Create Jobs

1.      Evaluate and implement appropriate recommendations from the Ag Sustainability Studies

2.      Work with Dixon to develop a technology incubator collocated with the Milk Farm project or in other developable areas in Dixon.

3.      Work with Travis AFB and UC Davis to locate a biohazard 3-4 lab on the base.

4.      Renegotiate the Solano County Water Agency HCP mitigation ratios with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to preserve economic development opportunities and enhance species-based recovery plans

5.      County develops a regional economic development plan

6.      Seek partnership opportunities and fund a study that characterizes the County’s out-commuters so employers – existing and potential – understand our labor pool

7.      Encourage appropriate development of the deep water port near Collinsville and the adjacent water front industrial area.

8.      Develop a Joint Powers Authority among Dixon, Rio Vista, Benicia, Suisun City and the County to be a by right Community Development Block Grant recipient

9.      Partner with Rio Vista to develop part of the old Army base to enhance Sandy Beach Park with a hotel/marina resort capability

10.  Attract private developers to expand Lake Solano with cabin/RV area on land from SID trade

11.  Lobby the State to amend the California Building Code to allow exemptions for temporary structures for the growing of agriculture or nursery crops.

12.  Lobby the State to define as compatible agriculture under the Williamson Act as the commercial raising, breeding and training of horses.

13.  Further develop the Montezuma Hills/Collinsville area into an energy creation complex: add solar, more windmills, biomass generators, R&D, light industrial.

14.  Expand the wind resource areas, where appropriate, in the Potrero Hills, east of Hwy 12 in Rio Vista area, Cordelia Hills and Blue Ridge

15.  Create solar farms, possibly at the old Voice of America/Naval radio area near Dixon or in partnership with other ag property, and near the wind resource areas to create a carbon-neutral generation capability equal to what all government agencies in the county consume

16.  Develop an energy aggregation plan that pools the County’s needs with participating cities to create low-cost energy to attract industry

17.  Ensure General Plan and zoning policies allow land intensive industrial uses, energy production and distribution, and ag infrastructure in the unincorporated areas of the county

18.  Expand CSU to a campus near Collinsville, focus on engineering, to capitalize on the energy creation complex

19.  Explore a tidal action water turbine on the Sacramento River to generate electricity

Improve Public Safety

1.      Immigration screening at the jail that identifies illegal alien felons who are being booked for a crime and turn them over to Immigration Control and Enforcement to save us the cost trying, housing and feeding.

2.      Investigate partnering with NorthCom and Department of Homeland Security to expand the capabilities of the County Emergency Operations Center to handle multi-agency response to major scenarios

3.      Increase the capacity of the County Jail to prevent the early release of criminals who haven’t served their time and to provide the additional space that allow the Sheriff and other partners to create programs that reduce recidivism

4.      Improve the communication infrastructure, collaboration and joint training between law enforcement agencies (Travis AFB, FBI, CHP, cities and the County)

5.      Rethink the rural fire districts, including the consolidation of districts and consolidated dispatch

6.      Create the capability to consolidate dispatch for law enforcement, which will serve as a backup capability in case the CHP system goes down, and provide the capability for major multi-disciplinary response (major chemical spill, large aircraft crash, etc.)

7.      Orient all County employees to what their duties are as mandated emergency workers in a disaster.  This should include an exercise that employees physically go through the motions of their new responsibilities.

8.      OES conduct three major exercises a year of various capabilities with an assessment and training element

9.      Acquire and preposition emergency supplies to handle pandemic diseases, extended sheltering of 100,000-plus people and their pets, kits for Public Health to test water quality, hazardous material responses.  Should include having the appropriate cash reserves on hand.

10.  Fortify levees, raise them 3 or more feet, add storm water detention and create flood management  governmental infrastructure

11.  Analyze our vulnerabilities to earthquakes and develop strategies to minimize the risks

12.  Develop communication interoperability that allows all emergency responders in Solano County to communicate with neighboring COGs (Bay Area, Sacramento and San Joaquin).  Ensure it is resilient, including backup emergency power capability.

13.  Learn where all our vulnerable populations are and develop a plan to evacuate or shelter in place, depending on the crisis situation

14.  Develop our capability to handle mass shelters in case of major disaster in other counties, such as a Bay Area earthquake or a Sacramento major levee break. Need negotiate agreements, train volunteers, CERT teams led by County employees, etc.

