Tag: Healdsburg city council

Given all the angst and opinion voiced in previous public hearings (and social media) about the city’s transition to District Elections, Monday nights’ meeting took place in a desert. Fewer than half a dozen members of the public were in the room when the hearing, fourth in a series of five, got underway at the posted “time certain” 6:45pm on March 17. But the meeting set forth the future of Healdsburg district elections for years to come.

The third public meeting held in the effort to split Healdsburg’s electorate into districts, to satisfy the requirements of California’s Voting Rights Act, led to a general consensus among the council members to stick with their original preference: five districts each to elect a councilmember, with the mayor’s role rotating between them.

“Can you speak to how this project does or doesn’t comply with what the recommendations are in the Active Transportation plans, or what the proposed bike and ped [pedestrian] improvements are that people have been emailing us about?” Councilmember Ariel Kelley asked. “I think there’s a disconnect between what you guys are proposing and what the community [believes] is included in the project.”

Retired attorney Jon Eisenberg filed civil suit against the City of Healdsburg, charging multiple Brown Act violations in two recent cases that demonstrate what he calls “a pattern of misbehavior that is deeply embedded in the culture of Healdsburg’s city government…” His action focused on what he called the “tainted decision making” in the effort to get Measure O on the ballot and the campaign to get it passed; and the transition to district elections now underway.

Healdsburg last week added an Active Transportation Plan (ATP) to its library of planning documents that outline future projects and growth in the city, after more than a year’s study, conversation and preparation. The final plan ATP was presented by Public Works Director Larry Zimmer and Senior Project Manager Michael Harrigan to the City Council on Jan. 21...

It was Assistant City Manager Andrew Sturmfels' last meeting in Healdsburg before he begins work for Sonoma County, but the same old City Council was on the dais to double-down on their controversial decision to set a 5-district limit for Healdsburg's new government....

The grumbling attained legal emphasis  just after Christmas, when on Dec. 26 Healdsburg attorney Jon Eisenberg filed a letter with the city that raised a number of alleged Brown Act violations during the lead-up to the Measure O vote in November, violations he clearly is prepared to take to court. He then raises concerns about the Dec. 16 City Council meeting itself, suggesting that additional Brown Act violations took place in that process as well...

The new proposal was to expand the formula-free zone one block further into the Downtown Commercial district. McDowell showed a map where a red line marked the border of the proposed formula-free zone; it surrounds most of seven city blocks adjacent to the Plaza, marking a significant expansion of the prohibition zone.

The Healdsburg Arts and Culture Commission will enter the exclusive ranks of quasi-governmental advisory bodies in town, joining the Planning, Parks and Recreation, and Senior Citizens commissions at the top of the menu on the city website.

The names on the letterhead strike terror in the hearts of city governments across the state: Malibu-based attorneys Shenkman & Hughes since 2011 have made it their mission to call out local governments in California that elect officers by “at large” voting. Now it's Healdsburg's turn, to split its area into five districts for city council elections. This could be interesting...