Eight candidates vie for two Cloverdale council seats

The most crowded field in decades in Sonoma County’s northernmost city is giving Cloverdale voters a crush of candidates for City Council, with eight contenders vying for two seats in the November election.

“It’s a historic time with that many people running for two seats in Cloverdale,” said City Councilman Bob Cox, one of two incumbents running for re-election.

Whatever is stoking the interest for elected office, it comes at a time when the city’s financial picture is improving with a healthy $1.6 million balance in the general fund reserve after years of meager savings.

“When times are bad, nobody wanted the job. Now that times are good, they see, well let’s get on the bandwagon type of thing,” Cox said.

Mayor Mary Ann Brigham, who has been in Cloverdale since the late 1970s, can’t remember a time when so many people decided to run.

Brigham said more candidates have come forward because she initially was not going to seek re-election after serving a total of 14 years as a council member. Several candidates filed before Brigham changed her mind and decided to run for another four-year term.

Interest in serving on the council may have been sparked by some high-profile issues that have played out at City Hall the past couple years, including internal problems with the police department.

The problems in the police department appear to be resolved after departure of former police chief Mark Tuma, who clashed with City Manager Paul Cayler, except one of those who was part of the controversy and took an early retirement, Sgt. Charlie “Keith” King, is now running for City Council.

King’s complaint that the city manager bullied him was probed by a public law firm hired by the city. The firm also investigated some of the complaints made by Tuma that Cayler threatened police personnel and addressed him in an angry and physically threatening manner.

Following a $30,000 investigation, the law firm hired by the city found no evidence to sustain any of the complaints against Cayler.

King, a Cloverdale native who served on the police department for 33 years, including as interim chief, said he has been talking about running for council for five or six years and is not motivated by any vendetta.

By working inside city government, he said he knows how money can be saved.

“I want to be the voice for people who have lived here for many years,” he said last week at a candidates’ forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Asked whether he would be able to work with the police chief and city manager if elected, King replied, “The question is, will they be able to work with me?”

The candidates’ forum was a low-key affair with all expressing support for the most talked about item on the Cloverdale ballot, Measure P, which would impose a tax on marijuana businesses of up to 10 percent.

There are currently no cannabis operations inside the city. But with the state’s move to regulate the medical marijuana industry and the likelihood voters statewide will approve recreational use of pot by adults, Cloverdale is positioning itself to become the first city in Sonoma County to impose a cannabis business tax.

It would apply to dispensaries, cultivation and any cannabis-related endeavor.

“I’ve never been a big fan of marijuana, but it’s the direction we’re going in and what people want,” said Paula Wrenn, a retired freelance writer making her first bid for City Council. “We have to get organized and manage this in the best way possible.”

Jason Turner, a health plan representative running for City Council, said the city has an opportunity to capitalize on a unique tax revenue without Cloverdale becoming “the cannabis capital of the world.”

Cox, who has served six years on the council, said allowing a dispensary would be a good idea “because otherwise there will be one just outside our city limits reaping the benefit of that and the revenue would go to the county.”

King said Measure P is needed “because we need to be in the forefront of regulating (marijuana).”

Melanie Bagby, a technology business owner making her first try at elected office, said it can’t be seen as a fiscal panacea, “but it’s definitely going to be part of our economy.”

She said the responsible thing to do is make sure the right number of permits are given out “so the industry is the right size for Cloverdale.”

Brigham said she is voting yes on the measure.

Alejandrina “Sandy” Crayford, a retired school accountant, said she is in favor of Measure P and allowing a dispensary.

“I see a growing need. I have several friends who have cancer. To be able to have access in town would be wonderful,” she said.

James Luchini, a business manager at Coppola Winery, said he has some concerns that the city would depend too heavily on the cannabis tax revenues. “I’m undecided on it,” he said of the measure.

The Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a City Council candidate forum, which will take place at 6 p.m. Monday at the Cloverdale Veterans Memorial Building, 205 W. First St.

You can reach Press Democrat Staff Writer Clark Mason at 707-568-5312 or email cmason@pressdemocrat.com.