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 All eight candidates vying for two Fairfield City Council seats were on hand Wednesday night as the forum season kicked off in anticipation of the Nov. 6 election.
Included were Jack Batson, a current council member; William Dexter Sanders, a retired military officer; Steven Kays, a businessman; Kurt Hahn, Central Solano Citizen/Taxpayer Group president; Chuck Timm, a retired Fairfield Police sergeant.; Galen Lawton, a medical marijuana activist and businessman; Matt Garcia, a banker and Victor Maluenda, a driving instructor. The forum was hosted by The North Texas Street Business Association and focused on Fairfield issues such as addressing crime, attracting businesses and improving the image of areas in Fairfield such as North Texas Street. Each candidate was given five minutes to speak and fielded questions from the dozen or so members of the audience. One of the most energetic candidates, 21-year-old Garcia, claimed to not know all the answers, but promised to attack every issue with the same effort as those older than he. "I can do my homework just like them," Garcia said while pacing the room. He said the city has a problem with troubled youths and vowed to help combat it by opening youth centers and bringing in the Boys and Girls Club. "We have a lot of youths not going in the right direction," Garcia said. "I'm here to show you there are young people who care." Another candidate garnering several questions, many about his advocacy for medical marijuana, was Lawton. He said he wanted to focus on setting up events in areas with a bad image to show that some neighborhoods aren't all that bad. Lawton also spoke about the lack of outdoor eateries and places to hang out during the day in areas like Texas Street, where he owns a business. "A lot of people don't have the opportunity to sit and have a cup of coffee," Lawton said. "You can do that at the mall, but not North Texas." Timm spoke of the need for a homeless shelter to remove transients from the streets. "Once you offer them services, they have no business in business centers," Timm said. The Reporter
08/30/2007
By Danny Bernardini/Staff Writer
Danny Bernardini can be reached at
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