Santa Rosa made permanent or extended 20 changes to city codes intended to boost economic development across the city. Measures that delay the collection of permit fees, streamline permitting of small projects and give landlords more time to find new tenants for vacant buildings were all passed by the council Tuesday night.

Santa Rosa City Council candidate Mike Cook dropped out of the race Tuesday.

It is in Sonoma County’s interest to have all of its workers fairly compensated. Income inequality is on its way to becoming a national scandal. Higher wages mean more money circulating through the local economy. More people with health insurance means fewer uninsured patients who become a financial burden on health care providers and the community-at-large. But saying it doesn’t make it so. The best of intentions alone cannot create wealth or repeal the basic laws of market economics.

Two Sonoma County supervisors are calling for a $600,000 increase in annual spending on economic development, saying any turnaround in the county’s 9.4 percent unemployment rate requires public-sector support. Do you think it makes sense? What would you recommend?

A sharply divided Santa Rosa City Council on Tuesday supported finding ways to fund a job creation effort by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. A majority of council members praised the Building Economic Success Together program and vowed to find the $60,000 per year the chamber requested the city contribute toward it for five years.

The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce wants $300,000 from the cash-strapped City of Santa Rosa to fund its new economic development initiative. The chamber this year launched a county-wide jobs push called BEST, Building Economic Success Together. The group estimated that with $3.25 million it could create 4,000 new jobs by helping local businesses expand and attracting new businesses to the area.

It has yet to hold a meeting, but the city’s Economic Development Task Force this week announced its first formal action – it’s changing its name. Vice Mayor Jake Ours also announced the appointment of seven people, drawn largely from the business community, to identify the problems that are constraining the city’s economic growth. Care to help? Post your suggestions here.

Sonoma County is bracing for the worst when it comes to cuts in state parks. But locals may also see county parks close and use of vets halls scaled back due to major cuts coming down the pike, Supervisor Efren Carrillo told a Santa Rosa audience today.

The last time the business group endorsed a City Council candidate was 2004, when it abandoned its 20-year policy of avoiding endorsements to back Napa Valley Republican Pat Krueger over Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Noreen Evans in the 7th Assembly District contest.

The last time it endorsed a political candidate, the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce didn’t fare so well. But it has decided to endorse individual candidates for the first time in six years. “Our board feels that this election is a very critical one,” chamber President Jonathan Coe says. The move is the latest evidence that pro-business groups are making a focused effort to win back control of the City Control.