Solano County: Benicia, Dixon elect new mayors, city council members

Benicia voters appear to have elected Steve Young as their new mayor with a clear lead over two competitors in Tuesday’s election.

They also elected two city councilmembers, incumbent Tom Campbell, who secured the largest portion of vote, and Terry Scott, a retired businessman who narrowly beat out Trevor Macenski, an environmental planner.

Dixon voters, according to final but unofficial results, elected Steven Bird, a deputy sheriff, as mayor over three competitors and chose Don Hendershot, a district attorney’s investigator, for the City Council.

In the race for Fairfield City Council, Scott Tonnesen won the seat in District 2; Rick Vaccaro bested two competitors in District 4; and Doriss Panduro secured the short-term seat in District 5.

Appointed incumbent mayor Ronald Kott was re-elected for the position in Rio Vista, and newcomers Walt Stanish and Debra King won seats on the City Council over the two incumbent candidates, Hope Cohn and Don Roos.

Alma Hernandez was elected over incumbent candidate Anthony Adams for the Suisun City City Council.

In the Vacaville City Council race in District 6, voters favored Jeanette Wylie, a retired school teacher, over incumbent candidate Raymond Beaty by just 3 percent of the vote. The remaining district races for Vacaville City Council were won by Roy Stockton in District 1, Michael E. Silva in District 3 and Jason Roberts in District 5.

In Solano County ballot measures, school bonds got mixed results in Tuesday’s election as voters approved a $45.7 million bond for River Delta Unified School District but rejected two others.

Voters gave a thumbs up to Measure J in River Delta Unified School District School Facilities Improvement District 1, which will provide a $45.7 million bond to upgrade classrooms and other school facilities.

However, River Delta’s SFID No. 2 Measure K, which would have provided $14.6 million to upgrade classrooms and school facilities, did not pass.

Likewise, the Winters Joint Unified School District’s Measure W, which would have issued a $19 million bond to modernize and repair classrooms and school facilities, failed to get enough votes to pass.

In other Solano County measures, Fairfield voters passed by a 2-to-1 margin Measure C, a cannabis business tax to support the city’s general fund. In Vacaville, Measure V passed, setting maximum tax rates for commercial cannabis cultivation. And in Benicia, Measure D, an advisory measure on whether the city should allow any new retail cannabis dispensaries, passed with just over half of the votes.

In Rio Vista, Measure O passed with almost 63 percent of the vote, establishing a three-quarter-cent tax for five years to support general city services.

Voters in Suisun City rejected Measure R, which would have converted the office of the city clerk from an elective to an appointed position, but approved Measure Q, which establishes a lifetime limit of four terms for the offices of mayor and City Council.

In the Dixon Water District, voters passed Measure S, which repeals current water rates, reinstitutes the rates in effect prior to April 1, 2019, and directs the City Council to propose a different rate schedule and conduct a new rate-setting process.