THE VALLEJO WEEKLY VOLUME 8, ISSUE 24 | SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
MAYOR’S MESSAGE Hello Vallejo, I’ve been receiving a lot of calls and emails regarding “First Responder Fees.” I’d like to address our community’s concerns about these fees.
On May 9, 2017, the First Responder Fees were brought to Council by former Vallejo Fire Chief, Jack MacArthur, as a way of recovering expenses of our paramedic services. The Council unanimously voted to approve the fee. There are a lot of medical supplies that are used on paramedic calls, and most of the cost was borne by the City. Under Section 13916 of the California Health and Safety Code, First Responder fees can be recovered. The fees go towards the replacement of supplies and enhance the services the fire department provides. The use of property taxes is designed to fund fire suppression and basic medical care only. However, communities have come to expect and receive advanced levels of paramedic care, and it is an essential public service. Vallejo was the only city in Solano County that did not impose a first responders fee. During the 2017 Council meeting, I also learned that we were one of the few municipalities in the state that did not charge. That said, the letter our residents who received care, was poorly crafted. I want to express that the letter IS NOT a bill. It is merely a courtesy notice of charges, intended to be billed to and paid for by your
MAYOR’S MESSAGE
health insurance provider. Several council members and I have asked that the letter be re-written to clearly indicate that it is only a courtesy notice and that the actual bill was sent to their insurance carrier. The current Fire Chief, Chief Arbuthnott, has made it clear that the City IS NOT sending non-payment of these First Responder Fees to collections. Therefore, those that do not have health insurance are not expected to pay the fee unless they are able to.
Cost recovery is vital to providing quality service to our community. It allows us to provide rapid access to advanced life support services that are only attainable in an EMS system that staffs paramedics on both ambulances and fire engines. I hope this clears up the misunderstanding. Stay well and healthy! Your Mayor, Bob Sampayan
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The City of Vallejo is pleased to offer the following employment opportunities: - Engineering Technician I/II (Water) - Information Systems Technician II - Police Cadet - Police Lieutenant (Internal Promotional Only) - Police Officer (Entry - Academy Graduate) - Police Officer (Lateral) - Police Officer (Recruit)
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Visit governmentjobs.com/careers/vallejo for more information and to apply.
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The City of Vallejo is seeking a candidate to fill the (CIP), consisting of the replacement and renewal of Engineering Technician position, as a collaborative water assets in the City of Vallejo's water system, member of the City’s Water Department. including tanks, reservoirs, pump stations, pipelines, dams, valves, and water treatment plant facilities. In THE DEPARTMENT addition, the Engineering Division provides engineering reviews for new development projects, The Water Department provides administrative, and reviews projects from outside agencies that may engineering, water treatment, and maintenance affect the Water Department. The Engineering support for the City's potable water treatment and Division aids the Distribution, Facilities, and distribution. Our stringent criteria and regulations Operations divisions with their goals to safely and ensure we meet or exceed all regulations set forth by efficiently operate the water system; to help the City the State Water Resources Control Board and the meet all Federal and State requirements; to protect U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Water public health, and to ensure the system meets the fire Department works with the community and local -flow needs of the City. The Division also aids in the schools to provide education related to conservation management of the City's long-term water supply and and current rebate programs. in protecting the City's water rights for future generations. THE ENGINEERING DIVISION The Engineering Division of the Vallejo Water To apply for this amazing opportunity, or for more Department works to manage and implement the information about the recruitment process, please Water Department's capital improvement program click here.
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VALLEJO POLICE DEPARTMENT CELEBRATES NATIONAL POLICE WOMEN’S DAY In honor of National Police Women’s Day, observed on September 12th, the Vallejo Police Department would like to sincerely thank all of its past and present female officers for their outstanding service, commitment, and dedication!
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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
VALLEJO HOUSING STRATEGY In fiscal year 2019-2020, the City Council of Vallejo prioritized the development of a Housing Strategy and an accompanying Action Plan to guide the City’s housing efforts. The objective was to identify goals for market rate housing, workforce housing, and low-income housing and create a policy within twelve months. During the development of the Strategy, four meetings were held with community stakeholders representing a variety of groups and interests within the community, including youth, the faith community, non-profit, education, businesses, developers, realtors, etc., and members of the City Council, Planning Commission, Housing and Community Development Commission, Vallejo Housing Authority Resident Advisory Board, and City staff to discuss Vallejo’s housing needs, opportunities and challenges and to gather input and recommendations regarding how best to address them in the future.
