From: City Council
To: Mary Gourley
Cc: Oriana Hart; Erik Billing; Torran Korman; Elissa Overton Subject: FW: Agenda item #6 - Newstand ordinance - yes
Date: Tuesday, August 04, 2026 5:45:34 PM
Please see public comment as it relates to an agenda item that will be on a city council meeting.
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Thank you
Mary Gourley
City Manager
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From:
Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2026 2:38 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda item #6 - Newstand ordinance - yes
As the former publisher of the Sonoma County Gazette (sold in Dec. 2019 to Sonoma Media Inc.) I wholeheartedly support Sebastopol establishing a newspaper rack ordinance. My policy was to keep our races clean and maintained at all times. That changed when Sonoma Media took over the racks, which have continued to deteriorate since then. Now that the Gazette print edition is no more, the racks have been abandoned on the streets.
Because Sonoma Media never purchased my racks as part of the Gazette purchase, I have removed many and donated them to a non-profit that distributes Narcan. They have as many racks as they need. I am willing to remove more and donate them to Little Free Libraries, or any other good purpose.
Many cities have enacted ordinances requiring maintenance and consistent aesthetics. That not only supports a city and its public works department, but also encourages readers to pick up free publications that are well displayed.
Let me know if and where racks need to be removed and if you can recommend any organizations or neighborhoods that want some. My contact information is in my signature.
Thank you,
Vesta Copestakes