My view on the Vallejo Election - unedited version

As a lifetime Vallejoan, having had the honor to serve the Citizens from 1978 to 2009, retiring as a Fire Captain, I have seen a lot of changes in my 60 years here. I also have been active in our community over that time trying to give back to the City I love for giving my wife Cathy and I the ability to give our two children a better life than we had.

 I was also taught the importance of political action from an early age by my Father who retired as an Assistant Fire Chief after 30 years of service and my Mother, who urged me to become involved to protect the wages, benefits and working conditions of workers. I have been involved in every election since 1984 trying to help candidates who will support working families get elected and have participated in all the important history we have shared as a community over that time. 

 My dad used to tell me that the nail that sticks out gets hammered! And while I signed up for a life of public service, my loved ones did not, and like Pippin Dew’s family they have been publicly accosted by people who only care about their one issue, not what’s best for all of Vallejo. And as a community leader and political activist I have been on the receiving end of the Lie, Bully Vilify and Repeat tactics used in this City by a small group of Nay-Sayers for decades. Hakeem Brown coined the term and it is perfect.

 Of all the things I have been involved with I think that JumpStart Vallejo is something I am most proud of. A group of Labor, Business and Community leaders who have been active since 2013. We were brought together because of the Nay-Sayers that had stood in the way of progress for decades, railing against most development projects they were cheerleaders for Bankruptcy, telling citizens it would take a year and cost a million dollars and nullify those pesky employee contracts. It divided a community, took several years, tens of millions of dollars and a black eye for our City before it was all done.

  But JumpStart Vallejo put aside the issues that divide to identify a common goal, to make Vallejo’s potential known to the outside world, to condemn the nay-say talk and focus on the positives we have in our community, Diversity, our Education Hub, the Arts and the Industrial foundation left by our forefathers that stand ready to be used by those willing to invest in our community. That simple. All parties realizing that Vallejo’s economic future was more important than the usual Business/Labor divides we see at a state and national level.

  A recent letter writer stated that JumpStart was formed solely to promote ORCEM, another in a long litany of untruths told by the Nay Say Nation. JumpStart Vallejo was formed in 2013, at a time when the entire City Council, our current Mayor included, were touting the Green Cement Grinding Mill and deep-water port, calling it a perfect fit.

 In 2013 JumpStart Vallejo pooled resources to educate voters about their choices and help elect a pro-Business- Labor Council.  But, like most people with busy lives, we then retreated to our own world and left the new Council to face the Nay-Sayer attacks alone. A mistake I and my members will always regret as good people on the Council were regularly attacked and had scurrilous unfounded allegations thrown at them by the Nay-Say Nation. These attacks continue today by Katy Miessner and her supporters to impact an election, with ORCEM being the rallying cry to mobilize a base that have no scruples and lie with impunity to turn public opinion. 

 In 2016 we vowed to work together for the election but also pledged to continue to meet every month, support our council and keep City Hall accountable. We have had City Council Members in to talk with our group including the Mayor, who we have worked with on issues. Business and Labor Leaders educate us about their issues and our new City Manager came to speak to JumpStart before starting his job and again after 6 months to give us his vision for the City. We have vowed to help him succeed. 

 The same letter writer continues the despicable allegations that members of our council met in secret to open our city to bringing coal from Utah through the Trojan Horse project of Orcem. Wow, it went from a committee on dredging to now coal? This committee was attended by Representatives of our Congressional, Senate and Assembly members and key businesses owners. The City Attorney stated in a 2015 cure meeting that the committee violated no Brown act provisions and we have asked to have her release the findings again ahead of the election.

 But here is what I know about coal:

 We met with members of the Blue Green Alliance, a State Labor and Environmental coalition, including the Sierra Club and they agreed that the land lease excludes hazardous materials from being imported or exported from the facility, coal being specifically mentioned. 

 They agree that the impacts from the project related to toxicity, dust and other concerns would not be allowed by the California Agencies in place to safeguard the public. 

 We then met with ORCEM/VMT and the Alliance to reconfirm their pledge against coal and to leave no doubt, the CLC, Blue Green Alliance and Building Trades have pledged to work together to pass a resolution in Vallejo banning coal, which all seven of our Council members have expressed support for! 

 The only stumbling block is the local leadership of the Sierra Club that continue to lie to the public about a product which reduces the carbon footprint by 90% over traditional Portland cement. All of this will come out when we have a final EIR but we will have to put up with lies and attacks until after the election.

 So, who is Jumpstart? Your Firefighters, Police Officers, Large and Small Business Owners, Tradespersons, Realtors, Elected Officials, Educators and Community Leaders. We will trust that the voters will look at the people behind JumpStart, the great work they have all done for years to make this City better and join us in voting for Pippen Dew, Jess Malgapo and Hakeem Brown for City Council and to help turn around our Schools, Tony Ubalde, John Fox and Tony Gross for School Board. We also support Measure S, the facilities maintenance bond to help provide our Children and Grandchildren a warm, dry and safe place to matriculate!