Fairfield councilmembers, county supervisors lobby for funds

Fairfield councilmembers, county supervisors lobby for funds
By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | March 05, 2009

FAIRFIELD - From the Pentagon to the Capitol, city and county leaders scrambled around Washington, D.C., on Thursday in a lobbying blitz.

Fairfield Mayor Harry Price and Councilmen Chuck Timm and Rick Vaccaro met during the day with top military officials and local members of Congress.

Among the items on Fairfield's wish list is $750,000 for the Place 2 Be After Three and millions of dollars for two projects at Travis Air Force Base. The top item on the list is $160,000 for the Matt Garcia Youth Center.

'What we are looking for is some extra funding so we can keep (the center) open five days a week,' said Vaccaro, who is also an administrator at Golden Hills Education Center. 'I talked a little bit about how I work with an at-risk population and I have seen kids there who normally would not attend anything like this.'

The city delegation met with several top Solano County leaders during a joint visit to the Pentagon to speak with military brass about the future of Travis Air Force Base.

In a coordinated approach, local leaders are asking for $5.8 million to improve the South Gate route that delivery trucks use. With the existing setup, a truck could accidentally end up on an active runway.

They also went to Washington intending to ask for $12.5 million for a reserve squadron operations facility for the base. However, Timm said congressional officials indicated the project might be more 'palatable' split into two $6 million increments.

'I don't know what action Congress will take, it depends on what the funding is,' Timm said. 'The Air Force is satisfied with it. For crying out loud, these guys fly million-dollar airplanes and they are in trailers.'

Beyond Fairfield and Travis, county supervisors are also meeting with officials about the possibility of historic preservation grants for the veterans hall in Vallejo and several other topics, county spokesman Steve Pierce said.

Supervisors will also meet with legislators about obtaining the land on which the county's Fouts Springs Youth Facility sits in the Mountain Wilderness Area in Colusa County. Solano County has tried for years to acquire the land from the U.S. Forest Service.

Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or bantonius@dailyrepublic.net.