By Stephen Hallett, November 13, 2023

The Solano County Supervisors voted to eliminate our Historical Records Commission (HRC) . The lone dissenting vote was Supervisor Wanda Williams. Benicia’s Supervisor (Monica Brown) and Vallejo’s two Supervisors (Monica Brown and Erin Hannigan) decided the voice of the community should be silenced. This was a devastating blow to community involvement and a particularly spiteful one after community groups requested the county not eliminate this commission.

Without the HRC, there will be no community involvement in protecting our history. The county has already mismanaged our historical records and lost so many important records.

In addition to the elimination of the HRC, the Alcohol & Drug Advisory Board (ADAB) was effectively eliminated as the county refuses to process appointments to the Board. The county is suffering a serious opioid crisis that our government leaders are ignoring. Monica Brown and John Vasquez are the Supervisors behind eliminating ADAB. Without ADAB, the county staff will continue to do their best to ignore the problem.

The supervisors told the community that our voices are not important. Please contact your supervisors and tell them they made a mistake.

If you live in District 1 (the north side of Georgia St. In Vallejo and everything north of that), your supervisor is Erin Hannigan and her email is ehannigan@solanocounty.com.  If you live in Benicia, Mare Island, the south side of Georgia St., or anywhere south of that in Vallejo, Monica Brown is your supervisor. She can be reached at mebrown@solanocounty.com or at 707-784-3031.

Please call and email them and let them know you want community involvement restored. Our voice matters and we must make sure it is heard.

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There is a petition to reinstate the Historical Records Commission on change.org. You can sign the petition here.

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SEE ALSO:

• Solano Supervisors dissolve Historical Records Commission | Vallejo Sun, November 8, 2023
• Open Letter – Public voice in Solano under threat | May 8, 2023
• Solano County board dissolves agriculture and anti-violence advisory committees | Vallejo Sun, May 5, 2023
• Solano County Supervisors Vote to Preserve Records Commission | Open Vallejo, May 5, 2023
• Save the Solano County Historical Records Commission | Open Vallejo, May 1, 2023
• Save Solano’s Drug Advisory Board — An Open Letter to the Board of Supervisors, by Ramón Castellblanch, April 30, 2023