Category Archives: Solano County CA

California Forever Inc., Flannery Associates, Sen. Bill Dodd, Solano County CA, Solano County Orderly Growth Committee, Solano Together, Travis Air Force Base

Urging opposition to California Forever’s megacity, Sen. Dodd has heard enough: “It is now crystal clear to me that this project is bad for Solano County”

[Note from BenIndy: Local governance has issued another rebuke to California Forever’s billionaire city plans.]

Sen. Dodd Opposes Solano County Megacity Plan

California Senator Bill Dodd, District 3. | File photo.

OFFICE OF SEN. BILL DODD PRESS RELEASE, February 28, 2024

FAIRFIELD – Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, today voiced his strong opposition to a tech billionaire’s plans to erect a new megacity of up to 400,000 people on the outskirts of Fairfield in Solano County, calling the so-called California Forever proposal deeply flawed and irresponsible suburban sprawl with the potential to displace farmers, worsen traffic congestion and hamper national security operations at the adjacent Travis Air Force Base.

“I’ve been skeptical since day one, but reserved my judgment as I gathered more facts,” Sen. Dodd said. “It is now crystal clear to me that this project is bad for Solano County. This group of mega-rich developers from Silicon Valley are trying to steamroll the surrounding community, bypassing a proper, thorough vetting which they know they can’t pass. What they’re proposing will drastically and irreversibly alter the area. It’s not right, and it’s time for all those who value thoughtful policymaking and Solano County’s future to stand up against it.”

Sen. Dodd joins a chorus of community leaders including dozens of elected officials who are speaking out against California Forever. The list of opponents include Congressmen John Garamendi and Mike Thompson, Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy and Suisun City Mayor Pro Tem Princess Washington.

Opponents cite a number of problems with California Forever including:

  • No plan for traffic impacts on one of the most dangerous and congested roads in the county.
  • Conversion of much needed agricultural land.
  • Housing would interfere with Travis AFB, which plays key national security role.
  • Developers seek to bypass public planning processes and environmental reviews.
  • Need for housing in the region, but this is not the location or way to do it.
  • With three iterations in already, it’s clear there are substantial problems with no answers in sight.

Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Solano, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties. More information on Senator Bill Dodd can be found at www.senate.ca.gov/dodd.  

Read more about California Forever on BenIndy!

Monica Brown, Solano County Board of Supervisors, Solano County CA, Solano Supervisor Monica Brown

Benicia resident Larnie Fox: I’m voting for Monica Brown for County Supervisor, District 2

Solano County Supervisor, Monica Brown interviews Bernice Raemer, 100, of Vacaville during the 14th Annual Centenarian Commemoration at the Solano County Government Center in Fairfield, 2019. | Joel Rosenbaum / The Reporter.

 

Benicia resident and artist Larnie Fox.

By Larnie Fox, February 27, 2024

She was a classroom teacher for 39 years. To me, that speaks volumes as to her values.

The Solano County Democratic Central Committee endorses Monica.

Monica and her main opponent, Rochelle Sherlock are on record with their views on the County Sheriff’s office and the Vallejo Police Department. Monica has been advocating for community oversight for the Sheriff’s office in the wake of reports linking some of the staff to hate groups. She also supports a county partnership to help correct problems with the scandal-ridden Vallejo Police Department. At a recent County Democratic Committee meeting Rochelle Sherlock seemed not to know anything about the controversy in the County Sheriff’s office, and ignored problems with the Vallejo Police Department.

Monica has always opposed projects that would have harmed the county’s air quality and safety, especially Valero’s Crude by Rail proposal in Benicia and Vallejo’s Orcem Cement Plant proposal.

She makes herself available to the public in ways that few politicians do ~ by showing up. She routinely travels her district, talking with regular people, and attending community events. She knows her district like no one else. And she documents her work in a weekly newsletter ~ again, something that few politicians do.

I trust Monica, and will vote for her. I hope you do too.

