Vallejo City Council says goodbye to three members

VALLEJO – Three members of the Vallejo City Council gave emotional goodbyes on Tuesday as they stepped aside to make way for three new members.

Hakeem Brown, Katy Miessner and Pippin Dew were each presented with a resolution honoring their service to the council during Tuesday’s meeting. Dew and Miessner were both termed out of office after being first elected to the council in 2013. Brown, who was elected in 2018, decided against a second term after losing his bid for mayor amid revelations of his criminal history of domestic violence.

Three new councilmembers – Peter Bregenzer, Diosdado “J.R.” Matulac, and Charles Palmares – were elected in November and took their oaths of office at Tuesday’s meeting.

Mayor Robert McConnell thanked the outgoing members for their service to the city.

“It takes courage to run for public office because you know that you’re not going to hear things that are always flattering as well as some things that are,” said McConnell.

Dew’s three daughters read the resolution honoring their mother. Dew responded, “You are my why, you are the reason that I was compelled to step up and do everything I could to provide the quality of life that you deserved.”

Dew thanked her supporters and took time to thank people who didn’t agree with her decisions.

“I want to thank those of you that didn’t agree with me, that opposed some of my votes, and opposed the things that I had to say because you forced me to look deeper in myself and really understand why I was voting the way I was voting, or why I felt the way I felt,” Dew said.

During her tenure, Dew represented Vallejo on the League of California Cities, an association of city officials working together to combine resources. She advised the new councilmembers to lean on the resources available from the League of California Cities.

Meanwhile, Miessner called on the council, regardless of allegiances, to work together for the common good of the city.

“I’ve worked with political foes and I think people were really kind of upset with me,” she said. “We’re all trying to work together to make our city better.”

Some of Miessner’s supporters have criticized her after she stopped aligning herself with Mayor Robert McConnell over the last two years.

“I see sometimes council members come with spite, and that’s really destructive,” she said. “I’m sure this council and new members will bring a spirit of generosity for the city and for our future.”

Miessner, choking back tears, dedicated her time, in part, to local activist Karen Sims, who died in December 2020. Sims was serving as a member of the Greater Vallejo Recreation District Board of Directors at the time of her death.

Miessner said that Sims “wanted to create living room conversations to get us all together and talk.”

Brown thanked his family, campaign team, and city staff, including City Manager Mike Malone, former interim City Manager Anne Cardwell, and former City Manager Greg Nyhoff.

“Seeing the work that you all have done in addressing systemic racism, economic development, improving our police department, making sure our employees were retained and attracting good employees, you did your jobs,” he said about the three city managers.

Brown further went on to thank Malone’s senior leadership team.

“One thing I know is that our city is in good hands with this leadership team, they are very progressive, they understand the issues, they understand housing, they understand economic development, they understand inequality in our community,” said Brown. “They are ready and willing to serve and it has been a real honor.”

Brown’s departure means that there will be no Black members of the city council for at least two years.

Councilmember Mina Loera-Diaz addressed that lack of representation.

“I really hope that in the near future, we (will) have an African American councilmember once again,” she said. “As a Mexican woman of color, representation matters, and it’s very important and this dais, I think, this is as close as it has ever been to looking like the Vallejo city we all live in.”

Council clears way for golf course development

In its final action involving Dew, Brown, and Miessner, the council voted to remove the Blue Rock Golf Course from a list of collateral obligations as the city plans to sell one of two city-owned golf courses to a developer to build a new course and housing development.

The collateral obligations list dates back to the city’s 2008 bankruptcy, when the city entered a loan agreement with Union Bank. The council substituted the golf course property with the city-owned office building at 400 Mare Island Way. Councilmember Cristina Arriola voted against the item.

Vallejo purchased the 400 Mare Island Way property for $13.5 million in early 2019 with the intent of transforming it into a new police headquarters. But the city council has backed away from that plan, instead looking to move the library into the building and placing the police department in the John F. Kennedy library building.

Last month, the council unanimously approved the sale of 74 acres of the city-owned golf course to Blue Rock Springs, LLC – owned by the Lewis Management Corporation – which was tapped to redevelop the area. Blue Rock proposed to redevelop the course with a new 18-hole course, a new clubhouse, and the construction of a residential subdivision consisting of 615 homes over 92 acres on two sides of Columbus Parkway.

Assistant City Manager Gillian Hayes said during the Dec. 20 city council meeting that the fair market value for the city’s total 225 acres was $6.99 million with the 74 acres to be transferred to the developer appraised at $285,000. Hayes said that Blue Rock is willing to offer $400,000 for the 74 acres, with the council expected to consider a profit sharing agreement between the city and Blue Rock at a future meeting.

Syar Industries filed a legal claim against the city in 2020 over the proposed density and location of homes near the quarry to block development of the area. Syar, which was recently acquired by Vulcan Materials Co., operated out of the nearby Lake Herman Quarry. The property includes an asphalt plant, active quarry pit, a rock processing plant, a concrete batch plant, and other related operations.

The city council unanimously approved a settlement between the city, Syar and developer Blue Rock to proceed with the development last July.

New council members sworn in

As the last three councilmembers departed, the three new councilmembers took their oaths to join the council on Tuesday.

“I am honored to be here in this seat,” said Bregenzer, who represents District 5 - Central Vallejo. Bregenzer thanked district 5 residents “who placed their confidence in me to represent our district, our neighborhoods, and our families.”

Matulac, who represents District 2 - North Vallejo, thanked his family and the community.

“We up here are just a reflection of you, Vallejo,” Matulac said. “We can’t make an educated vote, we can’t make an educated decision without your input.”

The first-term councilmember said it was time to “change the Vallejo narrative,” as there is a lot of good stuff happening in Vallejo.

Finally, Palmares, who represents District 4 - Downtown and Mare Island, also spoke about his plans during his tenure.

“I ran on the promise that I would govern with fairness and without bias, that I would make decisions based on the principles of equity and justice, and that I would lead by, through and with the community in building a city that is livable, vibrant and prosperous,” Palmares said.

The new city council tapped Councilmember Rozzana Verder-Aliga to serve as vice mayor for a third year in a row. Verder-Aliga, who was first elected to the city council in 2013, served as vice mayor in 2016. The vice mayor runs the council meeting during the mayor’s absence.

The new council will be tasked with solving multiple issues, including developing a spending plan for the city’s new sales tax, getting a navigation center up and running to serve the city’s homeless, poor roads, and repairing the mistrust from the community toward its city government.