Dear Friends of Shollenberger,

Six years ago our community and City Council stood up for Shollenberger Park and rejected the Dutra asphalt factory proposal in favor of the health and quality of life in Petaluma. We spoke at the  Board of Supervisors hearings, we wrote letters and emails, and thousands signed petitions.  We spoke out against allowing a private business, Dutra Materials, to ruin our most popular park and valuable wetlands. We said "NO" to Dutra's asphalt factory towers and trucks blighting our Gateway and  the banks of our River.

Three of our our elected Supervisors (Carrillo, Kelley, and Kerns) failed to properly interpret and enforce our County General Plan. These three chose instead to find loopholes like the fairytale of  "river dependency" to allow the rezoning of Dutra's parcels to Light industrial. Two Supervisors, Shirlee Zane and Valerie Brown spoke eloquently in favor of protecting public health from the impacts of asphalt manufacture deadly by products like heavy metals  and diesel exhaust. Considering the proximity of the proposed factory to  public open space used for recreation, 26 schools, and hundreds of new subdivision homes, we applauded Supervisors Zane's and Brown's NO votes on Dutra.

We will continue to stand up and fight to protect Shollenberger Park, despite court decisions based on the defendants' (The County of Sonoma)  briefs relying on the parsing of words and legal loopholes, and not on the real interests of the people who elected them.We will fight on to SAVE SHOLLENBERGER.

Contribute online at the O.W.L. contribute page -- on the Friends of Shollenberger location OR, mail checks to Friends of Shollenberger, 521 Howard Street, Petaluma, CA. 94952. Contriutions are tax deductible.

Thanks -- this fight is not over.
Joan Cooper
Friends of Shollenberger