Article: Sebastopol Election And Leadership
I look forward to feedback from your members and a conversation about how we, as a community, can find more effective ways to talk with each other about our common concerns.
Larry
by Larry Robinson
WaccoBB.net
I imagine that all of us, voters and candidates alike, are relieved that the election is over. Most Sebastopol citizens are reasonably happy – if not ecstatic - with the national and state results but locally we remain divided. Much as we would like to think of ourselves as enlightened and kind people, this election has shown that we are not immune to the kind of ideological and partisan bitterness that is tearing our country apart.
I congratulate all the City Council candidates for running clean and honorable campaigns and for caring enough about Sebastopol to undertake the hard work of campaigning. And I congratulate the winners, Robert Jacob and either John Eder or Kathleen Shaffer (as of this writing the count is still too close to call.) I have great confidence in their potential to serve our community well.
It is, however, greatly regrettable that some of their supporters (which unfortunately included Councilmembers Gurney and Kyes) engaged in some of the most appalling mud-slinging and attempted character assassination that I have ever seen in a local race. While it is undoubtedly hurtful to those who were the targets of these attacks, the greater cost is to our shared sense of community. Furthermore, this kind of incivility discourages too many good people from stepping up to public service.
I don’t know what it will take to begin the healing but I do know that if we don’t find a way, we will all be the poorer for it. I expect that the next decade will be continue to be difficult for America and for our local communities and we will need each other with all the diversity of skills, experiences and perspectives we bring to the table. We will especially need to learn to listen to, and trust, each other. An attitude of “winner take all” only serves to continue the bitterness and diminishes all of us.
These times call for exceptional leadership. I believe that Robert Jacob, Kathleen Shaffer and John Eder all possess great leadership potential and they could do worse than to look to Governor Jerry Brown for an example of a politician who does not need to prove himself to anyone, who is not blinded by ideology, and has the maturity and courage to resist the pressure from even his most ardent supporters.
A poor leader is one who is driven by the need for approval and who consequently panders to the lowest common denominator. A good leader discerns the will of the people and leads them there. A great leader, however, is the one who can take people where they need to go, even if they don’t yet know it, through inspiration, persuasion and courage.
Great leaders are usually pragmatic idealists, which means that they hold high ideals and lofty visions but use those as pole stars to steer by rather than as roadmaps to prescribe their course. They know that ideology is an intellectual shortcut that usually leads to a dead end or to disasters such as wars, dictatorships or economic collapse.
In the coming months and years Sebastopol the City Council will have some important work to do and good - if not great - leadership will be critical. Probably the first order of business will be the recruitment and hiring of a City Manager; I hope the Council has the wisdom to make their decision based on competence more than ideology. Just as important will be creating conditions to retain that new person; that will entail returning a sense of teamwork and shared purpose to the Council so our next City Manager will not be driven away by the petty infighting as Jack Griffin was.
Beyond the CVS/Chase project, the new Council will have to address the broader issue of future development. Sebastopol needs an updated General Plan that takes into account new state regulations as well as changed conditions - demographically, environmentally and economically. However, at this point we don’t have the resources to pay for a new plan.
One step the Council should consider taking in the meantime is to adopt clear design standards for the downtown area, which would avoid in the future much of the bitter fighting that has gone on lately. This could be done fairly easily and affordably by utilizing the design standards that had been developed as part of the Northeast Area Specific Plan.
Sebastopol’s Urban Growth Boundary was adopted in 1996 and will expire in 2016. It is not too early to begin looking at extending it for another 20 years. As part of this process there are a number of critical questions that need to be addressed. One is where we draw the line that restricts further annexations. Do we need to pull it in or move it out?
Another important question concerns density. When we adopted the UGB in 1996 it was with the promise that we would “grow up, not out”. Some of us who worked on that campaign believed that to be responsible planetary citizens we have a responsibility to reduce our per capita ecological footprint, not just push the consequences of population growth and resource demand to some other corner of the planet. Increasing the density of our town, if done in the right way, can achieve that and, at the same time, increase our quality of life. If done in the wrong way it can damage the small town character we treasure.
Like nearly every other jurisdiction in California, if not the country, our infrastructure is aging. For many reasons, not the least of which is 1978’s Proposition 13, we don’t have the financial resources to adequately maintain our streets and public parks and buildings. The consequences of allowing this to continue are pretty clear to all of us. We also have unfunded pension liabilities that need to be addressed.
