No Napa Valley Elections Tuesday -- But 4 Seats Up For Grabs in Hot Vallejo City Council Race

By BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

In Tuesday's election, eight candidates are running for three four-year seats and three candidates are seeking one two-year seat on the Vallejo City Council.

Three of the candidates vying for the four-year terms are part of the JumpStart Vallejo slate and include incumbent City Councilman Jesus "Jess" Malgapo, Pastor Anthony Summers and local real estate agent Pippin Dew.

Vallejo school board member Rozzana Verder-Aliga is running for the two-year term.

All four of these candidates have the support of JumpStart Vallejo, a business and labor coalition that is classified as a political action committee.

Officials with the JumpStart Vallejo coalition have said its candidates reflect Vallejo's diversity because they back candidates that are black, white and Filipino.

The JumpStart Vallejo candidates have been endorsed by the Napa-Solano Central Labor Council and Building Trades Council.

The Central Labor Council's executive director John Riley said JumpStart Vallejo candidates will work with business and labor to improve public safety, increase investment in Vallejo and provide local jobs.

The JumpStart candidates have received campaign contributions from the Vallejo Police Officers' Association, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 180, Los Angeles-based California Real Estate Political Action Committee, Chicago-based National Association of Realtors, and members of the Vallejo Fire Department.
          
Candidates not associated with JumpStart Vallejo that are running against Verder-Aliga for the remaining two years of former City Councilwoman Erin Hannigan's term are former three-term councilwoman Joanne Schivley and
Robert Johnson. Hannigan is now a Solano County Supervisor.
         
 The other candidates running for the three four-year seats are Liat Meitzenheimer, a former member of the Greater Vallejo Recreation District Board of Directors; finance manager Katy Miessner; Chris Platzer, a licensed U.S. Coast Guard 3rd Mate; Antonio Mapalo; and Herman Blackwell, a
retired employment consultant.

Schivley and current council members Stephanie Gomes, who is termed out, and Marti Brown, who is not running for re-election, say the JumpStart Vallejo candidates are beholden to the police, fire and public employee unions and real estate interests.

Schivley said she believes the JumpStart candidates want to put the issue of binding arbitration back on the ballot, even though voters approved removing it from the city's charter in 2010.

Binding arbitration leads to unsustainable public employee contracts, Schivley said.

"That's one of the factors that got us into bankruptcy in the first place," Schivley said.

Schivley believes the JumpStart candidates are inclined to increase salaries and benefits for public employees that the city can't afford because it faces an $8 million structural deficit in the budget over the next two years.

Schivley said she is running for the two-year seat because she brings a historical knowledge to the city council.

Economic development is the solution to Vallejo's "constant roller coaster of financial instability," she said.

"I favor economic development starting with the north-end of Mare Island, improving public safety, fixing our streets, and achieving financial stability. All of them depend on more revenue from economic development," she said.
          
JumpStart candidate Verder-Aliga, 58, a licensed marriage and family therapist and senior mental health services manager, said her priorities are funding public safety, bringing jobs to Vallejo and fixing and maintaining city streets.

She said putting binding arbitration before the voters "is not my answer at this time.

"Leave it as the voters voted on it. I want to see how collective bargaining works," she said.

Verder-Aliga said accusing the JumpStart candidates of being in favor of expensive public safety contracts the city can't afford is a "simplification" of the issue.

"It's an issue people are tired of, it polarizes the community," she said. "I believe there is common ground there. We are all reasonable and respectable people," Verder-Aliga said.

She is Vallejo's representative on the Solano County Board of Education and a former member of the Vallejo Board of Education.

Economic development, jobs, effective management of the city and safer communities are real estate agent and small business owner Dew's priorities. Her goals are to attract business and families to Vallejo.

Dew said she is open to discussing binding arbitration but is not openly advocating it. She wants to see better lighting in public places and more surveillance cameras downtown.

 Regarding privacy concerns, Dew said, "It's a closed system." "No one else sees the surveillance video but the police," she said.

Dew says Vallejo, which underwent bankruptcy proceedings, has turned a corner and now needs a council that will restore the city to fiscal strength. Compromise will be required to address the city's public safety shortage, she said.

Vallejo needs to retain its current businesses and attract new ones to increase the general fund budget to finance public safety and street repairs, according to Dew.

 Incumbent councilmember Jess Malgapo, 60, said he has focused on bringing new jobs and businesses to Vallejo and on public safety needs. Vallejo still faces high unemployment, crime and gang problems and inadequate levels of police officers, Malgapo said.

A retired Navy commander, Malgapo said the City Council needs to stop bickering and work together as a team. Pastor and employment recruiter Tony

Summers, 53, said he agrees that the city needs more jobs for youth to prevent gang involvement, and needs to attract new businesses and support existing businesses. Summers also called for increasing public safety.

Ronald Johnson Jr., 45, a businessman and security specialist, also emphasized jobs and economic development. He wants to bring back weekly City Council meetings and programs for youth.

Johnson wants to reform the city's budget and pension policies, reduce crime by strengthening public safety, develop Mare Island into a port and create a climate in Vallejo that appeals to developers, consultants, contractors and others in the business community.

Herman Blackwell, 63, a retired employment consultant and volunteer pastor, cites his experience as a senior analyst for county and city governments as qualifications for one of the four-year seats. He believes all local jobs, contracts and requests for proposals should go to Vallejo residents.

He said he would install a whistleblower ordinance to remove corruption in city departments. Blackwell said he has a comprehensive knowledge of federal, state and local regulations that include city charters and ordinances and is well-versed in the employment landscape and market demands.

He said his involvement in a homeless and convalescent ministry compels him to campaign for public office.

"Remove poverty in the city and crime will be reduced," he said.

Vallejo's unemployment is among the highest in the Bay Area, Blackwell said. "Hopeless people will try any means to make money," he said.

Bringing Fortune 500 manufacturing companies to Mare Island could provide 3,000 to 5,000 jobs, Blackwell said.

Community advocate Meitzenheimer, 58, said as a 12-year member of the Greater Vallejo Recreation District, she has worked to improve parks and recreational opportunities while maintaining a balanced budget.

Her goals include improving police and fire services and street maintenance, and neighborhood and business districts. She said City Hall needs to be more user-friendly to residents and businesses.

She added that honesty, transparency and balanced decision-making will move Vallejo forward. Meitzenheimer said the cost of doing business in Vallejo is low but there are a lot of open spaces in buildings and she would like to see more in-fill development.

"We need to keep funding the (city's) Economic Development Department. It has only one manager and has never been fully funded," Meitzenheimer said. She said she is not in favor of putting binding arbitration before voters.

"Our representatives should make those (contract) decisions, not someone outside the process," she said. "An arbitrator does not have to consider available funding and revenue and whether we can afford the contracts," Meitzenheimer said.

Miessner, 54, a finance manager, said her concerns are strengthening neighborhoods, public safety, sustainable city planning, economic development and supporting the arts.

She said her 20 years' experience in budgeting and financial analysis and planning will help the city plan for the future with its finite resources.

Platzer, 52, a U.S. Coast Guard licensed deck officer, says Vallejo is in trouble because it lost revenue when jobs on Mare Island were lost. Mare Island needs to be redeveloped as a regional port facility that will create 10,000 new jobs by 2020.

Mare Island has the infrastructure to be competitive because of its existing railroad, trucking and waterfront facilities, Platzer said. He said new revenues from the Port of Vallejo will eliminate the city's budget deficit, draw new business to Vallejo and fund schools, public safety and other community services.

Antonio Mapalo, a candidate for a four-year seat, did not respond to requests to be interviewed.