Meet John Marchand, Candidate For Livermore Mayor

LIVERMORE, CA — Learn more about John Marchand, who was Livermore mayor from 2011 to 2020 and is running for the position again.

1. Why are you running for mayor?

This election is about giving the voters a choice for proven, effective leadership. I have a proven track record of effective leadership as mayor. With district elections, there will be two new council members elected this fall. I look forward to working with them as we work together as a city. In the last poll before I left office, 92% of those surveyed agreed that Livermore is a great place to live and raise a family. I will continue to work to keep it that way.

2. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Livermore?

I think we need to come together as a community and listen carefully to one another. I would like to see us unite and celebrate our successes. The last few years have been especially challenging and with a strong city council leadership team, the members of our community will work together to follow the will and the desires of the majority of Livermore voters. This is such a wonderful place to live and raise a family and I want to serve our residents to keep it that way.

3. How do you intend to address it?

I want to capitalize on the City-wide poll which is taken after the election by listening carefully to what our residents are saying. The results of that poll will be considered during a public workshop in February of next year when the goals and the priorities of the City are set for the next two years. I think it is critical that we focus our community on moving forward together to achieve our common goals.

4. What should be done to solve the affordable housing crisis?

This is a complex issue and solving the affordable housing crisis must be a regional effort. A major contributor to the crisis was the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in centers like San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The first step is to work toward a jobs/housing balance as new developments are approved. Livermore is one of the few cities that already has a 1:1 jobs/housing balance. Let’s work together to keep it that way and add regional infrastructure upgrades so that the quality of life for current residents is not adversely impacted.

5. What do you think the city can do to maintain water security?

I served for 15 yards on the Board of the Zone 7 Water and over 30 years as a water chemist. When I served on Zone 7, the Agency doubled their water allotment and increased out-of-area storage. During 2015, Livermore led the State in water conservation. I have served on the regional water round table. I believe the City needs to work with Zone 7 and other agencies to develop opportunities to increase conservation, recycling, groundwater recharge and diversifying our water portfolio.

6. What can the city do to help its downtown and small businesses?

We need to support our downtown and small businesses by keeping Livermore an attractive place for residents and visitors. We need to work collaboratively to secure a prosperous environment while fully recovering from the pandemic. The City creates the environment and the quality of life that makes people want to live, work and set up their business here. As a founding member of Innovation Tri-Valley. I fully support their work with Las Positas College and local businesses and industries to set up an education-employment pipeline.

People need to feel safe in the downtown with additional lighting and police patrols. As Mayor, I have a seat on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, keeping a finger on the pulse of business activities, and personally welcoming new businesses when they come to town. The City also partners with Livermore Downtown, Inc. to bring people into the downtown with street fairs and even successfully bringing back our beloved downtown fireworks display.

7. What is your idea of responsible development?

Responsible development allows the city to grow while maintaining its character. We need to ensure that as areas are developed, we listen to our residents and our community, especially those immediately impacted. Furthermore, new developments will pay for themselves. I want to promote the idea that preference be given for housing to those who work in Livermore. We want regional cooperation with local flexibility.

8. What other issues are important to you?

Public safety is number one. People need to feel safe in their community and in the last poll, 97% of residents felt safe in their neighborhoods. Under my leadership as Mayor, public safety was number one in the budget. It will continue to be. I will ensure that our first responders have the tools and the training that they need to protect our community. A new Fire Station #9 and a new Emergency Operations Center were built during my tenure. These facilities will serve this community for generations.

Maintaining our remarkable quality of life is critical, providing the infrastructure to ensure that our wine country and agricultural area continues to thrive. It is important that Measure P is passed for the sewer extension down Tesla to protect the groundwater resources and provide infrastructure necessary to complete the South Livermore Valley Area Plan. If elected I will work to provide another key part of the Wine Country infrastructure a destination hotel next to the Bankhead and the Wine Country Inn down Arroyo Road.

Housing Security – It is important to provide a wide range of housing opportunities so that people are able to live and work here without commuting for hours and adding to our carbon footprint. I will work with the residents of Livermore to further effective strategies to address homelessness. In 2014, as Mayor, I convened the first Mayors Regional Summit on Homelessness. My work attracted the attention of First Lady Michelle Obama and she invited me to the White House to participate in the national launch of the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.

