Anybody want to be on the Sebastopol City Council for 5 months (or more)?

[Barry]

This is your chance to stick your toe into Sebastopol city politics.
The application is attached.
Barry


City of Sebastopol
Appointment to Fill City Council Vacancy

The City of Sebastopol City Council is soliciting applications for the Office of City Council Member to fill the remainder of the term for former incumbent City Council Member Michael Kyes.

The deadline to submit a standard City of Sebastopol Master Application, resume and letter of interest will be no later than 3:00 pm on June 12, 2014.

The City council will conduct interviews on June 19, 2014.

The appointed individual will fill the unexpired term of this position to November 2014 which is the unexpired term of the former incumbent.

Applications and further information are available at the City of Sebastopol City Manager’s Office, City Hall, 7120 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol, CA 95472; email: [email protected] or phone 707-823-1153 for an application. All applications with original signatures must be submitted to the City Manager’s Office no later than June 12, 2014, at 3:00 pm.

[Shepherd]

The person that I favor to continue Michael Kyes' legacy is Una Glass, if she might be willing. When I moved to Sebastopol in 1992 she was active at that time and has continued her activity with groups that are related to conservation. Una is politically wise and caring. I last saw Una a couple of weeks ago when she and her husband, Michael Kyes, hosted Gary Wysoscky at their home, the best candidate for County Controller. They have been a dynamic political couple and I think she could continue Michael's good work.

I hope that the City Council and the people of Sebastopol would support her, if she is willing. She could be a good care-taker during the next 5 months, during which she or another good candidate could emerge to continue the excellent work that our current City Council has been doing in recent years--one of the best teams that we have had during my time here. Other good candidates are likely to come forward before the June 12 deadline. If Una is willing and the Council appoints her, than that gives time for the other interested candidates to reveal themselves. This decision will impact residents beyond the City itself to the entire West County and beyond to Sonoma Count itself.
Shepherd

This is your chance to stick your toe into Sebastopol city politics.
The application is attached.
Barry

City of Sebastopol
Appointment to Fill City Council Vacancy...

[Barry]

City of Sebastopol
Appointment to Fill City Council Vacancy

The City of Sebastopol City Council is soliciting applications for the Office of City Council Member to fill the remainder of the term for former incumbent City Council Member Michael Kyes....

And the applicants are....

Una Glass

Michael Anthony

Jonathan Greenberg

(Russ Pinto applied and later withdrew his application)

Una, of course, is Michael's widow, and has an impressive resume.

Michael is the local bootmaker who is a fixture around town. I don't think I ever heard is last name before!

Jonathan (aka "Peacetown Jonathan") is an national investigative journalist and new media innovator who wrote our ground breaking articles detailing some of the background behind the closure of Palm Drive Hospital.

[Peacetown Jonathan]

I withdrew from consideration for this City Council Appointment this morning. Right now it is only Una and Michael Anthony being considered.

For many reasons, I feel that Una is the best person to carry Michael's tenure to the end of its term this November. I did not know she wanted to do this when I submitted my application.

I wish Una only the best during this busy summer. During this time, I will be focusing on convincing the Supervisors to place a revenue measure on November's ballot (check out our Campaign's new video!), and working on the challenging road ahead to re-open Palm Drive Hospital with the emergency room and acute care service that nearly everyone in our community needs, and wants.

I am still considering the possibility of running for City Council in November. There will be three positions open for re-election or election. Stay tuned on that front.

In community,
Jonathan Greenberg

And the applicants are....

Una Glass

Michael Anthony

Jonathan Greenberg

(Russ Pinto applied and later withdrew his application)

Una, of course, is Michael's widow, and has an impressive resume.

Michael is the local bootmaker who is a fixture around town. I don't think I ever heard is last name before!

Jonathan (aka "Peacetown Jonathan") is an national investigative journalist and new media innovator who wrote our ground breaking articles detailing some of the background behind the closure of Palm Drive Hospital.

[Shepherd]

I want to appreciate Jonathan for first offering himself for public service on the City Council and then for withdrawing in support of Una. I concur with him that she is "the best person" to be the appointed City Council member until the November election.

I am so glad that Una is willing to accept this work on behalf of the citizens of Sebastopol and beyond as the Council continues to steer our small town in beneficial ways. May others who have considered this temporary post see the wisdom of the community supporting Una in this transition and decline, at this time, to ask to be appointed. Una provides many skills, institutional memory, continuity, and a willingness to serve. She deserves the Council's support, as well as ours.
Shepherd

I withdrew from consideration for this City Council Appointment this morning. Right now it is only Una and Michael Anthony being considered....

[Shepherd]

Following is the article in today's Press Democrat by Mary Callahan about Una Glass' willingness to complete Michael Kyes term as Sebastopol City Councilmember. It provides some helpful information about what qualifies her for this role. I hope that we are all able to rally around and support her to continue our Council's good work, which her husband contributed so well to.
Shepherd