PROGRAM & PROJECT UPDATES
Three key questions were posed to stakeholders to provide a framework for developing the Strategy recommendations:
1. How do we create more housing opportunities for our diverse array of residents and workers? 2. How do we best leverage the City’s publicly owned sites for housing? 3. What is most important for the City to do to overcome Vallejo’s challenges? Based on the responses to these questions, six major areas of Strategy focus emerged that formed the basis for its recommended goals and actions: 1. Promote sustained City leadership in housing 2. Preserve existing housing and expand affordability 3. Prevent homelessness and support renters facing housing instability 4. Catalyze new housing of different types and affordability 5. Leverage public lands for housing 6. Provide training and expand local workforce to build housing The Strategy recommends a set of programs, actions, and action steps to be undertaken by the City to help realize its long-term vision and goals for housing and includes specific outcomes to be achieved during 2020 through 2021 and beyond. It also serves as a road map to ensure that the City makes steady progress on accomplishing its recommendations. You can read the Vallejo Housing Strategy Framework and Action Plan here.
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On Thursday, September 10th, Vallejo PD hosted its Operation PEACE. Press Conference to stand in solidarity against the violence victimizing our city. The department would like to thank all of its state, local and federal partners who have committed to supporting this ongoing effort. Operation PEACE, which stands for Predictive Enforcement and Community Engagement, is a proactive community engagement initiative that promotes positive interactions between officers and the community. The outreach effort increases visibility to deter crime and encouraged direct communication and relationship building with community members. For more information about how to get involved, please contact the department's Public Information Officer, Brittany K. Jackson by email at VallejoPolicePIO@cityofvallejo.net or by phone at (707) 651-7147.
VPD COMMEMORATES SEPTEMBER 11 Vallejo Police Department remembers the lives lost and the families impacted by the tragedy of September 11, 2001. We honor the courage and sacrifice of our first responders, military and brave citizens who stood in the gap that fateful day. May we never forget & always be unified. Click here for a video message from Vallejo Chief of Police, Shawny Williams.
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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
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VALLEJO POLICE DEPARTMENT HOSTS OPERATION PEACE PRESS CONFERENCE
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PSPS PREPARATION Are you prepared for a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS)?
Visit pge.com/pspsupdates, and learn what you can do today, to prepare for a future PSPS outage. Subscribe to alerts, lookup your address, view an outage map, apply for the PG&E Medical Baseline Program if you depend on power for a medical necessity, and more.
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WILDLAND SAFETY Throughout California, wildfires will continue to be fueled by a build-up of seasonal dry vegetation driven by extreme dry conditions and local strong winds, making brush fuels extremely dangerous and challenging for firefighters. The Vallejo Fire Department stands ready to quickly respond and contain wildfires, but we can't do this without your cooperation. The "Ready! Set! Go!" brochure is intended to provide valuable information on being prepared in the event of an immediate evacuation order due to an emergency like a brush fire. The "Defensible Space" brochure provides critical information on proper protecting your family and property associated with the threat of wildland fires.
Please take the time to learn how to create and maintain a defensible space around your property and how to harden your home against flying embers. You play the most important role in protecting your family and home in the event of wildland fires evacuations and other significant emergencies. Prepare yourself by taking the necessary steps to give you, your family, and property the best chance of surviving a devastating wildfire. For additional information, please visit the Fire Department's website.
SUBSCRIBE TO ALERT SOLANO EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS In order to receive important messages during emergencies, the City of Vallejo urges local residents who live, work, play, or travel through Solano County to sign up for its emergency alert system. Alert Solano efficiently delivers messages and information during incidents and emergencies as they occur via email, cell phone, and/or text messaging. To register, click here.
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Both brochures can be downloaded and referred to for pre-planning and preparation.
SOLANO COUNTY VOTING OPTIONS The Solano County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is pleased to announce several voting options are available for voters for the upcoming General Election, including nocontact voting, limited-contact voting, and traditional polling locations; designed to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 transmission in the community, all while protecting the integrity of the voting process. No-Contact Voting: All voters will receive a vote by mail ballot and can vote safely and securely from home, mailing back the completed ballot at their convenience. Limited-Contact Voting: Using your vote by mail ballot, voters can return their completed ballot in one of 15 drop-off locations throughout the County, or at any polling place on Election Day.
