BUSD Trustees Sheri Zada and Mark Maselli retain confidence of Benicia residents
Facebook post, by Alan Zada, August 23, 2021
[Mr. Zada’s source for this was a phone conversation with Laura King of the Solano County Registrar of Voters office at 5pm today.]
The Benicia School Board recall against Sheri Schulman Zada and Mark Maselli is dead. The deadline to submit the signatures was today. The proponents of this uncalled for recall effort were only able to get 177 signatures out of the required 4,000 (only 4%).
Thank you everyone that stood up against bullying of two outstanding school board members.
Nearly a month after declaring his sophomore run for Solano County sheriff, Fairfield police Lt. Dan Marshall has announced he’s pulling his candidacy.
To put it simply, it’s all about family.
“I just started rethinking things,” he said by phone Wednesday. “My daughters are going to be home for another year and then they’re off to college, and I got to spend time with my son… You can’t get time back.”
When he announced his candidacy, Marshall was more than ready to hit the campaign trail. Both sons, who serve in the military, were away at different bases at the time. But recently, one son was home on leave and they spent ample time together before the young man left for Hawaii, where he will be stationed for the next three years
Their time together gave him pause.
With his adult sons on their own and his daughters about to embark on their own journeys, the timing for political aspirations no longer seemed appropriate, he advised. And so, after lengthy conversations with his family, he pulled the plug on his run.
Politics, he said, are not in his near future.
“I would never say no,” he emphasized, “(But) Right now I’m going to focus on my family and my career with the Fairfield Police Department and on community service.”
He offered thanks to all of his supporters and promised to continue to serve the community in other ways.
Marshall has been with the Fairfield Police Department for 22 years.
His stated goals for his sheriff’s bid included “solving serious crimes, finding solutions to intractable problems like homelessness and recidivism, and implementing reforms to promote transparency and ethics within the office.”
The lieutenant had aimed to be a “new sheriff for a new era, someone with the energy and passion to steer the office into a 21st century law enforcement model, focusing on public trust and transparency, employee wellness, and a strong Solano community focus.”
JohnGlidden.com, by Scott Morris, May 28, 2021
Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara. (Courtesy Elect Thomas A. Ferrara Sheriff-Coroner 2022).
VALLEJO – Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara announced on Friday that he would run for reelection in 2022, seeking another four-year term after 10 years in the position.
Ferrara has faced recent controversy after it was revealed that several deputies posted symbols of the Three Percenter anti-government militia on social media. Ferrara declined to investigate the extent of extremism in his department, falsely said the FBI cleared the deputies of association with extremist groups, and has faced calls for new oversight of his office.
In a video message posted on Facebook Friday morning, Ferrara touted the support of the deputies’ union and the correctional officers’ union. “Now more than ever Solano County needs proven leadership,” Ferrara said. “I have shown this type of leadership through multiple disasters, civil unrest and the pandemic, which we’ve all experienced in the last few years.”
Ferrara was appointed sheriff in 2012 after his predecessor retired. He won his first election unopposed in 2014 and fended off challenges from sheriff’s Deputy Daryl Snedeker and Fairfield police Lt. Dan Marshall in 2018.
But Ferrara has faced political controversy and protest in recent months after an investigative report revealed that three high-profile members of his staff had openly displayed Three Percenter emblems on social media pages.
They included Sgt. Roy Stockton, a Vacaville councilmember who was endorsed by Ferrara, Sgt. Cully Pratt, the department’s former public information officer, SWAT team member Sgt. Ty Pierce, and Deputy Dale Matsuoka, the department’s homeless outreach coordinator.
In response to the revelations, Ferrara said in a statement that the employees named “all serve this agency and this community with passion and dedication.”
Ferrara argued that the deputies had intended to show support for the 2nd Amendment, but Three Percenter groups often call for violent resistance to the federal government if they interpret restrictions on gun possession as against their interpretation of the Constitution. Three Percenter groups have been implicated in bombing and kidnapping plots and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The sheriff later defended the deputies by writing in letters to Benicia Black Lives Matter and the Solano County Democratic Central Committee that he “consulted with the FBI, who confirmed none of my employees are members of any extremist organizations.”
But the FBI disputed Ferrara’s statement, saying that it did not track participation in extremist groups nor is it “sufficient basis for an FBI investigation.”
Unsatisfied by the sheriff’s response, members of Benicia Black Lives Matter have called for the Solano County Board of Supervisors to create an oversight board of the sheriff’s office.
But only Supervisor Monica Brown supported even discussing the suggestion. Meanwhile, the Solano County Republicans have organized in opposition to any new oversight.
Benicia Black Lives Matter has continued to protest the sheriff’s office, including staging a rally outside the sheriff’s office on the anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Scott Morris is an independent journalist in Oakland covering policing, protest and civil rights. If you appreciate his work please consider making a contribution.
Solano County has completed it’s count and certified election results. The Registrar of Voters office posted the final count at 4pm on Tuesday, November 24.
The County provides excellent reports on its website. Most interesting in my opinion is the report titled Certified Election Results Site (Downloadable format). This is actually an html web page, but if you click on Reports at top right, you will be able to download Excel or PDF files for:
The Benicia School Board recall against Sheri Schulman Zada and Mark Maselli is dead. The deadline to submit the signatures was today. The proponents of this uncalled for recall effort were only able to get 177 signatures out of the required 4,000 (only 4%).
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