Two Sebastopol residents are in the running to fill the City Council vacancy created by the death of former Mayor and City Councilman Michael Kyes, including his widow, Una Glass, who is a well-known conservationist and executive director of Coastwalk California.
Glass, a one-time aide to former Sonoma County Supervisor Mike Reilly, will vie with craftsman and custom bootmaker Michael Anthony Carnacchi for the privilege of completing Kyes' council term, which ends in November.
But in a nod to Glass' qualifications and personal connection to the post, Carnacchi, secretary of the Sebastopol Downtown Association, said he retained the right to withdraw his name once he had presented some of his ideas to the City Council during scheduled interviews Thursday.
“The city informed me that Una is running, and I think it's a beautiful thing that she should sit in Michael's seat,” Carnacchi said.
Kyes was elected to the council in 2010 and served as Sebastopol's mayor last year. He died May 25 from an aortic aneurysm, the same type of medical emergency he survived in 2011, Glass said.
The deadline for applications for his vacant post passed Thursday, leading to the public release of the applicants' names. The City Council is holding interviews Thursday, June 19, and will make a selection the same day.
Two other applicants for the job already have withdrawn, including city Planning Commissioner Russ Pinto, a land conservation consultant and one-time director of conservation at Save the Redwoods League, and Jonathan Greenberg, a writer and community activist who is a fixture at city council meetings.
Greenberg, who expects next month to launch a formal council election run, said he backed out of the selection process for the vacant position Friday when he learned Glass had put in her name.
Pinto did the same thing Thursday afternoon.
“Una's great,” Pinto said. “Knowing her as I do, she would be fabulous.”
“If I'd known,” said Greenberg, “I wouldn't have applied.”
Carnacchi, who has maintained a high-end boot and shoemaking shop called the Apple Cobbler for 20 years, said he is interested in the financial health of the city and its downtown business core, as well as streamlining traffic and exploring new municipal revenue sources.
He said he is eager, in particular, to share some ideas he has for resolving city's traffic headaches but was not prepared to discuss them Friday.
Glass, 61, said her interest in the council post reflects both her desire to honor her husband's service and her conviction that she can continue his work in a relatively seamless manner.
Kyes, who remained medically vulnerable after his near death in 2011, had even encouraged his wife of 34 years to apply for his post should he ever be unable to complete it, she said.
But Glass said she is abundantly qualified to join the five-member council, having remained abreast of city policies and decisions through her husband and one-time business partner.
Long politically active, Glass has held a post on the city's former Community Development Agency and served on the board of Sonoma County Conservation Action, the county's largest environmental organization, claiming about 5,000 member households. She also was an aide for five years to former Fifth District Supervisor Mike Reilly.
Glass said she has frequent interaction with local government staffers and elected officials around the state through the job she's held for six years with Coastwalk California, which is dedicated, in part, to completion of the California Coastal Trail.
She and Kyes also ran MicroPlus Software, a high-end accounting and digital imaging software company, together for many years, providing her the same appreciation for long-range financial planning that her husband brought to the city council, she said.
“Sebastopol has all these very progressive and, I think, forward thinking policies and ideas and plans, but if you don't have the money, and you don't plan on how you can afford and implement those things, it's all for naught,” Glass said.
“I feel that I have the knowledge, and can provide continuity at a time that is important for our city,” she said. “And if the council does appoint me, that would be a great honor, and I would try to put the same kind of hard work and integrity into the job as my husband did.”
(You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or [email protected].)

[Larry Robinson]

Una is the perfect choice to fill this seat. She is is very smart and well-informed and she knows and loves this community.

[Michael Anthony]

My decision to continue on with the application process to be appointed to Sebastopol City Council was made after I considered withdrawing my application out of respect for former council member Michael Kyes and his wife Una Glass.

In the end however, I decided to reserve my right to withdraw until after the interview because there are some important issues that I will address if appointed to Sebastopol City Council. These issues and my ideas for the government of our citizenry will be made public when my application is posted on the City of Sebastopol web site on Monday which will include the following:

1) Traffic, parking, noise pollution, and business health in the downtown corridor. [A vision that I have to alleviate our traffic headaches, reduce Sebastopol's carbon footprint, and generate municipal revenue will be posted under a new thread.]

2) Calendaring a convergence of leaders from every non-profit organization in Sebastopol.

3) Coordination of transportation with the Sebastopol Senior Center in order that the elders in our community can voice there opinions [and sometimes great wisdom] during the public comments period of City Council meetings or hold a City Council meeting at the Senior Center. This will show respect for our elders who are in many cases, direct descendants of the families who founded Sebastopol. This will also integrate tangible elder energy into our Council chambers honoring American Indian Council tradition.

4) Digitize the Sebastopol Public Library microfilm archives of the 19^th and early 20^th century Sebastopol Times newspapers and publish them on the City of Sebastopol web site to allow for easy access of our history.

5) Creation of a small seasonal outdoor Roman style amphitheater with the Laguna as backdrop utilizing recycled concrete as part of the Barlow plans for redevelopment of the Morris Street cement plant property for parking. This amphitheater will serve as a place to build community like the Sebastopol Opera House did in 1902.

6) Create incentives that will promote City of Sebastopol residential, community, and small commercial gardens for the local growing of our food and open a larger Farmers’ Market outlet for distribution of that food [including locally raised livestock] to more of our local citizenry.

7) Discovering ways for Sebastopol to generate revenue more creatively than raising taxes.

8) The Agricultural Act of 2014 SEC.7606; Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp was signed into law on February 7, 2014 giving federal authority to CA Food & AG SEC. 81000-81010 [CA state hemp law]; therefore, Sebastopol should devise of a plan to establish itself as a world renowned center for the production and export of the finest quality industrial hemp products [building materials, cloth, cordage, fiber, food, fuel, oils, paper, etc.] made from organic California grown hemp.

9) Organize a citywide Fourth of July celebration beginning with fireworks on July 3rd lasting through the next day which is centered around community building events "in order to form a more perfect union" whereby we will tangibly experience and celebrate our interconnection with one another.

The only thing that is constant about my theories and ideas is that they are constantly changing and I am completely open to any and all suggestions that will have effect thereof.

I love Sebastopol and the uniqueness of her Citizens.

Your friend and neighbor as ever:

Michael Anthony Carnacchi