Here are the same five questions asked to the candidates that are running for Rio Vista City Council.
From Debra King
Q.What causes you sleepless nights regarding the City of Rio Vista’s future?
A. Whoever takes these council seats in November will be inheriting a number of lawsuits. Several of them stem from problematic issues under the former police chief who was terminated last September. The City was forewarned last year that they were leaving us vulnerable to lawsuits if they did not take effective action in addressing these issues.
Earlier this year the City had yet another opportunity to right one wrong and prevent a lawsuit by accepting the recommendations of a highly experienced independent arbitrator. Those recommendations included clearing the former officer and expunging the record. Despite strong evidence presented in the arbitration report, they did not accept those recommendations.
Insurance companies do not pay out legal fees, settlements and court awards unceasingly and do nothing. They raise rates to cover those losses or they cancel the coverage entirely. If the City were to become uninsurable, which does happen, there are two possibilities: Rio Vista would have to self-insure or the County would take control and Rio Vista would become unincorporated.
Q. What is the one major issue you plan to address?
A. One issue is a tough choice. I’m going to say transparency because it has larger implications than one might think. Maximum disclosure of decisions made by the Council, the City Manager, the Director of Public Works and other City staff is one of the biggest obligations to citizens. For years we have had a very good example of what transparency looks like with our Fire Chief Jeff Armstrong. I have seen examples of where he has gone over and above to provide information on plans and processes.
If one follows the City Council Meeting Agendas, there are far too many items on the Consent Calendar. The justification given was that items can be pulled from the Consent Calendar, but I consider it bad practice. Issues regarding the potential movement of money between funds (i.e. Municipal or Enterprise) and the Business (Cannabis) Park, have been placed on the Consent Calendar rather than as an Action Item for discussion. A report from the City Manager which included the suggestion of using the land at Church and Airport for low/very low income housing was placed on the Consent Calendar. As was the possibility of rezoning that land from commercial to residential.
The verbiage placed on the agenda for Closed Session has decreased to a level making it indiscernible. For years, reporting out of closed session has been virtually non-existent; even after items fall off the agenda. I am not speaking of confidential matters because some information has been obtainable through PRA requests. But this should not be necessary.
Decisions have been made and approved by the City Manager which never appeared in front of the City Council for approval as they should have been. The purchase of new police vehicles and the creation and funding of a previously eliminated Commander position are just two examples.
Q. What work/career skills or experiences will you bring best suited for this position?
A.I have a BA in Education with a minor in Psychology from Norwich University in VT. I completed extensive graduate work in Special Education instruction and administration. I taught elementary education back east before moving to CA where I taught Special Education as a Resource Specialist in San Jose for almost a decade.
In 1997 I was employed by Stanford University in the Controller’s Office, retiring in 2016. During the last ten years my work was in Financial Training and Communications. We managed the University’s financial website and delivered all financial systems and applications training to University staff. I wrote website and course content, delivered workshops, and was the primary support person for thousands of employees utilizing our financial training. I was also assigned as the manager of the Emergency Action Committee for all of Financial Management Services; including ensuring written protocols were in place for all financial departments in the event of an emergency.
Upon retiring in Rio Vista in 2016 I have been a member of RioVision, where I worked on a project attempting to address some of the issues with downtown commercial blighted properties. I have been a member of the ATOD Alliance, the Youth Center, Summer Basketball and the Economic Development Committee. I have been an active participant in City Council meetings since 2016. I have missed one meeting during that time.
Q. If we were having a conversation after you have served on the City Council for a year, what top three things would you be pleased to have accomplished?
A.Transparency and the risk from the current lawsuits as I described above.
Effective communication with the public and further incorporating citizens in the City processes. I hear from far too many citizens that they don’t communicate with City Council because they do not feel heard. I have been told directly, on tape, by each of the Council majority that they do not respond to public comment. I know full well what the Brown Act states in that regard.
We have a wealth of knowledge and experience in this City. I know from my experience that effective ways to tap into that include creating focus groups and soliciting help with short-term projects where people can shine.
Blighted and vacant downtown properties can be helped with effective techniques. I attended a roundtable with representatives from nearby cities who have experienced these same issues. Many successful, and some unsuccessful, ideas were exchanged. I learned a lot from that and also from conversations with local business owners and property managers who deal with absentee landlords.
Q. Any final comments you wish to make?
A. It may seem like I am suggesting these plans and recommendations are all easy. Actually, a couple of them are. Improving communication with our citizens is not challenging. Improving transparency requires better training for City Council and staff on Rosenberg’s Rules, the Brown Act, the CA Public Records Act and primarily the motivation to do so.
Other issues such as the downtown, water/sewer, the old army base and the airport are more involved. But they start with a project plan with measurable goals.
