2023/A Look Back: Vallejo endures a year of transition
Thomas Gase posted: "Like a beleaguered official in a heated sports contest, Vallejo police really could have used a break from the spotlight in 2023. Oh well. Maybe next year. Time and time again, Vallejo police continued to find a new headline. The city went into a st" Times Herald Online
Like a beleaguered official in a heated sports contest, Vallejo police really could have used a break from the spotlight in 2023.
Oh well. Maybe next year.
Time and time again, Vallejo police continued to find a new headline. The city went into a state of emergency due to the short staff of the VPD and longer response times. A new police union contract stirred up strong feelings on both sides of the table. And State Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that criminal charges won't be filed against one of the cities police officers for his role in the death of Sean Monterrosa in 2020.
There were, of course, other stories for the Times-Herald to cover in 2023. From new guidance coming to the city manager and school superintendent jobs to new ownership arriving to the Mare Island Naval Cemetery when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs took over the venue in November, it was a busy year.
Meanwhile the city of Vallejo and Benicia did not forget its heroes or the unsheltered, as Blue Oak Landing opened on Sacramento Street in May, while USS Indianapolis Survivor Harold Bray and longtime rapper E-40 were given a statue and a street named after them, respectively.
So without any more delay, here are the Times-Herald's Top 10 news and feature stories of 2023 ...
1. Vallejo declares a state of emergency
For years crime has ruled over Vallejo with multiple shootings, homicides, sideshows, robberies and other acts of violence. During much of that time, the Vallejo Police Department has cited a staffing shortage and evaporating resources as being responsible for sluggish response times.
In late July the city's interim police chief Jason Ta officially asked for help.
The Vallejo City Council, in a unanimous vote, gave Ta and City Manager Mike Malone the power to make unilateral decisions regarding Vallejo's public safety by declaring a state of emergency.
This meant that Ta and Malone would not have to confer with either the council or the Vallejo Police Officers' Association before making decisions about the city's law enforcement.
"I need help," Ta told officials at the July meeting. "I need you guys to be aware of it. I need the public to be aware of it."
Potential future actions include judgment calls on whether to extend officers' shifts, pay retired officers to perform certain tasks or call in officers from other law enforcement agencies. The council received updates on Ta and Malone's decisions at every regularly scheduled meeting the rest of of 2023.
2. Vallejo police officer Jarrett Tonn is reinstated, with no charges filed in the shooting death of Sean Monterrosa.
While much of the city begged for more officers to help solve the state of emergency, one officer came back in August to a different reception.
Nearly a year and a half after his firing, Jarrett Tonn was reinstated to the Vallejo Police Department in August. Tonn was previously fired over his actions in the killing of Sean Monterrosa in June of 2020. The reinstatement came after the firing was overturned on Aug. 18. Tonn is scheduled to make $118,050.40 in back pay.
During a night of civil unrest in 2020, Tonn, believing Monterrosa was reaching for a gun, fired five shots from an AR-15 rifle from the back seat, killing Monterrosa with a shot to the neck and head at a Walgreens store in Vallejo. It was later determined that Monterrosa had, in fact, a claw hammer in his sweatshirt pocket.
According to Tonn's lawyer Joshua A. Olander, the decision was issued after an evidentiary hearing and represented the second determination by a neutral hearing officer that Detective Tonn's use of deadly force was legally justified and his termination was not supported by the facts and the law.
According to VPD's Public Information Officer Rashad Hollis, Tonn is working currently as part of the Training Division — although Hollis specifically said that Tonn is not teaching any courses or training any officers.
In December one chapter of the Monterrosa case came to a close when Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Department of Justice announced that both could not find "insufficient evidence" for criminal charges against Tonn for his role in the 2020 shooting.
The Monterrosa family says it will continue to search other avenues in its quest to bring justice for Sean.
3. Vallejo City Manager Mike Malone announces he will retire in April
In mid-October Vallejo City Manager Mike Malone announced he will be leaving the city in April — two years year after council members formally named him city manager.
Malone became interim city manager in a 5-2 council vote in April 2022. He served in that position for six months before formally assuming his role of overseeing all departments in the city of Vallejo.
Malone previously served as the city's water director starting in April 2017.