Sales tax revenues, augmented by the proceeds from Measure Y may be starting to rise but we also need to expand our economic base. The new City Council will have to be creative and resourceful in finding ways to encourage and support our local economy, as well as to increase its resilience.
We may only vote every two years, but in a democracy citizenship is a full-time job. Whether it is at the local, the state or the national level it is our responsibility as citizens to remain engaged and to demand the kind of leadership we need.
Larry Robinson
Larry Robinson served 12 years on the Sebastopol City Council, including several terms as Mayor, a 2010 Fellow of The Leadership Institute For Ecology and the Economy and a lover of poetry.
Re: Article: Sebastopol Election And Leadership
Interesting post, Larry. I am writing to express my disagreement, particularly with this part:
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Larry Robinson:
It is, however, greatly regrettable that some of their supporters (which unfortunately included Council member Sarah Gurney and Vice Mayor Michael Kyes) engaged in some of the most appalling mudslinging and attempted character assassination that I have ever seen in a local race. While it is undoubtedly hurtful to those who were the targets of these attacks, the greater cost is to our shared sense of community. Furthermore, this kind of incivility discourages too many good people from stepping up to public service.
Amazing how we humans can agree on so much, yet entirely disagree on certain things.
I couldn't be more grateful to Council Member Sarah Gurney and Vice Major Michael Kyes for their efforts to retain Sebastopol's unique character, especially in the downtown core, and to clarify inaccurate and misleading information.
Warm regards,
Tara Treasurefield
Truth-Telling is NOT Mud-Slinging: SW Letter on Gurney and Kyes' courageous actions
This was my letter which appeared in this week's Sonoma West responding to Larry Robinson's recent commentary, ironically called "Leadership." in which me maligned two of our finest City Council members for their leadership during the recent election...
Progressive Leadership
Editor: I agree with Larry Robinson’s recent Guest Commentary (“Leadership,” Nov. 15) that a post election “winner take all approach” will not serve Sebastopol. Dialog, civility, and dedication are essential values shared by nearly everyone attracted to our extraordinary community.
But I feel that Mr. Robinson confuses civility with deference to power and the status quo. This election provided a very clear political choice to voters, between Councilmember Kathleen Shaffer and former Mayor Kathy Austin, who actively supported the CVS development and Robert Jacob and John Eder, who opposed it.
Fifty-six percent of voters supported Jacob and Eder and anti-CVS Colleen Fernald (2 percent), while only 44 percent voted for Shaffer and Austin. We, the people of Sebastopol, voted for change.
I especially disagree with Mr. Robinson’s assertion that Councilmember Sarah Gurney and Vice Mayor Michael Kyes engaged in the “most appalling mudslinging and character assassination that I have ever seen in a local election.”
Mr. Robinson conflates truth telling with mudslinging. In doing so, ironically, he slings mud at two dedicated Council leaders who exercised what I consider to be courageous truth telling.
Ms. Gurney and Mr. Kyes performed a service to our community when they went public with Councilmember Shaffer’s voting record, and actions, in her “under the radar” support of the CVS Development. This was especially important because, according to a number of my friends who spoke to Ms. Shaffer during her door-knocking campaign, Ms. Shaffer “ran from her record” and told people that she did not like the CVS Development either, but was forced, by law, to reluctantly vote for it.
As for drawing attention to the decision by a realtor PAC to donate money to both the Shaffer and Austin campaigns, this, too was a service to our community. It is important to publicize PAC donations from parties with large vested financial interest in our City government’s decisions.
I agree with Mr. Robinson that selecting a new city manager will be an important decision for the new City Council. But his complaint that “petty infighting” led to former City Manager Jack Griffin being “driven away” is another example of confusing deference to power with actual leadership. In my opinion, through (Griffin’s) actions and words, he objected to the pervasive green, progressive values that a majority of people support here in Sebastopol.
Deference to the powerful city staff of Sebastopol, in my view, is not council leadership, but an abrogation of the democratic duties of our elected officials.
Real leadership means pushing back, not rubber stamping power grabs by city staff who are paid to carry out, not make, the political decisions of our elected officials.
We, the people of Sebastopol, are going to have a majority progressive, green City Council that truly reflects our values. Now that’s leadership.
