SIX PEOPLE are running to fill two Solano County Board of Supervisors seats in the June primary, including one incumbent.
The June 2 election could fill the District 3 and District 4 seats on the board. In both races, if no one gets a majority of the votes, then the top two finishers would move on to a November runoff.
District 3 covers the central western portion of the county that houses Suisun City and a portion of Fairfield, including the Travis Air Force Base. Running for the seat are incumbent Wanda Williams, Fairfield Mayor Catherine “Cat” Moy, and Solano County sheriff’s Deputy Eldon Brooke Parker.
District 4 encompasses the northern part of the county and includes Vacaville and Dixon. Candidates for the seat include Vacaville City Councilmember Michael Edward Silva, Vacaville Mayor John Carli, and barber shop owner Joshua “Juan” Desmarais. Current Supervisor John Vasquez did not file for reelection.
‘California Forever’ debate takes center stage
Solano County is going through a rather tumultuous time, with major employers such as the Valero Refining Company, Anheuser-Busch and the Mare Island Dry Dock all announcing closures within one year. The proposed “mega city” development known as California Forever continues to cause controversy and affordable housing and homelessness are issues at play.
Perhaps the most controversial issue in the county is the California Forever proposal, which has faced pushback since it was first announced in August 2023. Backed by billionaires, the project aims to create a city in the open space between Travis Air Force Base and Rio Vista. After a ballot initiative to create a city “as big as Oakland” was shelved, California Forever is now attempting to expand Suisun City by annexing 22,000 acres owned by the investors.
The Air Force base and some lawmakers have expressed concern that putting a huge city near the base would interfere with its operations.
Over 60% of the county is agricultural. Natural areas include Suisun Marsh, which is one of the largest brackish water marshes in the United States and is a critical habitat for hundreds of birds as well as Chinook salmon and river otters. The county encompasses the northwestern portion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta as well.
District 3 incumbent Williams has previously served as a Suisun City councilmember and vice mayor. She was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2022 and has endorsements from large unions, Democratic organizations, former supervisors, and local congressmen such as Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, and John Garamendi, D-Fairfield.
She was the first Black woman to be elected to the board. In her first term on the board, she has focused on affordable housing and homelessness, as well as protecting Travis AFB from any encroachment that California Forever may pose.
Hoping to unseat Williams is Moy, who is a former journalist first appointed to the Fairfield City Council in 2008. She was then reelected three times as a councilmember and then as mayor in 2022.
In an announcement posted on Facebook, Moy said her focus will be on “policy,” protecting Travis AFB from California Forever and tackling homelessness.
Both women are Solano County political powerhouses that Parker, the third candidate, will be taking on at the polls. Parker is the resident deputy for the area that covers District 3. He served on the California Department of Fish and Game in the 1990s and joined the Solano County Sheriff’s Office in 1999.
According to his website, his four platform points are jobs and economic opportunity, homelessness, agriculture, and crime and public safety.
Open seat draws varied field
In District 4, long-serving incumbent Vasquez announced in February that he will not be running for reelection so that he can concentrate on his health as he battles stomach cancer. He has served on the board since 2002.
District 4 candidate Silva served on the Vacaville school district’s board of trustees and was first elected to the Vacaville City Council in 2020. He teaches biotechnology and biological sciences at Solano Community College.
Issues in his platform include preserving agriculture in the county, small business investment, affordable housing and homelessness, and youth outreach. He has endorsements from the mayors of Vallejo and Benicia, as well as state Assemblymember Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, and state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, D-West Sacramento.
Carli, the Vacaville mayor, is endorsed by Vasquez and wants to strengthen the county’s jobs and economy by supporting small businesses and attracting larger ones. He wants to protect farms and ranches as well as defend the county’s water rights, according to his website. He said he would address homelessness with “treatment, accountability, and regional coordination.”
Carli is also endorsed by District Attorney Krishna Abrams and former Sheriff Tom Ferrara.
Desmarais is a barber and tattoo shop owner and father of six who says he is running as an alternative to career politicians. He previously worked as a correctional officer and for the California Highway Patrol, according to his website.
Desmarais said his decision not to shut his doors during the COVID-19 pandemic was his way of standing up for constitutional rights and individual freedom. He opposes new county taxes and said he will support veterans.
