The future of Healdsburg

When the new Healdsburg City Council reconvenes on January 3, 2017, there will be one vacant seat. In the wake of the 2016 election, councilmember Eric Ziedrich tendered his resignation, effective December 31, due to the rejection of Measure R by Healdsburg voters.
The council will have a decision to make to fill the vacated seat — reappoint outgoing Gary Plass, who did not win re-election by a vote of the residents, appoint someone else of their choosing, or hold a special election.
The council will surely feel pressure to appoint Mr. Plass, a longstanding, respected member of the council and former police officer, but we urge them to do otherwise.
Mr. Plass was the fourth highest vote getter on November 8, after the reelected Shaun McCaffery and newcomers David Hagele and Joe Naujokas. Using this as an argument for reinstating him, however, is based on a false assumption. Had Mr. Ziedrich’s seat been vacated prior to the election, Healdsburg voters would have been given the opportunity to vote four times (rather than three) for councilmembers.
This means that thousands of would-be votes (by actual voters, not hypothetical ones) went uncast in this election, rendering the fourth-highest would-be vote getter simply unknowable.
But the argument against reinstatement pro forma goes further than this. We are emerging from a national election cycle that highlighted hateful and divisive rhetoric and policy suggestions.
In the wake of the election results, our city needs leaders who will fight to bring us and keep us together, and who are willing to stand strong against a bitter wind, rather than find shelter in retaining the status quo. We need leadership that is willing to stand up and speak out for its citizenry as a whole, and that reflects the makeup of Healdsburg itself.
When we look at our council on January 3, we won’t be looking at a reflection of ourselves. We will see three men and one woman, all of whom are white, half of whom are conservative.
According to 2010 census data, Healdsburg is 51 percent female and 34 percent Latino; 74 percent of voters are registered Democrats. The notion that this misrepresentation on the council is due to merit and/or individual choice alone is based on a misunderstanding of the way systems are built in this country, and yes, in our city and on our council to support white men.
The negative ramifications of continuing this misrepresentation – particularly in the context of the tone, rhetoric, and policy ideas being thrown around on the national level – are boundless, as are the potential positive ramifications of breaking this cycle. More diverse representation leads to better ideas, more community engagement, and less of an us-and-them mentality.
The council has an opportunity here to make a real impact on the structure of our government and the face of our city. By reinstating Mr. Plass or appointing another conservative white male, they would be missing that opportunity and failing their constituents. We urge the council to go against the status quo and open up the process to applications from the community.
— Jennifer Levine-Smith is a Healdsburg resident