575 Administration Dr. — Sonoma County Supervisors Meeting Site
Sonoma County brought back virtual public comment less than two months ago, and it didn’t take long for the ugliness that got Zoom access shut off in the first place to resurface. During an August Board of Supervisors meeting, a virtual speaker called Board Chair Rebecca Hermosillo a slur and a “junkyard dog,” according to officials, reviving a fight over hate speech and hybrid meetings that Sonoma County thought it had already settled once.
The incident, reported by The Press Democrat, landed on Hermosillo, who made history in January when she was elected the first Latina chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. She had already urged community members to press state representatives for stronger guardrails on hybrid meeting requirements, and the August meeting gave her fresh cause. Hermosillo said race-based discrimination harms democracy itself and shapes who is willing to serve…