Officials discuss Measure Q passage, election of new representatives

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Voters agreed Tuesday to let Solano Community College issue a $348 million bond to make campus improvements, buy new equipment and make classes more affordable, especially for veterans and the disabled.

The college’s Governing Board president, Rosemary Thurston, who was re-elected Tuesday, said, “We want to thank the many volunteers and supporters of Measure Q.”

The measure passed in Solano County with 67,162 votes in favor to 40,597 against.

“This measure will fund the renovation and construction of major infrastructures for the college at its three sites, the Fairfield campus, Vacaville Center and Vallejo Center, and will provide additional funding for the enhancement of technology and expansion of services for veterans,” said Shemila Johnson, SCC marketing coordinator.

Superintendent-President Dr. Jowel Laguerre credited both the college’s supporters as well as others after the passage of Measure Q.

“We’re happy the majority of citizens in Solano County see this as a worthy investment in their future,” Laguerre said. He told staff members the issue was less about them and more about the community and future children who would benefit from the improvements the bond issue would bring to the college and its various campuses.

“We wish to acknowledge the efforts of our opponents as their criticism helped us to strengthen our position in the community,” he said. Those critics have motivated the college not only to meet their expectations, but to exceed them, such as when the college was being urged to add a science laboratory. “When you value your critics, it allows you to grow.”

He also credited “all of the tireless supporters” who spent time encouraging the measure’s passage.

“Finally, we want to assure our citizens that we will be reliable and competent stewards of the voters’ trust!” he said.

He said the money would be used to renovate existing buildings at the Fairfield campus, including the performing arts building, where more classrooms would be added, as well as a new science building and automotive technology program building.

Construction at the Vacaville Center would address needs for biotechnology, fire, agriculture and middle college classes.

The bond measure will allow the college to collaborate with Travis Air Force Base to meet ongoing needs of veterans, and with the base’s Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum, for a school of aeronautics.

In addition, the bond will pay for a new building at the college’s campus at 545 Columbus Parkway, Vallejo.

That building will house pre-technical, transfer and developmental education classes, as well as provide space so students can earn four-year degrees in a cooperative program with area universities, said Dr. Thomas Kea, dean of the Vallejo Center.

Kea’s campus also will use Measure Q funds to give high school students the opportunity to enroll in a “middle college” concept, through which they earn both high school and college credit concurrently.

Also Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, was re-elected to Congress, this time in California’s new Fifth District, drawn after the 2010 U.S. Census determined how the state’s population had changed. Benicia is in this district and no longer is represented by George Miller, D-Martinez.

Thompson’s district contains all or parts of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Solano, and Contra Costa counties. In Solano County, he received 32,282 votes. His opponent, Randy Loftin, received 9,790.

“I am honored by the overwhelming show of support I received throughout our district,” Thompson said Wednesday.

“With the election behind us, it is time to move forward — not divided as Republicans and Democrats, but united as Americans — with the common purpose of building a stronger nation where hard work is rewarded and everyone has a fair shot at success.”

Thompson has prided himself on being a “Blue Dog” Democrat who is willing to reach across the aisle to work with other parties. “As our district’s representative, I will continue working with people on both sides of the aisle to make sure that if folks work hard and play by the rules, then they will have the opportunity to put food on the table, gas in their car, buy a home, send their kids to college and put some money away for retirement,” he said.

State Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, also won in a new state district that includes Benicia. In Solano County, she received 74,196 votes to 39,341 for her opponent, Frank Miranda.

“I’m very honored and pleased, and I look forward to representing Benicia,” Wolk said Wednesday. In fact, because of her strong advocacy for Delta issues, Wolk said she has felt like one of the city’s representatives for some time.

“Benicia has a front-row seat to that issue,” she said.

Wolk said another issue that will be important to her is state parks. Benicia’s two state parks, the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park and the Benicia State Recreation Area, are the only two in Solano County, and both were threatened with closure until a Department of Parks and Recreation concealed-funds scandal put that act on hold.

“I want to be hands-on,” Wolk said. “Benicia has wonderful historic sites and they’re important to the state.”

A third issue that’s coming up quickly that Wolk said would be of special interest to Benicians is affordable health care. She is on the Senate Committee on Health, and said Gov. Jerry Brown has called for meetings in December or soon after the new year to address the matter.

Susan Bonilla was unopposed in the general election and received 33,719 votes in her bid to return to the state Assembly, also in a newly drawn district that includes Benicia. She is a Democrat from Concord.

“I am very honored to be the representative for Benicia,” Bonilla said Wednesday. She attended a Democratic Party election night event here Tuesday, and said she has met new supporters in the area.

“I’m looking forward to representing Benicia and working with Assembly members and senators to represent Benicia’s interests, and Solano County’s as well,” she said.

Because Bonilla didn’t have to campaign for the general election, she spent that time pushing for the passage of Proposition 30, Brown’s measure to raise taxes to support schools and stabilize the state’s general fund.

That, the former school teacher said, “was a most important advocacy.”

She said it’s an issue that will affect her new constituents as well as those she’s represented previously.

“It will have the most direct impact on Benicia and its children. I’m acutely aware of what has to be done to stabilize the state’s education funding and regain the excellent reputation it had before.”

Another issue she’ll address with Benicia in mind is state parks. Bonilla said she will work with others, including Wolk, to address that concern.

She expects a broader coalition of agencies working with the Department of Parks and Recreation, such as East Bay Regional Parks, may “change the way it has been doing business,” she said.

“I want to try and reach out, and build a network,” she said. She said through the new partnerships, the DPR may become “responsive, and understand the needs of the community.”