Hundley on Farmer’s Market: No major changes, no personal conflict of interest
Although there may be some “minor changes” to the Tuesday Night Farmers Market as recommended by a City Council sub-committee now studying the issue, Sonoma Mayor Rachel Hundley said she expects the 2017 season will move forward under the current management team. In a conversation with The Sun, Hundley also said there is no conflict of interest with her, as a past market vendor, presiding over the issue as mayor, and therefore no reason to recuse herself from future discussions.
“This is a subject about which I’ve had several conversations with our city attorney, and I would like to clarify it before it overshadows the conversation,” Hundley said. “A conflict would exist if I was a current or prospective vendor, but I am not.”
Hundley’s Drums & Crumbs food truck participated in the 2015 market season. She applied but was not approved for the 2016 season. During the application process last year, the council discussed the market and Hundley did recuse herself, she said. As she will not apply for 2017, she said, “there is no conflict of interest. I’ve always operated under advice of the city attorney.”
Councilmember concerns about the market, primarily voiced by Gary Edwards, surfaced last spring. There was a call to take a closer look at the contract with the Valley of the Moon Certified Farmers’ Market, the nonprofit that manages the event. Yet the item did not appear on any council agenda until December 12, an unexplainable delay, according to Hundley. Typically, she said, council meeting agendas are prepared by the City Manager with direction and approval from the mayor, in this case Laurie Gallian.
Pushing the Market discussion into December, when operators where already vetting vendors and planning logistics, was unfair, Hundley said, and gave an unfortunate perception of rushing to judgment.
Expediency was the primary reason that Hundley, in her first full meeting as mayor, called for on December 19 a two-member sub-committee of the council to study the issue. Edwards and Amy Harrington were named as that group.
Another option was to form a multi-member committee comprised of two council members, two members of the public, two members of the Community Services and Environmental Commission and two members of the current market management.
By its nature, such a large group would be slower and less flexible, she said. It would have been covered by the Brown Act, meaning that schedules and agendas would have to be publicly posted 72 hours prior to each meeting.
Hundley said the two-person group could move quicker to fact-find and generate an initial report without sacrificing transparency. As Harrington posted, “While this ad-hoc committee will not be subject to notice requirements of the Brown Act, Councilmember Edwards and I will be subject to it, and any suggestion it will be “secret” or not transparent is false.”
This structure allows the council to move the process along expeditiously so that all issues can be resolved as soon as possible out of respect and concern for the Farmer’s Market, she said.
The first meeting is on January 5 at 1 p.m. at City Hall.
Harrington said any amendments to the contract will likely be minor, to perhaps include a focus on local vendors, farmers, protecting Plaza grounds, and the fee structure.
“Again, I want to stress that this ad-hoc structure will be just as transparent, but allow the Farmer’s Market to start planning for the season earlier,” Harrington said.
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“Harrington said any amendments to the contract will likely be minor, to perhaps include a focus on local vendors, farmers, protecting Plaza grounds, and the fee structure.”
That sounds reasonable on the surface. However, announcing (discussing?) it in a public newspaper is how council members communicate to other council members what the scope of the decision will be and “how the vote will go down,” without discussing it in public in a noticed public meeting that allows for public input. What if the public thinks market changes should be more than minor?
Such dog-whistle signaling by public officials is just the sort of done-deal making the Brown Act was intended to prevent.