In three-and-a-half years on the Napa City Council, Mark van Gorder has established himself as the quickest council member to take up the cause of neighbors, express skeptical opinions and defend the environment.

While voting with the majority on most items, van Gorder has been on the losing end of many council votes to approve housing developments. He sometimes votes against residential projects that have no public opposition.

“The neighbors have certainly been happy with me,” said van Gorder, who is seeking a second term in November.

Van Gorder, 41, is a big booster of the new downtown, calling the council’s recent approval of the five-star Ritz-Carlton resort a “defining moment” that will mean good things for the city’s future.

“I really believe hospitality and tourism are the future for the city,” van Gorder said in an interview. Revenues from five-star hotels can be invested to create five-star neighborhoods with good streets and parks, he said.

Van Gorder said he wishes he could have achieved more civic improvements, including a community center, during his first term, but the city’s financial problems made this impossible, he said.

“I came in ... to a black hole that sucked up all our resources,” he said. “There’s our goals, our agenda as council persons, then there’s reality.”

Developers and

public good

Fixing the city’s streets remains a high priority, but this will take another attempt to pass a transportation tax, van Gorder said. Meanwhile, asphalt further deteriorates, raising the cost of future repair bills, he said.

“When people say they don’t want any more taxes ... those people are passing the buck,” van Gorder said.

Van Gorder was on the losing side when the council approved Hussey and Carmel Drive subdivisions in Browns Valley, allowed two apartment projects to be converted to condominiums and endorsed a Kimpton hotel on Solano Avenue.

He voted against the Browns Valley projects because the city’s fire response to that area was inadequate. He rejected the developers’ offers of money to begin planning for a west side fire station as insufficient.

Speaking of the council majority’s approval of the Browns Valley projects, he said, “That’s the kind of overly pro-development response of the council that I struggle with.”

The council approved the two condo conversions as a way to create less expensive home-owning opportunities in Napa, but van Gorder objected, saying this would hurt low-income renters.

Van Gorder balks when developers propose high-end housing. “If we’re going to be a hospitality- and tourism-based city ... and I support that, then we have to make sure there is housing that (these workers) can afford,” he said.

What price point is acceptable? About $350,000, he said.

When developers say the cost of land and construction make this impossible without government subsidies? “I don’t buy it,” he said.

Van Gorder voted this year against a townhouse project on Redwood Road because he thought the proposed density and selling prices were too high. No neighbors spoke in opposition.

“Why should the City Council support a developer’s super-dense housing, whether there’s neighborhood opposition or not, that doesn’t serve the people who work here?” he said.

“It’s not the job of the city to help the developers make money. Our job is to help them make good developments that are community serving,” he said.

Green thinking

“I think most of us appreciate Mark van Gorder very much,” said Laura Levin, a Browns Valley resident who opposed the Hussey Ranch project.

Linda Cavalli, a leader of the Foster Road neighborhood that opposes annexation of the Ghisletta property, said van Gorder stood out on the council for his questioning of growth.

“Mark said at some point, ‘We may have to consider Napa built out.’ I really appreciate that,” she said.

Jim Asbury, who rallied business leaders in 2005 to elect van Gorder instead of Sentinel publisher Harry Martin, said van Gorder hasn’t proven to be especially business-friendly. “I think he’s more idealistic,” he said.

Asbury said van Gorder had performed decently. “We can’t expect them to think alike. We need diversity,” he said.

Councilwoman Juliana Inman, who is not up for re-election, described van Gorder as “very analytical. He does a lot of background study. He talks to a lot of people to see what their thoughts are.

“He tends to be very careful about land use decisions and their impact on neighborhoods and residents,” Inman said.

Councilman Peter Mott described van Gorder as “very focused on green issues,” yet more “centrist” and less liberal than he might at first seem.

Van Gorder is a financial conservative, Mott said. “I respect him for that.”

Jeri Gill of Sustainable Napa Valley said van Gorder was a leader in protecting the environment. “He takes a big-picture approach,” she said.

Van Gorder takes credit for nudging the council to adopt green building standards. Napa was behind many Bay Area cities in imposing energy conservation. Soon it will be in the vanguard, he said.

“That’s leaving the world in a better place, or at least less damaged,” he said.

While he is sometimes on the losing side in council votes, van Gorder said he likes the diversity of today’s council. “Everybody has an independent view. It is not partisan,” he said. “For the most part I’ve tried to get along with the council and vote with them.”

Van Gorder had a new-born daughter when he ran last time. Now he has two daughters. “I did then and I am now running as the family guy,” he said.

Van Gorder talks more than his fellow council members, raising concerns, asking staff for clarifications.

“I’m a debate type of person,” he said. “I’d like to say argumentative, but I don’t mean it in a negative sense.”

“I think it’s important to have more discussion than we do,” van Gorder said. “My goal is to eliminate that backroom deal perception that people sometimes get from lack of discussion.”

“I bring up issues and repeat things, hopefully for the benefit of the public,” he said.

His appetite for public discourse manifests itself on the Napa Valley Register’s Web site, where he vigorously debates community issues with bloggers.

Using the name “Straight Talk,” van Gorder defends council actions, clarifies issues and sometimes takes other bloggers to task.

He has suggested “zero tolerance” on gang violence, paid tribute to Robert Mondavi upon his death, explained why he flies the American flag 24/7 and defended himself from the charge that he is elitist.

As a guy raising two kids, working in direct wine sales and heavily involved in his community, “I’m about as un-elitist — is that a word? — as I could imagine,” he said.

“I see myself as Joe Citizen who is participating in a community forum,” van Gorder said in an interview. “I don’t do the ivory tower thing.”

Van Gorder concedes he crossed the line when he criticized Planning Commissioner Tom Trzesniewski for dressing down a labor union representative at the Kimpton hotel hearing.

“Disappointing to see a publicly appointed representative of the council treat people who speak at the podium with such disrespect. Time for a change,” he wrote.

He should not have written this. He was as guilty of over-reacting as Trzesniewski, van Gorder said. At the same time, he believes the Planning Commission needs new blood, he said.

(Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series on Napa City Council candidates. Saturday is an article on Jim Krider, with Sunday's article on Amber Martin. On Monday, unchallenged mayor Jill Techel is profiled)