David Knudsen – St. Helena Post

Posted on October 31, 2020November 1, 2020 by sainthelenapost

The Case for YES on Measure G

If you haven’t voted, yet, we certainly hope you will. This may be the most important election in your lifetime, starting at the top of the ticket all the way down to the bottom. In terms of the St. Helena election, we have already made our endorsements very clear:

- Geoff Ellsworth for Mayor
- Leslie Stanton for City Council
- David Knudsen for City Council

But there’s one more item on the ballot we haven’t really talked about yet. Measure G. Krys Smith makes the best case we have seen, yet, in favor of Measure G, a ballot measure we fully endorse. This is reprinted from the St. Helena Star;

The misinformation being spread that a hotel on Adams Street will ‘save” St. Helena is a disgraceful disservice to the people of this city being asked to weigh in on selling our own public land to a private developer.

This [Measure G] is not an anti-hotel opinion. In fact many of us opposed to selling the Adams Street public land to a private developer, are in favor of the Farmstead and Krug hotels on Highway 29. They are both long-time local businesses that have invested in St. Helena for decades, and are on their own land.

“The Adams story has a breadcrumb trail of big money trying to use scare tactics to get our community confused enough to sell off our incredible public assets to a luxury resort chain.”

The SHAPE Committee did not recommend selling Adams Street (read the final report on the city website).

The Financial Task Force did not recommend selling Adams Street (read the final report on the city website).

This information was taken directly from the Task Force Final Report on the city website: Here’s what it would take to get to the revenue they say an Adams Street Hotel will bring to St. Helena:

- Fill 56 rooms at $1,200/night all 365 days (rainy winter months, fire months, Covid, etc.);
- Each room must spend $900 every day all 365 days within the resort;
- Each room must spend an additional $400 every day for 365 days within St. Helena city limits;

This does not include any money spent outside, at most Napa winery visits like Hall, Freemark Abbey, Duckhorn, Far Niente, Cakebread, etc. and wine purchases, dinner at Press, Auberge, Limos, etc.

The hotel does not pay St. Helena until the full development plan and the full Environmental Impact Report is complete and approved by both the Planning Commission and City Council. That could take years, or they could stall building it like the Four Seasons in Calistoga, and the city would not get paid for the land. Did you know that?

St. Helenans, it’s more important than ever to do the reading and not rely on hearsay – even when the hearsay sounds legitimate. The power spreaders are very effective at altering the truth. After all, they have a lot of money at stake.

“Yes on Measure G puts a hold on hotel development only on Adams Street for only 20 years. With two other local hotel projects on their land, endless devastating fires, COVID and climate change altering our lives, we can wait just 20 years, evaluate the new hotels, and let the next generation weigh into their future too.”

We don’t need to deprive us or them of such valued public open space now. Please vote Yes on Measure G.

Krys Smith

Posted on October 29, 2020October 30, 2020 by sainthelenapost

Eric Hall and the Fabulous Fib

“. . . . . look, look, you just tell them and they believe it. That’s it, you just tell them and they believe it. They just do.” — Donald Trump

Eric Hall, candidate for St. Helena city council, and his supporters would have you believe that St. Helena is in a “financial free fall” that only he can prevent. His entire platform seems to rest on this one false premise. (Unless he’s trying to make the voters believe he is an environmentalist . . . . .one who happens to drive a Porsche.)

This myth about the city’s finances has been debunked over and over again. And yet it keeps popping up every time some pro-development type wants to fool the voters into thinking they have all the answers and the answer is to sell our community to the highest bidder. (Look where that got us with Peter White and the Alcobas fiasco.)

At the October 28 meeting of the St. Helena City Council, Finance Director April Mitts was able to show that with the careful planning and foresight our current city council showed at the beginning of the Covid crisis, and by reducing staff salaries and maintaining a prudent posture, the city is actually in much better financial shape than they had anticipated (and budgeted for.)

“(It is) absolutely not in “financial freefall,” says Councilmember David Knudsen. “The city has a well-diversified tax base—property, sales, and TOT. . . . .Yes, TOT is underperforming. But property tax is up and sales tax is stable—we’re doing far better than we thought back when Covid first hit.”

