From:
To: City Council
Subject: Comments Regarding Resolution Against Measure J Date: Friday, September 13, 2024 12:36:28 PM
Hello and thank you for your time esteemed council members.
I would like to have my below remarks/comments included in the record for the Sebastopol City council meeting on Tuesday.
My name is Nicoletta. I write to you today as a resident of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, not the city of Sebastopol but i oppose this resolution against Measure J for a number of reasons and believe you esteemed council members should also oppose this resolution.
Personally I'm ashamed my city and several other cities and towns have already adopted such a resolution but that's another matter.
Firstly I oppose the resolution just on principle. Tens of thousands of Sonoma County voters signed petitions in support of Measure J months ago. Our governments should remain neutral and let the voters decide. This resolution is rather undemocratic. It puts undue pressure on voters to also oppose the measure. Regardless of which side you fall on this issue who are we to think we can speak for all the voters of the City?
Second I oppose the resolution due to the animal waste pollution and infectious diseases caused by factory farms. Part of the wonder and joy of living in Sonoma County is the largely pristine natural environment. We should keep it that rather than perpetuate the treatment of waterways and soil as foul dumping grounds for industrial farming giants.
Third I oppose the resolution due to the abject cruelty and horror of factory farms. Thousands of animals crammed in windowless sheds is not a family farms, it's an inhumane industrial hellscape. Measure J only seeks to prohibit large CAFO factory farms as defined by the EPA from operating in the county or be required to downsize their operations. While they are big facilities, they are only a small fraction of the total of farms in the County. Small CAFOs and family farms would be unaffected. Sonoma County is well known not just regionally but nationally and internationally for its farming and agriculture, as it should be and in perpetuity.
We don't seek to take that heritage away. This fight has been intentionally mischaracterized as a fight between animal activists and family farms no thanks to the big animal ag industry and the millions of dollars they've been dumping into No on J. We should instead think of it as a challenge to the voters: do we as in Sonoma county collectively wish to create a legacy and demonstrate leadership on the issue of ethical and humane farming or do we wish to perpetuate the inhumane cruelty and abuse of big animal ag? I strongly urge you esteemed council members to oppose this resolution and leave this question to the voters, and to the voters I strongly encourage you to vote Yes on Measure J in November.
Thank you.
Nicoletta "Nicki" Thibeault, MPH, BS
She/her