Sign up for our newsletter!

If you'd like to get this City Manager's Update sent directly to your email inbox every two weeks, go to our "Notify Me" page to sign up. Thank you.

June 19, 2020

Thank You, Healdsburg

Dear Healdsburg community members,

As I wrap up my time here in Healdsburg, I’ve been thinking over the past years. I have come to know many of you personally and am grateful for the relationships we’ve built in both good times and in challenging times.

I will remember Healdsburg for its sense of caring and resolve. The Kincade Fire came right to our front door and COVID-19 continues to impact the economy and health of our community and around the world. But Healdsburg is resilient.

I was heartened to see so many of you --- especially the young people -- in our small town and throughout Sonoma County peacefully demand justice for George Floyd and help us understand that Healdsburg isn’t immune to the scourge of racism. It will take a lot of hard work, but I remain hopeful that we can help stamp out racism and injustice and provide a good quality of life for everyone in our small town.

One of my last tasks as your City Manager is to get the City’s FY 2020-2022 budget adopted. The City Council will consider the budget for adoption at its June 29 meeting. I encourage you to tune in online if you’d like an up-close look at the City’s revenues and expenditures and get an idea of how the budget is impacted by the coronavirus.

Dave Kiff will step up as Interim City Manager on July 4, and his acumen, experience and skills in local government will serve Healdsburg well. In addition, our seasoned and dedicated department directors and other City staff will continue to provide essential services and keep operations running smoothly.

I greatly appreciate your working with me over these past 15 years. With your help and civic engagement, we have accomplished a lot together. It’s been my honor to serve all of you here in Healdsburg. Thank you.

David Mickaelian
City Manager
City of Healdsburg

Interim City Manager Confirmed

The Healdsburg City Council on June 12 approved a contract agreement for Dave Kiff – who grew up in Healdsburg and who later served as City Manager of the City of Newport Beach – to serve as interim City Manager of Healdsburg. He will take the reins of this top position on July 4.

“Dave has been instrumental in our recovery efforts. He’s taken the lead on implementing the City’s small-business loan program, leading the recovery task force, and many other COVID- related projects,” said City Manager David Mickaelian.

“With Dave’s experience in local government and his ties to this community, he will offer a seamless transition as Council works to fill the permanent position.”

Learn more about Mr. Kiff here.

Take Our City Manager Recruitment Survey

The Healdsburg City Council is recruiting for the next City Manager and council members want your help. What skills and attributes should our next City Manager have? What are the top four to five issues the new City Manager should help the City Council to address?

Please take our brief six-question survey. All community comments will be provided to the City Council.

English version: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/22TTT5J
Version en espanol: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2PTW27Z

A Community Equity Approach to Policing

At the June 15 City Council meeting, Police Chief Kevin Burke presented a new approach to responding to police calls for service in Healdsburg. Chief Burke’s concept envisions community equity as a new core value of the Healdsburg Police Department.

This new approach includes hiring a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and pairing him or her with a police officer to provide additional training to City Staff and the community in areas like equity and unconscious bias. They would also reach out to marginalized communities in Healdsburg following an assessment of current and historical challenges, including offering recommendations to incorporate into policy and operations. The team would respond to social and mental health concerns that arise during calls that may not require a more typical law enforcement response.

The Chief also previously presented his summary of the Healdsburg Police Department’s approach to a number of key issues currently being discussed across the nation. Please click the link above to learn more.

Mayor to Step Down on June 30

Mayor Leah Gold will resign from City Council, effective June 30. Here is her letter to the community. We thank Mayor Gold for her many years of faithful service and council guidance, and we wish her all the best.

The City Council will decide how to fill the vacant Council position at a future meeting.

Update on Downtown Street Closures

On Monday, June 15, the City Council directed City Staff to develop a pilot program to help downtown businesses expand into public spaces. The pilot program could include downtown street closure(s), but that would happen only with additional public and business participation. The Council will review the pilot program at a future meeting.

In the meantime, City Staff continue to work with the downtown business community to determine what this pilot program would look like and what the potential impacts would be to specific businesses. Above is an example of what a possible one-way road reconfiguration on Center Street could look like.

Healdsburg Police Officer to Receive Award

On June 15, Healdsburg police officers responded to a call that a 66-year-old male had suffered a cardiac event. Officer Nick Doherty found the man inside the residence with no pulse. He immediately began CPR with his AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). He delivered one shock with the AED before the Fire Department arrived and helped them with CPR until the patient was transported to a medical facility.

According to the Fire Department Captain, “The timely response and effective actions taken by the officer is absolutely the reason that this incident had a positive outcome.”

We are very proud of the responding officers. Officer Doherty will receive the Department’s Life Saving Award. This will be his second.

Face Masks and Social Distancing Work

Now that businesses are opening up more and more, the City and the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce co-wrote a letter to local businesses about the need to support face masks/coverings and social distancing for customers and staff.

This letter coincides with the new California guidance that requires that people throughout California to wear masks in most public environments outside the home and the remote outdoors.

Water Main Improvements on Powell Avenue

The Public Works crews continue to assure safe drinking water gets delivered to everyone. You may have seen our hard-working utility workers on Powell Avenue recently. Those who had their water service disrupted certainly did, as this particular stretch of water main serves many residents.

The crew installed additional valves, which will help us isolate areas for future maintenance or repairs. This proactive work also means that there will be far fewer water shut-offs going forward.

Planning and Building Department Highlights

While the City’s Community Development Center (CDC) remains closed to the public during the COVID-19 Shelter-In-Place Order, Planning & Building staff is working with a drop box system at the CDC, using electronic communication, and virtual meetings to continue processing applications for development as well as conducting in-person field inspections while adhering to required protocols for social distancing, wearing facial coverings, and sanitation (hygiene).

A few highlights of work underway in the department include:

Pre-application meetings with representatives of the proposed Enso Village project on Healdsburg Avenue in the North Entry Area Plan for the purpose of bringing together plans for a formal Major Conditional Use Permit and Major Design Review application for this 221-unit Senior Living Community.
Review of construction plans and related documents pursuant to issuing building permits for the first phase, i.e., 14-residential units, of the 29-unit Arden Residential subdivision on Foss Creek and Chiquita Road.

Projects moving forward for consideration of approvals by City decision-making bodies:

120 Parkland Farms Boulevard: On Monday June 22nd the City Council will hold a public hearing to consider an 11-lot subdivision located at 120 Parkland Farms Boulevard and a Subsequent Mitigated Negative Declaration prepared for the project. The current proposal is for the subdivision of land only.
212 Tucker Street: On Tuesday June 23rd the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider a request to create a one lot subdivision for residential condominiums. The proposed subdivision will create two residential condominium units and a common area parcel. The common area parcel includes a detached garage with an accessory dwelling unit above.