As some Vallejo City Council members and a handful of special interests continue to push the Measure P regressive tax measure, it's important for the community to understand that granting more money to those who continue to recklessly waste and mismanage is not a solution.
Tuesday night's council meeting saw City Manager Mike Malone and council members continue their pattern of irresponsible spending of our tax dollars by greenlighting projects that are poorly planned, have incomplete budgets and are years behind schedule due to mismanagement and lack of oversight.
The council authorized the purchase of a 1-acre plot of land in North Vallejo for the homeless Navigation Center for $950,000 — double what the current owner paid for the land one year ago. This also includes a $120,000 non-refundable "inspection fee" of the property, which the appraiser noted could have serious soil issues. The project still has no timeline for completion.
The city also authorized a $300,000 contract extension with a Benicia-based internet company that has only two employees to manage the city's Municipal Broadband program. Staff admitted that the company has only secured four customers in the nearly 12 months that they have been working with the City of Vallejo, and that we lost our previous 70 customers and tens of thousands in monthly revenue when we changed providers last year. In contrast to our previous profitable venture, this new agreement gives the company sixty percent of all gross revenues, and the city is committing to over $3 million in construction costs without any secured funding and only a vague promise of possible grant money.
Two more examples to add to the long list of wasted spending — not just by previous leadership but by our current city management and rubber-stamped by the current council, the same people who are pushing Measure P.
Those Yes on P signs we've been seeing pop up all over town? The latest FPPC filing shows that the majority of the funding came from sizable donations from five council members, three City of Vallejo employees, and our city's most influential special interest: The Napa-Solano Central Labor Council. The city itself, which is required to remain neutral, sent out full-page glossy mailers last week pushing Measure P, and I've heard that many recipients received duplicate mailers. Our city is wasting our current tax dollars to beg for more dollars.
Staff and council members have deliberately underfunded street repair and allowed the unchecked reckless behavior of our police department to hamper our ability to provide essential public safety. Now, they are trying to convince us that we need to pay more in taxes to fund these essential services, in a move bordering on extortion.
Don't be fooled. The issue is not a lack of funds. Vallejo's inability to provide essential services to its residents is due 100% to reckless spending and a lack of oversight by our elected officials. We need accountability from City Hall, not continued mismanagement and waste.
— Melissa Swift/Vallejo
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