Weekly Roundup for November 18, 2022

Today’s digest provides helpful and important updates on the following:

1. Community health update
2. County opens new airport terminal
3. Housing Hero of the Month

Community Health Update

Sonoma County doctors are seeing an increase in flu, RSV and COVID-19 cases.

These airborne diseases are spread in similar ways, and there are simple steps residents can take to lessen their impact. Measures such as washing our hands frequently, wearing masks and staying home when sick will increase chances of keeping ourselves and our families healthy. But the best way to protect yourself and your family is to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and the flu.

Many providers will give a flu and COVID shot in the same visit. They are available at your primary health care provider or most pharmacies. You can also find an appointment through MyTurn.ca.gov or socoemergency.org/emergency/coronavirus. You can also get COVID vaccinations at the vaccine clinic in Roseland and at the Rohnert Park Community Center.  The COVID vaccine is available for anyone 6 months and older, and the bivalent booster is available for anyone 5 years and older who is at least two months past their last COVID shot.

Dr. Sundari Mase, Sonoma County’s health officer, strongly recommends that everyone continue wearing masks in indoor public settings with large groups of people gathered close together. This is especially important to protect those who are elderly and who are immunocompromised. High-quality surgical or N-95 masks work best.

Just over 79 percent of the eligible residents in Sonoma County have been vaccinated for COVID-19 and nearly 22 percent have received the new bivalent booster. While both numbers are above the state average, nearly four out of five eligible Sonoma County residents have still not received the updated booster, which contains components of the original virus strain and the omicron variant to provide broad protection against COVID-19.

Visit the county’s YouTube page to view a video of Tuesday’s community health update in English and Spanish and learn more about local trends in respiratory illnesses.

County opens new airport terminal

The newly renovated terminal building at Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport made its debut this week, part of a $40 million project to modernize the airport.

The building now offers more than 27,000 additional square feet of space including a revamped ticketing lobby, improved double-lane security lanes, a large main lobby with four additional boarding gates and dedicated concessionaires, an outdoor seating area, a new baggage claim area equipped with two baggage carousels, improved public viewing areas and car rental areas, and local artwork recognizing the airport’s namesake, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz.

“This state-of-the-art airport terminal is the culmination of years of hard work and will complement an already exceptional air travel experience to and from Sonoma County,” said James Gore, chair of the Board of Supervisors.

The airport’s Capital Improvement Plan is projected to support an average of 164 jobs annually, generate $100.9 million in total payroll, $31.2 million in tax revenue, and $231.7 million in economic output in Sonoma County.

For information about Charles M. Schulz — Sonoma County Airport, call 707-565-7243 or visit https://sonomacountyairport.org.

Housing Hero of the Month

Zach Powers, a property owner in Sebastopol, has been named the county’s Housing Hero for November as part of an ongoing campaign to promote the benefits that housing vouchers offer to both tenants and landlords.

Powers, who has been renting out properties in Sebastopol for eight years, started renting to housing voucher holders three to four years ago. He was unaware of the program until he got information from a local housing nonprofit, SHARE. Now, he calls SHARE or the Housing Authority whenever he has open units because, he says, the process for filling the units is easier than going through normal means.

“It feels good to provide housing to people who really need it and provide housing that is safe, secure and stable,” said Powers.

The County of Sonoma and City of Santa Rosa launched the Housing Heroes campaign in September to encourage greater participation in housing rental assistance and home-sharing programs. Vouchers help low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled afford decent, safe and clean housing.

Some of the benefits that Powers said he has experienced from renting to Section 8 Housing Voucher recipients include always receiving the rent on time, not having to charge below market rate for his rentals and often ending up with long-term renters. 

View a video of Powers’ story or or nominate a Housing Hero at https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/housing-heroes

Other County of Sonoma News

Permit Sonoma announces policy and technical working groups for well ordinance update  
https://permitsonoma.org/permitsonomaannouncespolicyandtechnicalworkinggroupsforwellordinanceupdate

Sonoma County Probation Department awarded grant to supervise people with multiple DUI convictions 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/sonoma-county-probation-department-awarded-grant-to-supervise-people-with-multiple-dui-convictions

Sonoma County Continuum of Care opens nominations for vacant seats on board 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/sonoma-county-coc-board-2022-open-nominations-vacant-seats

View a list of current and upcoming job opportunities at the County 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/job-opportunities

Want to read more about what we're up to at the County of Sonoma?

Sign up for the SoCo Correspondent monthly newsletter here: 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Newsroom/SoCo-Correspondent/