Candidates jump in, pull out of City Council races before deadline


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PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF

Published: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 8:20 p.m.

The field is now set for the November election.


Candidates in six cities had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to decide whether or not to run for City Council. The deadline in these cities had been extended because at least one incumbent had failed to file by the standard deadline last Friday.

In three other cities — Windsor, Cloverdale and Cotati — the fields were determined last week.

A recap of all the action:

SANTA ROSA
Two more candidates for Santa Rosa City Council pulled out of the race by failing to meet Wednesday’s filing deadline, narrowing the field to seven candidates.

Chuck Sims and Terry Tinagero joined Hans Dippel, Rick Meechan and Thomas Easter as the latest candidates to drop out.

That leaves incumbents Susan Gorin and Veronica Jacobi running for reelection, and five other candidates hoping to snare one of three open council seats.

Scott Bartley, Jack Ours and Juan Hernandez are running loosely coordinated campaigns, hoping to reclaim a pro-business majority on the council.

Progressive candidate Larry Haenel and Joanna Schaefer, a 27-year-old law school grad who calls herself a moderate, are also in the hunt.

PETALUMA
Four candidates are running for the mayor’s seat: David Glass and Jeff Mayne had already qualified; computer software developer Jezra Lickter, 37, and feed store manager Chris Kilgore, 20, jumped in the race this week.

Nine candidates are seeking three council seats: incumbents Teresa Barrett and Mike Harris, Chris Albertson, Ray Johnson, Gabe Kearney and Karen Nau, all of whom qualified earlier, and carpenter James Bellefeuille, 25, chemical engineer Wyatt Bunker, 24, and Jason Davies, 42, a software executive, who qualified this week.

Councilman David Rabbitt and Mayor Pam Torliatt aren’t seeking reelection to the council, but instead are running for the 2nd District seat on the Board of Supervisors.

ROHNERT PARK
Six candidates, including three former city employees, will compete for two council seats. Councilwoman Amie Breeze is not seeking re-election to a third term.

The field includes Mayor Pam Stafford, 61, a fitness trainer; Roger Schwanke, 58, a retired Rohnert Park police officer who filed on Wednesday; Chamber of Commerce Chairman Amy Ahanotu; Planning Commission Chairman John Borba; former City Manager Carl Leivo and outgoing Fire Commander Jack Rosevear.

HEALDSBURG
Incumbent Eric Ziedrich is not running. Incumbent Mayor Jim Wood is running and will face retired Healdsburg Police Chief Susan Jones and Rosie Fabian, a claims adjuster, in a race for two four-year terms.

Shaun McCaffery, a mechanical engineer; Stephen R. Babb, a retired fire captain; and Loretta Petersen Strong, a financial advisor, are vying for the two years left in the term of Mike McGuire, who has been elected to the Board of Supervisors. Lisa Wittke Schaffner is temporarily filling the seat.

SEBASTOPOL
Incumbent council members Larry Robinson and Linda Kelley are not seeking re-election, but six candidates will compete for three four-year terms. They are incumbent Mayor Sarah Gurney; Ron Basso, founder of a furniture store; Colleen Fernald, an artist and sustainability consultant; Mike Kyes, an energy consultant; Maureen Shea, part owner of a hot-tub chain; and Patrick Slayter, an architect.

SONOMA
Seven candidates will seek three seats. Incumbents Ken Brown and Steve Barbose and vineyard management president David Cook qualified for the ballot earlier. Recent candidates are: Antoinette Castrone, 32, a program manager at the Sonoma Community Center; Mike Gillaspie, 43, a human resources manager at Target; retired businessman Fred Martin, 63; and Tom Rouse, 50, a senior director at Pom Wonderful.

Councilman August Sebastiani isn’t seeking reelection.

Staff Writers Lori A. Carter, Jeremy Hay, Clark Mason and Kevin McCallum contributed to this story.