Santa Rosa Councilwoman Julie Combs may resign and move to Ecuador

Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Julie Combs might resign before the end of the year and move with her husband to Ecuador, but she likely will delay her relocation if she isn’t allowed to vote on her successor.

Combs plans to ask her colleagues Tuesday to change Santa Rosa City Council’s policy on filling vacancies, potentially allowing her to continue to serve until the council selects her replacement. Current policy requires a vacancy to occur before the council chooses a new member. Combs would prefer to have a say in who takes over the rest of the four-year term she won in 2016 after first winning election in 2012.

“Without the ability to vote, I’m not sure I would tender my resignation yet,” Combs said Monday. “It would be helpful for me to not stay because of some personal issues, but we have a lot of important issues coming before council, and I feel a strong obligation to make sure that the voice of the base of people who voted for me continues to be heard.”

Combs cited personal health and financial reasons related to her husband, Allan, and herself as the reasons she was seriously considering resignation. She declined to discuss these issues in detail, but said that similar reasons led her to end a bid for the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors seat now held by Supervisor Shirlee Zane, who is being challenged by Chris Coursey, a former Santa Rosa mayor and journalist for The Press Democrat.

Santa Rosa’s charter calls for council vacancies to be filled either by an appointment by the remaining members within 60 days or by a special election. If the council chooses to appoint an interim council member, interested candidates from across the city could apply and submit to a public interview process.

Vacancies on the council are nothing new for Santa Rosa. Former Councilwoman Susan Gorin resigned after her election to the Board of Supervisors in November 2012, former Mayor Bob Blanchard resigned in 2008 near the end of his fight with terminal cancer, and former Councilman Mike Martini stepped down in 2007 to devote more time and attention to his wine business.

Combs is among the last wave of Santa Rosa council members elected by voters from across the city. Starting last year with races for three geographically bound seats - and following the threat of a lawsuit - City Council will include one member each from seven districts across Santa Rosa. The other four seats will be up for district-based election in November 2020.

Combs recently met with city attorney Sue Gallagher and Mayor Tom Schwedhelm to discuss the council’s vacancy and appointment policy. Before making a final decision on her resignation, Combs wants to know whether the policy could be changed to allow her to remain on the council and vote on her successor, along with the other six members of the City Council: Olivares, Sawyer, Schwedhelm, Vice Mayor Chris Rogers, Councilwoman Victoria Fleming and Councilman Jack Tibbetts. A majority of council members need to agree on a replacement to fill a vacancy by appointment.

Schwedhelm said the current vacancy policy, coupled with the eventual full implementation of district elections, could lead to a situation in which a district representative who resigns would be replaced by six people who do not live in that district - the opposite of the intended effect of switching to a system that otherwise ensures a measure of geographic diversity.

“There’s so many different nuances, I’m not going to say yes or no” to whether he would support a move by Combs to change the policy, Schwedhelm said.

Gallagher said she had not yet drafted any amendments to the council’s vacancy policy, a step that would require direction from the full council.

Combs and her husband already have bought a condominium in Ecuador. She said a return trip to the country on South America’s west coast is planned for a couple of weeks in October.

“It’s a lovely place,” she said. “Cost of living is very low. Health care is good. It’s a good place for retirement.”

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