Sonoma's mayor appears to have overcome his reservations about Sonoma Clean Power, the fledgling public agency, possibly paving the way for the city to become the fifth in the county to join the program.
Mayor Ken Brown, who represents the swing vote on the City Council, said Thursday that he is "leaning closer to supporting" Sonoma's inclusion in the power plan. The council has scheduled a final vote for Monday.
The addition of Sonoma to the power authority would lend political momentum to the venture and as many as 7,830 customers currently served by PG&E in the city.
Sonoma's vote is the last in a recent series of back-to-back decisions on the part of four cities to consider joining the new power program, which county officials tout as a greener option than what PG&E currently offers and another energy choice for residents.
During a public hearing June 17 in Sonoma, Brown tied his final decision on the city joining the power authority to whether Sonoma County Conversation Action endorsed the plan and the outcome of Santa Rosa's negotiations with the county, mainly over issues of governance and finances.
Two council members, Steve Barbose and Tom Rouse, supported Sonoma joining the power authority, while Councilman David Cook did not. Councilwoman Laurie Gallian recused herself from the debate because her husband is employed by PG&E.
Following that meeting, Brown participated in the selection of Geof Syphers as interim CEO of Sonoma Clean Power. Brown said Syphers "clearly" was his choice for the role.
"I can tell you quite clearly that since Geof Syphers was empowered to be the interim executive director, things have changed, and I would use the word 'dramatically,'" Brown said.
Brown, who earlier expressed concerns about agency officials not doing enough outreach, said he was pleased to see representatives of the power program at a farmers market in Sonoma this week.
"It's far more on our citizens' radar," he said.
On Tuesday, the Santa Rosa City Council voted unanimously to join the power authority after officials agreed to recommend several of the changes sought by council members, including extra board representation for the city, additional ratepayer protections and a way to avoid financial penalties for withdrawal.
David Keller, chairman of Sonoma County Conservation Action, after the hearing praised the council for doing a thorough analysis.
Still, concerns remain.
Sebastopol Mayor Michael Kyes on Thursday said he is worried that the tentative changes would give the county and Santa Rosa too much power and "drive the program completely."
"In that respect, I would very much like Sonoma to join because that gives little cities more clout," Kyes said.
With the pending addition of three more cities to the program, the county's representation on the authority is set to drop from four seats to two. Santa Rosa is set to have to have the same number of seats as the county under its conditional changes. Both would drop to one seat with the addition of a sixth city.
Cloverdale, Rohnert Park and Petaluma have decided not to join for the first year, while Healdsburg is not in the mix because it has its own municipal utility.
Cotati Mayor Mark Landman said Thursday he supported Santa Rosa gaining more influence in the process, though he also has advocated for changes that would limit the combined voting power of the county and Santa Rosa, the two largest power markets.
"It fairly recognizes the large number of users that Santa Rosa represents," Landman said of Santa Rosa's extra seat. "It's a good balance of power."
Of the four cities that have voted to join the power agency, only Windsor will have been seated when the board of directors of Sonoma Clean Power meets July 25 to vote on the changes tentatively agreed to by agency officials and Santa Rosa. Syphers' compensation package also is up for approval at that meeting.
Landman said he was not concerned by that. But Brown and Kyes both expressed disappointment at missing out on the opportunity to provide formal input.
Kyes said the "overriding single factor" for Sebastopol and other cities to join the power agency now was so that cities could have a seat at the table for such decisions early on in the process.
"Now we join, but they've already cleared the table after dinner," Kyes said.
Kyes said he sees no "red flags" with the deal, other than Santa Rosa potentially getting more say in how the program will operate in its first year.
Syphers said the meeting was set for July 25 to precede Santa Rosa's July 30 final decision. New cities are not being seated before then because of a scheduling conflict for the county Board of Supervisors, which doesn't meet until July 30 and hasn't determined who among their members will be stepping down from the power agency board. The current county seats are occupied by David Rabbitt, Shirlee Zane, Efren Carrillo and Mike McGuire.
You can reach Staff Writer DerekMoore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.
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