During my work with the U.S. Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness I worked with some of the top experts in the Country, we concluded that there is no “silver bullet'' to end homelessness so we developed a series of strategies called “silver buckshot”, small, carefully targeted strategies. The implementation of those has been successful. The last point-in-time count in Livermore has shown the number of people experiencing homelessness in Livermore has gone down, while the numbers throughout the County have risen over 40%.

The strategies include housing and wrap-around services provided by partnerships with organizations like InterFaith Housing, Abode Services, MidPen, CityServe and Eden Housing. Under my leadership, Chestnut Square was completed, providing housing to 72 low-income seniors, and 42 low-income families, including some who had been homeless. $1 million dollars was leveraged from the County to stand-up the first phase of Goodness Village, a community of “tiny homes”. Senator Glazer’s office recently was instrumental in providing $5 million towards phase 2. Construction has now begun on a Navigation Center, Vineyard 2.0.

During the COVID Crisis, the City was able to leverage funds from the State Projects RoomKey and Homekey to provide shelter to our unhoused neighbors. Temporary shelters also will continue to provide short term needs and the City will continue to leverage Federal CBDG and State funds.

9 If applicable, what is your political party?

N/A

10. How long have you lived in Livermore?

37 years

11. If you didn’t grow up there, what brought you to the city?

I grew up in Hayward. We moved here because we always wanted to live near open space and a beautiful wine country and we were impressed at how welcoming the community was. I love Livermore and I’ve raised my family here.

12. What experience do you have serving the community?

I have decades of direct governance experience. I served for fifteen years as an elected member of the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors. Under my leadership, Zone 7 was recognized as one of the top ten water utilities in the nation, out of 161,000. Before being elected to Council, I served on the City's General Plan Advisory Committee for two years. I was also a founding member of Livermore’s Commission for the Arts, which created the City's first Arts Masterplan. I then served on the City Council for 6 years and served 4 terms as Vice Mayor before running for Mayor. With each role I built upon increasing experience and responsibility to hone my skill set to ensure that I would be effective as Mayor. I served for nine years as mayor and with the support of the Council and the region’s mayors, we were successful.

13. Of which accomplishments are you most proud?

I’m proud of the many accomplishments that our city has delivered for its residents during my tenure. The completion of the Emergency Operations Center and the establishment of Livermorium Plaza are just a couple of highlights. Livermore is one of only 6 cities in the world to have an element named after it and have our name appear on the Periodic Table of Elements. We’re fortunate to have two national laboratories in Livermore and this beautiful new plaza will help our residents understand Livermore’s prominence in the world of technology and encourage a new generation of scientists. It’s been gratifying to have the William Mendenhall Emergency Operations Center, the John Shirley Council Chambers, the first phase of Stockmen’s Park and Fire Station #9 built under my leadership. In addition, an independent analysis concluded that our police department was fair and unbiased.

14. What is your education?

I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences from California State University at Hayward (Now CSU East Bay.)

15. Tell us about your family.

My wife is an artist and a retired Livermore school teacher. We have two adult sons who were raised in Livermore and graduated from Livermore schools. My father was the third-generation law enforcement, retiring as a police chief. My wife’s family is fifth-generation fire service as our nephew has now entered the fire service as well.

16. What is the best advice you ever received?

It’s not the facts, it’s your attitude toward the facts.

17. Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am proud to be endorsed by Mayor Bob Woerner and the entire Livermore City Council, Congressman Swalwell, Congressman McNerney, Senator Steve Glazer and many mayors throughout Alameda County.

I am endorsed by the Bay East Association of Realtors because they understand the importance of quality of life. I am proud to be endorsed by LPFD Local 1974 because they understand the importance of good governance. I am endorsed by the Alameda Labor Council, the Building and Trades Council of Alameda County because they understand the importance of bringing in good-quality, high paying jobs.

Retired police Chiefs Steve Sweeney and Mike Harris and Retired Fire Chiefs Stu Gary, Ruben Torres and Bill Cody. I am endorsed by community icons like the Concannon’s, the Crohare’s, and the Wente’s because they understand just how precious this region is and we want to keep it that way.

In the last poll before I left office, 92% of those surveyed agreed that Livermore is a great place to live and raise a family. That does not happen by accident. It only happens through careful planning. I will continue to work to keep it that way. Elect success, elect Marchand for Mayor.

18. Please provide links to websites and social media.

• Marchandformayor.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/March...
• Instagram: marchand.for.mayor