will not save any money and the kill rate will incise dramatically. A private concern will not care about the animals, only the bottom line, thus a very high kill rate. Is this what the city council wants to be known for?

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While we’re at it, why don’t we outsource the City Council, if doing so would improve the level of service? We sure aren’t getting our monies worth from the current bunch.

“You’re not going to get something for nothing. What is really behind the garbage hauler’s offer? What’s to prevent the contractor from requesting a rate hike in a year or so? And if they don’t get the rate hike they’ll just give the contract to another contractor, or worse just not pick up garbage.”

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“Depends how the city is going to waste it. Oops, I mean spend it.”

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“Leave it to the city to screw up garbage service.”

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“Terribly written questions!”

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“What will be the council’s plan for the money the city will get? Appears they already have a track record of wasting money on “studies” and delays on issues around town. Garbage contract was accepted when signed — abide by it!”

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“The city didn’t even conduct annual audits as required of Ratto’s operations here. Why should we trust them to work out some deal behind closed doors that would actually benefit ratepayers, our economy and the environment? Where’s the oversight? Monopoly contracts where we have no choice on paying the bills are notoriously prone to corruption, poor money management, excess profits and failed services. One of the most significant controls on that is open public bidding. What’s wrong with that? Our charter requires it, and the city has tried to sneak around that with a sweetheart deal with Ratto on promises that more ratepayer money would go to the city. This stinks, just like the garbage. Bad news is coming for ratepayers unless we change direction and open the bidding in sunlight. Too bad that some council members don’t believe in that. Who are they working for, anyway?”

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“Here again the corporate power is telling the morons at city hall what to do and how to do it. A contract was signed; now they want to redo it. Sounds like a sports team member. How dare they.”

“I would say OK to this project if we had guarantees that the Indian casino would pay a substantial percentage of their gross earnings to police and fire protection. They should not have a free ride. I would assume that all the money they will net will help educate their children. Hope to see a lot of doctors coming out of that group.”
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“Just say, ‘no.’ In Oregon, I saw billboards along the freeway for gambling addiction help. Is that what we need in Sonoma County, yet another type of addiction?”
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“It is incomprehensible that Gov. Jerry Brown would even consider that this would not adversly affect our county, environment, traffic or lifestyle. What a travesty! Please convey to our legislature our disappointment and extreme anger over this decision. Not only is this not acceptable but it is truly a crime committed against our whole way of life.”

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“Quality of life includes availability of water. The canino will pose a significant decrease in water availability to all of Sonoma county, not just Rohnert Park. It will also negatively impact traffic from SF to Healdsburg to say nothing about the negative social impacts.”
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“The casino EIS, which is wildly flawed, nevertheless admitted that the 2,000 slots then envisioned would increase 101 traffic in north Petaluma (7 miles from the casino) by 10 percent. Now that there are to be 3,000 slots, 101 traffic in Petaluma will be increased by 15 percent, without one nickel of mitigation required for 101. No legislator in their right mind would vote to ratify this compact.”
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“The casino is going to be the size of about eight to nine Walmarts. The traffic will be unbearable, not to mention the issues of water usage (we have none), crime, etc. The idea is to draw people from all over the Bay Area to come there. How is this going to work out? It’s a bad, bad, bad idea.”
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“The casino will cause major congestopm on Highway 101 and will bring crime to the area. Indian casinos were originally approved for tribal lands, but greed has taken over.”
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“The problem is that people were kept in the dark about Proposition 1A, which allowed the proliferation of Indian gaming casinos. You can thank the media for that. The laws that the proposition created basically don’t leave any recourse for any opposition to these casinos. The only bit of good news is that the land this casino will be built on is flood-prone. Building on that land is a disaster waiting to happen.”
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“There may be more traffic, but that is part of reason highway is being widened. Think of all the jobs it will create, especially for students who may not be able to afford the rising costs at Sonoma State Univesrity. It will create jobs for the waning construction industry as well.”
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“The Santa Rosa Groundwater Plain is in overdraft and has been for years. The casino has a federal water right and will eventually force the basin into adjudication. They will have no choice. We only have 22 adjudicated groundwater basins in California, they are extremely distasteful and extremely expensive. The casino has lied repeatedly about just about everything, so don’t believe a word they say about water. The real money is the water. Petalumans, and everyone else in Sonoma County, will pay through the nose if this disaster is allowed to proceed.”
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“The state needs to recognize the negative impact these casinos have on local communities. It is not what the original measure intended — it’s reservation shopping.”
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“This is a horrible idea for sure. I feel like the wheels ‘were greased’ for this to happen. As if traffic isn’t bad enough, just look what an eyesore the one in Geyserville is. When this Indian casino comes into Rohnert Park, goodbye property values along with many other problems.”
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“This would be a terrible mistake for Sonoma County. Rohnert Park is just looking at dollars, but this will not help their community. If I lived in Rohnert Park, I would be moving out. I appreciate Mike Healy’s stance on this.”
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“This would be the first urban casino in California. In very short order, we could have five more on Highway 101, including the land owned by Dry Creek south of Petaluma.”
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“Traffic will be insane.”
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“The traffic will undo improvement from the recent third lane addition to Highway 101.”
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“You can’t blame the traffic jams and failure of past City Councils to actively get Highway 101 widened on this Casino! Let’s face it, the freeway has been widened at least twice in Novato (since it became a freeway) and nothing has been done north of Novato to the northern boundary of Petaluma because of the anti-growth mob of years past in Petaluma. This same group is still vocal in Petaluma Politics, but with Tiffany Renée running for Congress maybe, just maybe we may be done with her left of Bejing politics. Build the Casino, and they will come. Heck just build something!”
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“Get some funding for training the Petaluma Police Department to have better manners. Walk up to a citizen once in a while, greet us with a smile and ask how are day is going. Why don’t we have police officers who walk the “Beat” and get to know its fairly safe community. Start sending trainees to East Oakland. It’s not fair to us to be treated as criminals while they are in training.”

