As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition cannot endorse candidates for public office, but we are able to share information so that you can arrive at your own conclusion. Below are Sebastopol Council candidates’ responses to our questionnaire on bicycling in Sonoma County. Thanks to the candidates for their time and thoughtful answers!
IAN HOFF
Do you ride a bicycle in Sonoma County for transportation or recreation? How would you characterize the experience of cycling here? I do on occasion ride my road bike around the Sebastopol area primarily on the Rodota Trail. I work from home, live near downtown, so driving to go somewhere is rare. However, funny story, the bulk of my cycling over the last 3 years comes from being a volunteer firefighter. I live approximately a half a mile from the fire station. When my pager would go off for an emergency call, I would run to my garage, hop on my bike, and sprint to the station. 100 degrees out, freezing, rainy, windy; I was biking. Day or night. I had fenders I could take on and off, flashing lights, you name it. Also, I did get some weird looks as my wardrobe was whatever I happened to be wearing when the call came in, sometimes sweats and slippers, other times work boots and Carhartt shirts and pants. As practical of biking as you can get.
What are your community’s/Sonoma County’s biggest transportation challenges, and how does bicycling fit into your vision of future development? Downtown Sebastopol occurs at the intersection of two state highways which carry very significant traffic; most of it is people just trying to get through town with no other option. This creates conflicts with pedestrians and cyclists. However, these roads are maintained by Caltrans and they have done great work providing for safe interaction between vehicles and pedestrians. I have an engineering degree and have studied traffic engineering, I’ve worked on traffic studies, and was, albeit long ago, the student chapter president of the Institute of Transportation Engineers when I was in college. The highways in town get the focus for being bike friendly and walkable, but the City is limited in its ability to enact change. I think more focus should be on the neighborhoods where we can and are able to really make a difference. To keep these spaces safe for children and families and to keep commuters and drivers passing through town, on the highways. Pursuing methods to create congestion to “slow” people down will result in people driving worse, driving into neighborhoods, and making things less safe.
If elected, what will you do to improve cycling safety and encourage more people in the county to ride? Sebastopol is very progressive and encouraging of biking and reducing the use of personal vehicles for work and errands. Coming from my role as a firefighter, I think an untapped, or even underutilized service, would be to the get the Police and/or Fire department involved in child bike safety programs. I think when people talk about cycling they tend to focus on the green benefits. Let’s keep things safe. Let’s educate new cyclists how to be safe and safely interact with others on the roads.
Our visions and goals are often tempered by available budgets, staff time and public focus. How will you seek to balance improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and safety with your other policy priorities? Infrastructure and public safety are the basis of my campaign. There is room for working together on this. Do street improvements include bike and pedestrian safety measures? Can fire and police programs, provide services like the above? I think so.
Are there any specific projects in your jurisdiction – either planned or imagined – that you are particularly excited to see implemented? Being honest, this from a professional standpoint, I see the City’s current path towards implementing two-way streets and more four-way intersections as something dangerous and reckless to implement. This is maybe not the typical answer you’ll receive but I sincerely believe it is the correct one. Engineering is based on science and math. Four-way intersections and two-way streets are dangerous. Congestion creates dangerous, reckless drivers. Google “intersection conflict points” and you’ll see why. I would like to see the City maintain its current road layouts, to continue to work with the County on the development and usage of the Joe Rodota Trail, and NOT implement major traffic changes that put bike riding in quiet neighbors at risk.
KYREEN JORGENSEN
SANDRA MAURER
Do you ride a bicycle in Sonoma County for transportation or recreation? How would you characterize the experience of cycling here? My first big transportation purchase was a new gold Motobecane ten speed when I was 17 years old. I saved up to buy it and I was really proud of it. I rode it to school and work. Today I have a bike but haven’t ridden in a couple years. I’m more risk averse now and Sebastopol has hills and a lot of cars. I’m signing up for the week without driving, and ideally I’d like to ride occasionally.
What are your community’s/Sonoma County’s biggest transportation challenges, and how does bicycling fit into your vision of future development? I worked with Lynn Deedler and Councilmember Phill Carter on the Apple Blossom Trail to see how we can make it feasible. We resolved a problem in one section, only to aggravate it in another. I would love to see class one bike/walk paths in Sebastopol.
If elected, what will you do to improve cycling safety and encourage more people in the county to ride? On the Budget Committee I recommended funding for the red and yellow reflectors on poles that light up at night when a car approaches. These were approved by the Council and I believe they improve safety. I worked on a Walk and Roll to School project in 2009-10 to find a safer route from Sebastopol to schools on Watertrough Road. Jennifer York led that project which resulted in the separate bike/walk lane on Bodega Hwy.
Our visions and goals are often tempered by available budgets, staff time and public focus. How will you seek to balance improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and safety with your other policy priorities? Community vitality is a key priority for me. I care about improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and I have a history of working on it.
Are there any specific projects in your jurisdiction – either planned or imagined – that you are particularly excited to see implemented? The City Council approved the Active Transportation Plan in 2025. City staff will be integrating infrastructure projects from this master plan. The Apple Blossom and Gravenstein Apple Trails were prioritized in the plan. I have an interest in seeing the bike path through Willard Libby Park to Washington Ave completed. I am also interested in improvements on Ragle Road and will be watchful for that project.