Never-the-less, and in spite of three scenarios for long range forecasts presented by the city’s finance director, Eric Hall chose to focus on the one (and distort the findings in the overall report) that fits his narrative and totally ignore the ones that don’t, specifically Scenario 2.

“Based on our current forecast the City is projecting a deficit for the baseline scenario, Scenario 1,” says Mitts. “This scenario accounts for COVID-19 revenue and expense assumptions in FY 20 and FY 21. . . . .The deficit starting in FY 24 is related to several factors including: the return to pre-COVID spending levels in FY 24 and FY 25, the resumption of transfers to civic infrastructure projects in FY 22, and contributions stating in FY 23 for the necessary storm drain repairs.”

“Scenario 2 (page 8 and 9) adds a hotel in FY 25 and modeled Farmstead revenues as presented in the Infrastructure Financing Taskforce final report,” says Mitts.

In this scenario, Mitts included the recently approved Farmstead hotel in the model, which, based on information provided by the City’s Infrastructure Financing Taskforce adds additional property, sales tax, and Transient Occupancy (TOT) tax starting in FY 25.

“Under this scenario there is still a deficit in FY 20 and FY 21 due to COVID, and a deficit in FY 24 (since the hotel was not modeled coming online until the following year); however, Scenario 2 modeling did not show a continuing deficit.”

Given Eric Hall’s convenient but inaccurate portrayal of St. Helena’s financial health (often referred to as “lies by omission”) designed to scare the populace into voting for him, is this someone you really think you can trust with the future of our town? After all, they will need to be able to read a financial report accurately.

Those who have been paying attention to the onslaught of professionally produced, glossy, political campaign fliers showing up in our mailboxes may have noticed the trajectory of Eric Hall’s campaign over the weeks. It started with the premise that “the city’s all screwed up and what we need is ‘smart growth’ to save downtown.” And, because we are such rubes here in St. Helena, we need the input from a newly-arrived Marin real-estate developer to save us from ourselves!

Next Eric Hall tried to paint himself as “an environmentalist” and a “person with deep roots in Napa Valley.” Hall’s roots in St. Helena go no deeper than a few years ago, when he married into the Pestoni family, owners of the Clover Flat Landfill. What’s worth noting is that Hall’s purported “deep roots” go hand-in-hand with claims of being an “environmentalist,” especially since the Pestoni’s Clover Flat Landfill has recently had a number of environmental issues and violations related to it:

- “In March 2019, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board issued the landfill a notice of violation for releasing leachate into a creek. Leachate is water that has extracted solids from other materials; from a landfill, it can contain chemicals and heavy metals. The Napa County Public Health Officer advised the public not to use the water from the creek, or even to touch it . . . . .
- “In April 2019, the local government agency that oversees the landfill declared it to be a breach of contract. . . . . .
- “In May 2019, a chemical reaction between improperly disposed materials caused an explosion that sent a worker to the hospital. . . . .” (Wine-Searcher.com, “Landfill Woes Napa’s Latest Concern,” 27-Oct-2020)

Hall’s wife, Christy Pestoni, Chief Operating Officer for the Clover Flat Landfill, which sits at the headwaters of the Napa River Watershed, did not want to talk about the violations or safety issues at the landfill for that article. And Eric Hall, hasn’t mentioned it either even though it is a clear and looming threat to our water supply. (He must be hoping the voters will simply take him at his word and not actually check into his background.)

. . . . .where are the endorsements from the people who actually live here, have lived here, raised their children here, and have invested their lives in this community?

And now Hall seems to be back to his “the sky is falling” trope and is attempting to posture himself as an establishment candidate with his endorsements from professional politicians such as State Senator Bill Dodd (District 3), a former Republican who conveniently switched to being a Democrat for the sole purpose of getting elected to the State Assembly (District 4) in 2014. Is that someone you think you can trust?

Eric Hall also brags about receiving an endorsement from Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza, which should raise a red flag for anyone who cares about the future of St. Helena, Napa Valley, and the Ag Preserve. It’s not difficult to draw a straight line between the people who donate to Pedroza’s campaign fund and major development projects that get passed by the County Board of Supervisors over the protests of the people’s whose lives will be forever impacted and with no regard to the water shortage, affordable housing issues, traffic woes, or the climate crisis.