This is a huge responsibility. Not one to be taken lightly. It requires a lot of reading, research, listening and critical thinking. I have been doing that for a while. But now it’s about doubling down.
From Don Roos
Q. What causes you sleepless nights regarding the City of Rio Vista’s future?
A.My biggest concerns for Rio Vista’s future are financial. Like the old saying goes, we live paycheck to
paycheck. I am concerned over the effects of Covid-19 and, although the City cannot defy the local
health officials’ orders, the City can be vigilant and do everything necessary to help minimize the
devastation to our businesses. I would like to get Rio Vista out of the paycheck to paycheck mode
and into solvency. The last few years have been good for the City’s recovery budget managementwise, but we are not out of the woods yet. A comprehensive Business Plan which addresses the City’s
curb appeal and lack of a brand followed by a professional marketing plan is in order and would help
the city’s revenue intake tremendously.
Q. What is the one major issue you plan to address?
A. The one major issue I plan to address, not that it is more important than others, is to create a
comprehensive marketing plan. The City is in desperate need of creating or completing a majorA.
overhaul of existing plans and processes with regard to bringing in more businesses and keeping the
businesses we already have thriving. This includes the General Plan which is 20 years old. Without
such a plan, zero branding and no marketing to speak of, it is no surprise that the City is stagnant and
underperforming. The City needs to determine who we are as a city, determine what we have or want
to offer. Overhaul the City’s curb appeal and appearance, create a brand and then market it. This is
not as easy as itsounds, but if the City uses a professional marketing plan, with regularly scheduled
Council agendized reviews, I know we can achieve it.
Q.What work/ career skills or experiences will you bring best suited for this position?
A. I have lived in Rio Vista for 20 years and am a single father raising my two boys here. I enjoy living in Rio
Vista and plan on living here for a long time.
My current occupation is Supervisor for the California Department of Transportation, where we recently
finished the 4th Tunnel Project through the Berkeley Hills. I have been with my current employer for 13
years. During this time, I have also served as Union Steward for 5 years where I have gained valuable
insight and experience negotiating appropriate results to complex union/personnel issues.
Prior to this career path, I spent over 20 years in community development including 5 years as Community
Development Manager for Trilogy in Rio Vista. In this position, I successfully managed a $228 milliondollar development budget. I managed the construction of the Vista Clubhouse and sales complex, a major
remodel of the Delta Clubhouse, along with all major infrastructure, roads, utilities, parks and gas well
issues. I also served as Secretary for the Trilogy Master Association.
Previously I was a land development manager for Pulte Homes Corporation and held construction
manager and construction supervisor positions for Shea Homes, KB Homes and other Fortune 500
Companies.
My best and most important job right now is raising my two boys Donny and Coby and taking care of our
rescue dog “Grimm.”
Q.If we were having a conversation after you have served on the council for a year, what TOP three things
would you be pleased to have accomplished?
A. A complete, comprehensive forward-looking business plan that addresses blight, curb appeal, and the
vision for downtown. A professional marketing plan to help attract new businesses and industry. An
examination of the airport, business park and army base.
A comprehensive study and subsequent forward-looking, written plan to address the water and sewer
issues to include the costs for closure of the Beach Sewage Plant and using the Northwest Plant as our
sole treatment facility and a plan for funding this.
The creation of a respectful relationship between the City and the School District.
Ensure going forward that any City activities which could potentially impact the schools is done in the
spirit of partnering for their benefit.
Q. Any final comments you wish to make?
A.It has been my honor to serve as your Councilmember and Vice-Mayor for the last four years.Q.
As your elected City Councilmember for the last 4 years, I have worked hard for positive change and
progress. However, there is still important work that remains to be done to get the City of Rio Vista more
in line with the public and moving in a positive direction.
During my years as your representative, I have listened to my constituents and together we have effected
major changes to the city in a positive way.
As a city, we still have some important things to bring to the forefront that have been ignored or avoided
to date. I will focus on ways to bring more businesses to Rio Vista and protect the businesses we already
have.
Today, after a lot of hard work, the City is in a great new place with Public Safety. Now, more than ever,
it is important to stay focused and improve on this every year as we go forward. It is also vital to continue
on this path of positive change and reject the Status Quo…
With your support, I will continue to challenge the process, introduce positive change, and work for ALL
neighborhoods that make up our City, with tenacity and with no neighborhood left behind….
Thank You,
Don Roos
Councilmember
From Hope Cohn
Q.What causes you sleepless nights regarding the City of Rio Vista’s future?
