Windsor to appoint new council member or hold special election to fill vacant seat

The Windsor Town Council will sort through a crowded field of more than two dozen applicants this week as it considers whether to fill its vacant fifth seat by appointment or call a special election by the summer.

The vacancy is the result of Mayor Dominic Foppoli winning direct election following the town’s first round of district-based voting in November. But with two years remaining on his prior at-large council seat, where he served as the appointed mayor in 2019 and 2020, the council is faced with options on Foppoli’s replacement.

Ahead of Wednesday’s council meeting, the four incumbents were in a 2-2 deadlock over how to proceed. In December, the group agreed to seek applicants before settling on a direction. If the impasse continues, however, it could default to an election as late as November, leaving just a single year remaining on the seat vacated by Foppoli.

“The open council seat is something that the council is struggling with on the path for how to fill it,” said Town Manager Ken MacNab. “We have a couple big items coming up where I’d prefer having a full council. And if the council cannot come to a decision, does business not get done or are items delayed? That’s another concern.”

On one side are Foppoli and newly reelected Councilwoman Deb Fudge, who favor an appointment. On the other are Vice Mayor Sam Salmon, who lost to Foppoli in the mayor’s race, and first-term Councilwoman Esther Lemus. They prefer to put the seat up for election.

“The council is within its right to appoint. But I believe in this instance, on the heels of an election, the public sentiment is very strong and people want to have a say in who fills that seat,” said Lemus, a Sonoma County deputy district attorney. “And, for me, in some ways it’s almost unconscionable to ignore the public sentiment and what the public wants, and just … choose someone.”

But Windsor just held an election, said Fudge, a 24-year council veteran. An appointment also could save the town as much as $85,000 — the estimated cost of a special election for the seat, according to Deva Proto, the county’s registrar of voters.

“The council was elected to serve and make decisions and represent the people. Making an appointment for a council vacancy is more of a routine item and doesn’t require a special election,” said Fudge, who now represents the town’s District 3. “There are people who have applied who are extremely qualified to walk into a council seat with complete knowledge of things going on in the town right now. They are people who have applied and can hit the ground running and could start working on Day One.”

The pool of 25 applicants includes former one-term Councilman Mark Millan, who was ousted in 2018 when Lemus, Salmon and Foppoli secured the three available seats. Other applicants include two candidates who ran for mayor last year, Rosa Reynoza and Tanya Potter; Paul Berlant, a planning commissioner and former town manager; a pair of appointees from the town’s park and recreation and public art commissions; and Jeffrey Leasure, who lost to Fudge last year.

The Town Council has several key matters looming this year that include planning for its next two-year budget cycle. It also is set to decide whether to approve a development deal to pursue a new downtown civic center and upscale hotel, in addition to how to spend a $20 million payment from the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians that resulted from the tribe’s pending housing development west of town. Keiser Park has been eyed as the site for a potential recreation center or community pool.

“It’s a big deal,” Salmon said of the stakes involved with the vacant seat. “I think it’ll say everything about the civic center plan, and I think appointment says everything about the civic center. I’m pretty in love with the downtown the way it is, but everybody’s got their own take on it.”

Salmon, a seven-term councilman and the longest-serving elected official in the county, is the lone holdout among the incumbents over the proposed civic center. The other three have endorsed early versions of the plan. The project calls for a 151-room boutique hotel next to the Town Green in exchange for Encinitas-based developer Robert Green Co. paying for construction of a new town hall, police department, public library and school district offices.

If the council does not agree on an appointee on Wednesday, it has until Jan. 10 to call a special election that would take place on May 4. The election would fall to Aug. 31 if the council does not come to terms before then, and if the dispute drags on beyond the end of the month, the election will happen Nov. 2.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336 or kevin.fixler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kfixler.