Santa Rosa City Hall with coronavirus fallout: shrinking budget, scrambled priorities

Santa Rosa’s elected leaders are set to meet Tuesday for the first time since Sonoma County’s health officer ordered residents to shelter in their homes and halted all non-essential businesses to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

Already, the crisis has significantly curbed City Hall activity and aspirations, with the budget outlook clouded and projects big and small likely to be shelved if not scuttled.

Casualties are likely to include the council’s discussions over what to do about its City Hall site and an exploration of policies to govern the promotional banners that adorn city streetlights.

With the county overseeing most public health matters, Santa Rosa’s council hasn’t met since March 3, and its only scheduled coronavirus-related discussion on Tuesday is an update on the Board of Supervisors’ emergency order forestalling evictions, already in effect within city limits.

The rapid pace of coronavirus-related developments has made planning difficult even as far as a week out for city officials, who are busy responding to the most immediate challenges related to the viral outbreak and the turmoil it has set in motion for civic life and business.

“If this were an earthquake, the building’s still shaking,” said Vice Mayor Victoria Fleming.

To date, the city’s role in the coronavirus crisis largely has been to ensure it continues providing essential services - policing and fire protection, water delivery and certain planning and building work - while ensuring compliance with the county’s shelter-in-place order, Mayor Tom Schwedhelm said. Tuesday’s meeting could include reports and suggestions by City Council members and city staff in addition to the discussion on eviction policy.

“This will be our first opportunity in a while to hear from everybody,” Schwedhelm said.

While the municipal impacts of the coronavirus won’t be fully known for some time, the pandemic-?spurred shutdown and the economic havoc it is wreaking are expected to deliver a massive blow to city finances.

Santa Rosa’s conservative estimate is that it will be down $5.5 million in lost sales and hotel tax revenue from March to May - about two-thirds of what the city would expect in a typical quarter - according to Adriane Mertens, the city’s top spokeswoman. It’s too soon to know the impact to the city’s reserves, she said.

And the fraught budgeting challenge is likely to prove more difficult with the departure of the city’s chief financial officer, Chuck McBride, whose last day with Santa Rosa was Friday.

McBride, who joined Santa Rosa in July 2018, left to take a job with the Marin Municipal Water District, Mertens said. Alan Alton, the deputy finance director, will serve as acting chief financial officer, as he did before the city hired McBride, she said. McBride could not be reached for comment Monday.

His departure may spur a “more streamlined” version of the city’s budget process, Schwedhelm said.

“What that looks like, I don’t quite know yet,” he said. He harbored little doubt about the spending plan that will emerge. “I know it’s not going to look pretty,” Schwedhelm said.

All seven City Council members are expected to call into the meeting remotely. Public comment can be submitted via email at cc-comment@srcity.org or by calling 707-543-3005 and leaving a message of up to three minutes. Schwedhelm said the city may explore holding future meetings over videoconferencing software such as Zoom.

“We’re learning as we go on this,” the mayor said.

Staff Writer Will Schmitt can be reached at will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com.