A. I want us to have a future! The city’s growth was stagnant for years. Trilogy came in and that started the growth. Liberty is now moving forward, and the 220 family homes sold fast—indicating we have a serious need for family housing here. We need more jobs and opportunities for people and families to live and work in Rio Vista. Over the past four years we have created over 150 jobs in the city—a huge number for Rio Vista but we need more. We need to continue to improve our infrastructure—over the last decade the city has made great strides in replacing water and wastewater pipes and infrastructure in town. These were badly needed to repair an aging neglected system. We need to sort out how and at what cost can we get downtown resident connected to the Northwest plant—and do so at a reasonable cost. We have also repaired or improved many of the roads in town too, and provide more opportunities for sports and recreation. I am proud of the city’s many accomplishments but we still have more work to do.
Q.What is the one major issue you plan to address?
A.There is no one major issue but multiple issues that come up through the council. As someone who represents approximately 10,000 people, I don’t think you can afford to focus on just one issue. Jobs, continued infrastructure improvements, increasing recreational opportunities for adults and kids. And supporting improvements to our schools.
Q.What work/ career skills or experiences will you bring best suited for this position?
A.While at the Bank of America I served as a vice president of server management. I excelled in an IT job that required intense focus and an analytical approach to manage the hardware, infrastructure and to problem solve. I believe my work experience and analytical approach to the city’s problems are an asset to the city and its citizens. I learned to listen to people and to put myself in their place to better understand their issues. I have also been involved with youth sports and recreation for over 12 years and have always believed our children are our future. I still volunteer with many Rio Vista organizations in order to keep up with what is going on in the city. I don’t quit or walk away when things don’t go my way, I continue to try to work things out and compromise whenever and where ever possible. I am approachable.
Q. If we were having a conversation after you have served on the council for a year, what TOP three things would you be pleased to have accomplished?
A. 1.To have an updated parks and recreation master plan. Including the hiring of a recreation coordinator who would schedule both adult and youth activities for our citizens and children.
2. Having created, with our City Planning and Building Department, incentives and easing the requirements for new businesses to open in Rio Vista.
3.. Increase the employment, within Rio Vista, by 10%.
Q. Any final comments you wish to make?
A. I have been honored to serve as a council member and as the vice-mayor on the council and believe our accomplishments have been exceptional. My time on Council has not been without controversy. But leadership is about working through the tough issues even more than the easy ones. Those who know me know I am open-minded, honest, and I believe in being transparent. I appreciate everyone’s support in continuing to move the city forward. I can be reached at hope.cohn@comcast.net or 925-550-0566 if you would like to talk or support my campaign by placing a sign in your yard or window.
From Rick Dolk
Q.. What causes you sleepless nights regarding the City of Rio Vista’s future?
A.To say it generally, the sleepless nights come from me asking if those of us in leadership positions in our city have the courage to make difficult decisions that don’t have immediate results. It’s politically easier to move quickly on short term goals while passing the buck to future leadership on the long-lasting issues. There are many issues I believe we need to move on now with the realization we will be out of office before the much-needed change we accomplished comes into fruition. Here are some examples of those issues:
1) Wastewater Treatment—A town our size should not have two wastewater plants, and the state will force our hand soon on closing the aging Beach Plant. The Northwest Plant was designed to service the entire city, but that hasn’t been done yet because of the cost and size of the project. We need to act now and adopt a comprehensive plan to connect to the NW plant before the state orders us to close the Beach Plant.
2) Army Base Project—The city took control of this 28-acre property almost twenty years ago, and plans for its build out have stalled. What would be the envy of most cities, a large parcel on the waterfront has remained any empty eyesore. Let’s move forward now with a mixed-use development concept of recreation, research, and retail.
3) The Airport—We have one of the most modern airports in the area, and despite demand for its services, it has struggled to operate with a profit for decades. Our city is growing, and our Public Works department is now stretched too thin to effectively continue to operate this valuable asset. We should lease the airport to a fixed base operator that will maximize its potential.
4) The Business Park—After taking control of this property in the last decade, we have sold ground out there almost exclusively to the cannabis industry. There has been high demand for property in our town from this industry because most cities have taken a much more cautious approach. It’s a new industry, and just like any new industry there are major growing pains. We do have some success stories out there, with businesses that have provided much needed jobs and revenue to the city. But there also has been several unfortunate failures that have left parcels undeveloped and out of city control. We need to open the park to all businesses, and now prioritize those from more proven industries in order to improve the long-term viability of the park.
5) Downtown Revitalization—While growing up here in the 1980s, our downtown was vibrant. Businesses have left, and many storefronts remain vacant. Many of the properties are owned by unmotivated out of town investors, and most of those properties need major upgrades before they could be leased. While serving on the Planning Commission a little of a year ago, we attempted to engage with downtown property owners, but only the local owners responded. We need to act now to incentivize property activity, and find ways to get the out of towners to the table.
