Sonoma faces a pivotal year of leadership change at the city manager and finance director levels with the pending and recent departures of these two significant city leaders.
Sonoma’s current top administrator David Guhin is preparing to move to a new role as Sonoma County’s executive officer.
courtesy of David Guhin
Sonoma City Manager David Guhin
His last day with the city is April 5, which leaves City Council a very small window in which to appoint an interim manager, who will oversee Sonoma during this period of transition.
Discussions about an interim, as well as shaping the recruitment process for Guhin’s permanent replacement, are expected to begin Wednesday, March 4, during a closed council session.
Because this search is a personnel issue, much of the process will be handled in a series of closed sessions that are not open to the public, officials said.
Sonoma Mayor Ron Wellander, in a Feb. 26 interview with The Sonoma Index-Tribune, said his goal for the coming months, and ultimately throughout his ongoing one-year term as mayor, is to “keep momentum moving forward and getting stuff done.”
The city manager oversees Sonoma’s nearly $45 million budget, 47 employees, works alongside the city attorney, and reports to the City Council.
Guhin said he has also been closely involved in stabilizing Sonoma’s financial operations — a responsibility that has become more complicated with the recent departure of the city’s Finance Director Prapti Aryal.
Robbi Pengelly /Sonoma Index-Tribune
Former Sonoma Finance Director Prapti Aryal
“The bar has been set high by David Guhin,’ the mayor said. “We have high expectations. We know what we want in a good city manager — and then likewise, as we go through the process, we are hoping to continue to get work and projects completed, and not simply have what I call ‘a lame duck period.’ ”
Guhin said council will look for a permanent replacement who has the desire to “encourage support and foster the culture the staff has of getting things done and completed,” and an interim who can support council members through the recruitment process and assist with the city’s budget.
City officials estimate finding a new city manager could take 3 to 6 months and may involve hiring an outside recruitment firm.
Guhin’s selection as the county’s next executive officer was announced in mid-February, following a monthslong search. Before joining the city of Sonoma in 2023, he worked as a longtime city official in Santa Rosa, where he is also a resident.
His first day with the county will be April 20.
“I’m going to take a little time off,” he told The Index-Tribune. “And then my first day (with the county) is the first of three days of budget workshops for the county.”
Sonoma leaders will also need to find an interim finance head before Guhin leaves in April. This is another task that could involve assistance from an outside consulting firm, officials said.
“We did that in the past when I first got here — brought in a consultant to help with finance — and he’s provided some really good support,” Guhin said.
Before Aryal was hired in 2024, the city went without a permanent finance director for more than a year, which resulted in Guhin managing the city’s budget.
Details of the city manager recruitment process — including whether the city will hire an outside search firm, how much will be budgeted for the process, what timeline will be set — are expected to be worked out in the coming weeks by the council.
Guhin said information about recruiting for the finance position will also be determined in the weeks ahead.