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Good progress news, more work ahead: I’ll take it on
Despite the distractions of the campaign trail, there’s been movement on many of the important issues we’ve been working on. Campbell’s made official its plans to expand its plant in Dixon. The General Plan is before the Solano County Planning Commission. More folks are grasping the enormity of the issues facing the Delta. To round out the big news, the report on the status of seniors in Solano County is coming to the Board later this month. All of these news items speak to the many long-term projects we’ve got going in Solano County. They are going to take four years or more of hard work to see them through. I thank you for the opportunity to make that happen.
County working harder to get out of the way of farm profits
At the May 13th Board meeting, something powerful happened. The Board approved several changes to the existing zoning ordinances that will put into action some of the recommendations coming out the Ag Futures Study. The rules are smarter on wineries, farm home stays, roadside stands, and commercial kitchens. That’s only the beginning of what needs to happen to make this mostly rural agricultural county friendly again to farming. The rest of the changes will come after the voters adopt the General Plan that the hardworking Citizens Advisory Committee crafted. They understood that we need to rethink some of our zoning processes, and we need to attract local processing plants. More viable farmers will be able to maintain the “open spaces” we all cherish.
Need for jail space isn’t taking a wait-and-see approach
Although I understand and appreciate my colleagues’ decision to wait on the financing of the expansion of the Claybank jail, it wasn’t the right choice. I certainly hope they are right and I am wrong to believe that we will now spend more in financing the higher construction costs than we saved in hopes of a lower interest rate. In the interim, we still have about 400 jail inmates a month who will probably be released early due to overcrowding. We need to end this “catch-and-release” practice. However, adding jail beds is only the means to a real solution. The Sheriff needs more space to house inmates – some 90 percent of which are felons, and even more space to safely house the felons while he puts them through the programs that will eventually break the recidivism cycle. The proposed jail expansion would have given the Sheriff what he needed to get the job done. The delay did not do our county justice.
Undoing decades of neglect; Vet Halls get needed repairs
The Dixon veterans and the County are now on the same page when it comes to securing a new location to replace the worn out building I inherited when I took office. It is a shame that the existing building was allowed to fall into such an unrepairable condition. If the veterans had had the ear of the Board then like they do now with the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, we would not be in the predicament we are in today. In the notoriety of the Dixon issue, little has been said about the new roof that’s going the Suisun City hall in the next couple of weeks, or the kitchen hood replacement work and associated fire alarm modifications are underway at the Vacaville Veterans Memorial Building. Also, the NEPA process is underway as a precursor for the roof replacement work planned for the existing Dixon Veterans Memorial Building.
Volunteering could turn senior explosion into a solution
We all agree that children are our future, but so our seniors. They may also be the solution to some of the problems facing our kids today. The Senior Status Report presents the startling statistic that the number of seniors in this county will grow 600 percent over the next 40 years. That translates into critical transportation, housing, health care, and poverty issues we need to address. This report by the Senior Coalition, a group whose existence I’m proud to say I championed, also gives us clues on how we can avert some of calamities of old age. Something as simple as volunteering will help seniors live happier, healthier lives. This doesn’t mean we don’t have some serious issues to tackle, but let’s start making a difference now. Find a place to volunteer. Our children need your time, your wisdom, your heart. Go to volunteermatch.org for some volunteering ideas.
State budget: you couldn’t have designed a better failure
State budget news is bleak, and the Governor’s designed-to-fail proposal is not helping. To get out of the deficit quagmire, he wants the voters to decide between securitizing the lottery and raising our sales taxes by 1 percent. That’s like asking which bullet do you want to be shot with. The budget ax has lopped off sizable chunks of funding to cities and counties. Solano County coffers will be impacted, but our build up of reserves when times were good will lessen the blow. Cuts to programs and services may be in store, but they will be cuts to State-funded programs that the County administers on behalf of the State. To keep our non-profits afloat during this budget crisis, I’m proposing the County use its resources to leverage grants.
The only true fix to all our budget woes is economic growth
Bringing more quality jobs to Solano County will raise our overall quality of life and reduce the need for the health and social programs the County administers. But which jobs are growth jobs? We will know later this year when Collaborative Economics finishes the first Solano County Index of Economic and Community Progress. Over the next three years, we will also get in-depth profiles of five key industry clusters. This baseline data will help the cities attract and retain quality local jobs that will help us shrink the pool of 42% of our neighbors who commute to jobs outside of the county. These studies will help us build a more diverse and resilient local economy.
Survey: Residents say Solano County is great place to live
A recent survey of county residents revealed 80% of our residents like the quality of life in Solano County. Customer service got favorable marks too, but I think we need to push those numbers higher. The really interest news is in the residents support for the County’s strategic priorities. They want us to focus our energies on reducing crime, reducing repeat drug offenders and increasing job availability. That shows County government is now on track with the residents. Check out the complete survey at solanocounty.com and click on Special Reports.
Working to ensure State held accountable for Delta actions
The State of California’s emergent vision of a sustainable Delta will impact Solano County—there is no getting around it. With declining fish populations, reduced water quality, and Court rulings impairing water exports, statewide outcry is at an all time high for changes to how the Delta is treated and operated. What remains to be seen is how much of an impact the State’s final plan will have on us and how prepared we will be for those impacts. We must be diligent to minimize its economic impact on our area. Our communities should not have to foot the bill for inadequate State oversight, operation, or maintenance of property brought under State control. Some of the other local concerns that the State must deal with include: upgrading our levies and water intake facilities to accommodate State actions, monitoring and mitigating project effects on our water quality, and ensuring compatibility with current laws such as the Suisun Marsh Preservation Act and the Delta Protection Act. We must hang together to ensure that the State is held accountable for any unintended (or intended) consequences of their plan. We’ve also began to build coalitions with governments within the county and neighboring counties that share similar concerns about the Delta.
Representing the Fifth District -- Dixon, Rio Vista, Elmira, Collinsville, Birds Landing, Binghamption, Batavia, Yolano and portions of Suisun City and Vacaville -- the eastern half of Solano County. |
