Housing

Vacaville is a family town and that requires affordable housing for young families and seniors. The median housing price sits at $445,000 while the median Vacaville wage is $74,000. There is a huge disconnect between what Vacaville families and seniors can afford and what our city has been producing. I am proud of the progress we have made over the last 3 years. Over the last year in particular the city has embarked on a totally different direction and has approved 3 significant private owner occupied town home projects that local families can afford and we have approved over 200 low income senior units to assist our Vacaville Seniors in maintaining their housing security.
Local Jobs

Did you know the average Vacaville resident has a 27 mile commute to work.That almost two thirds of Vacaville jobs are also in the retail and service sector with low wages and no benefits? There is nothing wrong with these types of businesses but they often don’t afford their workers a the ability to own a home or to fully support their family. We need good local jobs! Over the last 3 years the council has worked hard to build our Bio-Tech industry and do our best to “COVID-proof” local small business. We landed a new BioTech Manufacturer, one of the largest Bio-Pharm firms on the east coast for a major Vacaville expansion. This deal will produce hundreds of living wage jobs for Vacaville residents.
Healthy Budget

The City of Vacaville has had a rough couple of years financially. When I entered office 3 years ago the city had a structural deficit of almost $5 million dollars, meaning the city was spending roughly $5 million more annually than it was taking in. We were rapidly spending down our reserve and there wasn’t a conscious plan to turn the ship around. At the time you are reading this post the city has a $1.5 surplus, meaning we are making $1.5 million more than we are spending annually. This surplus funding can be spent on staff, parks, new facilities and maintenance of our aging infrastructure. We have paid down close to $20 million in long term debt and are in a significantly better financial position than we were just a few years ago.
Public Safety

Did you know Vacaville’s rate of violent crime is 1/2 the State average? Did you know our fire department responds to over 10,000 calls per year or close to 30 per day? Vacaville is a safe community. We can walk the streets at night, take our kids to the park and enjoy a relatively low crime rate because of our amazing city staff. During the entire period of Nolan’s tenure crime has gone down. We braved one of the worst natural disasters; the Lightening Complex Fire with no damage to structures within city limits.
Development

Nolan understands that a city needs to grow to thrive. That growth has to be smart and well planned. Over the last decade Vacaville has continued to build new housing developments that lack parks, schools and recreational facilities for our growing families. Every child deserves a park they can play in, a school they can walk to, nearby public safety and retail to support their family! Over the last 3 years the city has built two new parks and embarked on several new public recreation projects and significant upgrades. Quality of life matters.
Parks & Rec

Vacaville has some of the finest recreational facilities in the region. Whether you are playing a game at Keating Park, hiking through Lagoon Valley Park, swimming at our amazing Aquatic Center, playing with your kids at Great Wonders Park or catching a show at the Vacaville Performing Arts Theater you know we have world class amenities for our residents. Over the last 3 years we have built two new neighborhood parks, sizeably increased recreation budgets and significantly increased parks and recreation offerings even in the face of the COVID pandemic.