Solano Supervisor candidates for Vallejo, Benicia spar over committees, California Forever

BENICIA – Candidates for the District 2 seat on the Solano County Board of Supervisors exchanged barbs and trumpeted platform points as they answered questions in a forum moderated by the Solano County Black Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee at the Benicia Veterans Hall Monday night.

Incumbent Monica Brown and challengers Rochelle Sherlock and Nora Dizon responded to individual questions posed for each candidate by the forum moderators, PAC chair Charles Lee and local business owner Tara Beasley-Stansbury. Candidates were allowed short responses to their opponents’ answers. 

Sherlock, a business management consultant who previously ran against Brown in 2020,  took her first opportunity to challenge Brown’s record by saying that Brown had voted to dissolve several advisory committees, including the Agricultural Advisory Board, the Alcohol and Drug Advisory Committee and the Solano County Historical Records Commission. 

Special coverage: March 5 primary election in Solano County

A statewide primary election will be held on March 5, which could decide the winning candidates for three seats on the Solano County Board of Supervisors, will determine the fate of a Benicia school bond and two tax measures and will narrow the field of candidates for state senate and

The Vallejo SunScott Morris

The issue came up a second time when moderators read questions collected from an audience of about 40 people. One attendee asked if candidates would work to reinstate the commissions.

Brown said that the board had valid reasons to dissolve the committees. She said that the Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board was folded into the Behavioral Health Department to fit the statewide model and the board felt that Farm Bureau was a better fit to represent agricultural interests. 

In regards to the Historical Records Commission, Brown said that the county received very few requests for records from the archive and they wanted to devote staff time to more widely used services. 

But Sherlock fired back, saying that the dissolution of the committees was an assault on democracy. “I’m going to do everything I can to restore those advisory committees,” she said. “If the county Board of Supervisors are making major decisions and they are not getting input from the people that those decisions are impacting then we have got a problem.” 

Sherlock said that the committees had served an important role in monitoring the effectiveness of county programs and tracking the use of county funds. She said that she would work to build greater collaboration and citizen participation at both the city and county levels of government.     

Dizon, a real estate broker in Fairfield, argued that the committees do not always represent the whole of the community. 

“I go to these meetings and a few people are dominating, so it becomes their opinions, not really the opinions or the feelings of the residents.” Dizon said. She said that the political process in the county has become antagonistic and many people are afraid to speak their minds because of intimidation tactics. She committed to working to change that culture so a broader spectrum of voices can be heard.

Another question from audience members that brought a flurry of responses was a request for candidates to state their positions on the California Forever proposal to build a new city east of Travis Air Force Base. 

Brown said  that the breadth of issues involved in the proposal is taking up a large amount of staff time and because of this inordinate use of resources she sees the proposal as the leading challenge that the county will face in 2024.

Dizon said that she sees the California Forever proposal as an attempt to scam the people of Solano County. “California Forever is an investment that the people who have put money towards are trying to increase the value,” she said, adding that she fully expects them to sell the land once they have made a profit without offering any real benefits to county residents. 

Sherlock said the project is not in line with current law and planning goals and she advocated for compact, transit oriented infill developments within the boundaries of the county’s existing cities. “I am about protecting the open space touching our rich agricultural lands, but also recognizing that we're going to have to work with the cities to create some economic development that’s really more around smart growth principles,” she said.

Another audience member asked the  candidates to explain how they would collaborate with law enforcement to ensure a safe and secure environment for residents. 

Brown said that after revelations that Solano County Sheriff’s deputies supported far-right extremist groups such as the Three Percenters, she pushed a proposal for an oversight body to monitor the sheriff's office but it did not receive enough votes from the rest of the board to pass.

She said that she is concerned that after three years the Vallejo Police Department still has not met the 45 reforms required under a contract with the state Department of Justice, leading the state to seek court oversight of the department. 

Brown said that better hiring policies can help, but there needs to be more accountability for law enforcement officers.

Sherlock said that well intentioned laws put in place to reduce the population of people that were jailed or imprisoned based on discriminatory practices have had unintended consequences. 

“A lot of people have been released back into the community,” Sherlock said. “And we don’t have the level of services that we need – homelessness services, behavioral health services, addiction services, case management services – to deal with that population. And so those things can lead to crime.” 

The Solano County Black Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee is holding another forum featuring District 1 supervisor candidates Cassandra James and Michael Wilson along with a second debate between District 2 candidates on Wednesday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Dan Foley Cultural Center in Vallejo. Those interested can reserve a seat here.

Ballots in the race will be mailed in early February and the election will be held on March 5. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote the top two candidates will proceed to a runoff election in November.