It’s no wonder that Napa Valley is earning the moniker “DrunkDisneyland.” And if Pedroza and Hall have their way, St. Helena may very well be slated to be its “Main Street” attraction.

When looking at who is endorsing Eric Hall for St. Helena City Council, you might ask yourself, where are the endorsements from the people who actually live here, have lived here, raised their children here, and have invested their lives in this community? And what local businesses does he actually plan on supporting? Apparently not the local serving businesses that support the people who live here.

Of all the candidates running for St. Helena City Council, Eric Hall seems to be the one least interested in actually listening to the people in the community. And if Peter White should win the mayoral race, our town may well go the way of Yountville, and now Calistoga, with little hope of regaining the agrarian heritage and hometown charm that brought most of us here to begin with.

It would be great to have a city council we thought we could trust. One we could count on to have our best interests at heart. One we didn’t think we had to watch over at every single meeting to make sure they didn’t try to slip one by or make some decision that would have devastating effects on the people who people live here.

So, please don’t forget to vote and to vote for the future of St. Helena, our children, and their children. A vote for Mayor Geoff Ellsworth, David Knudsen, and Leslie Stanton will be just that.

Posted on October 28, 2020October 28, 2020 by sainthelenapost

Leslie Stanton Understands the Meaning of Service

Several weeks ago I was on my way to meet Leslie Stanton for a walk along the river trail when two little girls and their mom came whizzing toward me on their bicycles. As they passed, I heard one of the little girls say to their mom, “Did you see Leslie?” “That was Leslie from the library!”

When I met up with Leslie, just 30 feet or so ahead, I told her what I had heard. She looked back toward the direction the young family had gone and said, “See? Those are the people I want to represent on the City Council.”

Leslie Stanton, inspiring young readers at the St. Helena Public Library.

After spending 34 years fostering imagination and a love of reading among the young people in our community, Leslie Stanton retired from the public library last June. But she’s not done, yet. She not only continues to volunteer at the library, she also hopes to win a seat on the St. Helena City Council this November.

“I want to continue serving the people of St. Helena,” she says, “and help to make sure it remains a residential town and not over-developed for visitation. I’d also like to see our local-serving businesses prosper, as well.”

Leslie Stanton as a young mom, walking with her son John in the one of the family family vineyards on Dowdell Lane.

Leslie’s family has farmed grapes in St. Helena since the late 1940’s and still does. As a teenager she roamed along the banks of the Napa River (and in the riverbed when it was dry) and helped in her family’s vineyard. She graduated from St. Helena High School in 1972, went off to college to study viticulture at UC Davis, and came back to St. Helena after graduating to raise her family in her hometown.

Through her work at the library, Leslie may very well know this community, from its youngest members to its oldest (and most of the newcomers, as well) and their concerns better than anyone else currently running for a seat on the city council. And when it comes time to make a decision that might impact your life or the community we all love so much, she’ll already have a pretty good idea of what will serve the community best.

Leslie Stanton enjoying some quality time with her grandson, Anthony.

St. Helena is going through a period of transition and we need a city council composed of people with integrity who understand the needs of the people who live here and will put the community first. We need people who see St. Helena as more than a troubled cash cow, who see the bigger picture beyond our city’s boundaries, who are well-versed in the issues surrounding water security and equity, and who are willing to actively explore creative solutions on behalf of the residents, rather than simply waiting for “solutions” to drop in their laps, “solutions” which often come with one thought in mind: “How can we make the most money, here?” We need city council members like Leslie Stanton, someone who is smart and a lifelong learner, someone who listens and cares, someone with compassion, integrity, a sense of humor and the institutional memory so often lacking here.

No one is suggesting St. Helena stand still in time. But if we are to continue to move forward and thrive while maintaining the home-town values cherished by old-timers and newcomers alike, and if we want to create a warm and welcoming experience for those who choose to visit, we must not lose sight of the people who already call St. Helena “home” and who cherish it for the unique small town that it is.

And so I urge you to vote for Leslie Stanton, David Knudsen and Mayor Geoff Ellsworth so we have a city council that is in tune with the people who live here, a city council that will listen to our concerns, and one that will make honest, well-informed decisions in the best interest of everyone who lives here and not just the barbarians at the gate.

