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Gary Wysocky says he will not be running against Shirlee Zane in the race for the Board of Supervisors. Instead he’s decided to seek re-election to the Santa Rosa City Council in the fall.
“The timing wasn’t right,” he said about running for supervisor. Instead he said he’s looking forward to serving another four years on the council.
“I really want to work on long-term financial planning for the city,” he told me over coffee. “I don’t think we are doing enough to focus on our long-term financial picture.”
For the moment, that leaves the race for the 3rd District supervisorial seat between Zane and former Rohnert Park Mayor and City Councilman Tim Smith. The filing deadline for that position is Friday.
The election for the Board of Supervisors is June 5 while the election for the City Council won’t be until Nov. 6. Wysocky was the top vote-getter among 11 candidates in the 2008 election.
Smith ran unsuccessfully for the 3rd District supervisor’s seat in 2008. He finished third in a four-person race in the June primary. Zane beat former Santa Rosa Councilwoman Sharon Wright in the fall runoff. How Smith would fare in a head-to-head competition is unknown. But he started the process of filing very late, on Feb. 29, well after Zane had locked up some key endorsements. Likewise, Wysocky would have had a tough time putting together a campaign at this point.
Smith said he was running partly because he wanted to make sure there was a race and that the seat wouldn’t go uncontested. “I think democracy deserves debate,” he said.
- Paul Gullixson
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I am grateful to Gary for deciding to run for reelection! I depend on him to critically examine the numbers in the often difficult reports that come from staff. We members of the public see only the summaries of what’s being discussed, so I’m appreciative to have Gary doing the tough analysis.
Without Gary looking at the financial and other trade-offs that might be made by the Council, the public would not be well served. Let’s work for his reelection.
I don’t wish to be part of a Wysocky ‘pile on’.
Like the rest of our public officials, I simply want him to be a leader with a spine.
I want him to live up to his oath.
Recognize that his devout allegiance
(alliance) with ICLEI and it’s ideology is unconstitutional.
Article 1, section 10.
I think it could be shown that we are indeed engaged in an alliance with an entity that is not the US Government.
That we are accountable to, take directive from, complete with incentive outside approved mechanism with ICLEI.
This is a treasonous act that our local government is actively engaged in.
This subverts the most important mechanism-working for the People.
However he is far from alone.
Mr. Wysocky rammed the ‘oh so green’ Humboldt Street Bicycle Boulevard down our throats. Total failure, as I used to live on Humboldt for years and NONE of us locals rode our bikes on it, and they still don’t !
To save face, he personally required ‘speed bumps’ for a bike street that nobody rides on. We used the alleys or Slater or King or many other streets, never Humboldt.
All of that money for what ? Nothing !
If a rude overly emotional doctrinaire liberal with his progressive blinders pulled tightly over his eyes is your cup of tea, vote for Gary.
If not, a tree stump on a bicycle would make more intelligent decisions for the city.
The biggest issue facing the city is it’s financial crisis, and whether or not you agree with him on other issues, Mr Wysocky is the only one who has shown that he understands the true financial situation and is willing to try to do something to change it. With the current majority being in the pocket of the public safety unions, and a city manager who tends to overpay for every position that comes up, it has been an uphill battle, but we need him there and more like him.
Gary Wysocky has been labelled a “progressive” yet I see he is the only one asking for fiscal responsibility and questioning the outrageous salary, benefits and pensions the city’s public safety employees are being handed. Our so-called business friendly contingent, Ours, Bartley, Sawyer and Olivares are in fact puppets of the unions and ready to do their bidding to maintain the bloat. We need Wysocky to restrain them
My vote goes for Gary Wysocky.
Thank you for your expertise and your strength to stand up for proper money management within the local government.
Its not about political party. Its about a person’s ability to understand how money works and that it is limited in amount.
Its also about job skills which he brought with him as a trained accountant.
Gary is a good example of a hard charging progressive. If Santa Rosa voters think he
has done more good than damage to the city
his seat is safe.
The big question is will the progressive
agenda still fly in the face of the hard realities we will soon face?
one can only hope that Wysocky is voted out.
I respect Mr. Wysocky and his dedication to service on the city council. I do hope and expect though that he will face one or more opponents(preferably with different viewpoints) in November. I agree with Mr. Smith that “democracy deserves debate.”
Swimming hither and thither the progressives splash together.
Thank you to Gary Wysocky for your continued service to all our communities, with not only the environment and progressive causes but also your commitment to sustainable pension reforms.