Council nixes election

Mayor Joanne Sanders will serve a second term, and challenger Laurie Gallian a first, following a sometimes contentious discussion about democracy, punctuality and finances at the Sonoma City Council’s most recent meeting.
The council voted 3-2 on Aug. 20 to forego a November general election and appoint sole candidates Gallian and Sanders to fill the two seats expiring this year.
The move, which eliminates the possibility of a November write-in candidacy, will save the city an estimated $7-8,000 in election fees contracted through the Sonoma County Clerk’s office. Sanders herself cast the tie-breaking vote, with Mayor Pro Tem Ken Brown and councilmember August Sebastiani dissenting.
“It could be argued that it’s a misuse of public funds to hold this election,” Sanders said, expressing her long-held commitment to city finances and saying that the only reason she decided to run for a second term was that no one else had stepped forward after Gallian announced her own candidacy in July.
Generally, Sonoma’s council race sees more candidates when an incumbent chooses not to run – 2002’s three-vacancy council election drew nine candidates, and 2004 and 2006 saw six people apiece vying for two seats. California’s Election Code states that when the number of qualified candidates equals the number of available seats, the governing body can either appoint them or hold a general election which opens the field to write-in candidates.
Voting with Sanders were councilmembers Stanley Cohen and Steve Barbose. In May, Cohen announced he would not seek re-election, telling his colleagues Aug. 20 that he’d done so early in order to draw more people into the process – and that he found it “very embarrassing” that Sonoma is the only city in the county without a 2008 election.
“If people haven’t come forth, that’s just the way it is … to me, it says you haven’t made the commitment,” Cohen said.
Just prior to the council’s vote, at least one audience member tried to disrupt the proceedings by claiming that someone had obtained nomination papers that morning – something not allowed under the state election code unless the council first okays the election.
“First of all, it’s impossible (for a write-in candidate) to pull papers because there’s a specific time frame that begins Sept. 8 and runs through Oct 21,” Rainsbarger said Monday. “I did have a young woman come into my office on Aug 20, the day of the City Council meeting. I explained to her the process and the time frame, and explained to her to come back on Sept 8. … I even gave her a handout on the election code.”
Barbose also expressed disappointment that more people hadn’t entered the race. He agreed with Cohen that a last-minute write-in campaign – one which would have to spend more money in order to make up for lost time – could have a bad effect on Sonoma politics. He added that the $7-8,000 election fee would be better invested as budget allocations to such local non-profits as Meals on Wheels and the La Luz Center. “They’d love to have the money, and they could put it to better use,” he said.
Sebastiani and Brown favored holding the election, with Sebastiani – a staunch foe of what he calls “state-subsidized housing” – saying he was “taken aback” that the city would spend millions of dollars on affordable homes yet balk at spending a far lesser amount for an election.
“The write-in process is part of the democratic process,” he said, adding later, “I am very disappointed in the direction this council is going tonight.”
Four of the nine audience members who spoke on the topic agreed with Sebastiani and Brown, with Linda Tombeck saying the election-fee cost didn’t amount to much compared with other city expenditures.
“I think elections are more important than the duck pond,” Tombeck said.
Others took an opposite view. Gina Cuclis, a former member of the city’s planning commission, speculated that the lack of other candidates simply meant no one wanted to run against Sanders and Gallian. She also questioned the value of a council candidate who waited until the write-in window to open before filing.
“And if you didn’t know there was a city council election,” Cuclis added, “boy, do you not deserve to hold this office.”