Council interviews commission candidates
The Vallejo City Council interviewed a diverse set of candidates on Tuesday evening to fill one vacant seat on the planning commission.
Former Commissioner Chris Platzer resigned his job in April after he appeared to drink a beer and throw his cat across the room during a Zoom meeting. Platzer is re-applying for his old position and was among the interviewees this week.
The council asked each candidate the same series of questions: What is your passion for the position and how will it be applied, what experience do you have that you can bring to the position, what do you see as the role of city staff in regards to the planning commission and its decisions, what are the most significant challenges facing the commission in the next four years, how do you balance the needs of the entire community with your own personal opinions, how will you address social injustices and
inequities here, and why do you want to serve on the planning commission?
First up was Matt Kennedy, who said he is “passionate” about Vallejo. Kennedy said he has experience working as Chair of the Heritage Commission and is on the design review board. He said one of his strengths is his long association working with city staff on various planning issues and he is familiar with what it is like to be the person coming before the planning commission. Kennedy also said that Mare Island and affordable housing are big topics for Vallejo in the coming years. He said that by “proactive” engagement in Vallejo, “we could really accomplish some great things.”
Next up was Donald Douglas, who said he has lived in Vallejo for over 30 years. An architect by trade, he said he has extensive experience with city planning both at the local and federal levels and he has worked all over the world and the county on various projects. He served on the St. Louis Planning Commission, as well.
Douglas said that he wants to “get things done.” He said that when he first moved here, he drove down Sonoma Boulevard and thought it had a lot of potential. Now, he says, he feels the same way about the same stretch and would welcome the chance to help.
“There are good bones here,” he said. “I saw something about Vallejo being a ‘pass-through’ on your way to Napa. I don’t want to be a pass-through to Napa. I want to be Vallejo,” he said.
Nathaniel “Nat” Bandel was up next. He and his wife moved to Vallejo fairly recently and are expecting a baby any day now, he said. He told the council that he’s very invested in Vallejo and would love to raise a family here. He admitted that he didn’t have very much experience with city planning, though he does have a degree in urban studies and planning. He went on to get a Master’s in Education and has been a teacher. He said that Vallejo faces many challenges but there is “also a lot of opportunity, too.”
Asked why he wanted to serve on the commission, he said it could use a voice like his.
“I am one of those hundreds if not thousands of young couples and families that moved in during that hot housing market. There’s a lot of new blood that has come in and are starting families,” he said.
Applicant Monica Tipton, a retired school administrator, told the council that she would bring experience in both leadership and working as a team to the commission. She said that she studied real estate law over the pandemic so as to better understand all the ins and outs of planning issues. Her strengths are “listening, asking questions, and then moving forward.”
“I’ve been a leader, I’ve been a follower, and I’ve been an organizer,” she said. “And now I have a basic understanding of what goes on in dealing with development, and of what goes on with a piece of property.”
As for challenges, Tipton said that the waterfront is an ongoing topic and that, living in south Vallejo, so is housing inequity. She gave a concrete example of the need for all planning commission project documents to be easily accessible to the public, to help with transparency but also as a “baseline” that everyone can work from.
Interviewee Juan Cisneros wants to bring his background in early education advocacy, equitable services for low-income families, and love of community to his work on the commission. He has experience writing federal grants and he has a Masters in Organizational Leadership. He said he is concerned with the “food desert” issues in town as well as the need for vibrant communities and safety for residents.
“I have no interest in being an elected official, period,” he said, seeing his passion in giving voice to the “important work needed around equity,” and “making sure that policies we have and projects that we approve are all done with a lens for equity.”
Cisneros said race crosses all social sectors, and policies created by cities, maybe not even intentionally, create this disproportionality.
When it was time for Platzer to speak to the council, he dove right into the reason he resigned. When asked what passion he would bring to the body, he replied, “I’d start off by certainly not throwing my cat across the room.” He acknowledged that his actions were a public and “international humiliation” and embarrassing.
Platzer pointed to his experience on the commission and said that the main focus of it begins and ends with interpreting the zoning laws. As for addressing inequities and social injustices, he said he believed that bringing broadband to all households would even the playing field for people from all backgrounds, and to the extent that he could, he would push for that as a member of the commission.
Two candidates, Linda Riley and Helen Marie “Cookie” Gordon did not show up for their interview, though the reasons why were not apparent.
The council will announce its decision on March 23.