Santa Rosa City Council members are so enamored of their sleek new iPads that they decided Tuesday to begin conducting most of their business electronically.

Two more Santa Rosa residents have thrown their hats in the ring for the City Council seat left vacant by Susan Gorin’s election to the county Board of Supervisors.

Three Santa Rosa residents had applied by the close of business Friday for the vacancy on the Santa Rosa City Council, but City Hall was sticking to its policy of keeping confidential all applicants’ names, position statements and related information.

Santa Rosa is keeping secret the names and application information about people seeking appointment to the City Council until after the application deadline passes. The council’s goal for the policy it adopted Tuesday is to preserve the integrity of the process and to encourage as large and diverse a group of applicants as possible, Mayor Scott Bartley said.

Borrowing money to pay for improvements to Sebastopol’s water and sewer system is not cost-effective and would raise the price of the project by $2.2 million, according to a city study. As a result, city administrators say that doubling residents’ water and sewer bills over the next four years is the best way to finance the project.

Sebastopol’s city manager is leaving after about 3-1/2 years. Jack Griffin has accepted a job as top administrator of San Marcos in San Diego County. Griffin was public works director in nearby Chula Vista before becoming Sebastopol city manager in January 2009.

The Sebastopol City Council on Tuesday deferred for a second time a decision on increasing water and sewer rates while it looks for a way to make the inevitable hikes less painful.

City officials on Wednesday refused to consider an application for a special events permit by Occupy Sebastopol protesters because it was not signed. “We decided there has not been a valid submission,” City Manager Jack Griffin said. The City Council will take up the issue at a special meeting Thursday night.

Members of a Sebastopol employee group will now pay for their retirement costs and increases in medical premiums as part of a contract agreement reached with the city. But in return hourly employees will work fewer hours but retain the same gross wages.