Editorial: Leaf blower ban deserves a vote by entire Sonoma community

“The opponents of direct legislation, however they may phrase their opposition, in reality believe the people cannot be trusted.” – Hiram Johnson, California governor, 1910

Or, more precisely, the opponents of direct legislation believe the people cannot be trusted to vote with them.

Direct legislation, or the process in which laws are enacted not through a governmental body or legislature but through a public election, is the only satisfactory solution to the leaf blower debate – a debate that has now embroiled Sonoma for more than three years.

Mayor David Cook has been calling for a public vote on whether to ban leaf blowers for months. And, initially, I was of the mindset that such a suggestion was a dodging of city leaders’ responsibilities to make the tough decisions that the voters put them into office to make.

But in this case Cook is right. Put the bleeding blowers to a vote. I’m not alone in my change of mind about this. I spoke with another veteran of the leaf blower wars, a former city councilmember, at the recent Tuesday Farmers Market and he, too, said he’s come around to the idea of a community referendum on leaf blowers. Sonoma resident Jerry Marino has already said that if the council votes for a ban, he’ll begin gathering signatures to place a referendum on the ballot to overturn such an ordinance.

There are arguments to be made on both sides: Leaf blower opponents cite the machines’ superfluous noise, ghastly gas emissions and cough-inducing debris; blower proponents compare them to other noisy inconveniences in society and say the very demand for leaf-blower services in the community is reason enough not to ban them.

But, unlike a lot of contentious issues that come before the City Council, this one seems to have struck a nerve with just about everyone in the Valley. It’s certainly of importance to those who use leaf blowers and those who are annoyed by them, but it’s risen far beyond those circles – it’s become a line-in-the-sand issue in which practically everyone feels they have a stake. This is no referendum on “community character.” This is about whether minor inconveniences of modern society have become major inconveniences – to the degree that they’re outlawed. Not everyone is in agreement on where leaf blowers rest on that spectrum.

City leaders have been as divided on this as everyone. Last year’s council was split slightly opposed to a ban; this year’s has thus far been split slightly in favor, though whether that’s for a complete ban or not is yet unclear. And before you criticize the “split” – city councils can’t be faulted for not taking a strong united stand on everything; sometimes the scales weigh toward the middle. When that happens on an issue of this level of community engagement, a mere five city residents (i.e. city councilmembers) shouldn’t be deciding this for everyone. This isn’t a problem about side-yard setbacks that affect a few feet of someone’s property or whether to amend a zoning ordinance in a particular neighborhood – this actually has reached the level of community referendum, and that’s when a community vote isn’t a relinquishing of responsibilities by the city council; in fact it’s the most responsible course of action.

On Monday, Oct. 5, the City Council will hear a draft ordinance that will suggest possible measures to ban gas and/or electric powered leaf blowers. The I-T hopes Mayor Cook will again raise the possibility of putting this to a public vote in November 2016, which he estimates would cost the city between $3,000 and $4,000 (far less than the hours city staff has put, and will put, in readying for a ban).

Best of all: Putting the fate of leaf blowers to a public vote would end the debate once and for all. m

Email Jason at jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.