Meet Petaluma City Council Candidate Janice Cader Thompson

PETALUMA, CA — Patch reached out to all the candidates for Petaluma City Council.

Three candidates are running for Petaluma City Council District 1.

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We sent out questionnaires and reprinted their answers verbatim. Below, read the responses of Janice Cader Thompson, a candidate for a seat representing District 1 on the Petaluma City Council.

Janice Cader Thompson, 71, is running for a seat representing District 1 on the Petaluma City Council. In the questionnaire, Cader Thompson identified housing affordability and stability, safe transportation, and reliable public spaces and services as priorities.

What is your educational background?

Associate degree and certificate in dental hygiene.

What is your professional background?

I worked full-time as a dental hygienist for 25 years while raising three daughters in East Petaluma. That work taught me to listen carefully, solve practical problems, and build trust with people from all walks of life. I have also spent decades serving our community, including two terms on the Petaluma City Council.

Have you ever held public office, whether appointive or elective?

Yes. I served on the Petaluma City Council from 1998 to 2002 and was elected in 2022 to represent District 1. I am the council rep for major transportation and water initiatives; I serve on the SMART Board, the Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA) Board, the Petaluma Valley Ground Water Sustainability Program (GSA), and the Water Advisory Committee (WAC). I have also served on Petaluma's General Plan Advisory Committee and Measure U fiscal oversight committee.

What are the top three issues facing your district right now?

First, affordability and housing stability. Families and young people need more attainable housing, and mobile home park residents need strong protection from steep rent increases and displacement. Second, safe and reliable transportation. We need to keep fixing streets, improve crossings near schools and senior destinations, and address traffic and safety around Corona Road and the Highway 101 overpass. Third, dependable public spaces and services. Residents deserve well-maintained parks, responsive emergency services, and a City Hall that makes it easier to solve problems and open a business.

What is one specific policy you would implement in your first 100 days?

I would reform business permitting through Petaluma's zoning code update so it is easier to open or expand a small business. Common, compatible activities should not require a business owner to navigate a new conditional or minor use permit. Today, an art gallery that wants to offer art classes can face a separate permit requirement. That is the kind of sensible flexibility our rules should encourage.

The first phase of the zoning code update is already addressing barriers like these. In the first 100 days of my next term, I would work with my Council colleagues to adopt those reforms and advance the second phase, expected in the spring. The goal is a clearer, faster process that gives small businesses room to grow while maintaining appropriate protections for neighbors.

What is your plan to enact this plan and how would you measure success after one year?

The work starts by listening to business owners about where the permitting process gets in their way. I have heard those concerns, and the city is already updating its zoning code in response. I would keep meeting with owners, work with staff to identify common activities that can be allowed without an unnecessary additional permit, and build Council consensus to enact those changes through the first and second phases of the code update. After one year, I would look at which permit requirements were eliminated or simplified, how long it takes to approve a typical small business application, and whether more businesses can add compatible activities without starting a separate approval process. I would ask owners whether the new rules are understandable and whether the city is responding more quickly. We should publish those measures and keep improving the process based on what we hear.

What is one specific change you would make to improve livability in your district?

I would improve traffic signal timing, especially during school drop-off and commute hours. Petaluma's highway, railroad tracks, and river create physical barriers that make cross-town trips difficult. We cannot remove those barriers, but we can do a better job coordinating the signals on the routes people use every day.

I would ask the city to review where drivers face repeated delays, adjust timing by time of day where appropriate, and check the results in the field. Smoother traffic flow would make everyday trips less frustrating while we continue work on larger transportation improvements.

How would you improve transparency or accountability in your local government?

Accountability starts with showing up. When residents invite me to a meeting, I go. When they contact me with a concern, I respond and, when a conversation would help, I call. People should be able to reach their representative and hear what happened after they raised an issue.

I also want to make the city's capital budget much easier to follow. Residents should be able to see each major project's expected completion date, budget, funding sources, and current status in one accessible place. When a timeline or cost changes, the city should explain why. Projects can come in over or under budget for sound reasons, but the public deserves to see those changes and how they were resolved. Building that level of visibility will take work, and I want to make it a priority.

What makes you a better choice than your opponents?

I grew up in District 1, raised my family here, and have spent nearly 30 years showing up for Petaluma. Residents can judge me by my record: paving McDowell, Maria, Madison, and Rainier; standing with mobile home park residents; improving parks and public safety staffing; and helping deliver the North SMART station. I know the issues, the people, and how to work with colleagues and city staff to get results.

I have never seen either of my opponents at City Hall or received an email from either about a community concern. One has no campaign website that I have found; the other's website offers little substance and includes material that reads like generic AI-generated content. District 1 deserves a representative who does the work before asking for the job. I have been doing that work, and I am asking for another term to keep delivering.