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CITY ASKS RESIDENTS FOR THEIR SPENDING ADVICE
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
March 14, 2024 Date, Date, 20202020
PUBLIC SURVEY RUNS THROUGH MARCH TO INFLUENCE 2-YEAR BUDGET Staff Report
Photos by Rick Tang
Every time a city issue becomes a public issue, it’s inevitable that residents find something to complain about—a way to do things better or cheaper or not to do them at all; or to do something entirely different. “Public budgeting can be complicated,” admits Mayor David Hagele in a video accompanying the survey. “That’s why this year we developed the interactive budget survey tool as part of our upcoming two-year budget development process.” The idea is to let the public try to manage the city budget, and see what they might cut to make room for other projects. It’s by no means a simple Yes or No, scale of 1-to-5 survey. “The goal of the budget survey is to engage the public and get their feedback on city funding priorities,” said Katie Edgar, the city’s finance director. “The city budget is a key planning document, and the budget process is where funding decisions are made about what the city will do in future years.” Hagele said, “These are your tax dollars, and this is your opportunity to share with the city how you would like to see them spent.” The city is seeking funding priorities for the upcoming 2-year budget, which will be evolved over the next four months. The target is a June 3 Budget Adoption date by the city council, following intermediate public meetings, goal settings, budget analysis and workshops. The survey, which is available in both English
DANNY BOY A kilt-wearing bagpiper runs through the hits of the Irish during Healdsburg’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Top o’ the Morning to You! Sunday’s Pre-Dawn Parade SHENANIGANS MAKE MARCH 17 A BIG DAY IN HEALDSBURG By Christian Kallen
For some reason, Healdsburg has become known for its St. Patrick’s Day parade. If it’s not the best, then certainly it’s the earliest. Starting at 6am, give or take—that’s pretty early. For the past 29 years or so, early risers (or possibly those who stay up all night celebrating) have gathered in the 400 block of Healdsburg Avenue in the predawn, there to engage in a raucous holiday celebration replete with bagpipes, conch shells, snare drums and general mayhem.
Bill Coleman, the former owner of the B&B Lounge which at the time was located where John & Zeke’s is today, is said to have started the tradition in the mid-1990s. The purpose, if there was one, was supposedly to wake up the slumbering tourists in nearby hotels, to let them know that Healdsburg took some things more seriously than tourism—in this case, early morning drinking. While that’s one possibility, the Hotel Healdsburg wasn’t even built then, so whatever tourists the B&B merrymakers were trying to wake up weren’t staying there. Also there’s the indisputable fact that, even in Healdsburg, mid-March is
not tourist season. (Well, it wasn’t then anyway.)
The Idea Catches On
Regardless, the idea caught on: Meet at the B&B for an Irish Coffee to start the day, bring out the bagpipes and march around the Plaza on St. Patrick’s Day. What could go wrong? Now hundreds of people show up every March 17 at Sanderson Ford (453 Healdsburg Ave.), primed for the parade that begins at 7am. People are dressed in festive green, with hair dyed an appropriate hue, leading pets bedecked in cosplay and joining a spontaneous parade of bespoke floats, sometimes inappropriately dressed revelers, a green-sashed Queen of St. Patrick’s Day and a Grand
Marshal VIP, riding in a convertible. In other words the idea caught on, proving that even the least colorful story still makes for a good reason to have a parade.
The Morning After
Although the party vibe is strong, it begins to dissipate with sunlight, and things calm down as the morning advances. But adding to its rich menu of annual events in the Plaza, Healdsburg Community Services has once again reserved the Plaza for the annual Kiwanis St. Patrick's Day Celebration, cosponsored by Healdsburg Kiwanis. Billed as “a lot of fun and a little shenanigans for kids of all ages,” it begins at 11am with a garden of
➝ Budget Survey, 4
fairy houses, children’s fairy-door-making crafts and games, face-painting, snack food and toy giveaways. The day includes two sets of music by the highenergy Celtic rock band Tempest between noon and 1:30pm, and two traditional Irish step-dancing performances by the Shiloh Step Dancers, planned for 12:35pm and 12:55pm. “Don’t miss this chance to put on your green and celebrate the best of Irish culture in Healdsburg,” urges the city promotion. And with the weather building up to a long weekend of sunny days, it could well be the first best party of the year. ➝ Parade Photos, 4
THE GLOBAL JOURNEY OF NOAM LEMISH COMPOSER, PIANIST BRINGS MUSICAL PARTNER AMOS HOFFMAN BACK TO HEALDSBURG By Christian Kallen
Photo courtesy of Noam Lemish
MUSIC MAN Noam Lemish, formerly a Sonoma County
resident, returns to Healdsburg on March 16 for a quartet concert with Amos Hoffman at The 222.
Though he is now a fulltime music professor at York University, pianist and composer Noam Lemish remembers with affection when, as an artist just setting out on his path, he came to Sonoma County. “I was very fortunate when I moved to Sonoma County to have some really wonderful mentors and teachers, such as
W.A. Mathieu and George Marsh, and Will Johnson and Mel Graves—some of whom are associated with Sonoma State, and some who are just incredible musicians who have a very open-minded outlook about music,” he said. Their mentorship helped Lemish, now 41, focus on what has become the major throughline of his career—“the idea of combining musical genres and creating music that really isn’t necessarily confined by genre distinctions.” That focus comes into sharp relief on Saturday night, March 16, when Lemish joins with oud- and guitar-player Amos Hoffman in a quartet performance on The 222 stage. They will be accompanied by the rhythm section of Miles Wick (bass) and Alex Aspinall (drums)—both
music classmates of Lemish’s at SSU. Lemish and Hoffman have been down this road before, last appearing in Healdsburg in 2018 with a similar exploration of multi-ethnic music, largely based on Jewish melodies reimagined as jazz compositions in the classic configuration. But “Jewish music” itself is a music of multiple influences, including Kurdish, Yemenite, Moroccan, Ladino and Russian, as well as Israeli songs. Lemish—an intelligent, articulate and broadly educated man in his 30s—doesn’t try to just cobble together a music built of its various components. “I don’t necessarily make a conscious effort to try and combine these influences,” he said. “I just create my music, the music that I feel I want to create. ➝ Jazz Journey, 3