Ex-councilman Gary Plass appointed to fill vacant Healdsburg council seat

Veteran Healdsburg City Councilman Gary Plass, who narrowly lost his bid for re-election in November, was chosen Tuesday to temporarily fill an empty seat on the City Council, until voters weigh in with a special election in June.

The council voted 3-1 to incur the cost of a special election and appoint Plass an interim council member to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of Eric Ziedrich. The decision followed a nearly two-hour discussion and testimony from members of the public.

Mayor Shaun McCaffery acknowledged that a special election with an estimated cost of $20,000 to $30,000, was “not our first choice,” but it was the least politically divisive, because it involved “taking it to the people.”

The vote came before a standing-room-only audience in the council chambers, filled mostly with supporters of one-time former Mayor Leah Gold, who urged the council to appoint her. But there were also a number of speakers who advocated for Plass, a retired Healdsburg police sergeant who served the past dozen years on the council.

Supporters of Plass, who worked 27 years on the police force, included Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore, who represents the north county, and Danny Walsh, a former Humboldt County supervisor.

Newly elected councilman David Hagele said he supported Plass, because he came in fourth in the election for three council seats, just 20 votes shy of third place. He said Plass “has a wealth of experience that’s current and spoke to the voters like we did.”

Supporters for Gold, a curriculum developer who was on the council from 2001 to 2004, said she could help repair the “broken trust” in Healdsburg’s government, as reflected in the recent election, which they said showed the City Council out of step with the majority of local voters, particularly over housing policy.

Ziedrich, who resigned halfway through his four-year term, cited disappointment over the resounding defeat of a Healdsburg housing ballot Measure R that he and city leaders supported, but which was voted down by 60 percent of the electorate. Measure R aimed to create more affordable and diverse housing by lifting a strict cap on new home construction that has been in place since 2000.

But opponents, who prevailed in the election, said instead of solving the housing problem, the measure would generate a construction boom and give the city broad new powers to change local growth patterns without voter approval.

On Tuesday, the council had a number of options to fill Ziedrich’s term, which runs to the end of 2018.

Councilwoman Brigitte Mansell favored a selection process that would involve reviewing applications from people wanting to fill the seat. But when there was no support for that option, she moved to have Gold appointed to the council, a motion that failed. Mansell was the lone dissenting vote in the move to appoint Plass.

Newly elected councilman Joe Naujokas said Plass is well experienced and will “help to provide continuity.”

Ziedrich served a couple of four-year terms, from 1996 to 2000, and 2006 to 2010. He was again elected to the council in 2014 before resigning effective Dec. 31.

Plass will be sworn into office at the council’s next meeting, on Jan. 16.