Sonoma hires Novato official, longtime resident as city manager

The city of Sonoma has hired Cathy Capriola, the interim city manager for Novato, to be its new city manager.

Capriola will replace the current city manager, Carol Giovanatto, who is retiring in early January.

“I am thrilled and honored to be selected to be Sonoma’s next city manager,” Capriola said. “I love local government, and I believe Sonoma is a very special place. It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to serve that community.”

Capriola, 52, a longtime Sonoma resident, was selected from a pool of 46 candidates vying for the city’s top executive job. She will oversee a ?$17 million budget in a city with more than 10,000 residents and a booming tourist economy, with hotel occupancy rates consistently hovering around 90 percent.

Capriola has more than 25 years of work experience in local government. She was Novato’s assistant city manager from 2009 until January, when she took over as interim city manager. The Sonoma City Council approved Capriola’s contract Monday.

“The reasons I liked Cathy were her personality, and I believe she’ll be a strong leader,” said Rachel Hundley, a Sonoma councilwoman who was part of the hiring committee. “She has a lot of experience in managing teams. I think that will help Sonoma at a time when the city needs to work more at strengthening the relationship with the county.”

Prior to her job in Novato, Capriola worked for 10 years in Citrus Heights outside Sacramento. There, she served as administrative services director and helped launch Citrus Heights as a newly incorporated city. She was deputy city manager and economic development coordinator for Davis before that.

Sonoma council members applauded Capriola’s experience helping Novato out of the recession, as well as her work on affordable housing development and projects related to the North Bay’s commuter rail.

“She was the most qualified candidate,” said Councilman David Cook. “Her background in finance was crucial.”

Cook and Hundley said they expect Capriola to lead Sonoma as it seeks to reduce homelessness, tackle development of low-income and workforce housing projects and address the impacts of tourism on the city. Cook mentioned the need for homeless shelter expansion and reducing traffic affiliated with popular events on the historic Sonoma Plaza.

“It’s important to get that balance between tourism and our hometown feel,” Cook said.

Capriola will have an annual salary of $186,000 plus a $6,000 vehicle allowance. She starts Jan. 9.

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 707-526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.