Chris Coursey reflects on time as Santa Rosa mayor with Tom Schwedhelm poised to take City Council's top post
When the smoke from Butte County rolled in over the hills into Santa Rosa in early November, it was déjà vu for Chris Coursey.
Coursey, the mayor of Santa Rosa, watched as the same state and federal officials who responded to the city’s distress during the October 2017 firestorm converged on Butte County last month. They provided updates from the utterly destroyed town of Paradise that were strikingly similar to the ones he heard a year ago about his own city: this many acres burned, that many houses ruined, so many people dead.
“I had that feeling,” Coursey said. He paused, then picked up again, explaining that the Camp fire response in Butte County brought back memories of Santa Rosa’s brutal fire damage. “It all just followed a pattern that felt so familiar and was happening in real-time.”
Coursey, a former Press Democrat columnist, was elected to a four-year term on the Santa Rosa City Council in 2014 and was picked by fellow council members to be mayor in 2016. During his two-year term, he emerged as the city’s most visible leader during its worst disaster since the 1906 earthquake.
Though Coursey plans to stay involved with his adopted hometown, his time in office will end todaywhen the council is reorganized to include a new member and a new mayor.
Tom Schwedhelm, a former police chief who ran unopposed for re-election this year, is favored to be Santa Rosa’s next mayor when the council picks a new one this evening.
The mayor of Santa Rosa is not directly elected. Members of the seven-person City Council select a mayor to serve a two-year term as well as a vice-mayor to serve for one year. Mayors’ votes count the same as other members, but the position brings with it the political powers of shaping City Council agendas, running meetings, and serving as the?de facto city spokesperson.
Bleak budget awaits new mayor
If elected mayor, Schwedhelm said in an interview Monday he would want to cultivate an atmosphere at council meetings so that people feel safe enough to share their opinions and confident that their representatives will listen to them. He will continue to place a high priority on homelessness, housing, rebuilding and Santa Rosa’s bleak budget outlook - the city had to dip into its reserves after the 2017 wildfires, exacerbating an existing structural deficit.
Schwedhelm emphasized nothing would be certain until after the council votes Tuesday. However, he said he could be uniquely situated to be mayor because he represents a part of the city that was burned in the fires - his district includes Coffey Park. Also, he noted that his tenure as chief of police included recession years, giving him some familiarity with balancing a budget in bearish conditions.
“I believe that the areas that I have experience in are what the city needs at this point,” Schwedhelm said.
Victoria Fleming, who was elected in the newly formed Fourth District in north-central Santa Rosa, will take her seat at the dais for the first time, while incumbent Councilman John Sawyer secured a fourth term, this time representing the Second District in southeast Santa Rosa.
Rob Muelrath, a Santa Rosa political consultant, said he didn’t believe the direction of the new council will change drastically, citing ideological similarities between Coursey and Fleming. Schwedhelm and Councilmen Ernesto Olivares and John Sawyer tend to be more conservative; Fleming and Councilmembers Julie Combs and Chris Rogers tend to be more liberal; and Councilman Jack Tibbetts could end up swinging close votes.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of the alliances play out the same,” Muelrath said.
Schwedhelm a ‘man of process’
Schwedhelm was first elected in 2014 as an at-large member, but his victory this year came in the newly formed Sixth District in northwest Santa Rosa as the city pivoted to a district-based system of elections. This means Schwedhelm would be the first council member to represent a specific district while also being “head umpire” for the entire city, said Brian Sobel, a Petaluma political consultant, who voiced confidence that the former police chief was well-qualified for the new responsibility.
“He’s a high-quality person who’s been around the city of Santa Rosa for a long time,” Sobel said.
The Santa Rosa City Council now includes four at-large representatives and three members elected from specific districts. Sobel said he would be keeping an eye on whether the new council would exhibit more protectionist traits, though he and others expressed doubt that Schwedhelm would only look out for northwest Santa Rosa.
“I can’t think that (Schwedhelm) would start representing his district to the exclusion of everybody else,” Sobel said.
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