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Rohnert Park honors Councilmember Samantha Rodriguez and student volunteers for Arbor Day and community service
Summary
The Rohnert Park City Council on March 25 presented Councilmember Samantha Rodriguez with a "Woman of the Year" recognition and honored Lawrence E. Jones Middle School students and University Elementary (La Fiesta) for recent Arbor Day and Ocean Guardian garden projects that added trees and pollinator habitat to the city.
The Rohnert Park City Council opened its March 25 meeting with two formal recognitions: Councilmember Samantha Rodriguez was presented with a "Woman of the Year" recognition for District 12, and Lawrence E. Jones Middle School students were honored for volunteering at an Arbor Day planting.
Mayor Judich introduced Rodriguez at the start of the meeting and presented flowers and a card. Rodriguez, who said she was feeling unwell that evening, thanked fellow councilmembers, staff and her family and described her appointment to the city council in May 2022 and subsequent selection by colleagues to serve a one-term as mayor in December 2022.
The council then read a certificate recognizing Lawrence E. Jones Middle School students for their work at Collegio Vista Park on March 8; the proclamation said the tree-planting planted 22 trees and recited estimates of environmental benefits included in the city's materials: diverting roughly 1 million gallons of stormwater annually, removing about 3.3 tons of air pollutants and storing an estimated 151 tons of carbon. The mayor invited the students and their parents to the dais for photos.
Also on the agenda, Principal Christina Lundy and the school garden teacher, Sandra Noi, described University Elementary/La Fiesta’s multi-year Ocean Guardian school project. The principal said the school is in its fourth year of the NOAA Ocean Guardian grant and highlighted partnerships with the district, the Osborne Preserve and the Laguna Foundation. Garden teacher Sandra Noi described planting and propagation work to support monarch butterflies and other pollinators, citing an estimated 100 monarch caterpillars hatched last year and recent plantings of milkweed to expand habitat.
Both school teams invited the public to a garden celebration on April 27 (noon–3 p.m.) and noted their inclusion on the Sonoma County Eco-Friendly Garden Tour on May 10. Councilmembers praised students for public speaking and thanked staff for supporting school grants.
The city manager said staff will follow up on community invitations and thanked the schools for participating in the small-grants program.
Next steps: the schools will host the April 27 garden celebration and the city will post recognition materials and the tree-planting information on the city's transparency pages.
