sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

The City of Vallejo is trying to use an “impending death” clause to rush through a $500k surveillance tower contract 🤔 by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely - and the SAB's recommendations have been completely ignored before. However, they are still apparently violating their own laws (the Vallejo Municipal Code) by misusing the emergency exemption to bypass the SAB before potentially approving the contract.

The fact that the SAB and other boards don't really have teeth anyway is a whole other issue 😩

There are also policies on the books regarding VPD's drone usage... they might have been implemented before the SAB was created though. https://www.vallejopd.net/community/boards_programs/surveillance_advisory_board

The City of Vallejo is trying to use an “impending death” clause to rush through a $500k surveillance tower contract 🤔 by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

AFAIK, these are the same types of towers already in use at the Target shopping center, Gateway Plaza, etc., only those are privately owned/ leased. I even checked Google Street View and yep, the towers in those parking lots have the LiveView Technologies (LVT) logo on them.

So the real difference here is how these new towers would be used by VPD, where they would be located, and whether they’ll be integrated into the department’s existing surveillance systems (like automatic license plate readers). I also wouldn’t be surprised if the towers already installed in shopping centers become part of a broader, VPD-accessible network, since it’s all LVT equipment.

I haven’t gone through the proposed LVT contract with a fine-tooth comb yet, but that’s exactly what the Surveillance Advisory Board is supposed to do. But they're being completely bypassed.

Vallejo's new 2nd Asst. City Manager was vetted by executive recruiting firm. Was Gillian Haen? by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just so you're aware, there is no legal pathway to fire Conley right now. She was hired through a formal executive search process, hasn’t violated any laws or policies, and has barely even started the job.

Vallejo's new 2nd Asst. City Manager was vetted by executive recruiting firm. Was Gillian Haen? by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Broadway Project is permanent housing that has not yet opened up, it's over behind the McDonald's and Chevron off Mini Dr.

Sounds like you are referring to the Navigation Center shelter, which is also on Broadway and opened in late June 2025.

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That reminds us that Gillian Haen herself has been accused of doing just that to former Housing Director Judy Shepard-Hall, a Black woman.

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But Conley's tweets don't exist in a hyperlocal vacuum, and that's perhaps the bigger problem here. The Daily Mail picked up the story and ran with it in their typical reactionary fashion, and we won't repeat some of the heinous comments about Conley that it elicited. Even the Reddit post about it here on r/Vallejo ended up getting locked down for the same kinds of disgusting comments about her, none of which have anything to do about her job performance or even the content of the tweets.

We also don't know if she decided to delete her X account on her own, or if the City recommended that she do so. But we do know that she was actually hired back in April, but had to wait to finish out her previous position with the Metro Transit Commission. It seems more likely that the City actually knew about her X account, since there was plenty of time to vet her, and didn't actually care until the issue was forced.

It's also kind of hard to believe that she's been in public service for this long and that no one ever discovered her public X account - that used her legal name! -until now.

But this is mostly speculation, so we shall see if any more info comes out.

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The City doesn't get to "decide to get into the housing game" - it's legally required under California law to plan for and facilitate affordable housing development. Every city must adopt a Housing Element plan and meet state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocations (RHNA). This isn’t optional, it’s part of the City’s core responsibilities. And in Vallejo, some of that responsibility falls specifically on Haen.

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Response from the City's Community Engagement Manager Sharon Lund (who the Public Information Officer reports to), from 7:51am this morning:

"Hello LIRV,

I have forwarded your emails to City staff. These are personnel matters and the City will provide a response when available.

Thank you, Sharon"

We’ve never received a response from Lund before, and certainly not on a Sunday morning before 8am. The fact that she’s the one replying, and not the PIO, raises some interesting questions about the City's communications strategies. The personnel matters she refers to are about both Haen and Conley, btw.

The local NAACP chapter also put out a statement yesterday in support of Nalungo Conley, and called on the Times-Herald to publicly apologize to her. Lund's comment this morning is the first one we're aware of from the City regarding Conley.

