Union City, CA: Union City is grappling with a substantial $3 million budget deficit, prompting Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci to propose an increase in the utility tax, which already stands at 5%. The current utility tax, applied to electricity, gas, telecommunications, and internet services, is seen by many residents and local businesses as burdensome. Nevertheless, Dutra-Vernaci argues that raising this tax is a necessary step to address the city’s financial woes.
Simultaneously, the city has announced a significant infrastructure project: the installation of a new bicycle lane along Union City Blvd. This project comes with a hefty price tag of $7.8 million, funded largely by the city’s taxpayers. The juxtaposition of a large expenditure on new bike lanes amid a budget crisis has sparked criticism from various quarters.
Facing a budget crisis yet again this year, the city has failed to control spending, and instead is again threatening to cut police services, reduce infrastructure repairs, and cut back on services for seniors and children. City Manager Joan Mallory, (called “the CEO who runs the (city) operations” according to Union City’s official web site), must not see the hypocrisy of spending almost 8 million dollars on new bike trails while at the same time bemoaning a budget shortfall of 3 million.
The bike path project is marketed as needed to “provide buffered bike lanes from Smith Street to the southern city limits, approximately 2.5 miles in length… reconstructing median to accommodate new bike lanes, constructing a shared use pathway, streetlight and traffic signal improvements, striping, signage, pavement… and new landscaping.”
That sure sounds like an urgent project that taxpayers cannot survive without.
During Mayor Dutra-Vernaci’s nearly 25 years on the council, Union City has been criticized for overspending and overtaxing its residents. Critics argue that the city has failed to attract high-quality businesses that could provide both jobs and a stable tax base. Instead, since 2018, Union City has increasingly relied on controversial and unreliable businesses, such as recreational marijuana stores, to help bridge its budget gaps.
In 2017, Mayor Dutra-Vernaci and then-council member Emilie Duncan (now a mayoral candidate for the November election), voted in favor of the ordinance allowing retail marijuana stores. Both Dutra-Vernaci and Duncan have continued to support retail pot stores despite widespread concerns over on-going violent crime at these types of businesses.
In response to public concern over the proximity of these businesses to children and parks, Dutra-Vernaci downplayed the issue in 2017 when the measure was first approved, saying, “I know it’s sounding like we’re going to open up a dispensary or marijuana business on every corner, but that’s not the case at all.” However, this reassurance has done little to quell fears, particularly as crime statistics related to these businesses remain troubling and as the city is on its way to approving a THIRD recreational marijuana store.
Initially, Union City would only allow retail stores selling cannabis, along with facilities for growing, processing, packaging and testing in ‘light industrial’ and ‘special industrial’ districts of the city. Unfortunately, permissible locations now include residential neighborhoods, as the city is for the second time in less than a year pushing for a pot store to located in a residential area.
Union City currently permits up to fifteen recreational marijuana-related businesses (three identical businesses across 5 distinct marijuana-related sectors), raising safety concerns among residents due to the high incidence of crime and armed robberies at these types of business, both at Union City’s two existing recreational marijuana stores, and across the Bay Area.
The proposed tax increases and the expensive bike lane project highlight what many see as a pattern of poor fiscal management under Dutra-Vernaci’s leadership. The reliance on raising taxes and permitting risky businesses, such as marijuana stores, is viewed by many citizens as a short-sighted approach that does not address the underlying issues of economic instability, lack of sustainable revenue sources, and crime.
Union City’s fiscal strategy, focusing on increasing taxes and depending on controversial businesses, has led to public discontent. Many residents and local business owners believe that sound fiscal policy and the attraction of quality businesses are essential for the city’s long-term economic health. Sustainable growth, they argue, should be driven by reliable enterprises that provide stable employment and contribute consistently to the tax base, rather than through temporary measures that may pose risks to public safety and economic stability.
As the debate continues, the residents of Union City await final decisions on the proposed utility tax increase (headed for the ballot this November) and the completion of the bicycle lane project, hoping for a more balanced and prudent approach to managing the city’s finances. The outcome will significantly influence the upcoming mayoral and city council race, as voters weigh the impact of these policies on the city’s future.
The council is set to vote on approving the city’s third recreational marijuana store June 25th at 7:00PM at council chambers at 34009 Alvarado-Niles Road, Union City.
As of this writing, only council members Gary Singh (who voted against using marijuana stores to balance the budget in 2017 and consistently since then) and vice-mayor Jeff Wang view these businesses as too risky and too much of a crime magnet for Union City. Mayor Dutra-Vernaci is “all in” for retail pot, as too are council members Jaime Patiño and Scott Sakakihara, who have voted in favor of recreational marijuana stores in residential neighborhoods in the recent past. Dutra-Vernaci will be termed-out come January 2025. Patiño and Sakakihara still have 2 years remaining on their terms come year-end, provided upset voters do not move to recall them first.
Moving forward, it will be up to the voters of Union City to elect responsible leadership that governs through cooperation and innovation, not intimidation and provocation, if we ever hope to have a balanced budget and a safe city.
