Meet The Petaluma Mayoral Candidate John Hanania

PETALUMA, CA — Patch reached out to all the candidates for mayor of Petaluma.

Three candidates are running for mayor of Petaluma.

We sent out questionnaires and reprinted their answers verbatim. Below, read the responses of John Hanania, a candidate for mayor of Petaluma.

John Hanania, 63, is running for mayor of Petaluma. In the questionnaire, Hanania identified maintenance of streets, utilities, parks, and public facilities as priorities.

What is your educational background?

I completed high school in Jordan at the age of 16, completing a 4-year course in 2 years. I immigrated to the United States at the age of 16 and originally lived in San Francisco. I began my general automotive career at the age of 16 as an apprentice at an independent auto repair shop. I learned hands-on for 4 years and achieved my General Automotive Technician certification from the State of California. This has all been part of my educational background. I also purchased my first home at the age of 18. Thus, work and achievements in my profession and life have all been part of my education.

What is your professional background?

45 years in the general automotive repair profession. Certified General Automotive Repair Technician via the State of California. Shop Steward at general automotive dealership. For the past 12 years and currently, I own and manage my own small business, Cotati Performance, in Rohnert Park.

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

I have not. I was a candidate from District 3 for Petaluma City Council in 2022 and received just over 30% of the vote in a 3-way contest. I applied to serve on both an ad hoc racial relations committee for the Petaluma community and the Public Safety Advisory Committee, but was not appointed.

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

This question for a mayoral candidate, I assume, applies to the City, rather than one District. Petaluma has 6 voting Districts and I would represent all of them as Mayor.

The top three issues for me as the Mayor, considering our residents, are:

1. Taking care of our city - This means consistently and efficiently providing the services our residents expect and deserve -- fixing our streets and sidewalks, maintaining water and sewer systems and seeking ways to decrease, not increase, our user rates, supporting our police and fire professionals, keeping our parks and public buildings in good condition, finishing projects on time and controlling costs. If the City of Petaluma government fulfills the role our government is supposed to provide and does it well, our residents will be more trusting and feel as if the City is actually serving them as we should. As Mayor, I want to lead a City that works for Petaluma.

2. Spending our money wisely - Petaluma is an expensive place to live. I want our residents (and taxpayers) to see where the revenue is going. Every dollar spent should answer three questions: What did it cost? What did we get? And was it done on time? If our City Council budgets more wisely and holds the City Manager accountable for expenditures, and City business is more transparent, our residents may begin to feel more trusting and everyone can better understand the annual budget, the enterprise funds and special districts funds and where the money is going. The City cannot expect support from residents unless funds are being responsibly allocated and expended and our residents SEE the results of good management and accountability.

3. Listening to the people -- The Mayor manages the meetings of the City Council and serves in other accessory roles. For the last four years at least, City Council meetings have gone on and on into the late hours of the night and an agenda item of great interest to community members is predictably scheduled last on the agenda. This is wrong. We need better agenda planning and to be considerate of our Petaluma community. The meetings themselves are not well managed and public comment is often decreased by the Mayor to 1 minute. This is not acceptable. The Mayor and City Council need to respect community members who want to give input into our government process. Special interests also dominate the current City Council decision making process. You should not need to be an attorney, bicycle lobbyist, activist or expert to have a voice. The Mayor and City Council need to listen to residents, ask hard questions of City Management and staff, and take responsibility for decisions and actions.

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

I would work with the City Council to reopen the General Plan 2050 and Final Environmental Impact Review, approved within the last two weeks by the current Mayor and City Council. Land use policies, including 8-11 story building height adjacent to the SMART station, need to be reconsidered. Also, incomplete and inaccurate information remains in the Natural Systems, Biological Resources, and open space sections. We need to be responsive to the greater community, not special interests, to finalize the plan that guides land use, development and environmental protection for the next 20 years.

Another policy I would address is to work with the City Council for understanding and action toward repair and maintenance of our streets and sidewalks and relief of traffic congestion. These are strong concerns in our community and the City is not sufficiently addressing these challenges for our residents.

