This past Wednesday there was a live recording of KQED’s broadcast of “Forum on the Road” with Michael Krasny. In this two-hour long program in the Student Center Ballroom there were two topics discussed.  The first half of the broadcast concerned wine tourism and its future, while the other hour was focused on millennials and their role in the upcoming presidential election.

In the first hour of the forum, the panel was comprised of Corey Beck, president of the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, James Gore, member of Sonoma County’s Board of Supervisors, Judith Olney, co-chair of Preserve Rural Sonoma County, Kerry Fugett, executive director of the Sonoma County Conservation Action and Vicky Farrow, owner of Amista Vineyards.
“All of us are being impacted,” said Olney. “[Even] community members pose this as a problem.”

The specific problem Olney brings up involves the negative impact of tourism that comes from the multiple wineries in Sonoma County.

Many community members are very frustrated about the increase in tourism because of the growing number wineries.  

“The [tourism] industry remains the backbone of the [wine] industry’s economy,” said Krasny. “But some neighborhood groups say that escalating winery tourism brings unwanted traffic and noise.”

Meanwhile, as the first hour of the broadcast came to a close, the conversation shifted therole millennials are playing in the upcoming presidential election.

“Young people are voting in record numbers,” said Krasny. “What are they really feeling?”
As California gets closer to the June 7 primary election, many young voters are wondering whether presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will capture the majority vote of millennials. Either way, millennials have a major part to play in deciding the winner of the 2016 presidential election.  

These were some of the topics addressed by Krasny, a panel of four Sonoma State students and professors and Mindy Romero, the founder and creator of the California Civic Engagement Project.  

The four Sonoma State representatives were Political Science Professor Richard Hertz, student Collin Chin, student Samantha Mraz and graduate student Ariana Diaz De Leon.  

Each Sonoma State student representative supported a different candidate.

Chinn was a Sanders supporter, Mraz a Clinton supporter and Diaz  is a Republican Party supporter, but remains undecided on who she is voting for.

“It rubs me the wrong way that many of [Sanders] plans are not feasible under the executive branch – it’s up to Congress,” said Mraz about Sanders’ platform. “It’s great that much of my generation is becoming engaged, but I really wish Bernie supporters would not only look at the pros of his campaign, but also the flaws it has as well.”