McDonnell joins Petaluma City Council race

The parks commissioner is the sixth candidate in the November election.|

Petaluma civil engineer Kevin McDonnell on Tuesday announcing his candidacy for the Petaluma City Council, joining an increasingly crowded field in the November election.

McDonnell co-founded and leads Know Before You Grow, a citizen’s educational forum which promotes citizen engagement in pending Petaluma developments. He served as the co-chair for Measure X, a failed 2012 bond initiative for park funding. A coach, referee and president of the Petaluma Youth Soccer League, he serves as the chair of the Recreation, Music, and Park Commission.

Retired after a long career at the Marin Municipal Water District, McDonnell, 61, continues to work as a project management consultant for North Bay cities.

“In recent years, public input on matters from local city halls to the bodies of Congress has too often taken on a tone of rancor rather than productive discussion,” he said in a statement. “That isn’t a path to a well-functioning democracy. I want to work with the public to help them formulate ideas they can support and to give them the enthusiasm to speak up in favor of those ideas.”

McDonnell is an active walker and cyclist and has served on the Golden Gate Transit Bus Passenger Advisory Committee. With his wife, Melissa Hatheway, McDonnell has lived in Petaluma for 34 years, and the couple has raised four children in the town.

McDonnell is the sixth candidate to announce a bid for one of three available seats on the city council in November. He joins Robert Conklin, D’Lynda Fischer, Denis Pocekay, Michael Regan and incumbent Councilman Dave King. Councilman Chris Albertson is not seeking reelection.

Councilwoman Teresa Barrett is also not seeking reelection to run for the mayor’s seat being vacated by David Glass. Barrett will face former Councilman Mike Harris in the separate mayor’s race.

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