Golis: But can they keep their promises?

For cynics, the high point of the 2014 campaign came when robocalls to 22,000 homes alleged that Santa Rosa could become 'a more dangerous place to live' if Chris Coursey was elected to the City Council.

Listening to the ominous tone of the recorded message, I almost expected the next sentence would have something to do with the Ebola virus coming to Santa Rosa. Or maybe armies from Petaluma and Sebastopol massing on the southern and western borders.

But no. It turns out this was only the firefighters' union warning against candidates who want to discuss how much money the city should spend on the police and fire departments as compared to all other city services.

Maybe it's just me, but isn't this what elected officials are supposed to do? Given the uncertain condition of the city's long-term finances, it seems like they need to talk about it.

But the union wanted to pre-empt the conversation by trying to make sure Coursey didn't get elected.

As you know by now, the voters listened to the robocalls and then made Coursey the top vote-getter in Tuesday's election.

While robocalls tried to persuade us that the end of the world was near, a mailer from the Concerned Citizens of Santa Rosa sought to identify two other City Council candidates as being friendly with Republicans.

Welcome to the echo chamber, where there's nothing worse than calling someone a Republican — unless you live in Texas, where there's nothing worse than calling someone a Democrat.

And, yes, the two candidates targeted by the Concerned Citizens mailer, John Sawyer and Tom Schwedhelm, also were elected.

May I interrupt here and say: Can we go to work now? Meaning no disrespect, but Santa Rosa doesn't need two more years of this crap.

With a new city manager installed and widespread recognition that the last two years were an embarrassment, there exists a window of opportunity to push the re-start button at Santa Rosa City Hall.

Having promised to get along, three new people join the council, and we can hope that the four holdovers feel some regret. Who, after all, wants to serve on a council that causes people to wish for a City Council chosen at random?

This was the year in which voters elected, of all things, a newspaper columnist. It's awkward to write about a long time colleague, but with the election past, let me just say that the Coursey I know is smart, knowledgeable and fair-minded. He will be dedicated to the job of putting Humpty Dumpty together again.

This is not to say, however, that he won't be tested by people eager to draw him into the mean-spirited rivalries that seem to emerge at the worst possible times. He will have to deal with all that.

People put a lot on the line when they run for office. It's not easy to forget that a rival group described you as a risk to public safety, or as someone who makes friends with Republicans.

These are not messages sent with friendly intent. They are messages designed to make sure all that sacrifice, hard work and money is wasted.

Going forward, the next City Council faces big challenges:

• It needs to put the city's finances in order — even if it means discussing priorities. (And the job will take more than a half-baked cellphone tax that voters rejected on Tuesday.) We still don't know, for example, whether enough money has been set aside to pay for the benefits promised to city employees past and present.

• It needs to accelerate the annexation of the rest of the Roseland district — and otherwise engage Santa Rosans of Latino descent in the civic life of their town.

• It needs to promote economic development at a time when globalization is transforming the world of business.

Most of all, the work of the council will involve learning to get along, even when people disagree.

If somewhere in the past, dear council members, you were taught that effective politics involved shouting, confrontation and name-calling, you were misled. (You may also have flunked kindergarten.)

Mean-spirited politics only begets more mean-spirited politics — and the dysfunction that results. For examples, see Congress, U.S.

On Tuesday night, Americans were awash in politicians' promises. Starting now, they said, we will reach across the aisle and work with senators and members of Congress from the other party.

And millions of Americans watching on television smiled and said: Yeah, we'll see.

In Santa Rosa, too, the new City Council members were promising to work together.

The firefighters' union and the Concerned Citizens of Santa Rosa don't do us any favors with their attacks on the candidates they don't like. But chances are, they'll do it again.

So the onus falls on Coursey, Sawyer and Schwedhelm, and all of the members of the City Council.

They must choose to have short memories about past offenses, and they must spend less time listening to political friends eager to demonize folks on the other side.

This won't be easy to do, but council members might find it preferable to two more years of dysfunction and embarrassment.

Pete Golis is a columnist for The Press Democrat. Email him at golispd@gmail.com.