Remarks by Alexander Matias
68 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 3
- Play at 2:08:03
“If that's the consensus of the group, then we'll just stay here.”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 3:49:54
“Thank you, vice mayor. So, um, you know, um, I was actually, I WAS ACTUALLY THINKING ABOUT SOME OF THE REQUESTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE BY OUR PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS THAT I'VE BEEN IN OFFICE. SO THAT WAS KIND OF GOING THROUGH MY MIND. AND WHAT SOME OF THOSE REQUESTS KIND OF FELL UNDER, WHAT BUCKETS. specifically tied to Measure P and whether or not this body approved those requests. So that was kind of like the first thought that was going through my mind as this team was making the presentation. The other thought that was going through my mind is just A COMMENT I WANT…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 3:58:14
“Yeah, and the best example I can think of, and again, I'm not in law enforcement, so I apologize in advance if I'm going to speak out of turn, but I remember you guys went and got an appropriation from the congressman maybe a year or two ago for a mobile unit, right? I don't know how often you used that mobile unit. Those cameras get used every single day by every sworn officer in this city. And we need it for reform. We need it to keep people safe. We need it for all the things you outlined. So for me, kind of like could the funding strategy going into this year, could that appropriation,…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 4:18:37
“Yes, I'm just going to put the question back to the city manager and the assistant city managers in the audience. We found $300,000 last meeting to come out of the general fund, so why can't we find $464,000? And again, I'm not here talking about... WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE OTHER? THESE THINGS ARE BOTH IMPORTANT, BUT I'M JUST ASKING, WHY IS THIS NOT GOING THROUGH THE GENERAL FUND AND THROUGH PD'S BUDGET, IF WE ALREADY HAVE A $29 MILLION DEFICIT?”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 4:50:39
“Whatever we can get through midnight, I'm fine with. Okay, which is 15 minutes.”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 5:34:16
“Side note, I've probably got about 15 minutes left. Okay, let's try to power through this really quick.”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 5:44:41
“I'll be quick here. So I currently serve as the liaison to the Economic Development Commission and have for the past 18 months. I would like City Manager Black, as soon as your calendar becomes available, for you to engage that commission in discussion, not just giving your background, but also the work that that commission is moving forward. They have a council-approved work plan. and they're having some really good conversations that I think we should be paying more attention to, and relatedly to this item, I would like periodic reporting on this engagement to go to the Economic Development…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 5:56:51
“But this is a resolution from San Francisco.”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 6:03:04
“It's item C. I don't know if the plaque falls under the policy that we looked at I think a year ago. But I recall that when that policy around street namings was put forth, one of the things I spoke about was the fact that I didn't find it fair that we were putting the onus on celebrities or families of folks who we were making these street honorings, like putting them on the hook to have to pay for these things and maintain them. So we made an amendment to the policy to have the city incur that cost. So I would just go back to the policy that was adopted at the time with our amendments where…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 6:07:22
“YOU WERE SAYING WE DIDN'T TAKE A VOTE. THERE WAS JUST A STATEMENT MADE. RIGHT, IT WAS JUST A STATEMENT.”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 6:16:39
“Council Member Matias. And then I have a request, and this would be step two. So I don't even remember when I made the original ask, but I asked the Vallejo City Council to... REQUEST TO AGENDIZE AN ITEM SPECIFICALLY AROUND PUTTING A MORATORIUM ON CAR WASHES AND SELF-STORAGE UNITS ACROSS THE CITY. WE TOOK A VOTE. IT WAS UNANIMOUS. AND THEN IT WENT INTO THE VOID. SO WHAT I'VE SEEN IS THAT EVER SINCE WE MADE COMMENTS AROUND THAT ITEM, NOW YOU GOT in our planning pipeline, self-storage units, car washes, and they're popping up in places where, in my opinion, they shouldn't even go based on our…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 6:19:46
“I'm going to start calling the referral list The Void. It's going to be their nickname. But I just say that to say I would like the Vallejo City Council to take a second vote on that because, again, each of these sites that ultimately ends up becoming either a car wash or a self-storage space is a site that we can't really look at specifically to attract a grocer to attract a certain type of business redevelop it for apartments and you're having that happen across the city with increasing frequency and nobody's paying attention to that so for now I would like for us to take a second vote and…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 6:21:46
“So, Councilwoman, I just want to clarify. I am not in any way, shape, or form talking about anything that's currently in the pipeline. I'm not speaking to that. All I'm saying that, you know, when we look at, A LOT OF LAND RIGHT WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IS THIS THE BEST AND HIGHEST POSSIBLE USE OF THIS LOT OF LAND AND IT COULD VERY WELL BE THAT INSTEAD OF YOU HAVING A CAR WASH WHICH MAY JUST BRING IN YOU KNOW MAYBE THREE OR $5000 IN PROPERTY TAX YOU COULD HAVE SOME OTHER TYPE OF BUSINESS AT THAT LOCATION THAT GENERATES EVEN MORE REVENUE FOR THE CITY. That should be informed what goes in a…”
