"These next few months and years are critical. We need to make important changes now, both large and small, to help create resiliency and emergency preparedness and recover and protect our climate and environment and support net for our children, future generations and ourselves.

More than just politics, I want to bring us all together to create optimal solutions. We CAN take action for a better future. Solutions are all around us. WE ARE the ones we are waiting for!" – Veronica "Roni" Jacobi

"It would be immoral to leave our grandchildren with a climate system spiraling out of control." - James Hansen

Roni Jacobi is in a unique position to analyze our environmental, transportation and housing challenges and offer solutions. Roni is a professional mechanical engineer specializing in energy and environmental management. She’s worked on environmental problems and transportation solutions at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and on energy management solutions at PG&E and at her own energy conservation consulting firm. Her clients included Lawrence Berkeley Labs and Oakland Unified School District as well as colleges, hospitals, large and small businesses and individual homeowners.

She has won numerous awards for community building and environmental action for her many years of service to the community on the Santa Rosa City Council and with non profits. As always, the more community input the better, suggestions welcome to: VJacobi@sonic.net

"Until we have reversed climate disruption, we need to face our new normal and be prepared for the worst. Underestimating our challenges is foolish and irresponsible. There is a problem, there are solutions, I do listen and I do care deeply! I am committed to action at the speed and scale needed to stop and reverse climate disruption and adapt to the added challenges until we get our carbon levels back down to safer levels. I welcome you addressing the challenges with me. Together we can create a better future!" - Roni Jacobi

Housing:
Housing is a basic human right, not a privilege.
Housing policy is climate policy. Where we build and how we build is critical to solving our climate challenges.
Neighborhoods should welcome newcomers. New housing should allow for a diversity of all income levels.
Neighborhoods should be walkable, and feature amenities such as protected bikeways and frequent public transit. In an age of rapid warming, no one should be forced to drive because of poor alternatives.

Local Green Jobs & Economy: Work to attract and grow local “green” businesses and industries in California and especially in our districts Counties. These are technology companies in a fast-growing global market for “green” solutions such as PV (solar) cells, wind conversion and geothermal, architectural and engineering services, cleansers, recycled building products, etc. With the right planning and leadership, California will continue being a center for emerging Green-tech, just as the peninsula has become a center for bio-tech in the past decade, other areas in California, and especially our counties can expand. New technology means new skills and new good paying jobs that head us to a better present AND a better future!

Affordable, Clean Energy, Efficient, Well Placed and Planned Housing: Create affordable, very fire resistant, electric only housing, with solar pv requirements, and superior energy efficiency, that has smaller square footages, and is walkable, bicycle friendly and concentrated near transit, while respecting existing neighborhoods. Also have some interior sprinklers and extensive exterior fire protecting sprinkler systems for the homes. Also edible forest garden landscaping with extensive sprinklers for creating a fire resisting perimeter and drip irrigation off of water catchment systems for water conservation and drought readiness. Greywater or purple plumbing reuse may be worthwhile in many locations.

Clean Renewable Energy & Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), also Public Banking and more, at RoniJacobi.com Issues page.  Thank you!

Polluters Paying and Polluters Paying You! I will carry legislation to limit carbon pollution and have fees for polluters based on their carbon emissions. With the added income from these fees, you will get a "dividend" or a share of the proceeds with "Fee and Share". Either all of the money can go to the public, or part of the money can be used for our many other needs including providing low interest loans for renewable energy projects and home, schools and business efficiency projects, similar to the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program plus a green jobs program to go with it. There are many cost effective possibilities with the right leadership.

Lower Our Collective Carbon Footprint Through Improved Transportation Planning and Options: In 2009 and also in 2017, approximately 60 percent of our areas greenhouse gas emissions came from transportation. We can reduce our carbon footprint in part by switch­ing government vehicles from ones that run on gasoline to electric vehicles or to hybrids or to ones that run on sustainable and efficient bio-fuels (from algae or waste products not corn etc). There are now all electric buses that are less expensive than fossil fuel vehicles and have a range of many miles per charge. There are also rapid chargers currently available and the technology will certainly continue to rapidly improve in the next few years.

