Sebastopol City Council · District 3 · Sonoma County

Phill Carter

Council Member, City of Sebastopol

Government works best when the people it serves can actually follow what it's doing. I'm here to make that happen.

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About Phill

Neighbor. Energy policy nerd. Coach.

Sebastopol City Council, District 3

I've lived and worked in Sebastopol for years. Before the council, I spent most of my career in energy and sustainability policy — working to make sure utilities and local governments were actually accountable to the communities they serve, not just technically compliant.

I'm an entrepreneur, a Sonoma County Zero Waste board member, and I coach youth soccer. That last one matters because it keeps me anchored. You hear a lot more about what's actually broken in a city when you're standing on the sideline with other parents than when you're at a council meeting.

I ran for council because I was tired of government that's technically transparent but practically illegible. Agendas that require a law degree to parse. Budgets that don't explain what they mean. Decisions that feel inevitable when they weren't. I think the people being governed deserve better than that — and I mean to provide it.

CPUC · Sonoma Clean Power Board
Sonoma County Zero Waste Board
Sebastopol Climate Action Committee
Budget & Enterprise Committee, City of Sebastopol
Youth Soccer Coach · Sebastopol

Three things on the agenda right now

Reimagining Downtown Transportation

Sebastopol's one-way couplet was built in a different era for a different purpose. I've been deep in the research on converting to two-way — what it does to traffic, to property values, to downtown vitality. Twenty-plus cities have done this. Here's what happened.

Read the case →

Sebastopol's Financial Health

I'm on the Budget & Enterprise Committee. I want city finances to be readable by actual residents — not just the people who already live inside the budget process. Water rates, the general fund, why Measure U matters. Explained in plain language.

See the finances →

How Government Actually Works

State bills. City budgets. Public comment. Who actually decides what. Ask the AI assistant a question about California legislation, or read the plain-English explainers on how decisions get made before they land on your street.

Ask a question →