City Council · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 9:04
“I just want to make sure this is working. Okay, we're good? All right, great. Thank you, Mayor. So this proclamation is recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins on September 15th and goes through October 15th of 2026. Whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed September 15 to October 15, celebrating Hispanic and Latin American people, cultures, achievements, and the contributions of the more than 37,000 Hispanic and Latin people, which is 30% of Vallejo's population, who help make our city stronger every day. And whereas the observance began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage…”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 59:36
“Thank you, Mayor. I want to pull J and it's the other report that's on here. I think it's T. Yes.”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:24:48
“Sorry about that, Mayor. So fully supportive, 1,000%, but I do want to see a response from either our city attorney or the city manager on the comment that was made by Council Member Letajew. I'M JUST ASKING FOR A RESPONSE FROM THE CITY MANAGER, CITY ATTORNEY ON THE POINT THAT WAS RAISED BY COUNCIL MEMBER.”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 2:54:22
“Thank you, Mayor. So I want to touch on a few quick points. Number one, recruitment. So 87 sworn and I think you identified, Chief Todd, that there's another three, possibly four in the pipeline. Can you speak to what work is underway? Where do you forecast the number to be on December 31st? And what does that partnership with the Sheriff's Office look like as it's drawing to a close? So I want to just sort of present a picture of what Vallejo should expect as we head into the new year, because I've gotten some questions about that.”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 2:57:14
“And then next I have a, it's going to be a question followed by a comment. So for this one, can I ask Assistant City Manager Conley to come up to the podium, please? So I have a question. You worked in tandem with City Manager Black in developing our budget. SO THIS IS A SPOILER FOR THE ITEM THAT I PULLED OFF CONSENT. SO CAN YOU SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE POSITION ELIMINATION THAT WAS RECOMMENDED BY CITY STAFF. JUST PRESENT A PICTURE AS TO WHY THAT WAS DONE SPECIFICALLY FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND WHAT IF ANY SAVINGS Is that generating, is it not generating any savings? Just want to go back in…”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 2:59:20
“consider increasing funding to provide for more officers and we would just try to figure that out with the budget process and is it fair to say two quick follow-ups is it fair to say that for some period of time those positions were budgeted for but were not filled because of our staffing general staffing challenges”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:00:01
“Okay. What was happening, and some of my colleagues, my senior colleagues can attest to this, was that money, 60 to 70 positions, whatever the number was, was going to the police department, but the positions weren't filled, so the dollars were kind of being spread around as they needed to be spread around. Is that a fair statement?”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:00:47
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:01:00
“So the reason why I'm asking these specific questions is because item T, and I've also seen it on our printed media, and I've also seen it in recordings recently, where there is this narrative going around that we, the Vallejo City Council, was eliminating police officer positions. Not true. Not true. We were... That money was always there. I don't remember the last time we had 131 officers. I wish we did. And everybody on here said that if we had that problem, that's a great problem to have. We will sign off expeditiously. But what was happening instead was what I called at the time, and you…”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:32:25
“THANK YOU, MAYOR. SO I'M JUST GOING TO MAKE A QUICK POINT ON THIS BECAUSE I DIDN'T COMMENT ON IT IN MY PREVIOUS ROUND. HERE'S THE ISSUE I'M HAVING IN FULL TRANSPARENCY, AND I THINK I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE IN OTHER CONTEXT. SO AGAIN, I APPRECIATE ALL THE UPDATES THAT THE CHIEF'S GIVING. WE HAVE A VEHICLE, AND THAT IS THE PUBLIC SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE. TO MORE MEANINGFULLY DIVE INTO THESE UPDATES. THOSE MEETINGS ARE PUBLIC. THEY'RE TELEVISED. EVERYBODY KNOWS WHEN THEY HAPPEN. THEY CAN GO IN. THEY CAN SHARE THEIR CONCERNS. YADA, YADA, YADA. WHEN IT COMES TO THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM…”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:44:08
“I PROMISE YOU, THIS IS QUICK. SO I'M NOT AS ELOQUENT AS COUNCILMEMBER LETTED YOU, BUT I JUST HAVE TO REPEAT THIS, RIGHT? SO I HEARD MAYBE YOU WEREN'T HEARING, MAYBE YOU WEREN'T LISTENING, MAYBE YOU WEREN'T HERE, MAYBE THIS OR THAT. I JUST HAVE TO SAY, IF WE WERE DOING A BANG-UP JOB REPORTING ON ALL THIS STUFF, YOU WOULD NOT SEE AS MUCH COMMUNITY COMING OUT FRUSTRATED asking us what are we doing around reform. That's really what I'm trying to get at here. So I'm only asking for feedback so that we can get to a place where we're doing a better job reporting out. Because again, if we were really…”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 4:10:57
“Just one, and it's just a follow-up. Thank you for the presentation. It's just a follow-up to that last comment you made. So you're saying there's going to be anti-displacement policies. They're not localized to the downtown area. They're more broadly for the city. How does that tie into timelines we've shared with our housing advocates vis-a-vis the package that we're supposed to get this fall? What is the interplay there?”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026