And, third, although you asked for only one, these days, one policy isn't adequate, I would work with the City Council to obtain an update on the Fairgrounds Master Plan and expedite that process, with community involvement.

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

For the reopening of the General Plan and FEIR, revisions to this should be accomplished within the first 4 months after January 2027 and the General Plan 2050 will then reflect the will of the greater community, common sense, and a plan to preserve the character of our community and our exceptional environment, to guide us for the next 20 years. For street and sidewalk repair and maintenance, the City Council needs to request from the City Manager a review of Public Works staffing and programs and enact a Streets Crew to be out in Petaluma every week, repairing potholes and streets, to show our residents where their tax dollars are being expended. The long-term Active Transportation Plan would be reviewed and likely revised as well to expedite the street repairs and maintenance needed for our community. The results of the weekly street repairs will be evident in the community. This is how we will know it is working - for our residents and visitors. The Fairgrounds Master Plan will be measured by the staff providing drafts to the City Council for review, inclusion of the community in the process, and adoption of a master plan by the end of January 2027.

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

Regarding the entire City, repairing our streets and sidewalks (with the City accepting more responsibility for sidewalks) is a priority for anyone driving in Petaluma. We need a city that works for Petaluma, and the Streets Crew out in all neighborhoods, addressing potholes and repair needs, will relieve stress and vehicle damage for our residents. Our residents really need to SEE the results of the City's work. Again, one specific change isn't realistic - another change would be to increase the efficiency of our parks maintenance so residents and visitors see that our City parks are well maintained and actually clean. This, like streets repair, is an active process and park visitors need to SEE the results of weekly maintenance. For open spaces, the City needs to be accountable for any damage caused to open space and needs to welcome conservation experts to support conservation of our open spaces. This helps our wildlife have natural places to live, and this needs to be a priority. Livability would be enhanced for our residents with these actions, overseen by the City Council to be ensure the overall condition of our City improves and stays that way. Also, refocusing our effort on completing the trails network through the City instead of bike lanes on multiple streets, including arterials and truck routes, will enhance our residents' quality of life and enjoyment when walking, rolling or bicycling and being out of vehicles.

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

As the Mayor, the buck stops with me. I will lead City Council meetings in a transparent way and require transparency from our City Manager and staff. The Mayor and City Council must be open in communication and accept accountability for our decisions and actions. If we make mistakes, we need to acknowledge this and correct our course, not deny and cover up missteps. Community members will be given adequate public comment time, not 1 minute, and I will represent all Petalumans, not special interests. Our City Council needs to be engaged in discussions and arrive at a decision on an issue that will best serve our entire community. The City Manager and City Attorney will receive performance reviews that are in conference with the Mayor and City Council, but the criteria to measure the performances will be available and public and salary increases must be based on merit, not based on demands by the City Manager and Attorney. The Mayor and City Council must give direction to negotiate with police and fire representative associations in a timely and fair manner, and not delay or obstruct these negotiations. We need to change course with our City government and become a public facing government with more responsiveness to community members and responsibility for our decisions and actions.

What makes you a better choice than your opponents?

I have identified three main priorities, including taking care of Petaluma, spending our money wisely, and listening to the people. These are three priorities I will revisit monthly to evaluate how we are doing. Our government needs to provide the basic services our residents expect and deserve and, if we succeed in doing this, our City will look different and our residents will see they are beginning to have a government that works for THEM. The current Mayor does not have these priorities and has been overly cooperative with special interests that have too much influence over our government. The third candidate, Moreda, has no government experience and has entered a contest to be the primary leader of the City Council. I have served on the Boards of Healthy Community Consortium and Petaluma Community Access and have been engaged with our local government for 36 years. I will be ready to step into the Mayor's role on day 1, to effect change and work with the City Council to serve Petaluma. I have dedicated my time to the City Council and at City Hall and have more time inside the Council Chambers than the entire City Council and Mayor together.

(A volunteer has typed my responses for me to your questions)