News

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Last Monday night marked the conclusion of what City Manager Jeff Kay called “a long and really involved journey” in Healdsburg’s civic history, as the City Council voted to approve a new map for selecting council members by district voting, beginning in 2026.

The Healdsburg City Council will have a lengthy goal-setting meeting on Friday this week, an annual discussion that assists the body and its members in prioritizing their efforts for the coming year. The following Monday, April 21, the council will hold its second regular meeting of the month, one which is likely to have its own challenges in light of the April 7 meeting and its revision of the 5-district map for City Council seats. Buckle up...

'There’s a magic hour on Saturday mornings when the sun hasn’t quite burned through the morning mist and the scent of basil floats on the breeze. It’s in that moment—coffee in one hand, tote bag in the other—that Healdsburg wakes up..." Meet our new columnist, Liza Gershman.

After having reached consensus at the fourth public hearing on March 17 that what has been termed Map A best represented the interests of the city in crafting five separate districts, the expectation was that the council would make a final perfunctory review, then move to adopt and accept that finalize the map. Mayor Mitchell had other ideas.

In his bi-weekly City Manager’s Report of April 4, Jeff Kay broke the news that the Bird Bikes program, providing a “micro-mobility” option for Healdsburg residents and visitors, has been canceled well ahead of its expected expiration date in early 2026. “Bird recently notified the City of their intent to terminate the agreement and we regret to announce that the e-bike share program will be concluding its operations in Healdsburg,” Kay wrote.

As Q1 2025 data reveals, Healdsburg’s real estate market is defying conventional wisdom with a 150% surge in luxury home sales while Sonoma County’s high-end market continues to decline. These counterintuitive trends are reshaping our understanding of the local market in ways that might surprise even longtime residents.

Proposed cuts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of $500 million to funding for regional hunger relief organizations will stop deliveries to local food banks nationwide, including the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB). That could mean the suspension of $750,000 in food shipments to REFB alone, and their availability for redistribution to local families.

Those streetside dining areas and tasting rooms that everyone has an opinion about will be given another look by the Healdsburg City Council at the April 7 meeting. The council will evaluate the plan last formalized in January 2023, with an eye toward potential modifications before the end of 2025.

The county’s Department of Public Infrastructure has announced a schedule for rebuilding the Wohler Bridge, a historic steel-truss span over the Russian River less than six miles from Healdsburg. Construction will begin on April 1, and the bridge will be closed throughout the summer.