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“I’m not sure what the argument is all about when it comes to pedestrians and bicyclists. We all need to be courteous and pay attention on the roadway. The problem, as I see it, is that bicyclists and pedestrians are much less visible (as well as more vulnerable) when on the roadway. I think that these officers need to ride around, or bike around, our residential streets in the early evening to see how many of our youngsters (as well as adults) are riding around without lights or reflectors of any sort. When I was a kid, we had to obtain a bicycle license and have our bikes inspected. These bicyclists (and sometimes pedestrians) have no idea that they are often close to invisible. I have had so many close calls in my neighborhood that I generally drive about 15mph in the evening. You can’t just blame the motorists. The pedestrians and bicyclists need to share the responsibility and obey the laws that have been written to keep them safe.”

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“If there is money available for police work, grant it to our local departments and have them do the same consistent job everyday, not just when they’re paid extra to do it.”

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“Just another fund raiser!”

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“Maybe if some individuals would learn to obey the rules of the road, bicycle and pedestrian laws we would not have use for such funding. I think the Petaluma Police Department should forget about warnings and just cite everyone. Seems to be the only way to get a violator’s attention.”

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“Of Course.”

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“Our kids are afraid to step off the curb, they are afraid of looking at the police wrong. When you walk down the street to get a bite to eat at lunch time, and then get stop by the police and they ask to search your purse.”

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“Sick of drunks! Sick of cars not stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks! Sick of bicycles not obeying traffic laws but wanting the same rights as cars. Sick of both bikes and pedestrians thinking they can just cut in front of you anywhere anytime without looking because they think they are special and have the right.”

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“The grant money that the Petaluma Police Department received from the state was never used for drunk driving prevention. The real goal of their sobriety checkpoints is racial profiling of Latinos. This is insulting. Read the synopsis of their checkpoint results for proof. And they have only ever done token enforcement of bicycle laws. I would love to see the Petaluma Police Department use any money they can get to enforce bicycling laws, but they have to REALLY use it for that purpose and REALLY enforce the laws on a regular basis.”

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“The whole program is an overtime pay boondoggle for cops.”

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“This is a much-needed step by the police! It’s too bad that our council and bicycle committee never had the intelligence to push for this. However, anyone who has ever lived in a “bicycle friendly” town like Davis or San Luis Obispo knows that traffic laws are strictly enforced for bicyclists. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t see a Petaluma bicyclist run a stop sign, endangering themselves and others. This is the first step this community has taken in years to promote bicycle safety.”

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“This is police work to the highest bidder! IF there was no financial incentive to enforce such laws would the cops be as enthusiastic to carry out the task, I think not. It’s sad and it’s a discrace to the department and the city that the nature of police work has become revenue seeking from the citizens it pledge to protect and SERVE. Ok, I’m stepping off my soap box now, thanks for letting me vent/rant.”

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“Waste of money. Gov Brown should put a stop to all these funds and put it to good use.”

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“Yes! Need to get those drunk drivers off the road! Also, all the local marijuana smokers too! Too many on the road as well.”

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“Yes. And please start ticketing the folks on bikes who create hazardous conditions by running red lights and riding with traffic without signalling properly. We are not mind readers and don’t know what you are necessarily doing. Running a light or stop sign is just stupid–and arrogant. If they were driving a car they would not do it…or maybe they would. I see plenty of younger drivers just breezing through stop signs and lights. Just takes another person killed to make the change, I guess. Cyclist just killed a pedestrian in San Francisco.”

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“Your surveys don’t really ask the correct question(s) most of the time. In this case, the question should have been some thing like this: Do you think this is the best use of your tax dollars? If not, then how could they be better spent. While I know that we have a high rate of pedestrian/bicycle collisions with vehicles in this town, I also know that I would like more enforcement in other areas. Specifically, this town has a prostitution problem and it has a problem with the distribution of hard drugs such as meth and heroin. I would like to see more enforcement in this area. However, according to our Chief of Police, Dan Fish, neither one of these problems exist. It is time for new blood in our police department!”