BIG Rio Nido meeting! Judd not, lest ye be judded ...

BIG RIO NIDO MEETING,
Saturday December 12th at 2:00pm
Rio Nido Lodge

Dennis Judd and the Rio Nido Home Owners Association have organized a town meeting to discuss plans and ideas for the Rio Nido Lodge property (recently purchased by Mr. Judd). The meeting will be facilitated by Rio Nido's unofficial mayor, Domenic Farnocchia. Panelists will include major local players, such as Mark Krug, community development manager of the Community Development Commission; 5th District Supervisor Efren Carrillo, RNHOA board member Doug Meisner, Planning Commission member Tom Lynch, local resident, Russian River Redevelopment Oversight Committee (RRROC) candidate Chris Auzten, and others.

Guess what? Some folks out here in Rio Nido -- including yours truly -- have tentatively decided to drink the Dennis Judd Koolaid. As improbable as it may seem, big things may be in the works for our poor, beautiful, eclectic and neglected little town. An unidentified source of mine believes that Mr. Judd is serious about building his healing retreat for cancer sufferers on the Rio Nido Inn property, and gotten the above-listed big kahunas' attention. There even appears to be some consideration being given to yours truly's fantasy about sprucing up the drab parking lot at Rio Nido's entrance and restoring "boulder beach" (which was destroyed years back during the landslides). Though that sounds like a major undertaking.

So it seems that many of us have made unfair assumptions about Mr. Judd's intentions, and we need to start being constructive, giving him the benefit of the doubt and working with him. We're danged lucky that this venerable but recently distressed property has been purchased by someone who actually cares about our community and what we think of him. Because, when push comes to shove, Mr. Judd's the 500-pound gorilla who can do whatever he wants.

Rio Nido Inn's new owner wants your ideas!

It's a pretty good zoo, said young Gerald McGrew,
and the fellow who runs it seems proud of it, too.
But if I ran the zoo, said young Gerald McGrew,
I'd make a few changes, that's just what I'd do ....
-- If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss.

But seriously, what would you do if you owned the zoo? Or, the Rio Nido Inn? After the requisite fumigation, exorcism, & burning of sage, the possibilities of this charming, historic site are endless. The new owner -- whom we can henceforth refer to as "Mr. X" in order to add a dash of mystery & excitement to our dull lives while saving me the inconvenience of typing extra letters -- wants to hear our ideas.

Mr. X (of whom we know nothing other than his Sebastopudlian ties) recently approached Doug Meisner of the Rio Nido Home Owners Association to help gather input & ideas for developing the property. His envoys proclaim that he is willing to consider anything as long as it is agreeable to the community & has the potential to be reasonably successful from a business standpoint. Perhaps Mr. X is amongst the new breed of entrepreneurs seeking to do good while doing well. Perhaps he less ambitiously hopes to avoid previous owner Jim Friedman's unfortunate fate, which has included bankruptcy, jail time, & bad juju in Rio Nido.

Regardless, we should take Mr. X up on his kind offer, think about what to do with the Rio Nido Inn, & ALSO start thinking B-I-G with a capital B. What do we want for the future of Rio Nido? Right now, the sky's the limit. Redevelopment funds are still available for the unlikely combination of property owners & community organizations who work together & share a vision.

Please post your thoughts & ideas as comments below, or, email them to the RNHOA/Doug Meisner at dmc @ rionido . org (sorry, I can't make this email address a link, or they'll get tons of SPAM -- please just delete the spaces after copying & pasting). Actually, I'd prefer that you simply post them below as comments so we can all enjoy reading them, but it's your choice!

There will soon be a public meeting.