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Sanders enters supes race

Sonoma Mayor Joanne Sanders announced this week she will enter the race for 1st District Supervisor to replace the retiring Valerie Brown.

Sanders, a second-term councilmember and two-time mayor, said she had considered a run for supervisor “a long time ago, then I put it out of my mind,” but that after numerous conversations with friends and advisors she recently reconsidered and decided the time is right.

“I hope to see this thing through to November,” she said, arguing that a Sonoma Valley resident should be one of the two top vote getters in the June 5 primary election, in which it is unlikely that any of the now-six candidates will win a clear majority.

Half of that field includes Santa Rosa residents, drawn into the race by a redrawn district that now embraces a larger slice of the county’s largest city. They are Santa Rosa City Councilmembers John Sawyer and Susan Gorin; and Keith Rhinehart, a former UPS supervisor. Valley candidates besides Sanders are Gina Cuclis, a communications consultant and former city planning commissioner, and Mark Bramfitt, an energy consultant and board member of the Valley of the Moon Water District.

Sanders, who founded her own Sonoma-based employment agency, Bolt Staffing, has strong business credentials and eight years experience in elected office, and could attract some support away from Sawyer, who is seen as the more conservative of the two Santa Rosa council members. But it’s anyone’s guess how the political pie will be sliced in the weeks ahead and whether Santa Rosa candidates can effectively appeal to Valley voters, or how much support Valley candidates can win in suburban Santa Rosa.

Sanders, 44, insisted on Thursday that, “I’m very prepared for the job, needless to say. I’m a long time Sonoma Valley leader. I view the City Council as the local government for Sonoma Valley. I have the experience of leadership for the entire Valley. That’s an advantage.”

Sanders, who said she has not yet officially filed for the supervisor’s race, was unsuccessful in her last attempt at moving up the electoral ladder when she ran against Noreen Evans for the 2nd District State Senate seat vacated by Pat Wiggins. But she sees herself as perfectly positioned for the supervisor’s race. “This is a Valley seat, and it’s going to take someone like me to hit the ground running and fill Valerie’s shoes. I have the experience with redevelopment. We need to get that sidewalk project (in the Springs) finished, and it’s going to take me to shepherd that through.”

Sanders has a reputation as one of the more fiscally conservative members of the City Council and she said that perspective would guide her in addressing the county’s budget problems. “We can’t always tax our way out of this (situation),” she said. “I’m not like some of those crazy Republicans who say ‘no new taxes.’ But we have to do it (tax) right and carefully.”

She added that she would explore ways to achieve more budget cuts through “shifts in the way we deliver services,” pointing to the recent consolidation of the Sonoma and Valley of the Moon fire departments as a case in point.

“I’m exited,” she concluded. “I think it’s a realistic campaign.”