Traditional Election Day Voting: All voters can vote at a traditionally assigned election day poll place. Over 100 locations are available, all of which will have social distancing and safety precautions in place to limit COVID-19 transmission.
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“Voting by mail is safe, secure, and easy.” said Tim Flanagan, Solano County Chief Information Officer and Registrar of Voters. “We have a five-step ballot validation process for every ballot, ensuring only the voter who intended to vote cast the ballot.” Ballots will be mailed to all voters on the last week of September and ballots can be dropped off starting October 5. Early Voting starts October 5, from the Registrar of Voter’s Office at: 675 Texas Street, Suite 2600, Fairfield. Details on voting options and key election dates are available on the Registrar of Voter’s website.
VIRTUAL PODIUM NOW AVAILABLE Members of the public can now "step-up" to the virtual podium and speak during public comment. Here's how: On a computer: Connect to Zoom at zoom.us/j/91400750676. Enter your name (or a unique identification so you know when it's your turn to speak). Enter an email. When you wish to speak on an agenda item, click the "raise hand" button. On a smartphone: Download the Zoom app at zoom.us/download. Enter the meeting ID: 914 0075 0676. Enter your name (or a unique identification so you know when it's your turn to speak). Enter an emailWhen you wish to speak on an agenda item, tap the "raise hand" button. On a phone: Dial (669) 900-6833. When you wish to speak on an agenda item, press *9 on your keypad. Via email: Send your written comments to the City Clerk at city.clerk@cityofvallejo.net. Written comments will be forwarded to Council for review, but will not be read aloud during the meeting. *The Open Town Hall written commenting feature will no longer be available. Photo tutorials and additional information is available at cityofvallejo.net/publiccomment.
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PROPER DISPOSAL OF PROPANE, AIR,
AND/OR GAS CANISTERS Need to dispose of propane, air, and/or gas tanks/ canisters? All propane, air, and gas tanks or canisters are considered hazardous waste, and should NEVER be put in the trash, recycling, or yard waste carts. To ensure the safety of Recology VallejoAmerican Canyon employees, please properly dispose of all types of tanks and canisters, for FREE, at: Household Hazardous Waste Facility 889 Devlin Road American Canyon You may dispose of these items on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Help us keep our local Recology employees safe by sharing this information with your friends, family, and neighbors.
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For more information, follow Recology Vallejo-American Canyon on Facebook, and visit recology.com.
ADAPTING TO COVID-19:
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MARE ISLAND BREWING COMPANY
The Mare Island Brewing Company has opened up their patio space in front of their Coal Shed Brewery on the Mare Island Promenade. This COVID-19 friendly beer garden is open to the public Thursday to Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. “The historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard, which we now call home, was victorious through a Civil, a Cold, and two World Wars, and in that spirit, we certainly aren’t going to allow a surrender to COVID on our watch,” said owner Kent Fortner. “There are few spaces in Vallejo, or even the Bay Area in general, with such an expanse of outdoor space where folks can come enjoy a beer during these nutty times. We think we’ve risen to the COVID-19 Challenge.” Located on the Mare Island promenade at 850 Nimitz Avenue, customers can enjoy more than eight beers on tap in their open-air beer garden with picnic tables socially distanced to greater than six feet. Appetizers, burgers and more are also being provided by Mare Island Brewing Company’s recently acquired food truck, the Pie Wagon.
The City of Vallejo wants to share local businesses and their efforts in keeping the community COVID-19 free. If your business would like to be featured, please email photos and a description of your outdoor space and/or COVID-19 modifications to vallejonews@cityofvallejo.net.
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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
WETA SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON CLIPPER START FARES On September 3, the WETA Board of Directors set a public hearing on new fares related to San Francisco Bay Ferry joining the regional Clipper START pilot program. Under the Clipper START pilot, lower-income transit riders can receive discounted fares on participating Bay Area transit systems. This could start as early as November 2020; a tentative launch date will be announced as soon as it is determined. WETA request feedback from the public via email at fareprogram@watertransit.org or by mail to WETA; Pier 9, Suite 111; San Francisco, CA 94111. The deadline for public comment via these methods is September 30. The public can also provide public comment during the virtual WETA Board of Directors meeting on October 1, at 1:30 p.m. Information on joining the meeting will be provided at weta.sanfranciscobayferry.com in late September. Regional Clipper START fare discounts are currently available to qualifying Bay Area residents on four of the region’s largest transit operators: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Caltrain, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD), and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). The proposed one-way fares for eligible Clipper START members are: - Alameda/Oakland route: $3.60 - Harbor Bay route: $3.70
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- Richmond route: $4.60 - South San Francisco route: $4.70 - Vallejo route: $7.50 - All Short Hop routes: $0.80
Information on applying for the Clipper START fare discount program is available here.
