Santa Rosa City Council recently selected Maraskeshia Smith to take the reigns as Santa Rosa’s new city manager. Smith will be the first Black city manager for Santa Rosa. She was selected after an extensive search to replace current city manager of Escondido Sean McGlynn.

Smith, who’s currently serving as Stockton’s deputy city manager, has made quite the name for herself with her previous employment being Oakland’s assistant city manager,  ushering in many important programs to impact the city of Oakland. The programs included making housing more affordable, helping the homeless, and plans for economic development. 

Her arrival comes after Sonoma County was hit with a devastating loss within its government due to alleged racism, as Sheba Person-Whitley, the county’s economic development official, announced her resignation towards the end of October. Person-Whitley’s departure comes due to what she believes were racist remarks during her time working for Sonoma County’s government.

Santa Rosa City Mayor Chris Rodgers shared how “nervous” he was for Smith to be selected for the role when asked by a reporter from the Press Democrat.

Sonoma County has a controversial and racist history that is still evident today, whether it’s officials and people of color being pushed out of positions of power, or the extensive amount of hate crimes that plague the county.  

Hate crimes have been an ongoing issue for the County of Sonoma, and the problem isn’t looking to be slowing down anytime soon. The FBI released data that was provided in a report by the Press Democrat back late Sept. on the rise of hate crimes in Sonoma County, with it doubling in 2020 to 25 cases compared to 2019’s 11 cases. These cases can possibly be due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to an increase in hate crimes and attacks towards the Asian-American and Pacific-Islanders in Sonoma County and across the nation.

The hiring of Smith is one that not only gives the county of Sonoma a chance of redemption in showing progress towards equality, but it also gives the city and the citizens of Santa Rosa a variety of new opportunities in programs that would benefit the locals living in the city.

Smith has proven to be exceptionally qualified for the position, and her previous work in Stockton, Oakland, and Cincinnati have led to positive changes in the communities. When Smith was hired as city administrator of Oakland back in 2018, Oakland city administrator at the time, Sabrina Landreth, saw Smith’s background in government and former occupation as Cinicinnati’s director of public services as one that presented promising results.

Landreth said that Smith is “recognized as a leader in performance management and data-driven decision making for tracking efficiency and effectiveness of frontline operations, improving service-level performance, and enhancing customer service.” The impact Smith has had in her career is mentioned by Rodgers, City Mayor, as well. He said, “can implement policy and she can back it up with numbers.”

In light of the appointment, Mayor Rodgers expresses how eager he is for Smith to start.  “I am very excited for Ms. Smith to be Santa Rosa’s new city manager. Not only is she exceptionally qualified, but she also has a proven track record of lifting others up through mentorship and public service. Ms. Smith will be a tremendous addition to our city and to our community,” in a press statement by Rodgers.

Smith will become the first Black city manager in the history of Santa Rosa, once she starts her role on Jan. 3rd. Her arrival is historic for the city, and will hopefully be a positive change for the community.