Sawyer voted SR mayor with opponent's support

John Sawyer is Santa Rosa's new mayor, thanks largely to the spirit of the man he replaced and the woman nominated to challenge him for the top spot.

Sawyer served as vice mayor under Mayor Bob Blanchard, who died Saturday, and it was anticipated that the City Council would select Sawyer to fill the remaining six months of Blanchard's mayoral term.

Late in Tuesday's City Council meeting, which began with a community tribute to Blanchard, Councilwoman Carol Dean nominated Sawyer to be mayor and Councilwoman Susan Gorin to be vice mayor.

"It's been a very emotional evening. It's time to put our political differences aside and do what's right for the city," Dean said, citing Blanchard's spirit of cooperation.

But Councilwoman Veronica Jacobi then nominated Gorin to be mayor, a nomination seconded by Councilman Lee Pierce.

Gorin quickly stepped in to put the potential controversy to rest.

"I really appreciate the thought," she told Jacobi and Pierce, "but I also am interested in moving forward in a cooperative, transitional way."

Then she cast the swing vote, voting against herself to join Dean, Sawyer and Councilwoman Jane Bender in selecting Sawyer as mayor.

Dean's motion to name Gorin vice mayor then passed unanimously.

In taking the helm, Sawyer, 53, becomes the city's first openly gay mayor, a distinction he both brushes off and celebrates.

"For me, it's a non-issue," he said. "For others, it's a very major issue. The voters who elected me didn't think it was an issue. But for gay youth who maybe are struggling, to them having a gay mayor is meaningful."

Sawyer has served on the City Council since 2004, when he came within 450 votes of being the top vote-getter and easily secured one of four seats up for election.

He is part-owner of Sawyer's News, a downtown newsstand founded by his great-grandfather in 1945. His partner, Dan Potts, is his business partner.

In 2000, Sawyer described himself as a fiscally conservative Democrat.

On Wednesday, he said his first order of business as mayor would be to steel the city for a series of budget talks.

"The budget is going to drastically affect anything else we want to do as a city," he said. "Before we move forward with anything else, we will have to cut down to the bare essentials."

The council is holding its budget workshops this week.

Whether Sawyer would be able to serve in the mayor's post beyond the end of the year was at first unclear.

Under the city's charter, the blueprint for how the city operates, anyone who serves as mayor cannot serve a second consecutive term in the role.

City Attorney Brien Farrell said the charter calls for the council to name one of their own to the two-year position. At issue was whether that means whoever filled Blanchard's remaining mayoral term would be excluded from consideration when a new mayor is chosen in December.

Farrell said it's his opinion that the remaining six months of Blanchard's mayoral term do not qualify as "a substantial portion" of the two-year post and would not bar anyone appointed from serving again.

The council will form a committee to develop charter language to clarify the succession issue, a measure that likely would be placed on the November ballot.