The abrupt retirement this week of Rohnert Park’s longtime finance director marks the latest development in a messy City Hall conflict that broke wide open this summer. Sandy Lipitz on Thursday confirmed she told City Manager Gabe Gonzalez on Tuesday that she was retiring immediately. She declined further comment.

Work on the SMART commuter rail system through Sonoma and Marin counties will begin Tuesday, nearly four years after voters approved a ballot measure to help fund the project and despite current efforts to derail it. The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Board of Directors on Monday voted unanimously to approve a $103.3 million contract with Alameda-based Stacy and Witbeck Inc. and Herzog Contracting Corp. to build the first phase of the project.

The Rohnert Park commute rail station will be located near the city center in an agreement reached between the city and the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District. “This is better all the way around, it is closer to the center of town and closer to a larger number of our residents,” said Rohnert Park Mayor Jake Mackenzie, who is also on the SMART board.

City and county officials in Sonoma County cut 453 jobs and $32.2 million in wages last year, according to an analysis of a new database released by the state controller’s office. The club of public employees earning $100,000 or more also shrank. See which government agencies cut the deepest — and search the database to see how much workers earned in your town.

Jake Mackenzie, the longest-serving member of Rohnert Park’s City Council, was elected mayor on Tuesday night by councilmembers. His first priority? The budget. He says the city needs to look at increasing revenues after years of cutting spending.

Sonoma State University faculty picketed Tuesday in Rohnert Park, calling attention to protracted contract talks and protesting the actions of California State University officials. The picket line is a precursor to a one-day strike at two CSU campuses set for next week. “This is about much more than money,” political science professor David McCuan said. “It’s about saving higher education.”

Rohnert Park’s new economic development director on Tuesday outlined steps to rejuvenate the city’s business climate. Linda Babonis said her priorities include working to keep businesses in Rohnert Park and helping them to expand, as well as getting new businesses to set up in the city of 41,000.

In a move designed to revive its flagging finances, Rohnert Park has appointed a City Hall insider as economic development manager: Linda Babonis, the city’s Housing and Redevelopment manager. Her first steps? “Developing programs aimed at things like business retention, business growth and attracting business,” Babonis said.

Federal officials Tuesday released what they hope will be a final ruling on the area they would oversee in the heart of Sonoma County to protect the endangered California tiger salamander. The latest plan may wind up in court, however, as part of an ongoing fight over a proposed tribal casino in Rohnert Park. The casino site has been excluded from the salamander protection zone.

In July, as five months of contentious contract negotiations came to a close, Rohnert Park employee union leaders complained publicly that the city’s managers weren’t being asked to shoulder an equal share of concessions to help fill the budget deficit. Angered, City Manager Gabe Gonzalez fired back in an email to all city employees.