City leaders found themselves divided on whether it is the council’s role to weigh in on Measure J, the countywide ballot question that’s pitting farmers versus animal rights activists.
No on J pins sit on a table at an event in Rohnert Park on Thursday, August 15, 2024. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)
AMIE WINDSOR
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
September 18, 2024, 11:32AM
Sebastopol’s city council on Tuesday night narrowly adopted a resolution opposing Measure J, joining other Sonoma County communities in taking a stand against the countywide ballot measure that agricultural businesses claim would damage their bottom lines and, in turn, the county’s economy.
Before the 3-2 vote, dozens of people packed the council chambers to voice their opinions on the ballot question. Slightly more than 60% of speakers opposed the measure, with the rest saying it should be approved to ensure humane treatment of chickens, cows and other farm animals.
Measure J aims to phase out so-called concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, within three years. If passed in the November election, it would be the first county ordinance of its kind in the United States and would directly affect around 21 Sonoma County companies, including ones run by dairy, chicken and poultry farmers who say they already treat their animals humanely and that the measure’s end result would limit their ability to operate.
The Sebastopol council’s decision, opposed by Vice Mayor Stephen Zollman and Councilmember Sandra Maurer, highlighted the inflamed arguments on both sides. “This is an incredibly sad state of affairs,” Zollman said during the council meeting. “We’re all sort of pitted against each other.”
Sebastopol joined the majority of Sonoma County cities and the county Board of Supervisors in opposing the measure. Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Sonoma and Cloverdale have passed resolutions opposing Measure J. The city of Cotati has been the only municipality in the county which has opted not to take a position on the measure. To date, no Sonoma County community has supported the measure.
Windsor Town Council members were set to discuss a resolution opposing the measure during their meeting Wednesday night.
In Sebastopol, Zollman and Maurer echoed the Cotati council, believing it wasn’t in the Sebastopol City Council’s best interest to “tell people how to vote,” Maurer said.
“I’m not comfortable with the city being an activist,” Maurer said. “I respect the farmers and I’m grateful for all of the organic food, but I do not feel comfortable with this and would like us to take a neutral position.”
Maurer and Zollman also said they felt pressured by other cities and the Board of Supervisors to denounce the measure.
“I do feel pressure. A supervisor came in hot with representatives from farms to say, ‘This is the way I see the world. It’s me against the others,’” Zollman said. “I do empathize with Cotati, and I encourage us to take no position.”
Ultimately, Mayor Diana Rich and Councilmembers Neysa Hinton and Jill McLewis voted to adopt the resolution opposing the measure, leaving the final tally at 3-2.
“I don’t feel pressure by any board. We stand up for the things we believe in,” Hinton said.
Measure J was brought to the county ballot by the Coalition to End Factory Farming, a group of animal rights supporters, environmentalists and small farmers, including Samantha Faye, a Sebastopol-based farmworker.
“I am the proponent,” she told the city council. “And the idea that concentration doesn’t affect animal welfare is asinine.”
According to its website, the Coalition to End Factory Farming states that CAFOs in Sonoma County operate in “near secrecy” and “harm animals, pollute our air and water and spread disease.”
The coalition argues that these “industrial facilities” are “not in line with the values of Sonoma County residents.”
But local farmers say otherwise. Doug Beretta, a Sonoma County dairy farmer who supplies Petaluma-based Clover Sonoma told Sebastopol leaders the measure is misguided. Beretta says his family takes care of 280 cows in west Sonoma County.
“Nothing in (the measure) talks about animal welfare,” Beretta said. “We take care of our animals here. Raising these cows has been my life. If it wasn’t for us taking care of our animals, we wouldn’t be in business.”
Don Moreda, Jr. of Moreda Family Farms, one of the CAFOs targeted by the Coalition to End Factory Farming, told the city council that his farm is “doing everything right.”
“We are not the kinds of farms they should be attacking,” Moreda, Jr. said. “We are the kind they should be supporting. They’re kind of working backward.”
But Zollman, who last year brought a resolution to the city council in support of activists with ties to the Coalition to End Factory Farming who were convicted of stealing chickens and ducks from poultry farms near Petaluma, said that “all of this could have been avoided” if farms were more transparent.
“What is the big secret? If everything is hunky dory in our farms, then let’s see. Open the doors. Let us see,” Zollman said.
Amie Windsor is the Community Journalism Team Lead with The Press Democrat. She can be reached at amie.windsor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5218.