Sebastopol City Council preserves the Climate Action Committee

Sebastopol City Council recap for the Dec. 17 council meeting

In one of the shortest council meetings I’ve yet attended, the Sebastopol City Council plowed through a crowded agenda at breakneck speed. Councilmembers discussed which committee positions they’ve requested and voted to limit the amount of time city staff spent on the Climate Action Committee. They also dealt with several fire department issues and gave the go-ahead for a new staffing study. City workers also showed up early in the meeting, during public comment, to express concern over staffing levels and promotional opportunities.

---

All council members were present for the Dec. 17 Sebastopol City Council meeting, including Mayor Stephen Zollman, Vice Mayor Jill McLewis, Councilmember Phill Carter, Councilmember Neysa Hinton, and Councilmember Sandra Maurer.

---

Consent Calendar

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.

In addition to approving the minutes of previous council meetings, the city council unanimously approved the following items:

• The city council approved the repeal of a city ordinance requiring candidates to file their financial disclosure statements through the city election portal. As of January 1, 2025, candidates will be required to file through the California Fair Political Practices Commission’s portal.

• The city council received the city’s Code of Conduct policies and provided a signed document to the City Clerk.

• Per state law, the city council approved a current list of local appointments for the Planning Commission, Design Review, Public Arts and Climate Action Committee.

• The city council received notice that the City of Sebastopol Offices will be closed Monday, Dec. 23 through Thursday, Dec. 26. The police department and fire departments will be staffed during this time, and Public Works will be on standby. The Building Department, Administrative Services, Planning and Public Works offices will be closed.

• The city council approved the city’s AB 1600 Report for 2023-24, which requires the city to report annually on development fees collected and their use.

• The city council approved agreements with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) for implementation of a ¼ cent sales tax, as approved at the Nov. 5, election, and an agreement with Sonoma County regarding Measure U and Measure I. In exchange for the City waiving collection of a portion of the ½ cent sales tax authorized by Measure U, Sonoma County will pay the City an amount equal to what the City would receive if it collected the full amount. (See our article on this topic here.)

• The council approved the Final Map and Subdivision Improvements Agreement for the Canopy Subdivision located at 1009-1011 Gravenstein Highway North, behind the O’Reilly complex.

Regular Agenda

Council members make their case for committee assignments

All council members serve on various city and county commissions and committees and as liaisons to several local nonprofit organizations. Councilmembers submit their committee requests to the mayor and make their case in public for why they should be appointed. See their requests here. We will publish the full list of committee appointments after they’re ratified by the full council at the January 7 council meeting.

Council votes to keep Climate Action Committee but limits staff support to 10 hours a month

Over the last two meetings, Councilmember Jill McLewis went on a one-woman crusade to demote the city-sponsored Climate Action Committee (CAC) to a community organization, unfunded and unaffiliated with city government.

At issue was the revelation at the last council meeting that the city was spending $50,000 in staff time annually supporting the committee. Council was given three options: disband the committee, reduce its staff support, or leave it as is. (Read about the issue in our last city council recap.)

It was clear from the start that a majority on the city council supported keeping the CAC as an official city committee. And, despite McLewis’s efforts, that’s exactly what happened. After presentations by Development Director Emi Theriault and CAC Chair Kenna Lee, the vote was 4 to 1, McLewis dissenting, to retain CAC as an official city committee but reduce its staff time support to 10 hours a month, which will cost roughly $24,000 annually.

There is also a move afoot to reduce the number of people on the committee from 15 or so to 7.

Three decisions affecting the fire department

The council unanimously approved three items relating to the fire department, presented by Gold Ridge Fire’s Division Chief Dave Bray.

The council approved a new Sebastopol Fire Department stipend policy. “The current stipend policy allows for eight-hour daytime coverage, leaving nights and weekends unstaffed and relying on the volunteer response,” Bray said. “This plan is to allow for 24-hour coverage in the station, utilizing volunteers.”

The second item involved a Fire Captain Job Description and Salary Range. Bray has been operating as fire chief for Sebastopol, but he said he can’t be at the station all the time and that the city should have a paid fire captain onsite to provide supervision.

The council unanimously approved the job description with a salary range of 1% below the market mean. The funding for this position comes from Measure H funds.

“These two items that we just passed are steps in the path toward expanding our fire station coverage and public safety for the community,” City Manager Don Schwartz said. “If we go back to the survey earlier this year, when public safety was rated so highly—this is an example of the council responding to the comments and the survey responses we got from the community. This two items, when they’re completed, will that mean a substantial increase in public safety for the residents of Sebastopol. I just don't want that to go unnoticed.”

The third fire-related item involved a contract amendment for an additional allocation of $25,000 for City Gate, a consultant, to continue its work on the fire department reorganization. No budget amendment was required because the 2024-25 budget has allocated $50,000 for consolidation negotiation advising. The council unanimously approved this allocation.

Other council business

The council unanimously approved a new Staffing Assessment Study, which is already in the budget, allocated at $10,000.

On a 4 to 1 vote, the council then passed a budget amendment of $1,500 to send an additional council member to the League of California Cities conference in Sacramento in January. The budget already included $3,000 for two attendees, but Councilmember McLewis also wanted to go, and the council approved the increase on a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Maurer dissenting.

In their final decision of the evening, the council designated voting delegates and alternates for the Sonoma County Mayors and Councilmembers Association, which conducts five regular membership meetings per year. According to the bylaws, in the event a Mayor is unable to attend a meeting, the council shall designate another council member to vote in their place. The council voted unanimously to continue last year’s protocol: If the Mayor can’t attend, the Vice Mayor will step in. After that the voting duty devolves alphabetically—Carter, Hinton, Maurer.

You can watch the full Dec. 17 Sebastopol City Council meeting here, once it has been posted. See the full Dec. 17 agenda and documentation here. The next city council meeting is Tuesday, January 7, at the Sebastopol Youth Annex.