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My colleague Jeremy Hay reported today that two Rohnert Park City Council members walked out of a budget meeting in protest on Tuesday. “The departure of (Amie) Breeze and (Joe) Callinan … delineated a clear rift on the council that was strikingly personal in tone,” the story said.
For those of us who watch Rohnert Park politics, the rift is also strikingly familiar.
The council has been divided for years, with a 3-2 split and plenty of antipathy on display.
One camp promotes rapid retail (and, to some extent, residential) growth as well as generous pay and benefits for city employees. Armando Flores, who served many years on the council, essentially argued that the city needed to keep growing or die. On the opposite extreme was Jim Reilly, a one-time councilman who opposed any growth whatsoever. Others in that camp are more moderate, but favor strict control.
Flores’ camp controlled the council for years, but Linda Spiro, one of its members, defected to the other side in the late 1990s. A new, pro-growth majority was seated in 2002, but Vicki Vidak-Martinez soon decamped to the other side. Power seemingly switched back yet again in 2008 when Callinan and Gina Belforte joined Breeze, but Belforte quickly aligned herself instead with slow-growth council members Jake Mackenzie and Pam Stafford.
The council’s current agenda is dominated by budget cutting rather than building, but who is building in Sonoma County or much of anywhere else these days?
Count on another electoral battle this fall when Stafford and Breeze are due up for re-election. And, who knows, maybe yet realignment next year …
– Jim Sweeney
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I’m wondering what the issue is here. Is it news that there is disagreement on the Rohnert Park, or any, city council? Is everyone in Rohnert Park supposed to be on the same side of every issue? I notice there is editorial criticism of the supposed growth and development side of the issue and approval of the supposed slow (no) growth side. It’s just this kind of lack of objectivity in the Press Democrat reporting that makes the publication less credible. Focusing criticism on every aspect of Rohnert Park has been a pet peeve of the Press Democrat ever since the first re-alignment of power pushed the Goils family out of Rohnert Park government. The hate and resentment continues to this day forever tarnishing the journalistic integrity of the Press Democrat.
I should not jump in with a second comment, but koepf is correct and I should have said “post-colonial” not “colonial.” In my effort to develop more important thoughts I simply fell to pieces. However, koepf might have answered his own question that was begged. Common koepf, just take a running leap and let it all hang out…
Eveyone knows that Breeze & Callian are in public services pocket. Isn’t Breeze part of a fire dept. or something like that? They walked to to make it look like they wre fighting for public service even they must know cuts are need to be made everywhere.
Dwimby, dear,
There were no Federalists in colonial times. And, your (welcome) brainstorm begs a question: who will post the issues worthy of a vote?
City councils are a quaint relic. In some aspects they harken back to colonial times when middling sorts were beginning to replace uppity Federalists in community leadership positions, and, some might say, it’s been all down hill since! But today (trumpet flourish), with the internet and all the bells and whistles of modern technology, childish and combative councils can be replaced by online plebiscites. Why the heck not! Why let 5 adults in short pants decide a community’s fate when 25,000 votes can be tabulated in the beat of a hummingbird’s heart! You have to chose between painting the firehouse or the townhall? Ask the people. This is NO BIG DEAL anymore. All any city needs in today’s modern world is a city manager (at a fair but not exorbitant salary) and an able, but streamlined staff, proper police and emergency services and a solid set up through which property tax paying citizens can vote for how they want to spend their money and, very importantly, how they want their community to grow. Why the heck not!