"I'd like to say I'm proud of what we accomplished here," Malone told Vallejo Weekly. "I will be here for six more months and will continue working hard to bring big improvements to the City of Vallejo."
4. Mare Island Naval Cemetery ownership transferred to U.S. Veterans Affairs
A lengthy process was finally concluded in late November when ownership of the Mare Island Naval Cemetery was officially transferred from the City of Vallejo to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA announced a few days later that it has "officially taken responsibility for administration and maintenance" for the venue.
"We accept the sacred trust to care for the graves and maintain the memory of Veterans and all those who have been laid to rest at Mare Island Naval Cemetery," said Matthew Quinn, Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs of the National Cemetery Administration. "We will begin designing improvements at this historic cemetery in the near future to meet NCA's appearance standards that Americans have come to expect from any of our cemeteries."
The cemetery, the oldest Naval one on the West Coast, has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. It has three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients — James Cooney, Alexander Parker and William Halford.
Many dignitaries applauded the transfer, including U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, whose 2018 legislation directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek out an agreement with the City of Vallejo, under which the city would transfer control of the Mare Island Naval Cemetery to the VA. That bill became law on January 1, 2021.
Retired U.S. Navy Commander Ralph Parrott, a strong, vocal advocate for completing the process, was thrilled.
"The stories of the civilians buried there are the stories of the Vallejo area in the 19th century," Parrott said in November. "Most importantly, the restored cemetery will be a place of honor where families can trace their ancestors and be proud of how they are being honored by a grateful country."
5. Vallejo Police Officers union gets a new contract
In November the Vallejo City Council approved a contract with the city's police union with a 6-1 vote. Councilmember Cristina Arriola was the lone "no vote."
The vote ended more than a year and a half of labor negotiations with the Vallejo Police Officers' Association. Critics accused the extensive closed-door talks of causing police officers to quit the force en masse and making outside law enforcement agencies hesitate about sending the city needed aid.
The decision came in a year where Vallejo saw its first officer-involved shootings since Sean Monterrosa was killed by Jarrett Tonn in 2020 — ending a three-year drought.
Underlying differences in values between the current city council and the council that began talks with the police union, Mayor Robert McConnell lamented the contract's lack of broad changes, including "reform procedures" and "testing requirements."
"By the time many people on this council learned of events, it was factually and legally impossible to go back – to do 'regressive bargaining,' is the term we frequently then heard – and to correct some of the deficiencies," McConnell said in November.
The new contract, which expires in 2026, will provide a roughly 16 percent salary increase for VPOA members between now and July 2025.
6. Blue Oak Landing opens up on Sacramento Street to help the unsheltered
The unsheltered received some help in 2023 with the opening of Blue Oak Landing apartment community, providing affordable housing to lower-income households.
The development consists of 74 rental apartments for households earning between 20 and 40 percent of the median income — equivalent to an annual income between $17,000 and $35,000 for a two-person household.
The venue — Eden Housing's first modular construction project, featuring two four-story buildings with a mix of studios, and one- and two-bedroom apartments — held its grand ribbon opening ceremony in September, four months after residents first started moving into the complex in late May.
The venue's opening came as great news for people like Latifiah Washington, who is one of the residents. She gave a passionate speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"In the past I was trying to go to school, be a mother ... I couldn't do it," the 31-year-old Washington said, fighting back tears in September. "I was sleeping in my car and living on these streets and trafficking on these streets.
"It took a million no's and I finally got a yes," Washington said, before breaking down.
7. California Forever opens offices in Vallejo, Vacaville
California Forever CEO Jan Sramek began pitching his idea for California Forever in six town hall meetings — including the first one in Vallejo in late November. His goal? To familiarize Solano County residents with the company's aims, while offering a chance for feedback.
While larger plans are scheduled to be released early in 2024, Sramek's company has come under fire for purchasing thousands of acres before revealing their intentions. The land purchased has some of the lowest agricultural and ecological values of anywhere in the county, Sramek said, and by using modern farming practices the project could actually increase the agricultural output of the area.
Sramek says it is no coincidence that some of the politicians who oppose California Forever on the local and statewide level are ones whose policies led to the problems California faces today, including the housing crisis and water worries. However, Sramek claims California Forever has "The patience and capital to get this right over 30 years."
