"The community response has been very exciting," he said.

The proposal was met with positive community response and substantial donations have already made.

Yet public comment and community response to the college's request for expanded four-year programs has been overwhelmingly positive.

On the other, the extraordinary community response showed Petaluma to be a cozy place after all.

The community response began with a protest of about 100 people outside City Hall the day following the shooting.

"This is really pushing the order of magnitude in terms of community response," he said.

"And the community response is less public and less dramatic than Americans have come to think people should be."

He said he was impressed by the community response.

Their story helped create a new "model" for community response to bigotry and intolerance.

For the most part, after the initial disgruntlement, community response was positive.