2003 Victories 

• We collected signatures on petitions to the Board of Public Utilities to stop the City of Santa Rosa from building a wastewater pipeline to the ocean. 

• Our canvass team advised county residents about the Timber conversions element of the Sonoma county general plan update 2020.  We generated 400 letters to the citizens advisory committee and county planning agency calling for adoption of “option 3”, for the strictest protections for our county’s forest, and won a victory for the trees!  The county placed this ordinance on the fast track for approval due to the tremendous amount of citizen input. 

However, county staff has rewritten Option 3, and the future of this ordinance is in jeopardy!  <Take action Now Link!> 

• SCCA collected letters to the Windsor Town council, urging them to reduce municipal greenhouse gases.  This is done by going to cleaner burning city vehicles, installing solar panels, and planting trees on the south side of buildings to reduce cooling costs.  

2004 Victories

Canvass Report: Year-End Wrap-Up: 

The Conservation Action staff has made great strides over the past year. 

• The primary election of March 2004 saw our canvassers identify 20% of the yes votes for the Noreen Evans campaign for state Assembly.
• Collected >75 letters in the town of Sonoma for the Living Wage Coalition,

• Collected >75 letters in the town of Sonoma for the Living Wage Coalition,
• Collected over 100 letters in the Sonoma Valley for a public trail from Jack London State Park to the Top of Sonoma Mountain. 
• In response to the Low Flow proposal for the lower Russian River, where the flow of the river faced upwards of 80% reduction in the summer months, the canvass collected over 200 letters in the Russian River/Sebastopol area for a Comprehensive River Management Plan for the Russian River. 
• Next, the canvass spread the word for the Yes on Recall in Rohnert Park, as well as for Chip Worthington and Linda Lamb for City Council. 
• Then we were off to Sebastopol, identifying Yes votes for Craig Litwin’s successful reelection to City Council. 
• We organized all eight precincts in Healdsburg, activating our membership to form neighborhood groups to keep an eye on the local environmental vote.  We built a grassroots support network for the environmental perspective in Healdsburg, working for the successful Mike McGuire campaign for City Council. 
• The November 2004 elections really heated up on the streets of Petaluma.  Our organizers knocked on a month’s worth of doors for Pam Torliatt, and Campaign Finance Reform, coordinating with KYN organized precincts.  We also started up 10 Know Your Neighbor teams in Petaluma!  We also secured seats for Larry Haenel on the Santa Rosa city school board, and Marsha vas Dupre for the SRJC Board of Trustees.  It was truly inspiring to work for progressive environmentalists on local education boards!
• Still, we were not satisfied.  We began collecting Signatures for GE Free Sonoma County the day after the election. 
• In Dec 2004, we began a letter campaign in Petaluma to stop the expansion of the outlet mall into the floodplain, and instead encourage sports fields and a Central Petaluma River Park for residents. 
• 2004 was truly a year of accomplishments!

 2005

• The canvass has steam left yet, as we identify the vote for the passenger rail along highway 101, in anticipation of the November 2006 election.
• We have embarked on a long-term campaign addressing groundwater in the county, and press the issue of open space protection and access.
• For the past 3 months, we have been working on the county general plan 2020 update, educating and activating concerned county residents about Water Element of the General Plan.  We have collected and sent over 500 letters to the county planning agency, the Board of Supervisors, and the State Water Resources Control Board, calling for comprehensive water management for our county’s water resources.  We are working on this campaign through the Sonoma County Water Coalition, of which SCCA is a proud member.  Watch our site frequently for updates on this very exciting campaign.
• With ever the watchful eye on local politics, we will continue to inform and activate concerned residents throughout the county and its cities, generating letters, collecting signatures, and holding our local electeds accountable.
• SCCA is very excited about the upcoming County General Plan 2020 update, which is coming before the County Planning Commission this summer.  As a county, we are looking at revising our Affordable Housing Element, Timber Harvest Element, Water Element, Land Use Element, and Transportation Element. Check back often for action alerts and scheduling notices on these very important issues!

• Our early letter campaigns to various local elected officials successfully advocated for tighter local timber harvest rules, against unnecessary expansion of the Sonoma County Airport, for the public ownership of Lafferty Ranch, and many other successful lobby efforts.
• SCCA led a successful campaign against the massive increase of wastewater discharge into the Russian River, and has generated hundreds of letters in support of agricultural reuse of the wastewater as an alternative.
• We have campaigned for a multi-model transportation package including the implementation of a passenger train along the 101 corridor with bike lanes and pedestrian walkways since our inception In 91.  We are looking to the SMART train appearing on the ballots in the fall of 2006! 

Conservation Action's defining campaigns, 8 of 9 Cities in the county adopted voter approved Urban Growth Boundaries, curbing the urban sprawl and encouraging “smart growth” around downtowns in the urban core.  In the time since these campaigns, mixed use developments and downtown redevelopment have become the mantra of Sonoma County urban development.