— Elaine de Man

Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what a few members of the community have to say:

Posted on October 26, 2020October 27, 2020 by sainthelenapost · 4 Comments

Peter White and the Los Alcobas Debacle

Somehow these resort hotel aspirants for both Calistoga and St. Helena have been coached about the General Plans and told to “come in below the radar, describe themselves as private development firms, not mention they are major brand operations, get approvals, and the cities are then stuck with the deals.

While serving on the city council, mayoral candidate Peter White was an enthusiastic supporter of the Los Alcobas Resort, which is now closed. (St. Helena Star, March 11, 2015)

While still on the Planning Commission, former mayor Alan Galbraith was also enthusiastic about Los Alcobas and voted in favor of the the original 57-room project and when he was mayor, approved adding an additional 13 rooms. “I think it will greatly benefit the project and greatly benefit the city,” he said. “This is a project where we clearly need to move forward now.” (St. Helena Star, March 11, 2015)

In their rush to strike a resort development deal, White and Galbraith overlooked some of the inherent problems with Las Alcobas, primary lack of adequate parking, which became apparent as soon as it opened in 2017. Council chambers were flooded with irate residents who, among other things, found the curbs in front of their homes now painted red in order to accommodate the increased traffic at an intersection that was already precarious. People who had lived there for years now had no place for them or their guests to park in front of their own homes. Ultimately a deal had to be worked out with a nearby church to accommodate over-flow and employee parking for Los Alcobas. But the curbs are still red. And now, three years after it opened, Los Alcobas has closed with no indication of if and when it will re-open.

These are not the types of hotels that “grab people off the streets, pulls them out of their cars, and encourages them to stay the night,” not at these price points of $700/night or close to it. These are destinations in themselves…..

Mayoral candidate Peter White’s allegiance to resort developers such as the Los Alcobas team is well established. Back in 2015, Mary Stephenson of Our Town St. Helena, reminded the City Council that the current housing market, increasingly dominated by second-home owners, was making it harder than ever for low- and middle-class workers to live in St. Helena. She suggested that the city required new hotels to build affordable housing instead of just contributing to a housing fund. Councilmember Peter White, however, expressed more concern about increasing the economic burden on hotel developers than on exploring an option that would have favored affordable housing. (St. Helena Star, Oct. 28, 2015) Indeed, the Los Alcobas project eliminated 19 affordable housing units, increased demand for more, and the city got a mere $750,000 for its affordable housing fund as part of the original deal. (St. Helena Star, Feb. 18, 2015) Mary Koberstein was also on the planning commission from 2015 – 2016.

Fast forward to 2020, Galbraith and White are gone, and there is new leadership on the city council with Mayor Geoff Ellsworth that puts the needs of the community ahead of the needs of outsiders riding into town looking to make a buck. The recently approved Farmstead Hotel is a case in point. Among other benefits to the city, the Farmstead project offered much more favorable terms for St. Helena, including $3.2 million in affordable housing fees, with $1 million set aside for Our Town St. Helena to buy the nearby Phelps property and build an affordable housing project. (St. Helena Star, October 14, 2020)

“What was most unique about the Farmstead negotiation,” says Councilmember David Knudsen, who was part of the team that negotiated the deal on behalf of the city, “was the increase in the housing fund contribution to over $3 million, by far the largest for any similar-sized project in upper Napa Valley.” (David Knudsen, incidentally, is currently running for re-election. You might want to check him out.)

And unlike Los Alcobas, no affordable housing units will be lost as a result of this project. This is what happens when you have a mayor and city council members who put the put the needs of the community ahead of the needs of the developer.

It appears to me that Las Alcobas is one of those inside deals. The approval for the project which was to include 20 on-site rooms for employees was both sold and changed. I know Mayor Galbraith was directly involved in that from what he boasted in March 2015 that was reported in the local newspaper about $700/night rooms and 70% occupancy.

In February of 2019, one of the Los Alcobas hotel partners sued the other two partners for $50 million for fraud and breached contract. (Napa Valley Register, Feb. 17, 2019) In mid-September, Los Alcobas left the Marriot Luxury Collection. And now, in late October, Los Alcobas remains closed and sits empty. This is the unfortunate legacy of Peter White’s term on the St. Helena City Council. And now he wants to be our mayor!

