VALLEJO – As election day approaches on Nov. 3, the six candidates running for Vallejo City Council have cumulatively raised more than $120,000 in campaign contributions, according to their campaign filings.
Unlike the nearby cities of Benicia, Richmond, Oakland, and San Francisco, which have placed local limits on how much candidates can raise from individuals or organizations, Vallejo candidates must only abide by a state law that limits contributions to no more than $5,900. This allows for much larger contributions than are common in neighboring cities, and 10 individuals and two organizations have made contributions of $1,000 or more to an individual Vallejo City Council candidate this year.
California law allows candidates to contribute or loan unlimited funds to their own campaigns. And most candidates contributed to their own campaigns this year to varying degrees.
District 4 candidate Brianna Rogers has raised the most money
District 4 candidate Brianna Rogers, who’s running against incumbent Charles Palmares and challenger Chris Platzer, has raised the most money of all the candidates this year, approximately $33,500.
Rogers has contributed about $2,500 to her own campaign. Almost 100 people or organizations have contributed $100 or more to her campaign.
Natalie Hanson
Landis Graden, the CEO of DCG Strategies, which provides real estate brokerage and advisory services for faith-based, educational, and community-serving organizations across California, contributed $2,000 to Rogers’s campaign. Graden is also a former chair of the Vallejo’s Planning Commission and his company has worked with the Vallejo City Unified School District to help them sell properties.
In addition to Graden, Rogers has also gotten $2,100 in contributions from 10 other CEOs, mostly of nonprofit organizations, including $550 from Center for Urban Excellence founder and CEO Reina Robinson, a $450 contribution from San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell, and a $100 contribution from Elite Public Schools CEO Ramona Bishop.
Rogers also got large donations of $1,000 in cash and $600 in food from California State Assembly District Director Tiffanee Jones, $1,200 from Vallejo elementary school teacher Amber Logan, and $1,000 from Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 104.. Additionally, Everett & Jones BBQ International, which runs several restaurants in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, contributed almost $1,000 in food to Rogers’ campaign.
Jim Gonzales, who runs Sacramento political consulting firm Jim Gonzalez and Associates, contributed $500. Gonzalez managed the successful statewide ballot initiative campaign for Proposition 36 in 2024, which strengthened penalties against shoplifting and drug use. Oakland-based real estate agent Jonisha Smith also contributed $500, as did Robert Ellinthrope. Ellinthrope goes by the name Bobby Winston, and is an Alameda resident who owns Bay Crossings, which operates a gift shop in San Francisco and sells ferry tickets and advertisements.
Several local politicians have also contributed to Rogers’ campaign, including Solano County Supervisor Wanda Williams, who contributed $175, Fairfield Councilmember K Patrice Williams, who contributed $150, and Vallejo school board member Latyna Young, who contributed $100.
Although not yet documented, Rogers told the Vallejo Sun that SEIU Local 1021 is contributing $5,900 to her campaign but the check got lost in the mail and was recently re-sent.
Palmares has reported raising about $13,000 for his campaign from almost 30 contributors. His biggest donors are the North Coast States Carpenters Union and Vallejo resident Heather Blevins, who each contributed $2,000.
The Vallejo Chamber of Commerce contributed $1,500 to Palmares’s campaign, while San Francisco resident and military reserve technician Kamal Moustafhim contributed $1,000. Ed Burke, the Food Service Director for Santa Rosa schools, contributed $1,000.
CEO of energy consulting business One Grid Solutions Mike Petouhoff, contributed $900. San Francisco police Officer Rufus Olivier contributed $500.
Palmares contributed $100 to his own campaign.
Platzer has not reported any contributions. He lent his own campaign $1,250.
Rebekah Truemper has out-fundraised other District 5 candidates
Rebekah Truemper has raised roughly $32,500, the second most of all City Council candidates, and more than opponents Tara Beasley-Stansberry and Tanya Hall. Roughly 75 people contributed $100 or more to her campaign
She reported receiving large contributions from family members, including from her husband Dan Seltzer, who contributed $5,000, and her mother, Joanna Truemper who contributed $2,000
Gretchen Smail
Olivia Sears, a San Francisco-based poet, translator, editor and founder of the nonprofit Center for the Art of Translation, contributed $2,500.
Several local organizations have contributed to Truemper’s campaign, including the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce, which contributed $1,500, and Solano Napa International Association of Firefighters, which contributed $500.
Sharlynn Willingham, a Vallejo resident who works as a director for the medical device company AngioSafe, contributed $850 worth of food, beverages and merchandise for a fundraising event.
Tiffanee Jones, who also contributed to Rogers’ campaign, contributed roughly $550 to Truemper, as did Vallejo resident Thomas Bilbo, who works for PG&E.
Retired Vallejo resident Christopher Delaney contributed $500, as did Colleen Stormer, who works as a social worker for the Piedmont School District, and Vallejo resident Cornelia O’Donnell.
Tom Bartee, the vice president of the Central Core Restoration Corporation, an organization tasked with improving and maintaining downtown Vallejo’s infrastructure, contributed about $500, as did Councilmember Alexander Matias. Councilmember Tonia Lediju contributed $390.
Retired teacher and current school board candidate Judith Lerner contributed $200.
Truemper contributed $100 to her own campaign.
Beasley-Stansberry has raised roughly $28,500. Almost half of it has come from herself or her wife. She contributed $2,750 to her own campaign and lent her campaign $10,000. Her wife, Ronda Stansberry, contributed $850.
Roughly 25 other people or organizations contributed $100 or more to Beasley-Stansberry’s campaign.
Landis Graden, who also contributed to Rogers’ campaign, contributed $3,500. The North Coast State Carpenter’s Union has contributed $3,000.
Beasley-Stansberry’s niece, Jamese Beasley, contributed $900. Vallejo residents Tim and Susan McDonald collectively contributed $750. Retired Fairfield resident Marilyn Manfredi, who has contributed to Republican candidates in state election campaigns, contributed $500.
Beasley-Stansberry has gotten a few donations from local politicians, including Solano County Supervisor Wanda Williams, who contributed $250, and Vallejo Councilmember Helen-Marie Gordon, who contributed $100.
In addition to cash contributions, Beasley-Stansberry got three non-monetary contributions for campaign events. Shanique Wolfe contributed event planning materials worth $1,000. The organization Black Men and Women contributed $1,000 worth of handheld fans. And Sir Winston Finance Center contributed the use of an event space worth $600.
Hall has reported raising roughly $12,000, almost all of which has come from herself: Hall contributed $5,950, and loaned her campaign $5,000.
Three people contributed $100 to Hall’s campaign – Holly Hicks, Steven Butler, and Anna Mack – while the remaining funds came from contributions of less than $100.
While Hall has reported that she’s spent all the money she’s raised for her campaign, she hasn’t reported how she’s spent the funds. Local candidates are legally required to report where and how they have spent campaign funds in California, as all the other Vallejo City Council candidates have done in the present election.
The Vallejo Sun called Hall and asked her why she hasn’t reported how she’s spent her campaign funds. She requested that the Vallejo Sun email her and did not respond to an email.
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