4TH DISTRICT REPORT | VINCE WELLS

Politics and Activism in Action

The 4th District will be seeing a change in its local politics as it has multiple contested elections for State Assembly and Senate due to vacancies created by term limits. Assembly District 15 has three candidates running for Grayson’s seat as he is running for Senator in District 9. Senate Districts 3 and 7 have contested races due to term limits.

Multiple agencies in the 4th District are placing bids for partnerships with private ambulance companies or are preparing for upcoming ambulance RFPs under the Contra Costa fire alliance model approved by AB 389 (Grayson, 2021). These agencies include San Jose Fire Department, Alameda County Fire, Sonoma County, and Contra Costa County who is renewing their current contract. The fire alliance model allows for the fire agency to subcontract with a private provider while maintaining control of the ambulance response, meaning that if all contracts are awarded to the fire agencies it will be a major, historic change in how ambulance services are provided to Californians.

Richmond Firefighters Local 188 has been successful in getting their fire chief, Angel Montoya, terminated after going public with a vote of no confidence in July. Local 188 was exemplary in sharing their concerns with his lack of presence in the City, unwillingness to meet and confer, and failures in addressing safety issues caused by staffing shortages, and after working with the City Council and Administration and filing unfair labor practice complaints with PERB he was finally let go in late October.

Santa Rosa Firefighters Local 1401 will be placing a ½ cent sales tax on the ballot for fire services in Sonoma County that cannot be supplanted for any other purposes. According to the previous president:

“This will be a 1/2% county-wide sales tax that will generate approximately $60 million per year. Through this tax, we will see close to 200 new union firefighter positions (3/0 staffing), $300,000,000 in fire station rebuilds and renovations, pay parity for our smaller affiliates to help with recruitment and retention and will pay for county-wide dispatch fees.

As Sonoma County’s tax ceiling is almost achieved, this will be our very last opportunity for a sales tax. This will be a voter initiative tax measure, requiring only a simple majority. Our polling indicates that we’re at 65%.”

These are just some of the highlights of things happening in the 4th.