Former state PTA president appointed to Santa Rosa council

A former California State PTA president was appointed Tuesday night to fill a vacancy on the Santa Rosa City Council.

Dianna MacDonald beat five other applicants to fill the seat vacated in December when Jack Tibbetts resigned from the City Council.

She will represent District 3, which includes the city’s eastern region to Oakmont, through November when an election will determine who fills the remainder of Tibbetts’ term ending in December 2024.

MacDonald, who emphasized her role with the PTA, said she would consider running in November if appointed Tuesday night.

City Council members interviewed applicants and conducted a multi-round vote to narrow down the list of contenders until MacDonald won with a 4-2 vote.

In the final vote, City Councilwomen Victoria Fleming and Natalie Rogers supported applicant Michael Stanford.

Other applicants were David “Alex” Shantz, James DeVore, Melanie Nacouzi and Christopher Miller.

Tibbetts, 31 who was first elected in 2016, announced his resignation Dec. 14, saying he wanted more time to focus on his family, including his wife and 9-month-old son.

His resignation means four of the seven council seats are up for election in November. The seats held by Fleming, John Sawyer and Tom Schwedhelm were already up for contention.

Schwedhelm has announced he will not run again, leaving the northwestern District 6 seat open.

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to reflect that District 6 is in northwest Santa Rosa.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi