Sebastopol City Council hires a new police chief and votes down press rules
An Aussie outta Colorado and a victory for the free press
Last night’s city council meeting agenda was full of meaty, interesting and complex items—and, wow, what a crowd! It’s going to take a day or two to pull together the full city council recap, but we wanted to get the word out on two important issues: the hiring of a new police chief and the collapse of the mayor’s attempt to impose new press procedures.
First, hail to the new police chief
The Sebastopol City Council approved the hiring of Sean McDonagh as the City’s next Police Chief. Mr. McDonagh will officially assume the role immediately with a three-year contract extending through March 3, 2028. The vote was 4 to 1, the one being Councilmember McLewis, who was absent. (An absence is not counted as a no vote, merely as an absence.)
According to a city press release on McDonagh’s hiring, “Mr. McDonagh brings a wealth of law enforcement experience, having served as a Police Commander for 10 years and most recently as a Police Chief in Colorado for the past two years. He holds advanced degrees in law enforcement, executive management, and police leadership and security from institutions in both the U.S. and Australia. Mr. McDonagh has successfully obtained California law enforcement certification through the California Police Officer Standards Board, ensuring his qualifications align with state requirements.”
McDonagh, who moved to the U.S. from Australia in 2016, was chosen from among multiple candidates after extensive interviews. The city’s HR consultant, Deborah Muchmore, explained the selection process in detail at the meeting:
“There was a pool of candidates. Five or six of those candidates were brought forward to a panel of police chiefs from around the Bay Area, and three candidates were moved forward out of that panel. Those three candidates went through an interview process with a panel of community members and then also an internal interview process with city leadership. Then they also went through an interview that same day with a former police background investigator. Then the community panel and the investigator’s interviews became advisory for the decision-making process of the city manager. After that, the successful candidate [McDonagh] went through a comprehensive reference and background investigation that included in-depth checks into recent employment performance evaluations, personnel files, actions that had occurred, and also all the documents that were related to anything that happened—we can’t talk about that; it’s a confidential process. The background investigator is certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Board and does a thorough job.”
This extensive explanation was in response to a question from Kyle Falbo, who had obviously been Googling and had discovered, as we had, that the new chief had two relatively short tenures as police chief in Colorado, first in Rocky Ford and then in Monte Vista.
His contract with Monte Vista, where he served as police chief for eight months, was formally ended with a separation agreement last week that included the payment of a legal claim of $35,000 to McDonagh, according to the local Colorado newspaper, The Center Post-Dispatch.
After Muchmore’s explanation of the hiring process, Councilmember Sandra Maurer asked if the new chief could say a few words.
“I appreciate the welcome. I appreciate Kyle’s question,” McDonagh said. “They’re valid questions. Transparency is extremely important, as we saw tonight here with a massive turnout from the community here in Sebastopol. With the blessing of the council and policy and the city administration, I’d like to be as transparent as I can be. It’s super important. I’m extremely excited because community engagement has been a very important part of my career. It’s been my favorite part of my career, because without the community, we have nothing. We have to work in partnership with the community to achieve common goals. So I’m really excited to continue meeting people from the city, from businesses and the residents of this city, so that we can keep pushing forward into a positive place. I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.”
The city press release on McDonagh’s hiring also included these comments from Mayor Zollman and City Manager Don Schwartz, as well as McDonagh:
Mayor Zollman welcomes Chief McDonagh and stated, “The City looks forward to the Chief’s leadership to enhance public safety, fostering and building strong relationships with our esteemed youth and valued residents through strong community engagement, and fostering transparency in our police department. His stated commitment to a holistic approach to policing aligns with our values of creating a safer, more supportive community for all.”
City Manager Don Schwartz echoed this sentiment, adding “Chief McDonagh has demonstrated experience in working closely with the community and his tea m. I was particularly struck by his ability to recruit quality police officers when they could go anywhere in the country.”
“I’ve always loved the city and surrounding region, so it’s a real honor to be able to call Sebastopol home,” said Chief McDonagh. “I look forward to working closely and collaboratively with the City Council and administration, local groups, citizens and those that frequent the area. Community engagement is and has been very important to me in my past roles as chief of police. I love to be active in and with the community, so that we can work together to achieve common goals for the City of Sebastopol.”
You can find an interesting and informative interview with Chief McDonagh here on the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force website.
And about that new press policy…it’s toast
Thanks to an outpouring of letters and an overflow crowd the night of the council meeting opposing the city’s proposed press practices, the Sebastopol City Council scrapped the proposed press practices and revised the short press policy they’d originally approved in November. More details later in our full city council recap, but for now, thank you, thank you, thank you for writing those letters and showing up to support a free press.
Last night I proudly watched this community and a functioning democracy in action: An organized forum, the thoughtful airing of a problem, a lot of informed public comments, and a pragmatic discussion among public officials.
I agree with the “press rules” outcome. Like many others, I rely on the Sebastopol Times for what’s happening in and around the city. Most importantly, it is the way I learn about what the local government is good at, and what might be missing from its agenda.
However, I left the meeting unsatisfied. Why? Why did the Mayor feel the need to put forth a more restrictive press procedure?
I respect Mayor Zollman and our city officials. They have broad responsibilities and limited budgets. Mayor Zollman is an experienced public service lawyer. Lawyers know the Constitutional problems with limiting Free Speech and Freedom of the Press. And, no Constitutional right means “anything goes.” Speech can be moderated in “time, place, and manner” if there is a compelling government interest at stake, like public safety.
Did Mayor Zollman have a compelling reason to take the approved Council policy and construe it in a more restrictive way? We don’t know if his reason was compelling or not. It wasn’t discussed. We don’t know if those draft procedures were simply a momentary lapse of judgement, an overreaction to something that happened, or an ongoing problem that the Mayor feels he can’t talk about. Yes, the immediate problem was solved, but there is an important question left unanswered.
Thank you Laura for bringing this to all of our attention. I am so grateful for your work and everyone who works on the Sebastopol Times. The Times has become such an imporatant part of our community. And, last night shows that we, as citizens can have a strong impact on outcomes at the local level.