Once again, the Sonoma City Council has made an appointment which, at best, seems ill advised. Former San Rafael city manager Cristine Alilovich has been appointed interim Sonoma city manager following the departure of David Guhin. Ms. Alilovich departed her position as San Rafael city manager in a move described by city officials as a “mutual parting of ways.” Both the City and Ms. Alilovich signed a document that prohibits either party from further public comment, so it is likely the full circumstances will never be disclosed to taxpayers. Take from that what you will.
According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Ms. Alilovich was on leave at the time of her resignation, a leave mandated by the San Rafael City Council the day after they met in closed session to evaluate her job performance, and immediately replaced her with the San Rafael finance director. Not a good look for a public official, and a red flag obviously ignored by Sonoma officials.
Prior to her being placed on leave, Ms. Alilovich had been at the center of a controversy over a $7,000,000 land purchase toward a subsidized housing project, made by the city that was reportedly finalized without any public discussion or notification. The purchase reportedly never saw the light of day until it was too late for public input.
If this assertion is true, it would constitute a blatant violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act. Not surprisingly, it created a firestorm of controversy in the San Rafael community, and based on the reporting, appears to have led directly to her departure from her position. Local citizens were so outraged that they formed a group called “Marin Citizens for Solutions Not Secrecy.” Certainly, the Sonoma City Council can do better than to retain someone who is at the center of an ethical controversy, and who only recently departed her position under unclear but highly questionable circumstances.
Martin Laney, Sonoma Valley
This is Martin Laney, the author of the letter published here criticizing the appointment of Cristine Alilovich as Sonoma City Manager. I had a very cordial meeting with her subsequent to writing the letter, and as a result, I support her, and hopefully, her appointment to City Manager on a permanent basis. The media sources I relied on to form my initial opinion were in fact uninformed and incorrect. I am confident that she was a scapegoat for a failure on the part of Marin County officials, not her area of authority, as she was a City of San Rafael City Manager. An unfortunately common occurrence in today’s political environment. I stand corrected, as it turns out, my comments were not based on the facts. My sincere apologies. I encourage all Sonoma citizens to support Ms. Alilovich going forward.