Increased service and effective connections for multi-modal transit options interlinking connections for alternative transportation. Also buses, rail, car-shares, walk & bike paths can reduce our carbon footprint, and give people better alternatives to single occupancy car trips as well as alternatives to volatile gasoline prices. Optimizing programs that help people walk and bicycle safely, participate in car share programs, carpool easily, and take pleasant and affordable buses and trains are all win - win - wins, for increasing our overall quality of life, individuals quality of life, and for a better future. Especially for our youth and our older residents, effective mass transit to increase/retain independent mobility has so many advantages. There are many models for these systems that we can replicate, start­ing with examples like Marin County’s pilot program Go Geron­imo and Ithaca, New York's delightfully extensive transit system for a city with a population around the size of Santa Rosa's. Making the small but vital investments to walk and bike paths especially for Safe Routes to School, will pay dividends for decades to come.

Lower Our Collective Footprint Through Improved Agricultural Practices, Soil, Carbon Se­questration, Offsetting, and Other Measures:

We should also support rapid expansion and additional programs of the Marin Carbon Project and California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) special carbon-reducing plantings like no- till, no-spray, edible food forest gardens of perennials for carbon sequestration or carbon farming in the soil. The carbon is taken out of the air by the plants and pulled down into the soil for increased soil health, water retention and productivity. We can also add to our food security by supporting carbon farming on public lands, encourage and support community gardens, and we can impose traffic impact fees on new developments to offset their negative effects.

Drought Preparedness, Water Conservation & Re-Use: Roll-out conservation guide­lines for new building and home improvement projects that will in­centivise gray water and purple plumbing solutions for business­es and residences. Support rainwater harvesting and reduce the regulatory red tape surrounding these emerging technologies for those who want to use them responsibly. In the long run, we won’t just save water—we will also save energy and money.

Fire Preparedness: We need a thorough wildfire preparedness plan for California as a whole and for every county and city. We need to design and plan for wildfire breaks that are robust enough to deal with our changing climate. This can be combined with plantings and water storage for food and water security as well. I will also author expanding legislation supporting community and individual preparedness efforts in higher risk areas.

Zero Waste Initiative: Encouraging the state to head to Zero Waste more quickly through the counties and cities, to sharply reduce and eventually eliminate landfill waste disposal through recycling and composting, combined with requirements for producer responsibility for toxic products, in the next 2-15 years. Some areas are doing amazing things with waste reduction. Let's learn from the programs that are working best and incentivise state-wide.

Move Towards 100 Percent Local Food Self Sufficiency For Every Area: Let’s expand our opportunities for localized production throughout California for com­munity gardens, community vineyards, community pastures, and the support of locally-owned small farms and groceries. In addi­tion, I support expanding opportunities for worker-owned cooper­atives. Already there are models for these enterprises. Sonoma County is home to the worker-owned Alvarado Bakery, and in nearby Richmond, California, former Mayor Gayle McLaughlin explored worker-owned cooperative models in Mondragon, Spain. We can have statewide incentives.

Work for the Passage of State laws to Streamline Creation of Municipal State and County Banks: The existence of the State Bank of North Dakota, the first state run bank in the country, helped that state weather the recession. Climate resiliency and financial resiliency can and should go hand in hand.

The state, county and cities have been very challenged in recent years trying to cope with unfunded pension liabilities. I was a strong advocate for pension protection and reform while serving on the Santa Rosa City Council. In 2010 I was the first Councilmember to propose a cap on pensions. A cap could start at a set amount near $100,000, which is more than enough to retire on comfortably in most circumstances. Or the cap could be something like twice the average County resident's salary. Reductions could also be percentage based. It is very important to get reform right so government employees can know they can depend on their retirement money being there for them.

Repairing our roadways at the optimal times costs 7 to 10 times less than having to rebuild roadways!  Preparing for wildfires adequately is priceless.  Saving our future by restoring our climate is priceless.  I started advocating for wildfire preparedness over 15 years ago.  We could have done so much better if we listened to science earlier.  

We also need OPEN BIDDING on contracts to get the best deal for our ratepayers, while also respecting benefits from local providers. By listening, being creative, efficient, responsive and cost-conscious, state and local government can provide programs which enrich our lives. I will continue to promote creative and smart policies and management of government resources to maintain critical services and protect rate payer dollars. I know we need to have all levels of our goverment continually striving for greater efficiency and effectiveness and doing more with less, just like the rest of us have to at times.