Larnie Fox
Benicia resident

Solano County Board of Supervisors, Solano County CA

Benicia resident Ramón Castellblanch: Supervisor candidate Rochelle Sherlock will restore the public’s voice in County governance

District 2 Supervisor Candidate Dr. Rochelle Sherlock. | SherlockforSupervisor.com.

By Ramón Castellblanch, February 26, 2024

I’m voting for Rochelle Sherlock for District 2 Supervisor because she’ll help bring the effectiveness of public participation back to County government.  For years, a majority of the County Board of Supervisors has been shutting down the voices of concerned residents and ceding control to power-seeking bumbling bureaucrats.  The board cut off an organization where Montezuma Hills farmers could have stood up to California Forever’s land grab when the eliminated the Agricultural Advisory Board.  They shut out health care activists fighting Solano’s increasingly deadly opioid epidemic when then dissolved the Alcohol & Drug Advisory Board. They stopped the work of advocates for food security for Solano families when then terminated the Commission for Women and Girls.  They undermined history buffs’ protection of the County’s records of its history, including our long military history, when they disbanded the Historical Records Commission.  The board took all these actions peremptorily, holding public comment to a bare minimum.  In disbanding the Historical Records Commission, they dismissed a petition signed by hundreds with just a few days’ notice.

Solano needs these critical matters and more to be addressed by concerned residents in the open and not left to County bureaucrats operating behind closed doors.  Rochelle Sherlock is committed to building a board majority that opens up critical County decisions to local participation.  That’s why I’m voting for Sherlock for county supervisor.

Ramón Castellblanch
Benicia resident

Monica Brown, Solano County Board of Supervisors, Solano County CA, Solano Supervisor Monica Brown

Benicia resident Pat Toth-Smith: Why I think Monica Brown deserves another four years as Solano County supervisor

Solano County Supervisor for District 2 incumbent Monica Brown, center, shakes hands with Congressman John Garamendi in 2016. | Robinson Kunt z/ Daily Republic.

By Pat Toth-Smith, February 25, 2024

During the pandemic, Monica Brown served as supervisor for Solano County’s District 2, which includes Benicia, Glen Cove and parts of southern Vallejo.  District 2’s proximity to the SF Bay Area counties of Contra Costa, Napa, and Alameda for employment, recreation, etc., put us at a bigger risk in 2020, when Covid first started – before we had vaccines, Covid anti-viral medications and a full understanding of how it was spread.  For this reason, after mask mandates were initiated in these other Bay Area counties, Monica worked hard to try to get mandatory mask mandates for Solano County. Unfortunately, a lack of support on the board of supervisors meant Monica’s proposal was not taken up at their meetings.

Nevertheless, Monica helped the Solano County Democratic Central Committee’s Covid Subcommittee provide education and support to Solano residents and supported efforts to get mask mandates passed in Vallejo and Benicia. Both cities passed mandatory mask mandates before the statewide mandate went into effect. Lives were probably saved as a result.

Monica also provided valuable educational information about Covid-19, the new vaccines and where to find Covid testing and vaccine injection sites in her regular newsletter and emails that were posted and sent out to her constituents.  She made herself very accessible and was a voice of reason, providing the information people needed.

As a county supervisor for the past seven years, Monica has a track record and experience that benefits all members of Solano County.  She has helped get funding for seniors and families in need, and she supports measures for mental health and homelessness. She started the “Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation” in Solano County, so chefs can prepare and serve food cooked in their homes to consumers. She was there for us Benicians when we opposed the “Crude by Rail” Proposal that could have led to dangerous environmental and civilian hazards.

In Vallejo, Monica supported residents opposed to the toxic Orcem cement plant, and all Solano County residents who opposed the increase in expensive bridge tolls. Monica Brown will be there supporting us citizens when the next dangerous proposals come our way in the future. I urge you to support Monica Brown for the next four years.

Pat Toth-Smith
Benicia Resident