JILL McLEWIS
ERIN MITCHELL
BRANDIE SOLOVAY
Do you ride a bicycle in Sonoma County for transportation or recreation? How would you characterize the experience of cycling here? I do not ride a bicycle. I am legally blind, and cycling is not safe for me. I get around by walking, using rideshare, or getting rides from family members, so I experience our streets as a pedestrian. That perspective matters here: the conditions that make streets dangerous for cyclists, such as fast traffic, narrow shoulders, and unclear crossings, also make them dangerous for pedestrians, seniors, and people with disabilities. Well-designed bike infrastructure protects everyone by keeping bikes, cars, and pedestrians in clear, predictable spaces.
What are your community’s/Sonoma County’s biggest transportation challenges, and how does bicycling fit into your vision of future development? The biggest challenge is that people who cannot or do not drive have too few practical options. Sebastopol’s local shuttle runs Monday through Saturday during daytime hours only, with no evening or Sunday service. That leaves seniors, people with disabilities, young people, and workers without cars dependent on others to get around.
Bicycling belongs in a connected system with walking and transit. As Sebastopol adds housing, new development should connect to sidewalks, bike routes, and bus stops, so residents can reach downtown, schools, and jobs without a car.
If elected, what will you do to improve cycling safety and encourage more people in the county to ride? I will prioritize safe, predictable connections; clearly marked or protected bike lanes where space allows; and safer downtown crossings. I will push for accessible pedestrian signals and well-maintained crossings, which make intersections safer for everyone. I will also work with Sonoma County Transit and the County to expand local bus hours and frequency, and to make it easy to combine biking with transit.
How will you seek to balance improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and safety with your other policy priorities? Sebastopol faces a structural budget deficit, so every project must be well planned and cost-effective. I will pursue state and federal grants aggressively, keep design-ready projects on hand so the City can compete for funding quickly, and coordinate bike and pedestrian upgrades with scheduled paving and utility work to avoid paying twice. These improvements also advance my other priorities: accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities, attainable housing near services, and a walkable downtown that keeps local businesses thriving.
Are there any specific projects in your jurisdiction, either planned or imagined, that you are particularly excited to see implemented? I am most excited about safer, fully accessible crossings downtown, including accessible pedestrian signals, so everyone can move through town safely. I would also like to see expanded Sebastopol Shuttle service with evening and Sunday hours so residents who do not drive can get where they need to go.
JAMES WOODRUFF
Do you ride a bicycle in Sonoma County for transportation or recreation? I used to. I was a regular bicycle rider for both transportation and recreation until five years ago when I injured my back at work. I miss being able to ride a bike. I regularly rode my bike to and from my job in Santa Rosa along the Joe Rodota Trail. Although I no longer ride, I feel strongly about supporting safe, well-designed bicycle routes in Sebastopol and all of Sonoma County.
How would you characterize the experience of cycling here? Although I never had a bad experience in the years that I rode a bike, I am aware that it’s generally dangerous to ride a bike on most streets in Sonoma County and cyclists are injured or killed in collisions with vehicles far too often. The experience of cycling on the Joe Rodota Trail is great except the signage could be improved in parts where it is not clear where the trail continues if you don’t already know the correct route.
What are your community’s/Sonoma County’s biggest transportation challenges, and how does bicycling fit into your vision of future development? The biggest challenges are getting car drivers to understand that bicycles have every right to be on the road, getting policymakers to elevate the priority of improving bicycle amenities in Sebastopol and beyond, and getting more people into bikes and zero-emission transit so that there are simply fewer cars on the road. I share SCBC’s vision that riding a bicycle should be a safe everyday activity for everyone for transportation and recreation in Sebastopol and throughout Sonoma County. But how do we make that happen with limited public funds? Let’s work on that problem together.
If elected, what will you do to improve cycling safety and encourage more people in the county to ride? There is a lot that needs to be done. According to the 2024 Sebastopol Active Transportation Plan, Sebastopol ranked 4th in the total fatal and injury collision category. This means that Sebastopol had the fourth highest number of fatal and injury collisions compared to cities of similar size in California. Over the past ten years, California’s Office of Transportation Safety has ranked Sebastopol among the top ten cities of similar size in the state in terms of number of collisions for both pedestrians and cyclists. Between 2015 and 2020 there were twelve severe injury collisions involving people walking or biking. We need better driver education and better physical safety features on the roads. In the near term the priority should be to improve safety. In the long term, I am a strong advocate of the “complete streets” concept, where, in the case
of bikes vs cars, physical barriers provide needed safety improvement over painted sharrows. Long term planning and funding efforts should focus on the downtown core and work outward.
Our visions and goals are often tempered by available budgets, staff time and public focus. How will you seek to balance improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and safety with your other policy priorities? Bicycling should be integrated into city planning and safe cycling options expanded not just because bikes are fun or practical, but because increased bicycling is climate action and translates into improved air quality, improved public health outcomes, and reduced traffic congestion. Safe transportation options for bicycle riders should always be included in city transportation decision-making.
Are there any specific projects in your jurisdiction – either planned or imagined – that you are particularly excited to see implemented? The biggest transportation controversy right now in Sebastopol is the plan to revert to two-way traffic in the downtown. This is not exactly something I would say that I am excited to see implemented. Overall, I don’t think it will be an improvement, and I’m particularly concerned about the lack of easy bike access to Main Street in the current plan. The only thing that’s good about the plan is that there will be protected bike lanes. Presumably this means bike lanes with physical barriers between bike and car lanes. I’m more excited about implementing concepts like complete streets, whether on one-way or two-way streets.