The Sun recommends: Gallian and Harrington for City Council
Deciding which two candidates to endorse for City Council this year was difficult. Everyone running, incumbents Laurie Gallian and David Cook, and candidates Amy Harrington and Jack Wagner, are all fine people who care about this community.
We’ve submitted questions to all of them, and their answers appear in this edition of the paper; we’ve also met with each of them personally and had a chance to chat and explore their interests and aspirations. This community is lucky to have four dedicated people ready to volunteer their time serving in office. After deliberation, however, we’ve selected Laurie Gallian and Amy Harrington for our endorsement and support.
In making our choices, we’ve considered the mix of the City Council. Given the three continuing members, we feel that Laurie and Amy will provide the right combination of solid experience and enthusiastic innovation and leadership. We like how this new council will look, and feel it can become a solid working group that produces results.
Laurie Gallian brings eight years of experience on the city council, and a rich network of contacts and relationships throughout the county. As the longest-serving member of the council, her institutional memory is vital, providing needed continuity, particularly as the city hires a new City Manager later this year.
Laurie has worked closely with other elected officials and organizations in Sonoma County, and her understanding of the ways in which our region is deeply interconnected has helped Sonoma in myriad ways. We cannot afford to lose her knowledge and ability to network with the agencies and individuals that govern so much of life in Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley and the City of Sonoma.
Laurie is hard working, thorough and careful in her decision-making; admittedly her care and caution sometimes makes her seem less forceful than some might prefer. On balance, however, we feel Laurie is a steady hand on the wheel of government, and look forward to her leadership for four more years, particularly on climate action and affordable housing.
Amy Harrington is new to Sonoma political life, but not new to politics; one could even say politics is in her blood. She currently serves on the Community Services and Environment Commission, where her ability to sharply focus on problematic issues and forge solutions is welcome. Her law practice, and her labor organizing work before that, ground her in the real world; she’s not adversarial but we also sense she won’t back down when core principles are at stake.
As to those core principles, Amy clearly has the needs of residents foremost in her mind. She wants to make sure it’s the City Council that drives decision-making, not the city’s paid staff. We expect her no-nonsense, direct approach to problem solving will be of benefit to the community. Aware of the challenges we face, Amy will be a champion for those who live and work here in Sonoma. She will listen to the community and help organize it to implement new ideas and solutions.
Our community has needs; more affordable housing, more attention to the environment, more better-paying jobs, more regional collaboration, and more action by government to insure these things happen. In our opinion Laurie Gallian and Amy Harrington are the right choices to address these needs.
6 thoughts on “The Sun recommends: Gallian and Harrington for City Council”
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As a small business owner here in town, I concur with The Sun’s endorsement of Gallian and Harrington.
As much as I like David Cook personally, and trust he cares deeply about Sonoma, I was disappointed that he (and Gary Edwards) recently voted against a very modest proposal to pilot test the use of five City-owned parking spaces this winter for our neighbors who have been priced out of their residences, finding themselves with no better option than to sleep in their cars.
This proposal was by championed by Rachel Hundley who put it on the agenda. It was supported by Mayor Gallian, councilmember Agrimonte, both candidates Harrington and Wagner, and by every other member of the public who rose to speak on the issue (with one lone exception).
While my own first-hand experience with this issue is minimal, I suspect it may be more than most members of the council. Last year in our own parking lot off W. Napa St., we noticed that we had an old motor home frequently parking overnight. Initially we were nervous (having watched too many Breaking Bad episodes). When we realized that it was occupied by an elderly woman who was just getting by, we felt ourselves fortunate not to be in her situation, and did not interfere as she came and went without incident.
I listened carefully to David’s reasoning that five parking spaces would be just a drop in the bucket, and that more substantial solutions to our local affordable housing crisis are needed. This is certainly true, and if David is re-elected I hope he proves me wrong by delivering on what sounded to me like a promise. If that happens I will be quick to admit my mistake.
But with winter approaching, I consider his vote to DO NOTHING right now, even this one small thing, unacceptable.
Gallian and Harrington are our best choices.
The one problem I have with Amy Harrington is that she seems to have the same mentality as Council Member Gary Edwards: if she does not see an issue as important, even if hundreds of Sonoma citizens do, then the City Council should not be bothered addressing it. She said that the issues with gas leaf blower are not “real issues”.
In her answer to your question about Climate Action 2020, she responded, “the City should be doing our part to reduce greenhouse gases by moving forward with the implementation of the eight measures of Climate Action 2020.”
One of the goals of Climate Action 2020 is to replace gas powered equipment with electric equipment. How does Amy reconcile her stance on ignoring the gas leaf blower issues with Climate Action 2020?
David, thanks for your comment. With regard to Climate Action 2020, I strongly support these measures as well as our environment. My record is clear, I made the motion and voted for a 10% GHG reduction and the adoption of the Climate Action 2020 measures in my role as a Community Services & Environment Commissioner. That’s why I’ve been endorsed by the SCCA (Sonoma County Conservation Action). Climate Action 2020 is a thoughtful, comprehensive approach. With regard to the specific leaf blower issue, it’s on the ballot and will be decided by our community. This issue is incredibly divisive and I am hoping after the vote we can move forward together as one community. I’d love to speak with you further about this, and I already posted a similar reply to your wife’s comment on the I-T. Perhaps we can all meet together. Feel free to call me at 707.204.0906 or email me at [email protected]. I look forward to working with you on environmental issues in the future. Thanks, Amy.
Amy, thanks for reaching out to me. I am now more confident that you will listen to the concerns of the people of Sonoma, and not just discard those concerns which are not in your personal list of top priorities.
Amy, given your strong support of the Climate Action 2020 efforts, does this mean you ensorse Measure V, which will require landscapers to switch from gas-powered to electric-powered leaf blowers?
In noting that the leaf blower issue is “incredibly divisive,” I hope that doesn’t mean that as a city council member Ms. Harrington will not shrink from making tough correct decisions just because an issue is “incredibly divisive.” That’s what elected officials face every day, They are supposed to be able to resolve ‘incredibly divisive’ issues. As a lawyer, she should understand better than that idiot, Gary Edwards, that EVERY issue is potentially divisive and that her job is to make a correct decision. Like her husband, who is a judge. If she is truly committed to Climate Change 2020, there is NO WAY she could be in favor of gasoline-powered leaf blowers without being two-faced. She should demonstrate the courage of her convictions and support Measure V.