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12-03-2009, 09:19 AM
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Gurney re-elected Sebastopol mayor
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By BOB NORBERG ([email protected])
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 5:45 p.m.
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PD file/2004 Sarah Gurney was re-elected mayor of Sebastopol despite the City Council’s traditional policy of elevating the vice mayor to that post.
Vice Mayor Linda Kelley, the next in line to be mayor, nominated Gurney for mayor and Councilman Guy Wilson for vice mayor.
“I appreciated the opportunity last year, I am delighted to have a second year ahead of me,” Gurney said Wednesday. “I am grateful for (Kelley’s) help through the year, I found her thoughtful and well-reasoned.”
Gurney said she didn’t know why Kelley didn’t seek the post. Kelley, who served as mayor in 2004, could not be reached for comment.
Gurney was appointed to the council in 2004 and elected in 2008. This will be her third stint as mayor.
The nomination passed on a 4-1 vote, which was taken without discussion.
Councilman Larry Robinson, who cast the dissenting vote, said Wednesday he felt the position should be rotated among council members.
“I think it’s time for some new blood in that role,” Robinson said. “I would be happy to see either Kathleen Shaffer or Guy Wilson as mayor. Our tradition has been to rotate the leadership of the council and it is a policy that has served us well in the past.”
Shaffer, who was elected in 2008, said she voted for the nominations to keep harmony on the council.
She stressed she was not nominated and didn’t seek the seat, but would have preferred to see the rotation tradition continue.
“The council went through a lot of negative behavior, the previous council, toward one another and I hate to see that happen again. That is why you have to be fair and follow tradition,” Shaffer said.
Gurney said if Robinson and Shaffer felt that way, they should have made nominations themselves.
“There was opportunity in the discussion to indicate if there was interest in nominating someone else and neither suggested there was a different nominee,” Gurney said. “If they wanted to rotate it, I would have expected them to nominate someone.”
Wilson, the vice mayor, said he is surprised there was any unhappiness.
“I respect everyone on the council and Mayor Gurney has done a good job and will do a good job again,” Wilson said. “Things that happen in a public hearing, that is the time and place for people to say what they want or don’t want.”
The mayor holds a ceremonial role, acting as the face of the council at community events. The real influence comes in running the council meetings and in setting the agenda along with the vice mayor, city manager and assistant city manager.
Robinson is the longest-serving council member. He was elected in 1998 and twice served as mayor.
Gurney re-elected Sebastopol mayor
<script type="text/javascript"> var collab_title = 'Gurney re-elected Sebastopol mayor'; </script>
By BOB NORBERG ([email protected])
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 5:45 p.m.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20091202&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=912029879&Ref=AR&MaxW=250&border=0
PD file/2004 Sarah Gurney was re-elected mayor of Sebastopol despite the City Council’s traditional policy of elevating the vice mayor to that post.
Vice Mayor Linda Kelley, the next in line to be mayor, nominated Gurney for mayor and Councilman Guy Wilson for vice mayor.
“I appreciated the opportunity last year, I am delighted to have a second year ahead of me,” Gurney said Wednesday. “I am grateful for (Kelley’s) help through the year, I found her thoughtful and well-reasoned.”
Gurney said she didn’t know why Kelley didn’t seek the post. Kelley, who served as mayor in 2004, could not be reached for comment.
Gurney was appointed to the council in 2004 and elected in 2008. This will be her third stint as mayor.
The nomination passed on a 4-1 vote, which was taken without discussion.
Councilman Larry Robinson, who cast the dissenting vote, said Wednesday he felt the position should be rotated among council members.
“I think it’s time for some new blood in that role,” Robinson said. “I would be happy to see either Kathleen Shaffer or Guy Wilson as mayor. Our tradition has been to rotate the leadership of the council and it is a policy that has served us well in the past.”
Shaffer, who was elected in 2008, said she voted for the nominations to keep harmony on the council.
She stressed she was not nominated and didn’t seek the seat, but would have preferred to see the rotation tradition continue.
“The council went through a lot of negative behavior, the previous council, toward one another and I hate to see that happen again. That is why you have to be fair and follow tradition,” Shaffer said.
Gurney said if Robinson and Shaffer felt that way, they should have made nominations themselves.
“There was opportunity in the discussion to indicate if there was interest in nominating someone else and neither suggested there was a different nominee,” Gurney said. “If they wanted to rotate it, I would have expected them to nominate someone.”
Wilson, the vice mayor, said he is surprised there was any unhappiness.
“I respect everyone on the council and Mayor Gurney has done a good job and will do a good job again,” Wilson said. “Things that happen in a public hearing, that is the time and place for people to say what they want or don’t want.”
The mayor holds a ceremonial role, acting as the face of the council at community events. The real influence comes in running the council meetings and in setting the agenda along with the vice mayor, city manager and assistant city manager.
Robinson is the longest-serving council member. He was elected in 1998 and twice served as mayor.