New Year, New Leadership

By Kiera O'Hara-Heinz
​News Reporter


The new year has just begun, and so has the yearly reorganization of the Moraga town council. Renata Sos has become the new mayor of Moraga and Sona Makker the Vice Mayor. 

Sos started her work with the town council in 2018, after the resignation of Jeanette Fritsky. She ran for office in 2020 and was elected to a four-year term. Before her career in local politics, Sos worked as a private practice litigator for twelve years. 

She told the lamorindaweekly that the new year brings both challenges and opportunities. 

“We have been elected by the voters to set aside our differences and make decisions that are in the best interests of the town as a whole,” Sos said. “I believe that we are up to the task and that we will address the issues before us in a collegial and respectful manner."

New Vice Mayor, Sona Makker, joined the town council in October after the resignation of council member David Stromberg. Originally from Tracy, California, she began her career in local government as Chair of the Youth Advisory Commission in Tracy’s Parks and Recreation Department. She later went on to earn a BA in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, and her Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Makker told the lamorindaweekly that in 2022 she is looking forward “to continuing to build bridges and ties in the community, especially amongst individuals and groups of diverse backgrounds that the council has not always heard from.”

The appointment of Sos to the position of mayor was not without controversy, with some outlets, like thesmartmoraga.com, calling the appointment a “town council coup.” Some members of the public were upset that Vice Mayor Whoeleke was passed over for appointment as mayor, the first time in Moraga’s 47 year history the vice mayor did not become the mayor.