Nevada City Council candidates answers and some context

NEVADA CITY, Calif., May 13, 2026 – In late April Adam Kline, Jim Khatami and Micayla Sortland, the three candidates for the two seats on the Nevada City City Council sat for brief video interviews with YubaNet.

Water & sewer rates. Do you have a solution to lessen the impact/rate increase?

Kline acknowledged that there will be water increases, adding “for the last nine years we haven’t been charging what the water is worth or costing the city.” He pointed to previous city councils kicking the can down the road, and said “we need to step up and do the responsible thing.”

Khatami said he would look at the proposed five-year increase closely and see if it could be spread out over more than five years. Prop. 218 states rates may be set for a maximum of five years. He added, “we need to do something to mitigate the cost for those in the community who are the most vulnerable to these to these increases.” This is also excluded from the Prop. 218 process.

Sortland proposed “a streamlined system where people can apply for relief at the same time that they’re um paying their bill online.” This is outside of the Prop. 218 process.

Campaign finance

Next, we asked about campaign finances and what the candidate’s largest expenses was at that time.

Kline said his largest expense were postcards mailed to every voter within city limits.

Khatami said he is paying a social media consultant, however he does not list the name of his consultant on his campaign finance form.

Sortland listed her yard signs as the biggest expense.

Anything else?

Finally, all three candidates appeared at two candidate forums. The first one was organized by the League of Women Voters of Nevada County and the second one by the local dems. The question was re the two candidate forums: Do you wish you hadn’t made a statement or did you forget to make an important point?

Kline wanted to add how proud he was of the work done by the council and the public arts commission. As Mayor, he declared 2026 to be the year of advanced music appreciation.

Khatami wanted to emphasize the issue of his experience, “I’ve been involved in local politics for quite some time.” For context, Khatami registered to vote in Nevada County on March 21, 2022, his registration was transferred to San Francisco on September 21, 2023. The registration was transferred back to Nevada County on April 7, 2025 – the day he was appointed as Planning Commissioner.

Sortland was happy with the answers she gave during the two forums, “I stand by what I said.”