The $1.73 million in TOT revenue Galbraith & White anticipated from Los Alcobas, which opened in 2017, never materialized.

In fact, relying on TOT as a major source of income doesn’t appear to be a very good idea at all.

Incidentally, the $1.73 million in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from the Los Alcobas project that was touted by Galbraith and White, never materialized. The difference in total Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) collected by the city in the fiscal year before Los Alcobas opened and the year after was $819,917. Even two years after Los Alcobas opened, the city only collected an additional $1,315,397 in TOT. And, well, we can all see what happened to TOT between July, 2019 and June, 2020. And, with an ongoing pandemic threatening additional shut downs, two massive wildfires in September and October forcing many people in the community to flee for their lives and causing precautionary and mandatory evacuations, major road closures, lingering smoke and dangerous air quality, we should anticipate an even worse showing for TOT in the next fiscal year.

Given the poor outcomes from a resort development project that was championed and approved by Peter White, why on earth would we want to go back to the failed policies and projects he so enthusiastically endorsed when he was vice mayor? If Peter White becomes our new mayor and, heaven forbid, Eric Hall, who appears to be cut from the same cloth, is elected to the city council, we will inevitably fall victim to the rapacious yearnings of even more fly-by-night developers and projects that put money in someone’s pocket but that don’t serve the city or the community well and may even have deleterious impacts.

Mayor Geoff Ellsworth and Councilmember David Knudsen have already shown their commitment to the people and who live here and a willingness to work with developers so that everyone comes out ahead. It would be a shame to take a giant step backward with Peter White sitting in the Mayor’s seat and Eric Hall by his side.

Incidentally, the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce might want to update its website. Click “Book Now” for Las Alcobas and this is the result.

(Please note: All block quotes come from Jim Conaway’s Blog, another great source of inside information and analysis from the man who wrote the books and has been closely following developments in Napa since the 1980s.)

Posted on October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 by sainthelenapost · 2 Comments

It’s the little things that really count. . . . . . .

We’re not going to change a word, because we couldn’t have said it any better than Vanessa Parr, from St. Helena’s own Gutenberg Transfer Printing & Copy Center on Dowdell Lane in St. Helena.

“Gutenberg Transfer Printing & Copy Center is a small, family-owned business that has been faithfully serving the community of St. Helena for over 25 years. We are one of the businesses in town that truly serves the locals, both individuals and businesses.

During the pandemic and fires it has been this close knit tie with our customers that has helped to weather the storm.

It is because we depend upon the whole community that we try to be apolitical in our business dealings but we do feel the need to speak out in the midst of this election to point out a few of the candidates who have had the forethought to keep the funds that they have raised local.”

“Geoff Ellsworth, Leslie Stanton, Lester Hardy and Dave Knudsen have all thought locally and have literally already acted upon their campaign promises to help local business.”

“After taking a straw poll amongst others either in or adjacent to our profession, we also feel the need to point out those candidates who haven’t gone all out to help local businesses, despite the rhetoric you see in their mail pieces and online. Not one of these candidates has taken a moment to call or email us for so much as a quote, let alone an order.”

“Mary Koberstein has had all of her printing done in Napa. Eric Hall sends his mail pieces to a business in Oakland. Peter White, Sacramento.”

“Wow! If their thoughts about helping St. Helena businesses don’t compel them now, as candidates, to help when they actually have dollars to spend, (during a pandemic when small businesses are being hit the worst!) why should the community think they will fit that into their agenda if they are elected? We need leaders in this town who think and act locally.”

And then there is this, from Kathryn Kenney:

“As a business owner here in St Helena (That Pizza Place) I can attest to this. We’ve had 1 candidate check in on us to see how we’re doing. Just one. Unfortunately, we don’t live in St Helena, so we can’t vote. But if I did, I’d vote for Geoff just based on the fact that he checked in.”

It’s the little things that really count in a small town like St. Helena. Clearly, Mary Koberstein, Peter White, and Eric Hall, busy schmoozing with the jewelers on Main Street, don’t get it. And they shouldn’t get your vote.