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VALLEJO NEWS
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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
VISIONS OF THE WILD VIRTUAL FESTIVAL The Visions of the Wild Festival has gone virtual. This film and art festival is organized by the USDA Forest Service in collaboration with the Vallejo Community Arts Foundation and a wide range of local partners and sponsors. The in-person event was held annually each September in downtown Vallejo, and this year will instead feature monthly online events beginning September 23. The series of free programs, which continue into the spring of 2021, is part of a project called 38°N. Because Vallejo sits on the 38th parallel north of the Equator, the festival organizers decided to explore art and the environment from the perspective of our latitude. The 38°N project aims to connect with people around the globe who share our passion for nature, culture, and community. The following events have already been announced:
September 23 at 7:00 p.m.: Authors David & Janet Carle describe their journey around the world on the 38th Parallel
October 1 at 7:00 p.m.: Global Recycled Plastic Art Challenge launch event
October 21 at 5:30 p.m.: Yale University historian Valerie Hansen explores the ancient Silk Road
VALLEJO NEWS
November 18 at 6:00 p.m.: A panel discussion centered on the film Carvalho’s Journey, which will be available online to registrants a week before the event
On October 1, the festival is launching the Global Recycled Plastic Art Challenge. The competition is open to youth around the world who live close to 38° north latitude (between the 37th and 39th parallels). For more information about the festival or to register for the free online events visit VisionsoftheWild.org.
ART CONTEST FOR VALLEJO & BENICIA ARTISTS Vallejo Community Art Foundation (VCAF) and SolTrans wish to enhance the Vallejo Transit Center with four to six public sculptures. The project will use participatory design and community-built processes to connect community members to public art. As part of the process, the project will provide training, mentorship and resources for local artists with a special emphasis on artists of color. The project is open to all artists who are at least 18 years of age living and working in Vallejo and Benicia. Interested artists may submit their application by midnight on October 15. Application requirements and additional information is available here.
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VALLEJO NEWS
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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
VALLEJO NEWS
$2 MILLION CORONAVIRUS-RELATED SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM On August 25, the Solano County Board of Supervisors approved $2 million in CARES Act funding to establish the Rebuild Solano’s Small Business Grant Program. The grant funds are designed to help prevent layoffs and closures, all while giving employers the opportunity to pivot their business operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. The Rebuild Solano’s Small Businesses Grant Program funds will be used to reimburse qualified expenditures made between March 1, 2020 and November 30, 2020. Grant funds cannot be used to pay for rent, employee wages or benefits; however can be used for: - Purchasing computer equipment or software that allows remote work capabilities - Purchasing cleaning or sanitation supplies/services that reduce exposure and transmission - Replacing product or inventory lost or spoiled due to the COVID-19 shut down To qualify for the Rebuild Solano’s Small Businesses Grant Program, eligible applicants are for-profit businesses, locally owned in Solano County, is in good standing with the State and County, and can demonstrate a need for funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. The Workforce Development Board of Solano County and Small Business Development Center will host community webinars on the Rebuild Solano’s Small Businesses Grant Program, one in English on September 22 at 10:00 a.m. and one in Spanish on September 18 at 11:00 a.m. The Rebuilding Solano’s Small Businesses Grant Program application period starts Tuesday, September 15. Applicants can register for webinars, apply for and submit grant applications by visiting SolanoEmployment.org or SolanoSBDC.org. For view the full press release, click here.
Subscribe to the Vallejo Weekly, and other City communications, here. View previous issues of the Vallejo Weekly, here. Submit your positive community story or event for consideration in the Vallejo News section, here.
CITY OF VALLEJO | 555 SANTA CLARA STREET | VALLEJO, CA | 94590 CITYOFVALLEJO.NET | VALLEJONEWS@CITYOFVALLEJO.NET