PD Editorial: Four leaders for Santa Rosa’s council

Santa Rosa voters will fill four City Council seats in the Nov. 3 election, completing a transition to district-based based elections that will deliver unprecedented representation for neighborhoods west of Highway 101.

Three of the four districts are mostly or entirely in west Santa Rosa, across town from the neighborhoods that traditionally have dominated City Hall.

The election also is an opportunity to seat a council that better reflects the diverse population of Sonoma County’s largest city.

Eddie Alvarez, Duane De Witt and Jorge Inocencio are running in the 1st District, which includes Roseland and South Park.

Azmina Hanna and incumbent Chris Rogers are running in the 5th District, which includes the Coddingtown and Finley Park areas as well as downtown.

Eric Christensen, Daniela Pavone and Natalie Rogers are running in the 7th District, which covers far west and southwest neighborhoods.

Incumbent Jack Tibbetts is effectively unopposed, facing only a write-in challenge in the 3rd District, which includes Rincon Valley and Oakmont.

The winners’ tasks will include drawing new districts for 2022 based on this year’s census results.

District 1: At 27, Jorge Inocencio is the youngest candidate for a council seat. He also would be the youngest member of an increasingly youthful council. But that isn’t what sets him apart from the rest of the field.

With firsthand experience finding housing in Santa Rosa’s tight market, he has creative ideas about designing for affordability, promoting development of granny units and microloan programs. “I want to be focused on creating systems that allow for better outcomes,” he said.

Inocencio, who describes himself as “a proud first-generation American,” grew up in Roseland and graduated from Elsie Allen High and Sonoma State University before going to work as an electrical engineer at Keysight Technologies.

Eddie Alvarez, who owns a marijuana dispensary, and Duane De Witt, a retired respiratory therapist, are dedicated advocates for Roseland, but we believe Inocencio is the best choice in the 1st District.

District 5: Chris Rogers, 33, represents Santa Rosa on the boards of SMART, Sonoma Clean Power and the county Transportation Authority. He distinguished himself in his first term as hardworking and well-informed, with a thorough understanding of municipal finances.

He works with residents, businesses and service providers to balance the need for homeless services and the impact on surrounding areas, and he helped negotiate a deal to move the BoDean asphalt plant out of the West End neighborhood.

Rogers is opposed by Azmina Hanna, a self-employed creative director who is making her first run for public office. Hanna’s goal of making local government more transparent to residents is laudable, but she doesn’t make a strong case for unseating Rogers.

District 7: Natalie Rogers, a 39-year-old family therapist, also brings firsthand experience with Santa Rosa’s housing market and wants to develop tools to assist others who want the benefits of home ownership but can’t afford a down payment. She also wants to promote patronage of local businesses and services for the homeless.

Eric Christensen and Daniela Pavone were motivated to run by concerns about homelessness, but neither offers detailed proposals or experience in civic affairs.

District 3: Jack Tibbetts, who was elected to the council four years ago, missed too many votes during his first term, often citing the demands of his job as executive director of St. Vincent de Paul. He is, nevertheless, a capable council member with a solid understanding of housing and business needs. His write-in opponent, Keith Rhinehart, is a perennial candidate who can’t match Tibbetts’ credentials.

The Press Democrat recommends Jorge Inocencio, Chris Rogers, Natalie Rogers and Jack Tibbetts for Santa Rosa City Council.

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.