Santa Rosa sets schedule, rules for appointing new council member

Santa Rosa City Council’s six members this week are set to publicly vet 19 people vying to fill one open council seat for most of 2020.

The council will hold a marathon interview session Tuesday at City Hall, giving 30 minutes to each of the city residents to make the case for why they should serve out the remaining term of former councilwoman Julie Combs.

Later that same night, council members will winnow down the field and select one person who will replace Combs until December.

City officials released records last week outlining the schedule and voting rules for appointing a replacement.

The applicants range from former council members to political newcomers. They had to collect 20 signatures from fellow registered voters living in the city, fill out a questionnaire about their motivations and beliefs and submit documentation of their financial interests by mid-December to secure an interview slot.

The appointment process is expected to take more than 10 hours, including the interviews, 20 minutes for lunch and three 10-minute breaks, and the voting, according to city documents.

Council members will be allowed to start the selection process by casting four votes each in an initial round, after which candidates who received one or zero votes will be eliminated from consideration. They’ll have three votes each in the second round and two votes per council member in a third round, followed by a final round of voting in which a replacement will be chosen by receiving four or more votes.

Council policies call for vacancies to be filled either by a special election or an appointment, with the process defaulting to a vote of the people after 60 days. A special election was estimated to carry a six-figure price tag, and city staff estimated the cost of advertising the vacancy to interested applicants was about $1,500.

One of the council’s more progressive voices over the past decade, Combs stepped down in November with a year left on the term she won in 2016. Combs and her husband are living part time in a second home they bought last year in Ecuador. She cited health and financial issues as the prime reasons for resigning.

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