Recap of the Sebastopol City Council meeting for Sept. 19

Hanley appointed to planning commission, new water shortage contingency triggers and cuts, and more

All council members were present at the Sept. 19 Sebastopol City Council meeting, including Mayor Neysa Hinton, Vice Mayor Diana Rich, Councilmember Sandra Maurer, Councilmember Jill McLewis, and Councilmember Stephen Zollman.

Shortest council meeting ever, in my experience, coming in at just 1.4 hours. This had to do with the very few items on the agenda and the fact that the meeting was cut short by Zoom bombing, in which Zoom “gate crashers” share obscene or disturbing material. This attack came with an exciting, full-volume death metal soundtrack.

Consent Calendar

(Note: The consent calendar consists of items that are routine in nature or don’t require additional discussion, often because they’ve been discussed extensively at a previous council meeting.)

The council unanimously approved an extension of the proclamation of the existence of a local homeless emergency, the purchase of a flatbed dump truck, and the cancellation of a power line undergrounding that would have cost $900,000 and would have benefited just seven homes on a single block.

The council also approved an amendment to the Mobile Home Rent Stabilization Program on a 4 to 1 vote, with Jill McLewis dissenting. (See their discussion of this issue from the Sept. 5 meeting here.) The amendment limits rent increases to 3% per year. In a public comment, a member of the Musser family, owners of Fircrest Mobile Home Park, said this was the lowest rent increase allowed in the county and that it amounted to an illegal “taking” of private property.

Appointment of Seth Hanley to the Planning Commission

The council voted unanimously to approve the appointment of architect Seth Hanley to the Sebastopol Planning Commission to fill the spot left vacant by the resignation of Planning Commissioner Linda Kelly. Hanley is the co-founder of the architecture and design firm Blitz, which he founded with his wife Melissa in 2009. (Melissa is on Sebastopol’s Design Review Board. ) The council was effusive in thanking Hanley for applying for the position; he was the sole applicant, but he is obviously—one might say, extravagantly—qualified for the job.

Public Hearing: Amendments to the Water Shortage Contingency Plan

The state of California requires that all cities have a Water Shortage Contingency Plan. Sebastopol’s original plan had a three stages calling for water use cuts of 10%, 25%, and 30%. The state now requires a six-stage plan, with cuts ranging from 10% to more than 50%. See a full description of these stages here.

Council members didn’t have any questions about the Water Shortage Contingency Plan, but they did have some water-related questions:

Sandra Maurer asked about the selling of city water to private vendors. Public Works Director Dante Del Prete noted that these sales accounted for less than 2% of the water the city’s wells produce.

Jill McLewis asked about sidewalk washing and learned that – now that the drought emergency has been cancelled – the city will recommence washing the city’s downtown sidewalks, starting this Thursday.

City council and staff reports

• City Manager/City Attorney Larry McLaughlin said that relevant city staff would be meeting with Caltrans to learn more about the $230,000 Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant that the city won this month.

• City Clerk/Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley noted that there would be a special city council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26, to review and get public feedback on the Fire Services Report.

• Councilmember Sandra Maurer noted that negotiations were starting this week for a new hauling contract with Recology and the city of Sebastopol.

• Councilmember Stephen Zollman noted that unless the city develops new revenues (or makes deeper budget cuts) the city’s reserves will be depleted by July 2026.

Zoom bombing precluded the continuation of city council reports.

Watch the full meeting here.

The next regular city council will be on Tuesday, October 3 at 6 pm at the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris  St., Sebastopol.