Tom Schwedhelm, retired police chief, picked as Santa Rosa mayor

Retired Santa Rosa Police Chief Tom Schwedhelm, who has helped lead efforts to combat homelessness during his tenure on the City Council, was unanimously selected by his fellow council members Tuesday as the city’s new mayor.

Schwedhelm, 58, ran unopposed this year to win his second council term. He becomes the first Santa Rosa mayor to also represent a district - northwest Santa Rosa’s District 6 - as the city pivots away from at-large council races.

In brief remarks after his election, Schwedhelm said he wanted governing to be a collaborative effort that includes input from each of the other six council members and emphasized that he had no “hidden agenda.”

“I really look at this as a team sport,” Schwedhelm said. Before first running for city office in 2014, he worked more than 30 years at the police department, including four years as chief.

Vice Mayor Chris Rogers will continue in that role for another year after he received four votes from colleagues, narrowly defeating Councilwoman Julie Combs, who garnered three votes for the position.

Newly elected Councilwoman Victoria Fleming, representing north Santa Rosa’s District 4, declined a nomination for vice mayor and did not give a speech after taking her oath of office. She explained after the meeting that she felt she had a steep learning curve ahead of her and wanted to learn the ropes, develop her portfolio on the council and build relationships to better serve constituents.

Councilman John Sawyer was sworn in to his fourth term on the council. He prevailed last month in a race against former Councilman Lee Pierce to represent southeast Santa Rosa’s District 2.

The ceremonial matters and council reshuffling followed a presentation by city staff on a new tool for residents to track Santa Rosa’s ongoing requests for damage recovery aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The tracker (bit.ly/SRFEMA) will be updated regularly. Tuesday night, it showed that Santa Rosa had 32 projects for which it requested FEMA reimbursement to recover from last year’s fires. FEMA has approved at least 16 requests and denied four claims, according to city data.

The current estimated damage cost for the city stands at about ?$66.5 million. Santa Rosa has received about $2.8 million in FEMA reimbursement so far, city spokeswoman Adriane Mertens said.

The damage estimate includes about $12.5 million not yet reflected on the online tracker to repair ?34 miles of road, a cost the city previously estimated at $1 million.

The city’s position is that trucks brought in to haul away wildfire debris created new cracks and worsened old ones as part of post-fire cleaning efforts, decreasing the useful life of the roads.

FEMA denied the initial $1 million request. The agency’s denial letter noted in June that a federal site inspector “did not observe any specific disaster-related damage” and attributed the surface cracks he did see to “wear and tear over time.”

The city plans to appeal the four denials.

Schwedhelm will succeed outgoing Mayor Chris Coursey, a former Press Democrat columnist and spokesman for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, who had served on the council since 2014 and opted not to run for re-election. He had been mayor since 2016, when he edged out Schwedhelm on a 4-3 vote. The two men nevertheless formed a solid working relationship on the council and, as avid cyclists, became riding buddies.

Coursey was mayor during the devastating 2017 fires and also presided over the reunification of Old Courthouse Square, the annexation of Roseland and the beginning of SMART service in Santa Rosa. He was sent off with thanks and praise from his colleagues and general applause from those in the chamber - with the exception of two advocates for the homeless who turned their backs and crossed their arms during his farewell remarks and similarly protested Schwedhelm’s election.

Prior to gathering his notebook and a parting gift of flowers, Coursey said he considered himself lucky to have been mayor of his adopted hometown. He dismissed any characterization of his time in office as burdensome.

“It’s been an opportunity to do meaningful work at a meaningful time,” he said.

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