Mayoral candidate questions proposed $120 million street repair bond – Times

Vallejo Public Works fill a pothole on Redwood Street in Vallejo in 2022. (Courtesy photo)

At first, it would seem that the $120 million in bonds the Vallejo City Council is proposing for street repair would be a blessing for the city’s deteriorated streets. But at least one resident, a mayoral candidate, sees the move as a mistake.

The council Feb. 20 started the application process for $120 million in bonds for a multi-year repair project. Also, the council approved $5 million of Measure P sales tax revenue for city roadways needing immediate attention. The sales tax has been approved, but the bonds still need approval.

More than half of the city’s streets are rated poor or very poor by independent experts, based on U.S. Army Corps of Engineer standards.

Council members were enthusiastic about both the $5 million allocation and the bond at the meeting, but mayoral candidate Andrea Sorce said she is concerned about the proposed bond.

Floating a bond essentially means borrowing the money, said Sorce, who teaches economics at Diablo Valley College.

“Sometimes it’s necessary to borrow money, for example, when a city needs to spend a large amount of money all at once,” Sorce said.

For example, this would be the case when buying a building. However, the work on the $300 million in deferred maintenance can’t be done in one fell swoop.

“You can’t do it all at once because you can’t tear up every road in the city at the same time,” Sorce said. “It’s only feasible for us to tear up 10 percent of the roads in the city at one time. Also, there are only so many trucks and workers you can get out there to do the work. Instead, the city could use funds from Measure P to do the work in increments over that nine-year period. That way, the city will pay for the work as it is performed and avoid having to pay millions of dollars in interest on the proposed bond.”

Measure P is a seven-eighths-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in November 2022. Dubbed the Safe Streets and Essential Services Measure, the measure brought in $11 million in the eight months between April and December, according to Loera-Diaz.

Work on the $120 million bond would be performed over a period of nine years. Sorce says having a nine-year repair plan is a good idea. Her disagreement is with the financing.

“We have the option with road repair to pay as you go,” Sorce said.

Loera-Diaz said she sees Sorce’s point, but has a different perspective.

“I respect Andrea’s expertise as an economics teacher, however, I feel that the bond is needed to secure the funds for the road repair,” Loera-Diaz said.

Revenue from Measure P goes into the city’s general fund, and choices as to how the general fund is spent are up to the council.

As the council’s lineup changes, new members might not choose to allocate general fund monies to street repair, Loera-Diaz said.

“Money that comes in from a tax measure can be used for anything. We want to secure the funds for the road repair,” the vice mayor said.

A new council can’t change what the $120 million bond is used for, but it could change what the Measure P money is used for, Loera-Diaz said.

“The bond locks in that we have to spend the money on the streets it identifies,” the vice mayor said. “Measure P funds are pledged for payment of the bond and other councils cannot change this. Therefore, our streets will get repaired.”