15.  Expanding the anti-gang and counter drug efforts of the Sheriff’s office working with state, federal and local agencies

16.  Enhance the Sheriff and Probation departments capability to use GPS to monitor probation/parolees and non-violent bailed awaiting trial

17.  Have a UASI for the Delta and have the Army Corp of Engineers and the DWR preposition equipment and supplies at the new port of Collinsville

Refine County Processes

1.      Modernize our procurement process to ensure we are getting products and services in a timely manner and at a value responsible to the taxpayers

2.      Develop  a reserve-contingency strategy, meeting current GASB (Government Accounting Standard Board) standards plus enhancements the GASB hasn’t gotten around to

3.      Release a five-year financial projection for the General Fund that will provide a look at the County’s financial future

4.      Apply lean six-sigma process improvements for Resource Management and Health & Social Services divisions

5.      Upgrade General Services real property management capabilities to come up with long-term extended maintenance plan to maximize the life of the buildings and their major systems

6.      Develop the capability for Information Management to provide entrepreneurial services for reimbursement to other government entities

7.      Improve the federal and state legislative advocacy and grant acquisition for the CAO

8.      Contract out the patrol responsibilities of animal control to Humane Animal Services.

9.      Upgrade the project management capability of the County architect’s office to handle the number of projects now in the pipeline.  Perhaps, looking at moving transportation projects into the same shop under construction management.

10.  Move forward on compensation reforms that determine market comparisons based on where we are recruiting skills from.

11.  Increase training by Human Resources of County staff in management and customer service skills.

12.  Improve the risk management capabilities to provide more effective input on County decision making.

13.  Shift the County to an outcome basis budget system that is acceptable to the State Controller.

14.  Get Federal legislation to get the VA to contract with local veteran services officers to prescreen eligibility cases to minimize the backlog in the eligibility determination process

15.  Corporation yard consolidation for Dixon and Vacaville

16.  Implement recommendations to fix all our veteran buildings: Dixon, Suisun City, Benicia, Rio Vista, Vacaville, Vallejo

17.  Decommission and dispose of obsolete real property

Plan for the Future

1.      Fouts Springs creates a program that takes state CYA probation violators into their program rather than recommit to the state.

2.      Lobby State to allow Veteran Memorial Buildings to access funding from statewide bonding measures for parks and recreational facilities.

3.      Explore the idea of contracting with the cities to do our building permits and code enforcement on a regional basis

4.      Establish a comprehensive leadership succession planning for County departments and provide internship opportunities to recruit new talent.

5.      General Plan will be finished and the appropriate parts adopted by the voters by November 2008.  The General Plan process should ensure that:
-- STA highway and arterial plans are integrated
-- SCWA water supply and distribution infrastructure is integrated
-- Solano EDC and city economic development plans are    
   coordinated
-- Solano County Office of Education and Solano Community
   College short- and long-term plans are coordinated

6.      Direct Resource Management and County Counsel to update the zoning codes concurrent with the General Plan process

7.      Ensure Solano Land Trust’s envisioned Tri-City area park will only come into the County park system with the ability to pay its own way without taxpayer subsidies

8.      Develop a long-term management structure for dredging and disposal of spoils in the Delta

9.      Develop a long-term water supply export and levee island viability plan for the Delta

10.  Expand transportation routes through the Collinsville area by connecting Hwy 113 to Hwy 4

11.  Add light and heavy rail connections along Hwy 113 and Hwy 12/I-680 to the inner Bay Area

12.  Add light rail connection from the Fairfield-Vacaville train station through Dixon to Sacramento Light Rail

13.  Push for public-private partnership (toll road) proposals on I-505 and Hwy 113

14.  Determine whether to pursue Liberty-Prospect Island to store water or the Tehama-Colusa Drain Canal and the Shasta-Oroville-Sykes storage.

15.  Develop a long-range plan for consolidating the Rio Vista-Collinsville and the Fairfield-South County corporation yards

16.  Lobby for the funding to make Peabody Road a four-lane arterial connecting Vacaville to Fairfield

17.  Construct a 700-foot extension to the Nut Tree Airport runway

18.  Expand the Nut Tree Airport to park jet aircraft on the opposite side of the runway from general aviation

19.  Pursue getting a parallel runway constructed at Travis AFB for a joint use cargo hub as an alternative San Francisco /Oakland planned airfields on landfills in the Bay

20.  Increase the viability and visibility of the Guard and Reserve units in the Travis AFB area and on Mare Island.

21.  Add a joint training, pre-positioning/deployment center between the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security at Travis AFB

22.  Develop a medical school and shared use of bed space at David Grant Medical Center by partnering with area educational institutions, hospitals, and state and federal agencies.

23.  Improve Hwy 12 to be an efficient and safe connection between the depot at Tracy and Travis AFB that is resilient to seismic events.

24.  Develop a Super Base-Travis by including Concord Naval Weapons Station, Camp Parks and the San Joaquin depot

25.  Encourage other federal agencies to locate on/near Travis AFB to create a federal campus and diversify the missions at the base

26.  Get an Office of Economic Adjustment in the Office of Secretary of Defense grant to conduct studies to protect and enhance the protections around Travis AFB

27.  Develop a way to redevelop the 1,500 vacant housing sites on Travis AFB