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Cotati selects mental health and education among priorities to present to county mayors group
Summary
The council identified mental health services and countywide education as priority topics to bring to the Sonoma County Mayors and Council Members Association; council directed its delegate to present those topics and a list of other candidate topics.
The Cotati City Council approved a list of topics to present at the Sonoma County Mayors and Council Members Association meeting, prioritizing mental health services and countywide education.
City staff presented three candidate regional priorities in the staff report — education in Sonoma County, homelessness services and housing supply — and council members and staff added other possibilities including the library joint-powers agreement review, transportation coordination, and “mobilizing residents” for volunteer and community programs. Council members discussed which issues a unified city voice could most effectively influence.
After discussion Councilmember Harvey and others argued that education funding disparities across school districts are primarily a state issue but that cities can play an advocacy role. Council members also said mental health services — especially treatment and residential beds — intersect with local homelessness response and warrant regional coordination.
Mayor Ford moved to give the city’s representative to the mayors association a package of priorities with a focus on mental health services and education in Sonoma County and a secondary list including the library JPA review, mobilizing residents, housing supply and homelessness services. The motion passed unanimously.
