The campaign against Measure J is growing

ROHNERT PARK — Thursday night’s “No on J” launch sounded at times more like a high school football rally than a political event.

“Measure J is bad because it hurts…” Congressman Mike Thompson began, allowing 200-300 Sonoma County agriculture industry supporters to finish the thought.

“Farmers!!” everyone shouted, reading from the campaign sign behind the St. Helena Democrat.

“Measure J is bad because it costs . . .”

“Taxpayers!!”

“Measure J is bad because it eliminates . . .”

“Jobs!!”

The counter-message was more subdued. On a sidewalk just 50 yards from the hall hosting the launch, about three dozen protesters gathered with “Yes on J” signs. They stood quiet sentinel while their political opponents hayed inside.

“I heard there are no farms in Sonoma County. It’s not true,” said Kristina Garfinkel, a Santa Rosa resident and organizer with the Coalition to End Factory Farming, the group that sponsored the ballot initiative. “We want people to see the truth. The opposition does not”.

While the two sides rented billboards and bought radio ads, spreading each other’s staunch messages, it was a rare mix-up. Everything was quite quiet. After the event, as the farmers and their advocates exited the building and protesters filed past, the scene was almost silent, as if everyone was determined not to make a scene.

The closest thing to fireworks came just before the launch, when Gerard Guidice, the deputy mayor of Rohnert Park and owner of Sally Tomatoes, where the rally was held, abruptly chased the marchers out of a courtyard visible from the auditorium.

“You’re on private property — my property,” Giudice told them. “You have to go. Now.”

He directed them to the parking lot a short distance away, and the protesters moved away.

That won’t be the end of the debate surrounding Measure J, which seeks to ban “concentrated animal feeding operations,” or CAFOs, in Sonoma County.

The measure promises to attract the most spending, and perhaps the most excitement, of any initiative on the November local ballot. Its supporters say Measure J will remove animals from the county’s most inhumane farms and check environmental degradation in the area’s hills. Foes argue that … well, they said a lot about the initiative Thursday.

Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dayna Ghirardelli called the bill “stupid and completely unnecessary.” Assemblyman Jim Wood described it as “absolutely horrible”. His California Assembly colleague Damon Connolly referred to it as “misdirected.” To Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt, he was “poor and incompetent.” Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, sullen as ever, went with “bulls**t”.

Other elected officials in attendance were City Council members Jackie Elward of Rohnert Park, Chris Rogers of Santa Rosa and Jill McLewis of Sebastopol.

Two officials who were unable to attend, state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblywoman Cecelia Aguiar-Curry, are also staunchly against Measure J, according to those on the stand Thursday.

As several of the politicians pointed out, opposition to the bill cuts across party lines, with the county’s Democratic and Republican leadership both advocating its defeat.

“I can’t agree with anything, but I do agree that Measure J is poor policy,” Rabbitt said.

Valid or not, the dairy families and chicken farmers gathered at Sally Tomatoes clearly see Measure J as an existential threat — to their livelihoods, to the local economy and to an industry that remains iconic in this county in the age of technology and urban expansion.

Ghirardelli kicked off the festivities by telling the crowd that nearly 50 percent of California’s organic milk is produced in Sonoma County and that Measure J, if passed, would put multigenerational family farms out of business, cripple the local economy and harm the environment, resulting in more many foods being delivered from outside the area.

While not ostensibly a fundraiser, the launch was clearly aimed at mobilizing opponents of Measure J. Speaker after speaker encouraged listeners to get involved, donate, post signs on their property, talk to neighbors and acquaintances about the dangers the bill – and, of course, to vote.

Another common refrain was that if Measure J passes, it will set off a domino effect that will destroy farms all over California. And if they don’t win by a clear margin, it will encourage animal rights advocates to keep trying.

“This initiative is bad,” Thompson said. “We have to make sure we not only defeat him, but put the proverbial stake in his heart so he doesn’t come back.”

If Measure J passes, it would establish the first ordinance of its kind in the United States.

The Yes on J demonstration began on Valley House Road, further from the auditorium, where protesters waved signs at passing motorists. The largest reads “FACTORY FARMING = ANIMAL CRUELTY” and “FACTORY FARMING”. They also printed large-format images of distressed and dying animals, photos they said were taken in Sonoma County at Sunrise Egg Farm, Reichardt Duck Farm and a Petaluma Poultry supplier.

Among the supporters of the measure was Karin Lease, who has lived in Sonoma County for 60 years and cut her teeth protesting the Vietnam War. Lease said he has seen evidence of how animals are mistreated on local farms.

“One time I was in the back of a truck and I thought it was snowing,” she said. “There were white feathers everywhere because they had been thrown there. They were crying. Their feathers were everywhere. Their wings were locked in cages. My whole perspective changed.”

People like Lease believe Measure J would reduce this degradation.

An “animal feeding operation” is land where animals are “housed or confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period, and crops, vegetation, fodder growth or residues after harvesting is not sustained during the normal growing season on any portion’ of the property.

An AFO becomes a CAFO when it exceeds a certain size, depending on the type of animal. A “medium-scale” farm may also fit the definition if it discharges manure directly into surface waters. But the Coalition to End Factory Farming said no mid-sized farms in Sonoma County have been documented discharging to surface waters, and that Measure J would thus affect only 11 large dairies and poultry farms.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.