John Sawyer Holds Open House in His Sonoma Campaign Office

People representing local vineyards, the Farm Bureau, the legal, consulting and engineering fields, a few government employees, the head of a local volunteer fire department and some political volunteers gathered in Sonoma on Wednesday night. The occasion was an open house at the campaign office for John Sawyer, candidate for the First District seat on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

Sawyer is a Santa Rosa city councilman and the former sole proprietor of family-owned Sawyers News, a newstand. He will go up against fellow council member Susan Gorin in the Nov. 5 election. Gorin is endorsed by the Sonoma County Democratic Party. She is a former mayor of Santa Rosa (2008 to 2010) and a former member of the Santa Rosa School Board.

The two won the most votes in the primary, out of a field of six, which included Sonoma's mayor, Joanne Sanders. Sawyer won 23.2 percent of the vote and Gorin won 23.8 percent.

Sawyer told Patch on Wednesday that he and Gorin share a lot of common ground, for example, in their sensitivity to environmental issues. However, he said, they part ways on how they vote on allowing businesses into town. He mentioned Chick-Fil-A as an example. In May, the council approved (5-2) the fast-food restaurant's proposal for its location on Mendocino Avenue. Sawyer voted to allow it, in spite of a drive-through. Gorin voted against it, according to this Press Democrat article, because of the drive-through.

"I'm all for businesses thriving," Sawyer told Patch. "I trust them to do the right thing. I think we should tighten loopholes if they're there but otherwise, once a business has been given permits, they should be able to move forward without added requirements on top of the federal, state and local regulations. They should have an expectation of success, without having to deal with the added personal opinions of elected officials."

Ray Mulas is the chairman of Sawyer's campaign committee. The candidate has been endorsed by law enforcement, labor and business groups, according to his campaign literature. On Wednesday night, he thanked the Sonoma County Farm Bureau for its "early and elemental" support. He also thanked the following people, who were present, for their significant financial and/or organizational support:

Marie Lambert, Steve Page, Ezrah and Jim Chaaban, Pam Chanter, Marilyn Herzog, David Paulson, Ken Brown, Jennifer Hainstock, Herman Hernandez, Tito Sasaki, Arnie Reibli and Jennifer Crane.