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TheHealdsburg HealdsburgTribune Tribune The Enterprise & Scimitar Enterprise & Scimitar
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ST. HELENA’S ASST. CITY MANAGER MOVES TO HEALDBURG
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
April 3, 2025 Date, Date, 20202020
JEFF KAY PICKS APRIL MITTS TO FILL ANDREW STURMFELS’ SHOES Staff Report
Photos courtesy of Redwood Empire Food Bank
The selection process to hire a new assistant city manager has reached its conclusion: April Mitts was selected as the next assistant city manager for the City of Healdsburg, following a nationwide recruitment. Mitts brings over 15 years of experience in local government to the table, most recently as assistant city manager in St. Helena, Napa County. She will fill the role formerly held by Andrew Sturmfels, who left in January. Healdsburg City Manager Jeff Kay made the selection, saying she was picked from among 70 qualified candidates. “April brings an outstanding combination of experience, technical expertise, and leadership to this position,” he said in the press release announcing the appointment. “I have been particularly impressed with her community-focused approach to public service, and I look forward to her making a very positive impact on the city and our organization.” Kay said a professional recruitment agency assisted and vetted the candidates “based on the criteria I provided for this position.” From there, a limited number of applicants were interviewed “before a panel of current and former City Managers from other cities. After that, I interviewed the finalists.” Mitts is scheduled to start her new position on April 28. “I am honored and excited to join the City of Healdsburg as Assistant City Manager and to work alongside city leadership, staff and the community
DISTRIBUTION A Redwood Empire Food Bank volunteer hands out supplies to area families during a May 2023 distribution event at Healdsburg Elementary School.
Local Food Banks Running Out of Funds, Groceries HALF-BILLION IN DELIVERIES CANCELED BY USDA WITH NATIONAL IMPACT By Christian Kallen
Proposed cuts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of $500 million to funding for regional hunger relief organizations will stop deliveries to local food banks nationwide, including the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB). That could mean the suspension of $750,000 in food shipments to REFB alone, and their availability for redistribution
tinyurl.com/getfoodrefb. “The federal cuts are indeed a significant challenge, as we were anticipating $700,000 worth of food over the next few months that will no longer be available to us,” said Rachelle Mesheau, the REFB’s head of communications. “Despite this setback, we remain committed to providing food to our community in Healdsburg and the surrounding areas.” Characterizing the cuts as “a barbaric move,” Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Healdsburg and the president pro tempore of the California State Senate, listed some of the impacts: “330 truckloads of food for California food banks
to local families. Crews from the REFB c o m e t o He a l d s b u r g almost every day of the week to distribute groceries and other essential goods to those in need, at a rotation of locations— including the Healdsburg Senior Center, City Hall, Healdsburg Elementary, Trinity Baptist Church, Alliance Medical Center, the Healdsburg Food Pa n t r y a n d C o r a z ó n Healdsburg. A number of distribution points also exist in Windsor, Geyserville and Cloverdale, in addition to many more across Sonoma County. A full schedule of distribution times and locations is on the REFB website at
— gone… That’s milk, eggs, vegetables, and meat pulled out from under families and seniors who need it most.”
Larger than Local
Other communities nationwide are also “reeling” from the cuts, according to CNN reporting. These include the Fresno-based Central California Food Bank, which learned of the cancellation of $850,000 worth of groceries, and the Capital Area Food Bank of Washington, D.C., described as “scrambling to replace $1.3 million in food deliveries that have been canceled.” According to McGuire’s March 23 statement on the cuts, the shipments come
through the USDA’s emergency food assistance program, under which food banks can order items they need, such as canned vegetables, milk, dried fruit, frozen meats, eggs and more. The USDA covers the cost of the food orders. “California had been receiving about $50 million worth of food annually from the discretionary fund, typically in quarterly shipments,” McGuire posted on Facebook. “These latest quarterly shipments are what was cancelled. We’re still working to determine if this is a one-time cancellation or if this move will be made permanent.” ➝ Deliveries Canceled, 7
➝ April Mitts, 3
PARK OPEN HOUSES ANNOUNCED, BUT THEN CANCELED Photo by Coni Beeson/Healdsburg Museum
CULTURE BEARER Laura Fish Somersal was a celebrated
basket weaver, linguist and educator. A new 38-acre park north of Healdsburg will be named after her.
SAGGIO HILLS PROJECT DESIGN PROPOSAL GETS A CLOSER LOOK By Christian Kallen
On Friday, March 28, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department announced two open houses—one virtual, one in person, both on April 3—for the community to review and discuss a design spec for Laura Fish Somersal Park.
The proposed park on the north side of town, part of a 38-acre land trade in exchange for development of the Montage Resort, was named for the noted PomoMiwok basket weaver whose work has been displayed in national museums. The open houses were scheduled when the city received the schematic design documents from Fletcher Studio, a landscape architecture firm involved with the project since 2019. It delivered its initial schematic design for Phase 1, and planned to share a presentation with the public both in the virtual meeting, scheduled for 10am, and again at 6pm during a live session. Then on Monday, March 31, the city’s project manager, Tom Campbell, announced both meetings had been canceled. “After reviewing preliminary schematic design cost estimates that we received on March 31, the project team determined
that more time is needed to review the proposed project component costs to ensure the project aligns with the available funding,” stated an update from the City of Healdsburg. “The City has $8,086,249 for Phase 1 of the park development. The project team is currently reviewing costs to ensure that the Phase 1 project aligns with the available funding,” Campbell said. Said Community Services Director Mark Themig, “Basically the preliminary cost estimates are high and not everything is grouped by project component, so the project team needs time to go through the estimate in more detail.”
Background
According to the city’s web page on the project, at healdsburg.gov/1167, the first phase of park development includes a multipurpose trail, creek restoration, ➝ Design Proposal, 2