From:
To: City Council
Subject: Agenda-Item-Number-6-Community-Service-Volunteer-and-Citizens-Academy-Status-Update Date: Friday, January 2, 2026 12:04:41 PM
Hello Council members,
I would like for the city to do more than simply read and file this update. Please restart this program. Please explain why it is not a higher priority. I’d welcome any or all of you to explain why the city doesn’t need more citizens acting as service volunteers with law enforcement and why it just can’t be done. The lack of more citizen volunteers like this leads to more of the following.
I can’t be the only person living in the city limits who is sick of this list. a.
Lack of law enforcement staff. Everyone knows there are only a few officers, and most crimes need an officer to witness it, not simply video or audio of a crime.
b. Kids on dirt bikes riding on the streets, sidewalks, trails, parking lots, etc. They know nothing happens if they get caught, and the most likely won’t.
c. Shoplifting, everywhere. The kids at Safeway just walk in and out like they own the place. No one stops them.
d. Kids at Safeway after school and before. It’s a closed high school campus. The kids become violent and aggressive if you ask them to move. Safeway won’t stop them. The laws and rules aren’t applied to them, so what
are the adults teaching them about life? The city is part of child-raising by providing a safe and structured environment.
e. Drivers blowing through stop signs like they aren’t there. In school zones, too. f.
Drivers not willing to let you cross the street before they move on you and tightly around you while you are in the middle of the crosswalk.
g.
ADA-compliant bathrooms at public events. I’m looking at Brookhaven and Wesco games. Over a hundred people and no place to wash. The school facilities are closed, and there is a single port-a-potty out there. The kids
urinate behind it and on the buildings while it’s occupied. The gates are locked, and the public bathrooms aren’t available. An easy fix is to have the school unlock the gate like they unlock the gym for basketball. I realize the school isn’t beholden to the council, but influence goes a long way.
I’d like to see the city put some energy into fixing some of this. Be creative, like you were with the grounds project and forced evictions. Someone get behind basic public safety. Implement an ordinance on city streets that double fines for blowing stops or certain motor vehicle laws. Bring in citizen service volunteers to watch school drops and pickups. Even if they can’t arrest, I’d hope they can at least be witnesses to events when an officer isn’t there. Have the same people protect shoppers and stop loitering at Safeway. Make the school close the campus or find a way to track kids with a sign out when they leave campus.
Regardless of the budget, the people are still here. Sebastopol was founded by its people, not a local government city council. We are still here to maintain the city, at least many of us are. We’d pick up trash, garden, weed, fix, and paint if we’d be allowed to. Find a plan that protects the city from liability and let us work.
I’m more than willing to be involved and not just write emails.
Thank you,
Rob Moniz