Q. What is the one major issue you plan to address?
A. Our lack of a partnership with our schools. Many issues our city has regarding lack of retail and services can in part be solved by a stronger family demographic here. After recent housing developments that came with no upgrades or expansions to our schools, our school enrollment numbers are nearing full capacity. Developers that want to build family homes here are stalling in part because the market is so competitive that they don’t have to help build new schools, so they are waiting for our city and district to provide a solution. Also, retail and health care facilities are hesitant to come here until we have the larger numbers of families that meet their demographic requirements. The families won’t come here without the development of more family housing and the expansion of our schools. Expanding and strengthening our schools will have a domino effect that will help bring the retail and health care our town needs. Developers won’t outright pay for new schools, but we can leverage our influence with them so they provide suppliers, equipment, and manpower to aid with this. We as a city can directly provide resources as well, and helping our schools build out through our partnership needs to be a priority.
Q.What work/ career skills or experiences will you bring best suited for this position?
A. As the owner/general manager of a local business, I have gained the necessary financial and team building experience to help lead this city. I have a unique knowledge of the local business environment, and I believe I can help find ways to bring new business in. As a parent, and a son of seniors that live in town, I believe I understand the needs of local families and am looking to improve services for them.
Q. If we were having a conversation after you have served on the council for a year, what TOP three things would you be pleased to have accomplished?
A. Find ways to better communicate to our constituents through improved technology at city hall (website and council chambers improvements).
Implement ways to improve local civic involvement, such as reinvigorating committees.
Begin the process of crafting a new General Plan to insure a more proactive governing style.
Q.Any final comments you wish to make?
A. I appreciate you learning more about me before you place your votes for city council. With a family and business here, my goals tend to be more long term oriented. Most of these types of issues involve difficult decisions, and the fruits of these decisions might not be seen for a decade or more. As such, I will not promise quick results but know that my loyalty is to making this a better place long term for our families and businesses.
From Walt Stanish
Q. What causes you sleepless nights regarding the City of Rio Vista’s future?
A.There are plenty of things Rio Vista needs, and wants. We must make sure we first address our needs, so we get the best bang for our buck which is very important. Having enough funds to make our needs happen would keep me up at night. We would need to plan,budget appropriately and adjust our budget, when necessary to accomplish our needs.
Q.What is the one major issue you plan to address?
A.One of the major issues I’d like to see addressed is filling the position of the planning manager/director position. Most importantly I’d like Rio Vista to hire an economic development professional. If our city is to grow, and grow responsibly, these two positions are key. We need professionals to help attract new business for a stronger tax base. Expanding our tax base is very important to our future and benefits Rio Vista by adding more Police, Firefighters, and schools which are an extremely important part to our infrastructure needs.
Q. What work/career skills or experiences will you bring best suited for this position?
A.Volunteering in Rio Vista has really helped prepare me for running for city council. Multi-tasking is a real strength of mine. Also, in 1990, the company I was working for transferred me to California from Michigan. After a couple years of being a district manager, I was promoted to the director of their seasonal store program. Opening 200 temporary stores in three months then closing them after the holidays helped prepare me to do things I never thought I would or could do. Being a small business owner in Rio Vista has given me an important perspective of our city which I’ll bring to the council and help our community.
Q.If we were having a conversation after you have served on the council for a year, what TOP three things would you be pleased to have accomplished?
A. 1. I hope to have brought forward some of the long term projects Rio Vista has been working on into the fast track lane; the bridge to beach project and the army base project. We need to find some solutions, out of the box if necessary, so we can enjoy the finished products in our lifetime.
2. Bring our infrastructure needs to the forefront and have a budgeted, workable plan to move forward. And not for just our current needs, but plan the best we can for our future needs, so we can be fiscally responsible with our city’s growth.
3. Most importantly is to have an open mind, open door and listen to all the citizens of Rio Vista. What I’d like to see for Rio Vista maybe totally different than want most of our citizens need. Keeping my ear to the ground and making what they want happen is a win-win for our whole community.
Q. Any final comments you wish to make?
A. When I decided to pull the papers and run for a city council seat, I decided right then I would self fund my own campaign. I know first hand how unbelievably generous the people in Rio Vista are. Hopefully they will donate the money they would have donated to my campaign to their favorite charity. And with that being said, I pledge to donate the entire stipend I will receive while on city council to our local charities and non-profits in Rio Vista. Their fundraising ability has been drastically curtailed during this COVID-19 pandemic. My hope, by doing this, it will help them a bit with some of those lost donations.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly at: WaltStanish2020@aol.com Should you prefer, stop by Pets 4 All during business hours and in between customers to have your questions answered Thank you for your time and I hope you will vote for me as one of your city council representatives.
Walt Stanish