A surprisingly agreeable forum for Cotati recall

<p>It may have been the calmest moment in the midst of Cotati’s bitterly fought recall election campaign. A candidates forum featuring the target of the Cotati recall effort — Councilman George Barich — and three candidates to replace him, went forward largely absent the angry exchanges that have thus far characterized the campaign.</p><p>Instead, on subjects ranging from whether light industry was good for the small city’s future, to whether its City Council members should lobby for or against federal stimulus money, there was some polite disagreement and surprisingly frequent agreement.</p><p>Linell Hardy, a community volunteer and retired businesswoman, Susan Harvey, a former information technology manager, and Eric Kirchmann, an English teacher and school board member, are vying to replace Barich if he is recalled.</p><p>And on Thursday all three — and Barich, too — agreed that light industrial development has a valuable role in the city’s future. All three — and Barich, too — agreed that listening respectfully to other opinions, and respecting their diversity, will be essential to “heal the rifts” created by the recall campaign. All three — and Barich, too — said the city must perform its business more efficiently. And they all agreed that elected officials should take responsibility for any mistakes they might make in office.</p><p>The main points of difference hinged on what to do with Cotati’s finances. The city’s most recent budget was passed about $250,000 in the red — a hole expected to grow — and whether the city could avoid bankruptcy was a main thrust of questioning Thursday.</p><p>Even there the differences were slight, although Barich outlined the most definite ideas, saying the city should ax its planning department and outsource its functions and that bankruptcy may not be avoidable. None of the other candidates agreed with him. He also said raising fines on municipal code violations might be an acceptable way to raise revenue. </p><p>Hardy said that while residents should be able to vote on a sales tax increase, the city needs to look for revenue sources beyond those taxes and should try to attract a hotel so that Cotati can reap some of the county’s 11 percent bed tax.</p><p>Kirchmann advocated expanding commercial zones and other measures that would promote business. He said he would prefer the use of citizen-approved bond measures rather than taxes to raise money for services. And like Hardy and Harvey — both of whom are also planning commissioners — he said the city should look at using redevelopment money to help revitalize the downtown business area.</p><p>“Businesses need to be able to come to Cotati and incubate their business here to help sustain us,” he said.</p><p>The sharpest exchange in the evening came in response to the question: Why do you support or oppose the recall?</p><p>Harvey said Barich, by his “antics,” has shown that “he does not understand his leadership responsibilities to the city of Cotati.”</p><p>Barich said the recall effort was an “unfair and undemocratic” effort pushed by a small minority of people who’d hoped he would lose in the 2008 election.</p><p>And Hardy said, “What about my free speech?” saying that when Barich wrote to President Barack Obama on city letterhead, — a use that he didn’t have permission for — criticizing the federal stimulus package, he had not listened to her and instead had “represented himself as being the entire city of Cotati.”</p><p>The use of the letterhead was just one of a series of controversies surrounding Barich since his December election that led to the recall effort. He also fought with city administrators about using the city’s seal on his personal Web site.</p><p>Later, he posted on the Web site a photo of himself in blackface and an Afro wig over a version of the seal.</p><p>Whatever the results of the Nov. 17 recall election, the council’s makeup may still be unsettled. Mayor John Guardino resigned from the council in October, citing professional obligations. The council must decide by Nov. 24 whether to appoint a replacement or hold another special election to fill Guardino’s seat for the remaining 13 months of his term.</p><p>Thursday’s event was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 521-5260 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com.</p>