When Healdsburg Mayor Leah Gold steps down from her council seat effective June 30, the city council will have three ways to find a replacement, according to David Kiff, the city’s interim city manager.
Kiff gave a brief presentation on the council’s options at a special council meeting and budget review on June 22.
“The council has the option of appointing a mayor and potentially a vice mayor to serve through December. Per council protocol, Vice Mayor Evelyn Mitchell would automatically perform the duties of Mayor Gold once Mayor Gold’s resignation becomes effective. Until such time the council would take an action to appoint a mayor,” Kiff explained.
The council then has three options for how they could proceed to fill the vacancy, including calling a special election, calling an election and appointing someone for the interim until the election, or appointing someone for the remainder of Gold’s term.
“One (option) is to call for a special election for Nov. 3. It would be co-terminous with the General Election, and the council could leave the seat vacant up until then,” Kiff said. “The council could decide to call the special election but make an interim appointment for someone to fill the vacancy until that time.”
If the council wants to put a special election on the ballot, they have to take action by July 12.
“The third option is you could appoint someone for the remainder of Mayor Gold’s term. That would become roughly a two-year appointment. If you choose this path, the appointment process must be completed by Aug. 29 of 2020,” Kiff said.
City councilmember David Hagele said he’d like to see some sort of report on what council will be working on in the future to help better inform his decision on how the council should proceed.
Kiff said a more formal presentation on the available options will be given to councilmembers at the next city council meeting on June 29, and a special meeting will likely be held on July 6 or 10 to get final input and action from the council.
Gold announced her resignation on June 16, following public outcry and numerous requests for her resignation after several recent missteps handling the discussion on racism and police use-of-force policies in Healdsburg.
While some councilmembers were surprised to learn of Gold’s resignation, they also expressed respect for her decision.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Leah was and still is dedicated to a better Healdsburg. Despite our occasional disagreements on policy decisions, I have long valued her contribution to the council and to the community,” Councilmember Joe Naujokas said in an interview with The Tribune. “To serve on council requires much individual sacrifice for the benefit of the greater good. I hope that even Leah’s detractors will appreciate the sacrifices she made for Healdsburg and to join me in thanking her for her service. And I hope we all have learned that sometimes the best way to serve the community is to stop talking and just listen.”
