Remarks by Alexander Matias
68 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 3
- Play at 2:17:40
“Thank you, Mayor. Before I dive into the topic at hand, I just want to give our new Public Works Director a compliment. You are on a generational run, my friend. Repaving streets. You got machetes done. You're the fitness center to the waterfront in a short period of time. Bravo, sir. And this. Thank you.”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:18:10
“I know it's a team effort, but amazing. Amazing. Keep it going. Amazing. Anywho, on to this one. So I'm going to make some general comments, and then I'm going to tell you guys where I'm at with this because we got to go home, and there's still a lot of items to cover. Okay. We all know that there's been mismanagement It's been delays. There's been a series of missteps that have been made on this project. And at the end of the day, not just this facility, but all of our public safety facilities need to go through some sort of evaluation, hopefully in the next 10 to 15 years, because they're…”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:23:58
“Thank you, City Manager Black. And, you know, we're having a conversation here, so I'm going to tell you how I'm really feeling about this. THIS IS WHAT IT HAS FELT LIKE. I'VE BEEN ON THE COUNCIL FOR 20 MONTHS. WE'VE GOTTEN THREE PRESENTATIONS ON THIS ITEM. MAYBE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ONE AND THREE. AND WE'VE TAKEN A FEW VOTES TO MOVE THIS FORWARD. AND IT JUST FEELS LIKE EVERY SINGLE TIME THE PRESENTATION IS, DO YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WANT TO DO THIS? AND EVERY PASSING you know, interval of time that goes between the vote we take and the work that staff does, the cost…”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:27:36
“And 100% and also I think that's what we are here for, in my opinion, my humble opinion, You do the work and then you say, okay, you got a big problem, folks. You got to decide which one is the lesser of the, as opposed to like, what type of engineering y'all trying to get done here? Because it's like, I mean, I think I got one engineer, one architect on the team, but I didn't go to school for that personally. So, yeah, I'm done.”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:49:47
“Thank you, Mayor. So can you guys put up option three on screen, please? Okay, so... My first question to Director Jobe and the architect is, here, does this $36 million number that you've referenced, does that also include the $6 million you said you can additionally save if you use cheaper materials and finishes and yada, yada, yada, like all the other stuff? So is that number really 42 or 36?”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:50:52
“And then my follow-up question is, a few slides before, you had sort of referenced that if we went with option one, there would be a 10 to 12 million dollar expense to relocate the Corp Yard. So, assuming we went with option three, what happens to the 10 to 12 million in that instance, given that the Corp Yard stays in its current location?”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:51:51
“Got it. And I have proposed an alternative to the courtyard issue, but I'm not sure if we can pursue it. But that's another subject for another day. So on the $36 million, that would come off of the, like, 156 number? Is that right?”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:52:15
“So can you go back to the slide with all the numbers? Yes, here.”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:57:19
“That's all it is. I totally hear you guys and I think all of the points I've personally heard are all well taken. And at the same time, the thing I've been pushing on since I was sworn in 20 months ago is I don't, and again, there's no world where we're gonna spend any less, according to your estimate, any less than $80 million on this facility, right? Is there a world?”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 2:58:16
“Yeah, so definitely respect my colleagues' opinion on this one, but part of where I want to see the conversation go is say we say, look at this recommendation. We also get a feel for what's going on with the streets. Again, I agree with you, City Manager Black. We had a whole plan for the streets too. We were supposed to go out and bond, right? And the previous council had signed off on that. And then I get sworn in, a few of us get sworn in, and then it became a pay-go program. And there was no council direction on that. So I think that's the thing I struggle with, that sometimes it feels…”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 3:54:05
“I just want to add an item to the hopper before we adjourn.”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 4:04:11
“Thank you, Mayor. And to the public speaker who just called in, we have received your email. It has been reviewed, and city staff's working on it. You should hear back from them, hopefully, in the not-so-distant future. But it has been reviewed. My item is the following, and this is, again, the initial step in the process. Request for consideration on the part of the Vallejo City Council that we have the Measure P Commission evaluate a $1 million appropriation for a storefront facade improvement program alongside business corridors that have been or will be repaved in the next year ahead, in…”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 4:06:38
“I don't know how this works, but I know I'm putting it on the council's hopper on our list so that we have to go through the process and then we do the engage in the sausage making later on.”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 4:07:05
“So can we take a vote on each one of our requests? Yeah, let's do that. Let's do that.”
City Council · Oct 13, 2026
- Play at 1:37:40
“Council Member Matias. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you for the presentation. I have two questions. The first, this long-range financial plan as you develop it, would it incorporate current policy questions that this council is grappling with, provided we were to share those with you through staff?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:38:11
“Okay. And so you guys will share a timeline, I'm assuming, with us as to when you would need that by?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:38:21
“As soon as possible. Okay. So what is the timeline to get this done?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:39:50
“Okay. This wasn't spelled out in the staff report but I just want to make sure that it does cover it. Do you guys also look at landscaping districts?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:40:03
“Landscaping districts and the rates for each of our districts?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:40:41
“And along the same lines, I'll be quick, I'm almost done. So the city of Vallejo has, I don't know how we got here, but different parts of town have different rates when it comes to commercial buildings and the property taxes that they pay, so are you also getting to that level of granularity, like district by district, taking a look at the delta, or is that just information that the finance team is feeding you?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:41:54
“But you guys are going to be looking at that, too, to some extent.”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:41:58
“Okay. And then just to piggyback off of a comment that Councilmember Leonard, you made, so I don't know if this fiscal digital, this digital tool that you guys are coming up with, if it's going to talk to that other software that we signed off on that you guys are implementing? Is it?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:42:25
“there was a whole presentation that we paid that we approved like half a million bucks for so we can move away from spreadsheets and... Are you talking about the ERP system?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:43:57
“I know I'm getting into the weeds, into the operations, which is more y'all's lane, but I don't want to have us do something and then, you know, we're all operating out of this one system and then they're not talking to each other. So I'm just making a comment. You guys can do whatever, what you may with it. But it would be great if they can talk to each other that they talk to each other. And if you guys can get someone in here to have them talk to each other so we're not relying on staff to have to think about that in addition to doing all their other work. And that way, we can just kind of…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:45:34
“Yeah, and then the last thing is, back to public engagement, by the time we get to February, and we're going through the same rodeo, going over the budget, it would be really nice if we had something that the public could play around with. Other cities have done this a million and one times where they could go in and play with the budget themselves as opposed to us just giving presentations. So I know that's extra work, but you made the point of us really bringing the, and so did Council Member Letta, to bring the community along so that they're a part of this process and it's not just us…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026