Valley Forum: Why I’m voting ‘no’ on Measure V

An argument against bannin gas-powered leaf blowers|

Growing up in a broken family with very little money and a lack of family structure, I lived with my father who had to work a minimum of two jobs just to make ends meet.

Never one to be saddled with being idle, I had the bright idea of mowing lawns at the age of 6. My father, being a great guy, gave me a push mower because I was too little for a power mower… I rolled my reeled push mower around neighborhoods in Montclair, California where there were plenty of opportunities to cut grass - I searched for any lawn that looked liked it needed to be mowed and, to this day, I can still envision my first job. What I now know as ryegrass about 6 to 8 inches tall looked perfect for me to knock on the door and make a sale - success! I would spend all day taking running starts with my push mower into a wall of grass on what turned out to be just a regular-size yard. I wanted it to look like the yard my father kept at our house, something he was proud of. We rented a good house in a good neighborhood and it was possibly my father’s way of showing community pride in a good looking yard; I know it made him happy.

The owner of the lawn that I muscled through was so impressed with my effort that he doubled my asking price and I left there with a couple dollars; I was already thinking about how I could convince my father to teach me to use his power mower so I could be faster, and do the job that I would see him do every Saturday morning. (He did this when he came home from working overnight shifts in a supermarket and I was always ready to help him so that I could spend time with him.)

My “no” on V is simple. A majority of the entrepreneurs that happen to be Latino take pride in the work they do to keep Sonoma beautiful. These entrepreneurs deserve the opportunity to spend time with their families after working long days and deserve to use the tools that make their jobs efficient. Also, the family-person Mom or Dad who work all week and take pride in their garden deserve the opportunity to be efficient in taking pride and care of their yards as well no matter what part of our community you happen to live in.

Gary Edwards is a member of the Sonoma City Council.

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