Monica Wilson Talks Supervisor Race, Hopes to Bring More Services to East Contra Costa

Antioch City Councilwoman Monica Wilson recently announced she was running for Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor, District 3. She is running on a platform that she believes will help bring services to East Contra Costa County while highlighting that her achievements in Antioch has prepared her for the position.

Wilson, who has lived in Antioch since 2008, was first elected to the City Council in 2012. She got involved in politics after the economic crash and seeing how so many people were impacted. She wanted to make a difference and help people improve their lives. She began working neighborhood cleanups with the police department and meeting new people which led her to run for city council.

Wilson says she is running for County Supervisor because after working at Mills College and helping students with access to job training, health care and education, she wanted to do that at a much larger scale. She wants to help the community realize they have access to a lot of resources.

“I am looking at the resources from a county perspective, you will see its really heavy on one side and very light on another, it’s time for us to have access to those same resources in District 3” says Wilson. ”We need to increase economic development, realizing the assets we have in east county and build on it and what businesses can complement that from manufacturing to biomedical, energy, how do we build upon our assets.”

Wilson highlighted that her goals if elected were to provide greater access to resources, improve economic development by expanding industry while ensuring the community is trained for jobs, and supporting public safety to keep communities safe.

Wilson says her experience with economic development helped get Antioch through some tough times and they are now growing.

“Antioch has had some tough times and we have made the turn. We have had companies come back; we have Everett & Jones coming to the old Humphreys, small business have come in. We are able to support our chamber of commerce and the work they are doing. It comes back to our city manager who brought in staff to think outside the box to get companies in here,” explained Wilson. “I may not have been the front runner, but I have been very supportive of staff who has really worked on that.”

Wilson explained she has worked to get people in a position to succeed and does not need the credit as long as the job gets done.

“It’s a reoccurring theme from my work at Mills College, to do my job now at the Workforce Development, how do we make sure we all succeed,” says Wilson. “Some people say well who is the front-runner on this, well , it’s actually multiple people. You may see one person or you don’t know who came out in front on this, but it’s about coming together to build a strong team.”

For example, she highlighted that if she is coming to an Antioch Neighborhood Cleanup event, she is coming to do the work, not showing up for a photograph. She wants to focus on the work and job at hand. Wilson says she is about supporting people, business, and causes and not the photographs.

Recently, in a press release Wilson touted her experience with transportation after only serving as an Alternate to the East Contra Costa Regional Fee & Finance Authority and the State Route 4 By-Pass Authority. She clarified her experience saying it dates back to 2011 while serving in the California Women’s Caucus and serves in a role as the Policy Issues Chair.

Wilson says much of her efforts in transportation relate to issues and policy created by then Assemblywoman Fiona Ma.

“My experience with her in that role really came as my support of initiatives she was working on in her role as the assembly person or her capacity of Board of Equalization,” said Wilson. “I’ve been the Policy Issues Chair since 2011 which is really making sure our caucus are aware what issues are coming through on State and Federal level.”

Wilson stated it’s transitioned into Contra Costa because it helped her strengthen her relationships with other local elected leaders while creating relationships with statewide officials.

“I’ve used that role to outreach to legislators or other city councils, I’ve leveraged that to get thoughts and see who has gone through something,” says Wilson who explained it’s about getting information so one does not have to reinvent the wheel to resolve a problem.

Locally, Wilson says the recent opening of the Highway 4 – I-160 Connector is a good step in the right direction, but more is needed with transportation projects. She did say that in the last 10-yaers, transportation has greatly improved.

“The highway has improved immensely, is this good work? Yes! Are we headed in the right direction? Yes! Do we still have things we need to do? Yes,” explained Wilson. “We still need to strengthen public transportation whether it be the bus system or BART. That still has some ways to go because it’s old systems that needs to be updated and out this way.”

She highlighted that it’s great that East County is getting new stations in Pittsburg and Antioch but she would like to see it extend into Brentwood and maybe someday cross over to Livermore.

“There are some improvements that we need to think about. We have to remember we have members of the community who do not have access to public transportation. How do we look at public transportation where someone without a car? How do they get from Brentwood to Concord in a way that is more time sensitive? How do we help that person who needs access to health care that is not available to them out here? How do we help them get to that doctors appointment? It’s a whole snowball effect because you have to improve public transportation,” explained Wilson.

Wilson acknowledges that although maintenance of our roads is important, it’s a much larger problem that needs to be looked at from seeing the overall big picture.

Another issue Wilson believes she can help with at a County level is resolving the loss of deputies in the Contra Costa Sheriffs Department after seeing what they could accomplish by increasing the level of officers in Antioch.

Wilson says the sheriff’s department has become the training ground but to solve the problem, she needs to gather more information.

“For me to look at that to make a fair assessment, I really looking at how are we compensating compared to neighbor counties and cities. How are we in pay and benefits in comparison?” stated Wilson. “A comparison study would have to be done to see where we are in comparison to neighboring counties and look at ways to compensate.”

Wilson was quick to point out that in Antioch; the council was able to do things that made the city more competitive for law enforcement. That same approach must be done in the county.

“Maybe it does include a pay rate increase. Maybe it’s something with benefits or additional resources available? We really have to compare what is going on in neighboring counties,” said Wilson.

Wilson says she realizes its a budget issue, but she has to go through the budget find where the money is available to apply it to the deputy sheriffs. She noted they first have to even agree money is available or they must then look at other opportunities to move money around while looking at partnerships and grants.

Another public agency in financial trouble is the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District whom Wilson says she has been paying attention to because they are pulling resources out from Antioch–she has requested this issue become a future Antioch City Council item.