Sramek also made it clear that he doesn't want the development to take long to get off the ground, with hopes to have a population of 50,000 – about half the size of Vacaville – by 2040. Over a few decades, he said, the city could grow to 400,000.
"There's a resignation in California that it takes us 20 years to build a (expletive) bus lane in San Francisco," Sramek said in November. "That's ridiculous."
8. Vallejo native, rap superstar E-40 gets street named after him, key to the city
Longtime rap superstar Earl Stevens — "E-40" to his millions of fans — was honored in October with a street renaming ceremony on Magazine Street, just across from his childhood home.
Among those in attendance were Vallejo City Council members and representatives from the offices of state Sen. Bill Dodd and Assemblymember Lori Wilson. Each awarded Stevens with a resolution honoring his personal and music endeavors, to go along with the key to the city he received from Mayor Robert McConnell.
An emotional E-40 — who once delivered newspapers for the Times-Herald as a youngster — spoke about the support he received from his family and supporters, some of whom were in attendance.
The city recognized the multiplatinum artist for serving as a role model to Vallejoans. The "Ambassador of the Bay Area" holds the record for most solo album entries onto Billboard 200 charts — with 32 — by a hip-hop artist. He's rapped about Magazine Street on numerous occasions, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of his freshman album, "Federal."
"A lot of y'all might not understand that E-40 put Vallejo on the land," he said. "Because I'm global — not local."
9. Benicia honors USS Indianapolis survivor Harold Bray with a statue
With the passing of Cleatus Lebow in 2022 at the age of 98, Benician Harold Bray became the lone living survivor from the legendary USS Indianapolis. In July in front of the city's clock tower, Bray was celebrated and honored for his service with the unveiling of a statue made by Matt Glenn.
The life-sized bronze statue stands nearly 7-feet tall, affixed to a pedestal. It will eventually be moved to a location on First Street in the city, where it will be surrounded by several bronze sponsorship legacy plaques, personalized engraved bricks, concrete benches, and a storyboard displaying the history of Bray and the USS Indianapolis.
After starting in Mare Island, the USS Indianapolis delivered the Hiroshima atomic bomb in July 1945. On July 30, Japanese submarine I-58, captained by Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, fired two torpedoes that struck the Indianapolis on its starboard side, one in the bow and one amidship. Approximately 300 of the 1,195 sailors died during the explosion. The rest jumped ship, only to land in the Philippine Sea — full of not just salt water, but massive amounts of oil and sharks.
Only 316 sailors would survive three and half days in the sea. One was Bray — was all of 18 years old.
Bray, who is now 96, chose not to speak at the event — but others were all too eager to serenade him with stories of his kindness and bravery. Bray politely listened, occasionally smiling and nodding while sitting in a huge white chair one might send for royalty.
However, Harold's eyes may have lit up the most when he was approached by Glenn — who created the statue over a five-month period. Glenn said it was an honor to make the statue for Bray.
"To see him happy and everyone cheering him and the chance to be part of a historical event — that was great," Glenn said in July. "I've done hundreds of statues in my life but hardly ever of people that are still alive. It's so funny — before I met him I captured his eye in the crowd. I had never met him, but he definitely connected with me through the crowd. He kind of winked at me so I felt I had to introduce myself to him after. He told me I did a great job and he thanked me. It was such an honor to meet him."
10. Vallejo City Unified School District Superintendent William Spalding announces he will retire in July
After 37 years working in education and about three years as Vallejo City Unified School District's Superintendent, William Spalding announced he will be retiring on June 30.
"It was a difficult and hard decision, and it was hard because I love this place (Vallejo) so much," Spalding said in December. "I've been trying to find a better work and home life and with some elderly parents that need me more it was just time. It's not unusual to see people retire in education around 60, 61, 62, so this retirement is coming right on schedule."
Before he began working as superintendent in the city, he was instrumental in opening Jesse Bethel High School over two decades ago. His tenure as superintendent included the inception of the district's strategic plan for the 2022-27 academic years, which introduced the "Portrait of a VCUSD Graduate," outlining the skills and knowledge students acquire upon high school graduation.
No comments:
Post a Comment