Sebastopol has a new mayor and vice mayor
There was a changing of the guard at last night's city council meeting
The Sonoma County Registrar of Voters certified the Nov. 5 election yesterday, just in time for the changing of the guard at the Sebastopol City Council.
Unlike previous years where the mayor was voted in by fellow council members, Vice Mayor Stephen Zollman became the city’s new mayor under a recently passed policy where the vice mayor automatically rises to be mayor the next year.
Under a related policy, Councilmember Jill McLewis, who was the next highest vote-getter in the previous election, became vice mayor.
Their new positions were ratified unanimously by the full council.
City Clerk Mary Gourley swore in returning councilmember Neysa Hinton and new councilmember Phill Carter.
At the beginning of the council meeting, outgoing Mayor Diana Rich gave a farewell speech, thanking her fellow council members, city staff, and the citizens of Sebastopol.
“This is my opportunity to just say thank you to everyone in this wonderful city and on this wonderful council,” she said. “It’s been an absolute pleasure. I’ve enjoyed every moment—those moments of agreement and those moments of disagreement too, because they bring excellent decision-making.”
She also gave a shout-out to city staff: “I have learned so much about the city and how it functions, and how hard our city staff works and how collaborative all of them are, and how much they support everyone in this town.”
At the end of her speech, she mentioned that just that afternoon she’d signed the document finalizing the funding for Gravenstein Commons, a permanent supportive housing development for the homeless. Gravenstein Commons is scheduled to be built on the former site of Horizon Shine, the homeless RV Village that operated from February 2022 to May 2024.
Early in her term on the council, Rich was instrumental in developing a plan to move homeless RV campers off of Morris Street and into Horizon Shine. Now, with Gravenstein Commons on the horizon, she said, “That was a fitting closing event in my experience as mayor.”
Mayor Zollman, a former San Francisco defense attorney, had these words for his fellow citizens the day after the meeting: “Greetings fellow Sebastopolians: I am very, very honored to serve in this new capacity. I thank my fellow council colleagues and look forward to working collaboratively with them to address your needs. I will be setting up bi-monthly ‘Meetings with the Mayor’ to hear from you, and please know that you can always reach out at any time.”
You can email the city council at citycouncil@cityofsebastopol.gov and Mayor Zollman at szollman@cityofsebastopol.gov.