Jonathan Greenberg
Sebastopol
Re: Truth-Telling is NOT Mud-Slinging: SW Letter on Gurney and Kyes' courageous actions
Jonathan, I am not anti-development why you would put those words next to my name bothers me. I do speak out when a proposed development is not appropriate. I spoke out about CVS/Chase before it was a campaign issue, not the same as being anti-development. You framed it so Robert and John were not included in that way.
Also, I am still waiting for Robert Jacobs and John Eder to hold their campaign manager, Craig Litwin, to his promise to publicly apologize for knowingly printing and distributing a lie regarding my position on measure Y, the tax increase. It's one thing to knowingly print and distribute a lie, then lie to my face about doing it, so when you agree to the formal apology, well, do it.
All the candidates knew, as did anyone who witnessed the forums, I would only support a 1/4 sales tax increase - with direction to call on the federal government to return the other 1/4 cent by ending optional military conflicts.
Robert and John, you are responsible for the actions of your campaign manager. Will you require he keep his commitment to clear this issue up publicly, or continue to ignore it? Is this how you demonstrate leadership for our town?
Sebastopol has sadly slipped from its core values, but ya'll were too busy fighting over which camp is more sustainable to notice. Now it's time for the true sustainable Sebastopol community members to pitch one tent for all the shades of Green we encompass. Time to teach and learn from each other; end the lies and dirty politics.
Colleen Fernald
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Peacetown Jonathan:
This was my letter which appeared in this week's Sonoma West responding to Larry Robinson's recent commentary, ironically called "Leadership." in which me maligned two of our finest City Council members for their leadership during the recent election...
Progressive Leadership
Editor: I agree with Larry Robinson’s
recent Guest Commentary (“Leadership,” Nov. 15) that a post election “winner take all approach” will not serve Sebastopol. Dialog, civility, and dedication are essential values shared by nearly everyone attracted to our extraordinary community. But I feel that Mr. Robinson confuses civility with deference to power and the status quo. This election provided a very clear political choice to voters, between Councilmember Kathleen Shaffer and former Mayor Kathy Austin, who actively supported the CVS development and Robert Jacob and John Eder, who opposed it. Fifty-six percent of voters supported Jacob and Eder and anti-development Colleen Fernald (2 percent), while only 44 percent voted for Shaffer and Austin. We, the people of Sebastopol, voted for change. I especially disagree with Mr. Robinson’s assertion that Councilmember Sarah Gurney and Vice Mayor Michael Kyes engaged in the “most appalling mudslinging and character assassination that I have ever seen in a local election.” Mr. Robinson conflates truth telling with mudslinging. In doing so, ironically, he slings mud at two dedicated Council leaders who exercised what I consider to be courageous truth telling. Ms. Gurney and Mr. Kyes performed a service to our community when they went public with Councilmember Shaffer’s voting record, and actions, in her “under the radar” support of the CVS Development. This was especially important because, according to a number of my friends who spoke to Ms. Shaffer during her door-knocking campaign, Ms. Shaffer “ran from her record” and told people that she did not like the CVS Development either, but was forced, by law, to reluctantly vote for it. As for drawing attention to the decision by a realtor PAC to donate money to both the Shaffer and Austin campaigns, this, too was a service to our community. It is important to publicize PAC donations from parties with large vested financial interest in our City government’s decisions. I agree with Mr. Robinson that selecting a new city manager will be an important decision for the new City Council. But his complaint that “petty infighting” led to former City Manager Jack Griffin being “driven away” is another example of confusing deference to power with actual leadership. In my opinion, through (Griffin’s) actions and words, he objected to the pervasive green, progressive values that a majority of people support here in Sebastopol. Deference to the powerful city staff of Sebastopol, in my view, is not council leadership, but an abrogation of the democratic duties of our elected officials. Real leadership means pushing back, not rubber stamping power grabs by city staff who are paid to carry out, not make, the political decisions of our elected officials. We, the people of Sebastopol, are going to have a majority progressive, green City Council that truly reflects our values. Now that’s leadership. Jonathan Greenberg Sebastopol
Re: Article: Sebastopol Election And Leadership
Hi Colleen,
I understand your distinction; when I wrote anti-development I meant anti-CVS development. But I see how people might read that the wrong way and come to the wrong conclusion. I am sorry about that wording. I revised it above and changed the word development to CVS. I know that you spoke against that project early on.
