Smart Growth for Sonoma County

By Debora L. Fudge

Debora Understands What Smart Growth Is and How to Implement It

People can say that they believe in smart growth and good planning, but it's easy to say, and harder to know how to do it. I know how to do it. You can see my work - all you have to do is visit downtown Windsor, and look at other forward thinking vision plans that are planned for future development in Windsor.

You need to fully understand the principles of Smart Growth in order to implement it. It's much easier to accept "dumb development" - or development the way it has been traditionally been done in Sonoma County. It's much harder to work with developers and planners to get them to understand how their projects need to change. I continue to learn by attending a nationwide conference each year. You need to hold firm to the principles when developers come forward with average, sprawl development projects that are not smart growth. Sometimes the projects themselves are OK, but they are proposed in the wrong places, and that makes them "dumb". You have to stand firm and not accept less than we deserve, and not accept the kind of growth that would harm us in the future - which is what continues to happen in Sonoma County today.

We need to a change in direction, so that we can protect all of the agricultural lands that we have now. (Maybe we could even expand them!) This means we need to start planning 20-50 years out, and stop thinking only about tomorrow. It's crucial that we start to change our policies now, before it's too late.

This is my passion. Please elect me so I can put my skills to work for the County, and for you.

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