District 2
J.R. Matulac is running unopposed.
District 4
Downtown, Mare Island, and the waterfront
Recommendation: Brianna Rogers
Brianna Rogers is a senior program officer at the San Francisco Foundation and a Vallejo homeowner since 2023. She holds a master’s in public policy from Georgetown and has worked on public policy in Alameda and San Francisco counties.
Her campaign is built around how City Hall actually functions. She has called for less fragmented departments, lower staff turnover, and regular performance reporting from the city manager. On housing, she has said she would ask staff why proposed and permitted projects aren’t moving to construction. That is the right question for a city that approves projects on paper and then watches them stall.
She is also open to new economic development without being careless about it. On data centers, she has said she is willing to review proposals while weighing resource use against the number of permanent jobs created. That leaves room for real evaluation instead of ruling projects out before they arrive.
The area where we would like to hear more from her is Mare Island. District 4 includes the shipyard, and with the state’s $8.2 million Maritime Innovation Campus grant now in place, the next council member for this district should have a clear plan for turning that investment into tenants and jobs.
Also running: Incumbent Charles Palmares has a strong focus on reducing permit fees and bringing shipbuilding to Mare Island, and has said he intends to propose a moratorium or ban on data centers. Chris Platzer, a former Planning Commissioner, is running on waterfront and Mare Island development.
District 5
Central Vallejo
Recommendation: Tara Beasley-Stansberry
Tara Beasley-Stansberry is a Planning Commissioner, co-owner of Noonie’s Place, and a recruiter for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She has lived in Vallejo for nearly 11 years.
She is the candidate in this race with direct experience on both sides of the city’s permitting counter, as an applicant and as a commissioner. Her platform focuses on attracting and keeping businesses and speeding up business license permitting. That matters in a city where permit costs and delays push both homeowners and businesses away from doing things the right way.
On public safety, she supports bringing the Vallejo Police Department up to its budgeted staffing level, which is currently about 30 officers short. She pairs that with support for police reform and accountability, and she has said the city needs both. She opposes new tax increases given the cost of living, while staying open to bonds for infrastructure.
She supports rent control with what she describes as reasonable parameters. Voters who follow housing policy closely will want to ask what those parameters would be.
Also running: Rebekah Truemper, a nonprofit consultant, has made Mare Island shipbuilding a priority and opposes data centers in the community. Tanya Hall, vice chair of the Architecture and Heritage Landmarks Commission, has proposed a workforce pipeline from Vallejo High to Mare Island and incentives to convert vacant buildings into housing.