Historical Time Line
Continue on our historical journey with Bill Kortum and SCCA
In 1991, Bill Kortum, Dick Day, Joan Vilms, and Juliana Doms founded Sonoma County Conservation Action to reach out to the people of Sonoma County and its nine cities. SCCA has used door-to-door canvassers to educate individuals about current environmental issues and environmentally progressive politicians in one-on-one conversations. Over 30 years of canvassing, we’ve covered a wide range of environmental issues and helped elect dozens of progressive candidates.
SCCA has had a significant impact on limiting wastewater discharge to the Russian River, preventing the privatization of a sewer plant, limiting airport expansion, and promoting Urban Growth Boundaries, a vineyard ordinance, won Parks for All, fought to bring the SMART train to Sonoma and Marin counties.
Arguably our greatest accomplishments are in the work to create and maintain city council and board of supervisor majorities for the environment. Each election cycle our canvassers, staff and board are interviewing candidates for public office, making endorsements of those that we feel will be strong voices for the local environment, and then actively campaigning to help get these endorsements elected by the local constituency.
We had a 90% success rate for our candidates during the 2020 election cycle! That means we have environmental majorities in almost every city council in the county and on the Board of Supervisors.