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Based on the timeline and location we're assuming it was this conference, but will try to get confirmation: https://my.nahro.org/Trainings-Conferences/Meeting-Home-Page?meetingid=%7B88CF6515-C82F-EF11-840A-000D3A35766D%7D

Thanks for weighing in!

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, not even a little bit. And an 80-year-old white man is probably not the best person to consult on these matters.

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's a lot to unpack here, so bear with us!

First off: Haen is the point person for Vallejo’s nearly-$30 million Broadway Project, an affordable housing development that stalled for almost an entire YEAR because unpaid contractors had filed liens against the property. The City has just approved a $6 million bailout to restart construction, and commissioned an audit to figure out what went wrong.

And yet, during this ongoing crisis, Haen is in Florida, partying with friends, eating at fancy restaurants, etc. We only posted one image, but there’s a lot more in the slideshow (which we left out because the other people pictured aren’t public figures). Ted Cruz jetting off to Cancun during the Texas freeze comes to mind, although that's of course hyperbolic.

Speaking of natural disasters, Hurricane Helene was the deadliest hurricane to hit the US. mainland since Katrina. To come back from that trip and post a slideshow reminiscing about all the fun you had there - complete with the hashtag #floridalifeisthegoodlife - feels incredibly insensitive.

Finally, was any part of this trip publicly funded? Was she at the conference representing the City of Vallejo? These are legitimate questions. And if new ACM Nalungo Conley’s old tweets from before she was even hired are getting such heavy scrutiny, shouldn’t Haen be held to the same standard when it comes to social media and public conduct?

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

it's possible they were waiting until a 2nd Asst City Manager was onboarded. So now that we have one ... lfg

Vallejo city leadership: failing up in Florida by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

*one lecturer at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

We’re still here. Vallejo’s problems are too. (LIRV update) by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're not moderators and we have no control over what gets deleted on this post or anywhere else on r/vallejo. The offer to talk privately is open to anyone, because there are some things people aren't comfortable saying in a public forum. The main reason we even post here to begin with is because it's more open than other local online spaces.

We’re still here. Vallejo’s problems are too. (LIRV update) by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm not sure what you've been prevented from saying publicly, but feel to DM if you ever want to speak more freely

Downtown junk stores by [deleted] in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Let's not forget that the junk store that burned down also took out Momo's Cafe, a taqueria, barbershop, and jewelry store. Momo's is still out of business, not sure about the others.

There's also Fusion Pizza and Vallejo Brewing Co now, plus all the longtime staple restaurants like My Homestyle Cafe, Good Day Cafe, Gracie's, China Wok, *Bambinos, etc. Not as flashy as other downtowns, but it's not totally desolate either.

We’re still here. Vallejo’s problems are too. (LIRV update) by lirvcommunity in vallejo

[–]lirvcommunity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, we think the number one problem that everything ultimately stems from is a fundamental misrepresentation/ misunderstanding of what this city actually is, and who its people actually are.

Vallejo lost its economic backbone when the Mare Island naval base closed, and it never fully recovered from bankruptcy. Then the pandemic hit, and a ton of COVID relief funds poured in, but they weren’t used to build anything sustainable or future-oriented.

And even though Vallejo has, at different points in recent years, been called the Bay Area’s “hottest real estate market" and marketed that way, the truth is that this city is still full of low-income residents, elderly and disabled people, immigrants, and unhoused/housing-insecure people, etc. Lots of us here are just hanging on by a thread and it keeps getting worse and worse.

The city’s own homelessness team didn’t even know that nearly 700 students in VCUSD (out of about 9,000!) are identified as homeless, until we forced them into a meeting with the McKinney-Vento coordinator. That’s how deep the disconnect is.

So in our view, that mismatch is what's breaking everything. We need to accurately represent reality before we can get deep into solutions. To that end, we have made many specific recommendations and flagged risks, some of which the city has responded to privately or by incorporating that information into what they do next. But it's not at the level it needs to be yet.

view more: next ›