Wilson admits she was shocked that neither of the two recent tax measures passed and says they need to go for a third measure to get immediate funding. At the same time, she proposes meeting with stakeholders who want to go after more long-term funding.

“How can we get the buy in from stakeholders to help that district and educate the public because right now there is 3-stations covering 250-square miles?” stated Wilson. “We really need to look at Proposition 13 where the District was rural and the population grew. We need to adjust the percentages to increase funding. To do that, we need to sit down with the county assessor and figuring out how to do that.”

Wilson stated that it’s no different than the rest of the county, everyone is moving east but the services did not follow such as fire funding which are focused in urban cities, not in the rural areas.

Wilson proposes to fix the issue; county staff is going to need to get involved to work with those in Sacramento to fix the funding issue. She explained stakeholders need to back to when the District was formed and look at what was done to fix it.

She further highlighted the fire issue is not just an issue for those served in the ECCFPD District, but it really impacts Antioch and sets off a chain reaction to impact other communities.

“If there is a fire emergency and two stations have to go from Antioch to assist, it shifts our service from four stations down to two stations,” explained Wilson. “That takes teams away from Antioch responses, we don’t even pull from Pittsburg, it would come from another area to assist. We need to address East Contra Costa Fire because it benefits everyone to have them fully staffed.”

Wilson also predicts with Antioch’s growth, they are soon going to potentially need a fifth fire station so they may want to add a community service district to fund that additional station.

While serving on the Antioch City Council, Wilson says of her favorite achievements include allowing a policy change that made the police department more competitive by bringing back 3@50 retirement for legacy police officers. This allowed Antioch to hire 10-lateral officers immediately.

“That was a big thing. He (Chief Cantando) came to me very early on as a councilmember and explained the situation that Antioch needed to be very competitive in hiring lateral officers. We were able to approve that for him and in return, he has done a good job in being able to recruit lateral officers,” explained Wilson.

Another accomplishment is being able to get a business come into the Humphrey’s location.

“That is such a beautiful spot. A business can be very successful there. I am very excited about Everett and Jones coming here to Antioch,” said Wilson. “When it opens, it’s going to be a big winner for us.”

Wilson is also proud of providing the police department with the East Bay Regional Communications System which has allowed Antioch Police to better fight crime and protect the community by shutting off the scanner to the public.

“I believe that is why crime is starting to come down in the City,” says Wilson. “You have this perception versus reality but crime has gone down.”

Wilson is also proud to get Measure O onto the Ballot which was a community driven effort. Although it passed, Wilson acknowledges they are still working out some of the bugs and kinks in the measure.

Wilson further highlighted that since she had been elected, Antioch is better off now than it was three years ago.

“Crime has come down; we are starting to see businesses come back. We are improving in different areas whether its public services to repair in a timely manner,” explained Wilson. “Code enforcement is now working on homelessness which still needs work, but we are working on how we can better serve that population.”

When asked about her track record and what it says about her, Wilson believes she has a good track record.

“I know in the community I am the council member that people will say listens to them. At the end of the day she (Monica) will listen to you and respond. I do pride myself that if people reach out to me, I will come speak to them. I may not get to everybody, but I try to get to as many people as possible,” says Wilson. “I try to show up and make an honest decision and from the heart. You try and be thoughtful. Are we right 100% of the time? We are all human but I believe I have a strong track record.”

During the interview, the topic of reality versus perception was discussed. It was asked if she though it was fair the council gets blamed for crime. Wilson says it is not fair.

“I don’t think it’s fair that we get blamed,” said Wilson. “The media wants something that sells and make everyone go oh ya, here it is Antioch again. I don’t think it’s a fair perception because we have worked really hard with the police and staff to really come together.”

Wilson explained the council got on board with its police department and code enforcement and did what they could to help them become successful. Based on council actions have both have provided results that have only benefited the city.

“It’s an unfair statement, but sometimes people in the community their only source of information is the media. Sometimes I get upset with media because they are not reporting it properly and I think the council and the city and even the chief take a big hit on that,” stated Wilson.

Recently, Wilson had come under fire by some in the community that she had signed a petition on a card room ordinance, only to vote to place it on the ballot. Wilson cleared the air.

“The community went out and got more than enough signatures getting more than 9,300. Like I said in the council meeting, I am owning up to it that I signed the petition because I felt the community deserved to have a choice,” explained Wilson. “Just like we did with Measure O, the people deserved a voice. People deserve to vote for it. So I voted with the council to send it out to the public to vote in June and that is how I felt about it, let the community decide. “

When asked why not suggest to the Council while making the argument to save the money and approve it that night since there were 9,300 signatures, Wilson said stated she saw the direction the council was headed and went along with.

“Like I said, I could have, but I went along with the council and send it to the community for a vote,” explained Wilson. “At the end of the day, I believe it’s best to put it before the voters. This is a big issue, there are feelings about this in the community and they have a right to voice their opinion on it and they either want this (card room ordinance) or they do not.”

Based on her track record on the Antioch City Council the last three years and her work experience, Wilson believes she is a strong candidate for County Board of Supervisor. She says she reaches out to all segments of the community trying to help work on solutions versus focusing on a specific group, area or issue.

She also highlighted working at the County Workforce Development Board that it’s only helped her gain more experience to help the community.

“In working with the workforce development board, I realize there is now a better way to be better connected and how to improve communication about services available to the public,” said Wilson. “It’s going to be a tough field and a tough race. It was a tough race going into city council with people say oh you are not going to win no one does it on their first try. I was able to go out there and really hustle and do what I needed to do to get my name and message out there.”

For more information on Monica Wilson, visit www.monicawilsonforsupervisor.com