Press Democrat Article

A celebration marking the beginning of Rohnert Park as a "friendly city" played unintended host to a protest by students, parents and teachers of two schools fearing the announced closure of an elementary school next week. The 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first moving vans in the town's first neighborhood was commemorated by a group of 100 that included many of the town's influential founding leaders.They turned out for speeches and handshakes at the town's Girl Scout Hut at Alicia Park to mark the Thanksgiving 1957 event and weigh in on the current state of the city.But about 80 students, parents and teachers turned out in support of Gold Ridge and La Fiesta elementary schools, which have been identified for possible closure."They are celebrating Rohnert Park and celebrating the concept of Rohnert Park as a 'friendly city,' " said Gold Ridge parent Jodie Palmigiano, motioning to the anniversary gathering. "But the whole concept of Rohnert Park back then, to have communities around a park, a pool and a school, that's not what's happening."When the first residents moved into Rohnert Park track homes in 1957, the community was billed as a country club for the working class. On Friday, the town's earliest members recalled it as a friendly place of neighborhood parks and schools, ripe for economic investment and development.But the vigil outside the celebration was a sign that that vision has not become a reality, former Rohnert Park Mayor Jimmy Rogers said."It was the best place in the world to live then. There were all the parks and amenities we needed. There were schools in every neighborhood. But that's a thing of the past now," Rogers said.Rogers was one of five former Rohnert Park mayors at the celebration who saw the city grow from 4,000 people in 1957 to 43,000 today. They remembered mortgage payments of $115 a month, a fraction of what housing costs today.Industry and commerce have changed too, the former mayors said. Shopping centers have come to town in the past 50 years, golf courses have been built, schools and parks been completed."With all the fine qualities we have in our city now, I still remember a time when you could do all your shopping in one location," former Mayor Armando Flores said. "It was a small-town atmosphere back then."Since then, things have changed, Flores said."We are just really suffering now with the declining business environment. We are hurting a lot and we will have to tighten the belt if we are going to be able to survive," he said.Parents at Gold Ridge and La Fiesta elementary schools attended the celebration to let Rohnert Park leaders know that tightening the school's belt would be yet another step away from the Rohnert Park 'friendly city' ideal, Palmigiano said."This is the elephant in the room," she said. "We moved here in 1999 from Marin and didn't plan to come this far north but we liked the idea of communities built around parks and schools. But the bare bones of it is that that's not what Rohnert Park is anymore."You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura.norton@pressdemocrat.com

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