Santa Rosa council selects Chris Rogers as city’s youngest mayor

Chris Rogers, a Santa Rosa native who has spent virtually all of his adult life in and around politics, was elected mayor of his hometown Tuesday night with a unanimous vote of his colleagues.

At the same time, council members voted that Natalie Rogers, the first African American city councilwoman in Santa Rosa’s history, should begin her first term as the city’s vice mayor.

The swearing-in of the mayor, vice mayor and two other council members via Zoom, was unusual due to its virtual setting. No gavel was passed from Councilman Tom Schwedhelm, the former mayor, and there was no rearranging of seating at the dais in City Hall, given that no council members were there.

But the moment was still remarkable for Chris Rogers, 33, who appears to be the youngest mayor in Santa Rosa’s history. While cognizant that his two-year term will immediately be beset by challenges — the COVID-19 pandemic in the short term as well as more systemic problems of wildfires, housing shortages and homelessness — he found the words Wednesday to express how much his appointment means to him.

“For somebody like me who really believes in the value of public service, the ability to be the mayor of a town that raised you and to be able to give back in a place where I’ve had so much opportunity — it is probably the most rewarding opportunity that I could have in public service,” Rogers said in an interview.

Rogers was first elected to the council four years ago, and he was reelected in November to represent District 5, which includes parts of central and west Santa Rosa. He’ll preside over a seven-member City Council that for the first time includes no at-large representatives, with all members hailing from a geographic district.

Santa Rosa has a weak-mayor system of government, unlike cities like San Francisco where mayors are truly full-time executives with significant sway over municipal operations. That said, Rogers will have extra leverage when it comes to setting the city’s agenda and, as de facto spokesman, its tone.

“But really at the end of the day, I’m one vote,” Rogers said. “So I need to make sure that I’m bringing other council members along with me and making sure they get what they need for their districts.”

One initiative Rogers proposes to develop that district-based approach is to hold seven town halls a month, one for each district, during which he and the local representative on the council would be able to directly communicate with constituents.

Some of the bigger issues Rogers is looking at down the pike — besides natural disasters and the coronavirus — include a review of the city’s charter and a redistricting effort after the current year’s census. He also said he would look to move Santa Rosa toward some kind of universal prekindergarten, but added that this was likely a “pie in the sky” priority.

Rogers was born in Santa Rosa, was primarily raised in Rohnert Park and now lives in the Burbank Gardens neighborhood of Santa Rosa with his girlfriend, a surgical nurse at Kaiser Permanente. His father works for Coca-Cola in Benicia supervising truck drivers, and his mother continues to run the Early Learning Institute nonprofit, which is based in Rohnert Park.

Over the past 15 years, Rogers has had extensive and increasing exposure to politics, starting when he was an 18-year-old intern for former U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey. After working as an aide to a few different state lawmakers, he stepped up to a role as campaign manager for state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, and became senior district representative after McGuire won a seat in Sacramento in 2014.

In a novel twist, Santa Rosa will have both a Mayor Rogers and a Vice Mayor Rogers for the next year, though they are not related.

Vice Mayor Natalie Rogers, a marriage and family therapist, was elected in November to represent District 7, which includes parts of west and southwest Santa Rosa. She was nominated for the one-year position of vice mayor by new Councilman Eddie Alvarez, a Roseland businessman who joined her on the council Tuesday, and she received unanimous approval for the role.

It was yet another first for Natalie Rogers, who said Wednesday her first 24 hours as a councilwoman had included six meetings, underscoring the learning curve ahead of her. Heading into her first term, the vice mayor voiced similar priorities to the mayor — focusing on helping the community recover from the pandemic being at the top of the list, along with affordable housing, homelessness and fostering more homeownership.

Rogers also said she hopes to bring more diversity to the city’s ranks through board and commission appointments, which she acknowledged will take time and effort to find residents in her district who have the right skill sets and who may not even know there’s a role possible for them in city government.

But while making so much history, Rogers said she was very emotional Tuesday night after her swearing-in. She said her thoughts went to her late mother, and she wrote herself a note that said, in part, “Wishing heaven had a phone right now.”

“I think as soon as I turned it off,” she said of the Zoom council meeting, “the tears started coming. And I’m OK with that. I’m OK with putting in the work, and I’m OK with my self-care.”

Tuesday night’s swearing-in ceremony also came along with the start of a second term for Councilman Jack Tibbetts, the executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Society of Sonoma County. It was the last meeting for former Councilmen Ernesto Olivares, a former police lieutenant who’d served on the council since 2008, and Dick Dowd, whom the council tapped to fill out roughly the final year of former Councilwoman Julie Combs’ second term.

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.