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OPEN MIC: MEASURE O SUPPORTERS NOT TELLING THE WHOLE STORY
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
Date, Date, 20202020
ZONING CHANGES COULD ADD OVER 400 HOUSING UNITS TO DOWNTOWN HEALDSBURG By Jon Eisenberg
➝ Open Mic, 7
Photo by Rick Tang
Measure O, which will be on the Nov. 5 ballot, would ease restrictions on new housing construction imposed by Healdsburg’s Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) by creating zones of exclusion from the GMO. But that’s not the whole story. Separate and apart from Measure O, the City Council intends to increase the city zoning code’s existing density limits once Measure O passes. This density boost—which won’t require voter approval—could expose the city’s downtown core to future construction of up to 404 dwelling units in a part of downtown where multi-family housing developers are already acquiring properties. The city’s March 2024 Downtown Housing Capacity Study, which carries the names of all five City Councilmembers, recommends a fourfold density boost from 16 to 65 dwelling-unitsper-acre in the city’s Downtown Commercial district. On June 3, Councilmember Chris Herrod said the City Council views such density increases as “an important auxiliary” to Measure O—a “priority” that “we’re hoping to tackle and it may take a year or whatever.” Since then, four council members have refused to commit to rejecting or substantially reducing the recommended 65-dwelling-units-per-acre. Only Councilmember Ariel Kelley has made that commitment. Those refusals speak
MUSICIANS’ LOFT Students in the Heartizens after-school program gather on the ‘treehouse’ level overlooking the Mill Street studio of Jendala Utsch and Heartizens, in February 2023.
Inside Jendala’s Creative Space LOCAL ARTIST AN INSPIRATION TO KIDS, PARENTS, HEALDSBURG By Christian Kallen
The Healdsburg Arts Festival is back again this year, pared down to one busy day in the Plaza. Starting Saturday morning at 10am until 7pm, more than 40 artists will sell their personal and unique artwork of every description—from watercolors, oils and acrylics to photography, ceramics, woodwork, jewelry, printmaking, textile arts, sculpture, metalwork and glass work. Among the familiar artists will be Jennifer Utsch, a.k.a. Jendala. Though the name started as a play on Jen and mandala, like the signature metal chimes she has made her creative outlet, Utsch has morphed Jendala into a magic land of possibilities and optimism. A large poster in her Mo o r e S t r e e t s t u d i o
proclaims the Land of Jendala, where people believe in diversity, with an image of cats and dogs on a park bench, peacefully coexisting. Jendala’s signature artwork—colorful metal charms alternating between symbols and words, affirmations and aspirations—now hang from many Healdsburg porches, eaves and indoor private spaces. They are more than “chimes,” though they all have small brass bells, because “sound creates space,” as she says. “Each color represents a different vibration or emotion,” says the 55-yearold artist. It’s the sort of statement that the skeptic might find absurd; but upon reflection, and with ears to hear, it makes perfect sense. The dangling charms use keywords, like Smile … Relax … No Worries … Friends … Respect … Love … Woof and Magic. There seems to be no limit to how a single word or a pair of them can create a positive vibe, if they are infused
with the positive attitude that is ultimately the definition of Jendala.
Jendala’s Journey
A former deputy sheriff in Utah, firefighter in Arizona, Spanish teacher and life-long artist, Jennifer Utsch first came to Healdsburg in 1999, and over the past quarter-century her bright, creative spirit has found a home in Healdsburg. The City Council even recognized her in August with an official Proclamation, expressing “its sincere appreciation, thanks, and gratitude to Jennifer ‘Jendala’ Utsch for sharing her creativity, positivity, and passion for life, and helping to make Healdsburg a better place.” She’s a regular at the Farmers’ Markets, both Saturdays and Tuesdays, when they are running, as well as other art festivals in Northern California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona. For the past few months, Jendala has made it known she’s moving to Tucson, which has a thriving artist
TAKING ACTION FOR HARM REDUCTION IN HEALDSBURG BOBBY CHOATE, A COUNSELOR AT ALLIANCE, HAS A LIFE-SAVING CALLING By Christian Kallen Photo by Christian Kallen
SHARPS BOX Bobby Choate, Alliance Medical Center’s drug and alcohol counselor, at the new needle drop box for prescription and non-prescription syringes.
A new metal drop box, gray and orange, has appeared in the parking lot next to the Alliance Medical Center next to Healdsburg Hospital. It’s not a mailbox or a book drop or a bank deposit
community, but she’s adamant she’s not giving up on Healdsburg. “I’ve always been a traveling artist,” she said, as if it’s a line on her business card. But she’s found it impossible to find a place to live in the area that meets her requirements for being in touch with nature—and affordability. She has found such a place in Tucson, where she lived previously and has many friends (which is not hard to believe). Several weeks ago she packed up most of her workshop in a trailer and headed to Tucson, accompanied by fellow cancer-survivor Mark Themig, the city’s community services director. By all accounts the journey was epic, with a 4am flat tire near Firebaugh, California, among the highlights. “Only Jendala could turn a 14-hour trip into a 36-hour adventure,” Themig said. “Not only did we have challenges, we also met new friends along the way,” he said—including
box, but it looks like one— aside from the bold phrase, “Secure Sharps.” Me d i c a l p e r s o n n e l understand what that means: It’s a place to dispose of used needles, known in the trade as “sharps.” But needles aren’t just used in hospitals, and drug addicts are not the only other people who use them. A large number of people use injected medication in all walks of life, as legal intravenous drugs become more widespread: for self-administered insulin, Ozempric and other medications. So finding a way to dispose of the needles is an increasingly important consideration for the medical community, and an obligation for the community at large. Bobby Choate is the drug and alcohol counselor at Alliance Medical Center, and runs the Medication
Maria, the owner of the hardware store who had the only U-Haul available in a 100-mile radius, and who turned out to be, of all things, a metal artist. Je n d a l a h a s b e e n afflicted with ovarian cancer for the past five years, and undergone multiple treatments that have yet to end. But her hair (and eyebrows) are back, and somehow the travails did not fully stymy her remarkable energy or creativity. Just as during Covid, the children’s Sparkle Time program wasn’t canceled, but moved online, so she hopes to keep Heartizens alive and thriving even though she’ ll only be in Healdsburg part time.
Heartizens
If her charms are the tangible expression of Jendala’s spirit, Heartizens is the community center of her work. She declares she’s not leaving Healdsburg wholly behind, and hopes one particular ➝ Arts Festival, 4
Assisted Treatment Program. He also informally chairs the North Sonoma County Harm Reduction Coalition, a task force made up of representatives from most local health care organizations. A Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor, he has worked at Alliance well over two years, helping people navigate appropriate health care and treatment. In the course of his work he’s found not only ways to help at-risk individuals, but shortcomings in the county treatment system itself. We spoke with him recently about the Harm Reduction Coalition and some of its programs in the Healdsburg area. Healdsburg Tribune: What is the Harm Reduction Coalition? Bobby Choate: It’s basically just the community ➝ Secure Sharps, 4