 The first time I read that 21-year-old lifelong Fairfield resident Matt Garcia was running for City Council, I thought either this guy is a wide-eyed optimist or a masochist. In fact, the first time I spoke with him, which was after a column I wrote on youth crime, I told him flatly that the young candidates don't win.
We recently talked over ginormous roast beef sandwiches at Joes Buffet downtown. He tore into the issue of youth crime. He explained that Fairfield has the highest percentage of Section 8 housing in the county and too often families moving here from the Bay Area have brought problems with them. Plus, theyve moved to a city thats been giving lip service to a boys and girls club for years, has no bowling alley and no skating rink. Kids need things to do to keep busy. Garcia explained how he wanted to get colleges to come to the schools and promote education. And he wants more students who don't plan on going to college to be aware of trade schools like Golden Hills. His life since high school has been spent coaching youth sports and talking to young people to deter them from crime and gangs. He knows he couldve gone down that path. But while he wanted to be a voice for young people on the council, he made it clear that he would represent all of Fairfield. He spoke a lot about our senior citizens and how he wanted a safer community for them. He spoke about the fact that we have a lot of Baby Boomers set to retire with a senior center that needs expansion to accommodate them. While we were talking there seemed to be a constant stream of supporters and well-wishers coming by the table. And at one point, Garcia took a phone call from Councilman John Mraz. After the call, I asked him if he would simply be a vote for Mraz or a vote for a developer if he was on the council. He said while he admired Mraz and others who have given him advice, he stressed that he was independent, a nonpartisan and he would not accept contributions from anyone who wanted him to do something against his conscience. Garcia isnt shy about wanting to grow Fairfield saying, 'The city is going to grow regardless. I want to help shape it. I want to make the decisions to make Fairfield better. And I and my future children will live with the results of those decisions.' He decried red tape and city ordinances that make businesses leapfrog Fairfield for Vacaville. He wants to remove those impediments so businesses will locate here. Hes tired of seeing vacant buildings along North Texas Street while seeing motel after motel that caters to prostitution and drugs. Garcia comes across as driven. Hes no masochist and is only slightly quixotic. When he tells you he was homecoming king, prom king, senior class vice president and voted 'most spirited' in his senior class, youre not surprised. Confidence and a vision beyond his years are evident when you speak with him. I tell people all the time that if you want Fairfield to stay the same, don't vote for me. I wouldn't count him out. Kelvin Wade is a writer and lives in Fairfield. E-mail him at
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or visit his blog at www.dailyrepublic.typepad.com/theotherside
09/20/2007 |
