In their own words - Pete Mott

Running for Napa County supervisor in District 4

Feb 21, 2024

NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Napa Valley Features introduces "In Their Own Words," a new platform for candidates in Napa County's 2024 primary election. This feature allows candidates to submit letters to directly communicate their vision and election goals to our readers. This opportunity provides candidates a direct line to engage with local voters before the March 5 election.

We invite other candidates to participate and share their viewpoints. Submissions can be sent to napavalleyfeatures@gmail.com with “In Their Own Words – [candidate's name]” as the subject. Letters submitted should detail the candidate's political platform and background, highlight experience and qualifications, and include a brief biography and any photos. Ensure that your submission is respectful, avoiding any ad hominem attacks or derogatory language. This platform is designed to foster a respectful and informative dialogue with our readers.

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In my own words – Pete Mott

NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Napa County holds a special place in my heart. It is the place where I got married, bought my first home, started a family and grew my small business. This love of my community gave me a desire to give back to it, so I applied and was appointed to the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) committee in 2000. Subsequently I was appointed to the Napa City Planning Commission in 2004 and then elected to the Napa City Council, where I served from 2006 to 2018.

During my time on the City Council I worked hard to listen to residents and initiate change. I formed the Association of Napa Neighborhoods (a neighborhood advocacy group), took the lead in reviving the long-dormant Fourth of July parade and fireworks show, and my wife and I created Napa on Ice, an outdoor skating rink for local youth and their families to enjoy during the holidays. I also initiated the Park Ranger program, which now safeguards our parks, trails and outdoor recreational areas. Since 2018 I have continued in my service to Napa County by serving on the Napa Sanitation District Board, where over the past 12 years I’ve worked to stabilize utility rates while ensuring the health and sustainability of our environment.

Today, I am running for Napa County 4th district supervisor. As your next Napa County supervisor, I will focus on the issues that matter most – fire preparedness; roads, traffic and transportation; housing; homelessness; water quality; environmental protection; and more. I am honored to have CAL FIRE Firefighters (Local 2881), Supervisor Ryan Gregory, Sheriff Oscar Ortiz, community leaders, business owners, teachers and longtime residents support my campaign to put our community first.

As I look ahead to important community issues and areas of focus as your next Napa County supervisor, my priorities include:

Fire preparedness

As many of us remember, major wildfires in 2017 and 2020 were a significant wakeup call. We need to do more to protect our citizenry and lands from catastrophic events. I am committed to supporting and enhancing fire preparedness and emergency response programs, including citizen-led efforts such as Fire Safe Councils as well as additional staffing for some stations, guaranteed funding for maintenance work and enhanced early-warning systems.

Housing

I chaired the Joint Napa City/County Affordable Housing Task Force, which advanced solutions to address our housing crisis and led to the creation or preservation of much-needed housing for low-income residents and those part of the “missing middle.”

As a Napa County supervisor, I will continue to support progress on the creation of affordable, workforce and farmworker housing focused on existing infill areas and will advance policies that preserve existing housing for our workforce and low-to-middle-income young adults, families and seniors.

Road repair and improvement projects

The Pavement Condition Index in Napa County remains one of the lowest in the Bay Area, and the county needs to take serious steps to make progress on the poor conditions of our roads, streets and sidewalks. I believe the county would benefit from a program similar to Napa City’s “10 mile” repaving program, creating a county repaving division rather than contracting that work out.

Transportation and traffic challenges

My work sends me throughout the Bay Area on a regular basis. I have seen the enormous negative effect traffic backlogs have on communities, including excessive CO2 emissions from idling vehicles which pollute our air. I am extremely concerned about Napa County’s biggest congestion problem: the traffic backlog at Highway 29 and Airport Road. We need to start immediately on the EIR (environmental impact report) and design phase of this intersection if we hope to have it built before the end of the decade. Every day we wait cost and traffic increase.

Water quality and reliability

I recognize clean drinking water and water quality and reliability more broadly as intrinsic to sustaining life in our community. As a 12-year board member of the Napa Sanitation District, I have focused on infrastructure investments that increase the use of purple pipe, providing recycled water for irrigation and landscaping purposes. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, I will focus on and collaborate with our partner water/sanitation agencies to protect and enhance water delivery throughout the valley. I will also ensure the protection of our drinking water reservoirs through policies that reduce erosion and sedimentation from entering critical watersheds, while maintaining and enhancing infrastructure used to treat freshwater and wastewater.

Mental health and homelessness

I am concerned about the rising levels of homeless individuals living in public places, particularly in the downtown area, and the safety and quality-of-life effects unsheltered residents are having on our environment, safety and community character.

As your next supervisor, I will seek to strike a balance that takes a tougher yet compassionate stance on homelessness. I know that at its core there is a strong connection between mental health issues that lead to homelessness or cause homelessness to persist in our community.

For more information, please call 707-287-4825 or visit my website.

District 2:

Liz Alessio
Doris Gentry

District 4:

Amber Manfree
Pete Mott

District 5:

Mariam Aboudamous
Belia Ramos (incumbent)