Sonoma City Council peeved over patron pavers

City rejects ‘recognition bricks’ used to fundraise for Chinese-worker memorial.|

The bricks got nixed. That, in a nutshell, is the end result of the Sonoma City Council’s consideration of allowing so-called “recognition bricks” set into a pathway leading to a proposed pavilion in Depot Park. The pavilion is intended to honor the legacy of the 19th century Chinese laborers who suffered hardships and racism while helping build the region’s early wine industry.

The Chinese-style pavilion, referred to as a “ting,” is a project of the Sonoma-Penglai Sister City Committee, which has been aiming to raise as much as $125,000 in funds to build the Ting and pay for its ongoing maintenance. The project’s chief source of funds, say committee members, has been through promising donors of $1,000 or more that they “can become part of Sonoma history” with their names “permanently inscribed” on a brick surrounding the pavilion, as described by a call-for-donations form created by the nonprofit.

But on Monday, the Sonoma City Council rejected the plan for the 6-by-8.8-foot pathway, voting 4-1, with Councilmember David Cook in the minority, to form a two-person council committee to consider alternatives to donor bricks.

“I am not at all in support of bricks, but I do think there could be donor recognition incorporated some other way in this project,” said Councilmember Rachel Hundley following the vote, adding that she was also troubled by the use of donor names on city property, and that a path would extend into more than 50 square feet of ground space at the park.

Members of the Sonoma-Penglai Sister Cities Committee were chagrined by the decision.

“Hey, we’re going to build it outside the city – outside the city!” shouted committee member Bill Boerum, who stormed out of the meeting. “This is a joke!”

Other project supporters said following the meeting that they’d expected the council would reach more of a compromise regarding the bricks – especially after five years of fundraising found them approaching their funding goal. “I did not expect that,” said Penglai committee member Pat Carter, about the council’s decision to drop the bricks entirely.

Committee chair Peggy Phelan was not in attendance at the meeting, but in an earlier letter to city officials she said the plan for donor bricks had been “an integral aspect of our project for several years.” She said that Councilmembers Hundley, Amy Harrington and Madolyn Agrimonti had attended Chinese New Year events at which committee members promoted the fundraising bricks – and that former City Councilmember Gary Edwards had even donated toward one.

“Through numerous meetings and over several years, city leaders and city staff had ample opportunity to inform our committee that these donor bricks presented a potential problem,” wrote Phelan. “In retrospect, their silence was implicit approval to proceed.”

According to Phelan, 36 donors have been promised brick pavers, varying in size between 4-by-8 inches and 8-by-8 inches, and accounting for at least $50,000 in funds raised toward the Ting.

The concept for the Ting has been in the works since 2014 when members of the Sonoma-Penglai Sister City Committee were inspired to erect a memorial to Chinese workers after learning about similar structures in Penglai, a Chinese wine region and one of a handful of “sister cities” to Sonoma.

But city officials held firm this week that the inclusion of a brick pathway was never made clear to the city when the initial designs and fundraising strategies were submitted for city approval.

“The September 2014 communication from the (Sonoma-Penglai) Committee discussed a variety of fundraising options, but recognition bricks were not listed,” according to a city staff report. “At various points in the plan review process, the plans began to have reference to donor bricks, which were not approved.”

The City of Sonoma does not have recognition or memorial bricks in walkways on any city property, according to the report.

More than a dozen community members spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, all in support of the Ting and none speaking against the committee’s use of donor bricks.

Council members stressed that their hesitation to approve donor bricks was in no way a reflection of a lack of support for the Ting project.

However, more than one council member described the use of the recognition bricks as inappropriate.

Councilmember Logan Harvey urged meeting attendees to keep in mind the intent of the project. “The purpose of this mausoleum is not to represent donors,” said Harvey. “The purpose of this mausoleum is to represent the efforts of the Chinese while they were here and who were abused while they were here.” He said he felt names of donors on the Ting would “distract from that memory.”

Councilmember Hundley described it as “selling off inches of our public park to people who can afford to put their name on it.” She questioned the motives of donors who would insist on a recognition brick in quid-pro-quo exchange for their donation and predicted few would withdraw their donation if a brick wasn’t offered.

Agrimonti, meanwhile, acknowledged that the city has “blind spots” when it comes to the fundraising practices of the projects it approves. “(City staff) are not looking at the plans and saying, ‘Well, how are they raising their money?” said Agrimonti, who conceded there were no easy solutions to the problem.

“I don’t know what the answer is, I have no idea,” Agrimonti said. “I am in favor of having something. I don’t know what that means. But I am in favor of… I have no idea.”

Only Councilmember Cook voiced his support for the donor bricks, pointing out that donor names are “all over Sonoma.”

“I think this project does warrant the bricks,” said Cook. “I was thinking that inside the Ting would be a good place to put the bricks.”

Added Cook: “But I’m a farmer. I don’t know a lot about tings.”

The Council named Harvey and Agrimonti to its subcommittee tasked with considering alternatives to donor bricks. They’re expected to return to the council with information in September.

Email Jason at Jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.

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