On November 7th voters in the northern California town of Sebastopol elected Green Party members Craig Litwin and Sam Spooner to the city council. Joining incumbent Green Larry Robinson, they now make up the second-ever-Green Party city council majority in the US, another milestone for Green organizing in this country.
With three candidates running for two seats, Litwin and Spooner both defeated an incumbent Democrat as well as a write-in candidate to win their seats in this progressive town, 50 miles north of San Francisco. The other incumbent - clearly the most conservative member of the prior council - chose not to run at all, sensing the Green shift in voters' preferences.
"I've knocked on virtually every door in town," said Litwin. "I've heard the concerns of Sebastopol, and am committed to making the council more inclusive, more accessible to the public."
A teacher and organic gardener, Litwin, 24, has a Bachelors of Arts degree in 'ecology and sustainability' (New College of CA, North Bay campus) with a focus on the local food movement. He co-founded Planting Earth Activation (PEA), a volunteer organization of young activists who have planted nearly 100 free, organic gardens in the community. The connections made and grassroots organizing experience he gained in that effort helped Litwin greatly in his campaign, particularly in involving young voters. "Tying generation gaps is an ongoing project of mine."
Like fellow Greens Spooner and Robinson, Litwin seeks to change Sebastopol's role from a bedroom community that is linked to nearby Santa Rosa, to a more self-sustaining, self-reliant one. "Our city should encourage more cottage industry and mom and pop owned businesses, to supply diverse goods and services to residents without having to send our investment capital to Santa Rosa. This will empower citizens and give more people the option of working at home, which will help to alleviate traffic problems."
As a companion strategy, Litwin proposed an educational campaign to teach residents the value of buying locally, in order to produce more sales tax revenue for their fiscally challenged community. Sebastopol suffers from an annual budget shortfall equivalent to 10% of its general fund, resulting in many basic, critical community needs going unmet.
Spooner, 43, runs his own engineering business and designs television studios. A newcomer to politics, he felt that Sebastopol was at a crossroads, and that a new vision was needed in city hall. "This city of 9,000 is faced with escalating housing costs and development pressures which threaten the small-town identity and economic diversity most residents cherish. The voters have made a clear choice for a future based on ecological values and a livable community for everyone. A walkable downtown and affordable housing are priorities here."
To accomplish affordable housing goals and at the same time maintain Sebastopol's Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) (that was passed with 72% by voters in 1996), Spooner advocated developments with higher density through 'thoughtful infill' and mixed-use projects. "We must preserve our greenbelt for future sustainability, and to accommodate a modest population growth, we must accept density close to our existing infrastructure."
It was Robinson in 1996 who chaired the UGB effort, which included drafting the UGB ordinance with the help of a legal firm, circulating a petition to qualify it for the ballot, then going door-to-door campaigning in favor of it. The UGB established that the then current sphere of influence (which has recently been shrunken further ) would be the limits of any annexation - or extension of city services - for a 20-year period, unless amended by a popular vote. There were some limited exceptions made for affordable housing, parks and municipal facilities.
In the Green trio's first meeting, they voted to appoint Robinson - who was the top voter getter two years ago - as mayor for the next two years. In his first address as mayor, Robinson vowed to make Sebastopol a model of sustainability. Calling this a pivotal time in the community, he said, "It is time to move beyond the two-dimensional spectrum of left or right, of jobs or the environment. It is at the local level, in communities like Sebastopol, that we will make our choice."
Just as in Arcata, California - the first city to have a Green majority - some in Sebastopol have questioned whether the Greens' "global perspective" might take them away from addressing basic city needs. Robinson responds by saying that "our primary focus will continue to be on 'pothole issues', like any other city council. The major difference is that we hope to look at all our decisions through the lens of sustainability. We must always ask 'how will this decision impact the lives of our grandchildren and their grandchildren?' What sets the Greens apart is our willingness to consider the larger picture, both temporally and ecologically, and to remember that the foremost responsibility of government is to ensure the health and well-being of the land and of all its inhabitants."
Now that the new Council is seated, Robinson wants to start with the traffic congestion along State Roads 12 and 116, which intersect at the Sebastopol town center and lead to U.S. 101, the main north-south highway from San Francisco. He supports replacing traffic lights at both ends of a busy stretch of State Road 116 with traffic circles and narrowing the highway to two lanes from three and widen the sidewalks, in order to slow drivers and encourage people to walk or ride bicycles. Spooner agrees with this approach: "We are not going to move more cars through town, but we can make the trip more pleasant and make the roads friendly to pedestrians and bicycles."
The Sonoma County Greens local group donated $500 each to Litwin and Spooner, phonebanked every Sebastopol Green on their behalf and knocked on a large number of doors citywide to hand out their flyers.
In addition to Litwin and Spooner's election, Sonoma County was a hotbed of Green organizing in 2000. The county had the most municipal Green candidates in the nation running in one county - seven. Nader/LaDuke got 7.3% in Sonoma County, the fifth highest county percentage in California. Sonoma County Green voter registrations also rose 40% from February to October 2000, to 6,500.
Across the entire state, California Greens hold 33 elected offices as of March, 2001 and have won over 70 elected offices since 1990. State Green registration has also risen to an all time high of 141,637 as of February, 2001.
Source: The Green Pages
