Napa Valley Register |
Transparency and accountability in government are hot topics today. I was extremely surprised when I bumped up against this recently.
In October, I submitted a public-records-request to Napa County asking for documents detailing how and when the Napa County Winery Database was created, maintained, and updated.
I asked how the county officially recorded pre-Winery Definition Ordinance winery entitlements after the WDO was enacted in 1990.
I asked why the Database is absent from the County’s website, considering that one could search “Napa County Winery Database” on Google and access a PDF from March 2019.
In late December the county responded, stating they have no documents that address my questions. Specifically, they said that “the requests do not correspond with categories of records that the County maintains. The County made a reasonable effort to locate and produce records that it determined were responsive.”
The response they gave me suggests that the County lacks a structured system or database for documenting wineries’ entitlements. However, recent testimony during the Lindsay Hoopes v. Napa County trial indicates that County compliance officers referenced the database while conducting code enforcement activities. From attending the trial I saw the myriad of conflicting interpretations and opinions which County staff express about the regulations. This is extremely concerning.
In reality, then, there does exist a winery database utilized by staff and the Planning Commission. However, the database is not accurate nor reliable; it’s full of inconsistencies and contradictions. Nowhere does the County clarify or acknowledge any of the discrepancies and inaccuracies in the Database.
Wineries! Hotel and restaurant industry colleagues! Please reach out to the Board of Supervisors, the County Planning Department and the County CEO to encourage transparency and better government/business practices, please! Maybe the “wine community” at large can spur some corrective action as far as the (frankly) colossal mess around the winery database.
Julie Ann Kodmur
St. Helena