• A property tax to fund the library, which will contribute $1.1 million a year.

• 0.25% increases for the city’s sales and business license taxes, which he said would raise about $1.9 million annually.

• A 1% local increase in the transient occupancy tax on hotel rooms, which he said would raise $450,000 each year.

• Increase the number of short-term rental licenses the city allows from 25 to 50, which Barak estimates would raise about $350,000 in city TOT revenue.

With those adjustments, Barak is also proposing a reduction in the real estate transfer tax that the Santa Elena City Council sent to the Nov. 5 vote for approval, which is expected to raise about $4.8 million a year . The reductions, he wrote on his campaign website, would reduce the impact on St. Helena’s middle-class families. The proposed adjustments, which he estimated would reduce revenue by approximately half, would include:

• Reduce the proposed 1.5% tax on real estate sales between $1 million and $5 million to a 0.5% tax on sales between $2 million and $5 million.

• Reduce the proposed 3% tax on sales over $5 million to a 1% tax.

• Sales under $2 million would be exempt from the tax, rather than sales under $1 million.

As for the city’s water issues, Barak said he would like to see the city join a countywide water agency, an idea being explored by the Napa County Local Agency Formation Commission to help reduce costs. Currently, he said, the high cost of water is driving middle-class people out of St. Helena, which is having an impact on the community and school district.

mayoral race

The St. Helena mayoral race is between the city’s current mayor, who is seeking re-election at the end of his first two-year term, and a current council member still in his first four-year term.

Mayor Paul Dohring, 63, served eight years on the City Council before being elected mayor in 2022, when he won with 54.16% of the vote against his colleague Eric Hall, a margin of 132 votes.

His rival this year, Billy Summers, won his first term on the City Council in that 2022 race. He received the second-most votes of three candidates at 25.55%, well below the 1,269 votes (about 55% of the vote) won by then-incumbent Anna Chouteau, but 130 votes ahead of candidate Amy Beaudine.

Dohring, a real estate and land use attorney for 36 years and a Napa Valley resident for about 34 years, describes himself as an “old school” politician, with public service as one of his core values. .

“It’s much broader than St. Helens,” Dorhing said. “The feeling of giving back to the community, helping people live their lives, improving people’s lives, especially people who come from more humble circumstances.”

Dohring added that he believes the city has a “fairly cohesive” City Council that is committed to working toward eight stated goals, including strengthening the city’s fiscal resilience, improving infrastructure, pursuing water security and further. Two years, he said, is not enough time to see the work put in to achieve those goals bear fruit.

He said that Santa Elena is a unique city, given the magnitude of the services it offers to its population of approximately 5,000 people. That includes an independent library, a police department and a fire department, Dohring said.

But maintaining economic sustainability while continuing to provide the service demanded by the community is difficult, he said, and has led to the budget problems the city currently faces.

“I don’t think people want to part with what they have,” Dohring said. “And then the burden falls on government leaders to try to find a way to do it.”

Under that pressure, Dohring said he believes the City Council likely failed to serve the community in the past by underinvesting in areas like water infrastructure that have emerged as major issues in recent years.

Infrastructure problems tend to be hidden in plain sight, Dohring said, and St. Helens is certainly not alone in discovering such problems and then needing funds to make repairs or improvements.

But it is necessary to rebuild trust in the community, he said, and not make excessive promises.

“I think I can help close that gap in our community,” Dohring said. “I’m sure there are people who look at me and say ‘hey, he’s not my cup of tea.’ Okay, but they know what they’re going to get with me. “I am not an empty suit and I do not make empty promises.”

Summers, 50, is a music producer, cinematographer and former professional snowboarder who has resided in St. Helena for about 15 years. He said his campaign focuses heavily on the need for greater transparency, an issue he said connects to other issues in the city.

“We have financial and budgetary problems that go beyond what has been sustained, understood and observed,” Summers said.

Summers, who also previously served on the city’s parks and recreation commission, said he is still new to politics, but he is a quick learner and public service has become his passion.

To help improve transparency (and counter what he sees as the council’s overreliance on city staff), he has advocated for the creation of a citizen-led financial oversight committee and a water and wastewater committee.

“We have to be transparent and honest about what’s happening so we can fix the problem as a community,” Summers said. “We cannot hide behind the old closed doors of governance.”

You can contact staff writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or [email protected].