A little after 7pm on Monday, Dec. 18, Councilmember Chris Herrod, with a single brief motion, nominated both a new mayor and vice mayor for the city of Healdsburg. A few minutes later, David Hagele, as mayor, and Evelyn Mitchell, as vice mayor, were unanimously approved by the council.
The vote was the last order of business at the 73-minute meeting, which managed to address several long-standing items despite its brief length. The council reviewed the current status of the Foley Family Community Pavilion bid process, and approved the staff’s recommendation to hire Wright Contracting for $7.4 million to execute the construction.
Following that approval, Water/Wastewater Engineer Patric Fuss (appearing in a purple tie) gave a presentation on the city’s plans to install a “purple pipe” delivery mechanism for non-potable treated wastewater. A purple pipe delivery network is a widely-used way to signal that water from those pipes is not drinkable, but appropriate for irrigation.
In 2018, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board required that the city develop a plan to reach compliance with seasonal discharge prohibition within five years. After extensive research, a grant partner was found to build 1.6 miles of purple pipeline for $7 million.
Though the length of the pipeline would meet the board’s requirements for wastewater distribution, it was not to the extent that city engineers thought could provide the widest distribution of reclaimed water. But the well-researched proposal for a reclaimed water distribution network in Healdsburg, to be installed by the end of 2025, was heartily endorsed by the council.
Adieu Ariel
With the next agenda item pertaining to the appointment of the mayor and vice mayor, David Hagele invited up “a couple very proud kids out there, along with a proud husband,” to acknowledge their “lending your mom to us.”
“What a fun surprise,” said Kelley, as Dan Kelley and their two children came up to the dais and posed for photos with the mayor as she was presented a plaque from City Clerk Raina Allan for her year as mayor.
The family moment was followed by appreciations from the rest of the council, led by Hagele’s recitation of the “massive agenda items, from the climate mobilization strategy, DEI, the cannabis policy, bridge lighting—there’s so many things that took a lot of effort and thought, and I just wanted to thank you for your leadership this year.”
Herrod recognized Kelley’s commitment to the ceremonial role of a mayor. “I think it’s obvious to anyone paying attention that Mayor Kelley showed up, a lot,” he said. “She made time for as many groups and events as possible, and I know the community appreciated that you were there.”
After Mitchell and Edwards spoke—and following a perfunctory call for public comment (“I’m not looking for any more compliments, we have to go to public comment because that’s what the law requires,” Kelley said)—Herrod made his brief nomination of Evelyn Mitchell as vice mayor and David Hagele as mayor, and less than a minute later the unanimous vote was taken.
The council adjourned their meeting at about 7:15pm, if not setting a record for brevity then certainly setting an example. The next meeting of the Healdsburg City Council will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, with Mayor David Hagele holding the gavel.
Following the meeting, Hagele said, “It’s an honor to be selected by my colleagues to serve as mayor next year. We have a great council and I’m excited to keep the momentum from this year going into next year. Mayor Kelley led us through a VERY big year, giving us a running head start into 2024!”
Recent History
David Hagele was first elected to the Healdsburg City Council in 2016, served as mayor in 2019 and was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2020. He will take over the mayor’s gavel at the council’s first meeting in 2024, on Jan. 16.
Mitchell, also nominated by Herrod in the same motion, served as mayor during 18 turbulent months in recent Healdsburg history. She was first elected to the council in 2018, and re-elected last year; her current term will be up for election in 2026.
In 2020 Mitchell was serving as vice mayor when Mayor Leah Gold resigned, following what were perceived as her tone-deaf comments about racism and police use of force in Healdsburg. Mitchell became mayor, and the following December she was selected to add another full year to her service as mayor, and held the office through December 2021.
Also in July 2020, the city council appointed Ozzy Jimenez to fill Gold’s seat for the rest of her term, two and a half years. At the same time Jimenez was elected vice mayor, and in December 2021 became mayor for the year 2022.
He did not run for re-election, and his four-year seat was won last year by Chris Herrod, who made the nominations on Monday evening. His seat will be up for re-election in 2026.
The other council member, also elected in December 2022, is Ron Edwards. He is filling a seat originally won by Skylaer Palacios in 2020; in mid-2022 she also resigned, citing the high cost of living in Healdsburg.
Rather than appoint a replacement to fill out the rest of her term, as they did in the case of Leah Gold, the council decided to add a two-year seat to the 2022 ballot. For more than half a year in 2022, the Healdsburg City Council had only four members, not five.
Now at full strength, business as usual has returned to Healdsburg, as demonstrated by the controversy-free elevation of the vice mayor to the mayor’s office, and the appointment of the next-senior councilmember as vice mayor.
