Endorsement: Sonoma City Council

'Some civil servants are just like my loved ones/They work so hard and they try to be strong' — Talking Heads, 'Don't Worry About the Government'

When the Sonoma City Council unanimously voted Monday to consider a moratorium on new vacation rentals it marked one of the young council's most impressive moments in its less-than-two-years in its current incarnation.

That we say this has less to do with the issue of vacation rentals — though we think they made the right move that night — and more to do with the council itself.

In that Oct. 4 vote, the council was united, decisive and willing to make a bold move to confront what it conceives to be a serious issue in the community.

We can't remember the last time the council has acted in such a way that sent a clear message about its view of the direction of the town and took immediate steps to get there.

At times it's been the opposite – circular reasoning, leading to narrowly split votes, calls for 'more information,' resulting in stasis. The long-running leaf blower debate is perhaps the quintessential example.

This isn't a wholly unique view of the council — it's shared by more than a few council watchdogs, and even some councilmembers themselves. And it's the background from which we approached our endorsement considerations of the Nov. 8 election for two seats on the City Council, where leadership, sound judgment and an ability to work collaboratively with others are necessary qualities in order to get things done.

In this race, incumbents David Cook and current Mayor Laurie Gallian are facing challenges from Sonoma native and political activist Jack Wagner and attorney Amy Harrington.

Wagner is a bright, progressive candidate, dedicated to bettering his hometown. This is Wagner's second run at the council and if he continues his pursuit, we have no doubt he'll one day take a seat at the dais. He comes across as an intelligent, thoughtfully moderate progressive — but we haven't seen Wagner in action. Before endorsing him, we'd like to see Wagner gain some civic experience and demonstrate his leadership qualities — perhaps serving on a lower board much the way Harrington has done in her time on the Community Services and Environment Commission.

Harrington says she's running for council because she thinks she can help the city achieve its expressed goals on confronting the housing crisis, mitigating climate-change and alleviating transportation woes through establishing a more focused, time-lined vision. She says her incumbent opponents are overly cautious, lacking any real ambition to address Sonoma's myriad challenges. It's safe to say Harrington conveys the most energy of the four candidates. She's an active thinker – in conversations we've had with her she's shown an outside-the-box approach to several issues – and says she's ready to take on the daunting challenges of city governance.

David Cook positions himself as a practical member of the council, willing to compromise and able to see both sides of an issue. He was the only council member to sympathize with smokers in his vote against the proposed new secondhand smoke regulations which, he pointed out, make it nearly impossible to smoke anywhere outside of one's own four walls. Cook, on occasion, votes against causes he says he champions. Some would say his recent vote in favor of two vacation-rental conversions, and his vote against safe-parking-for-the-homeless, are antithetical to his expressed pro-housing and pro-homeless positions. We'd like to see more of the Councilmember Cook who spoke up for the never-popular smoker; a champion of the underdog.

Mayor Gallian is perhaps the most reliable of councilmembers. She represents Sonoma on a myriad of regional boards — and we can't recall the last time she's missed a meeting. She's a vocal champion of many worthy causes – from the environment and climate change to housing and community character. There's no doubt she's a passionate advocate for Sonoma. The knock on Gallian is perhaps her effectiveness in achieving goals. As the senior member of the council – she was appointed in 2008 – her imprint upon Sonoma appears ethereal. We applaud her for being the most vocal environmental voice on the council, yet the council addresses very few environmental issues, even during her mayoralship. When the passage of eight greenhouse-gas-lowering initiatives appeared stymied by a lawsuit against the County's Climate Action 2020 plan, Gallian and her council colleagues tabled the discussion, when they should have just passed the eight initiatives anyway. Are the initiatives beneficial to the community — or are they token gestures for the benefit of being part of Climate Action 2020?

Gallian is certainly a solid councilmember, but after eight years she hasn't established herself as a council leader.

The 2016 council has made some laudable decisions — the recent steps toward providing safe night parking for Sonomans living in cars is an obvious example. But they've also been, as our dads would say, 'wishy-washy' when action was needed.

Lobbing tomatoes at a city council is pro-forma in many communities who need someone to blame when their town isn't perfect — we get that. We also think the five volunteers on our City Council don't get enough recognition for dedicating so much time and thought to bettering the community for, at times, what must seem like little reward.

That being said, we're not convinced Sonoma is best served by the status quo.

Cook's willingness to find common ground is a valuable asset, especially given his sometimes role as swing vote on the oft-divided council.

And we think Harrington would bring fresh ideas to the council. She seems vividly intent on confronting issues of traffic congestion, affordable housing and tourism/community balance – head on.

Determination and action is what Sonoma needs to address these issues.

We recommend Amy Harrington and David Cook for Sonoma City Council.

— Jason Walsh, editor

— John Burns, publisher