A new city council is in place now for the City of Tracy, with Dan Arriola the new mayor and two new council members, Steve Abercrombie and Dotty Nygard, also taking the oath of office as the newest council members.
Tuesday’s meeting concluded the council service of Mayor Nancy Young, who completed 12 years on the city council, the maximum allowed by the city’s term limits law, and for Mayor Pro Tempore Eleassia Davis and Councilman Mateo Bedolla, both elected in 2020.
The first item of business was to officially accept the results of the election, which the council approved unanimously. Tuesday’s meeting then featured the business of installing the new council.
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It was also a ceremonial event, with each council member and most members of the public maintaining a positive tone as they reflected on council interactions of the past few years, where meetings have been contentious and even hostile at times.
A packed council chamber included several special guests, including other elected officials who participated in the transition from the old council to the new council.
State Senator Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton) administered the oath of office to Arriola.
Arriola then told the crowd about his journey to his new role as mayor, starting with his youth in Tracy, attending Jacobsen Elementary School, Monte Vista Middle School and West High School, growing up poor and working during his youth. After college and law school he established himself again in his hometown as a deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County, was elected to the Tracy Unified School District Board of Education in 2016 and then to the Tracy City Council in 2018.
“Tonight I feel my journey is finally coming full circle because the city of Tracy is not just my home, but I am a son of the city of Tracy, and this city will always be my childhood hometown.”
He said that it has always been his goal to be in a leadership role where he can help create opportunities for other young people to reach big goals from humble beginnings.
“Today I remain committed to keeping the promise to my teenage self and to this entire community.”
Arriola said that striving to build up his community is also the fulfillment of an obligation to his family.
“I recognize that as the son of a Portuguese immigrant and the grandson of Mexican immigrants that my family came to this country so that I could one day achieve the American Dream, and I am so thankful for the generations before me that took risks coming to this country so that one day I could take advantage of the opportunities that they themselves would never see.”
He also acknowledged the turmoil on the council over the past couple of years as he looked forward.
“While our city has faced some tough years, I genuinely look forward to not only turning the page, but to starting a new chapter for the city of Tracy. I look forward to working with my former colleagues, and my new colleagues, to build a Tracy that provides opportunities for all.”
The transition followed the acknowledgement of Nancy Young’s 12 years of service on the council, including four as mayor. Arriola presented Young with a plaque and gavel commemorating her service, and Young pass to Arriola a baton reminiscent of her high school track and field days, engraved to mark the occasion.
“I am just so proud of this moment right now. There is a time and a season for everything, and this is your time and your season and I look forward to what the future holds,” Young told Arriola.
Prior to that presentation Young recalled how her time on the council was always filled with difficult choices, including the time an employer told her that she would have to choose between her job with the company or her job with the city.
“The ultimatum was for me to resign from being council member to keep that job, and I said, ‘Absolutely not. I’ve worked too hard to be here.’ The change I could make and the difference I could make in my community was much more important. I figured that God got me here and God’s going to hold me and help through it all, and he will give me the best job I need at the time.”
She added that being in the public spotlight, including the criticism and heated arguments, was clearly her best choice.
“I’m so thrilled for all of the council people that I’ve worked with: for every single one. Every single person who’s come up her to this dais, whether they’ve said something positive, whether they’ve said something negative, because it made me stronger, it made me better, it helped grow me.”
Young said it also made her community involvement outside of the council and government more valuable, including Kiwanis, the Boys & Girls Club and Tracy African American Association among many others.
“What’s the use of being at a table if you don’t have a voice at the table, if you’re not making a difference, if you’re not advocating for others beyond yourself?”
“I implore all of you to look beyond yourself. This position right here to me has never been political. It’s always been about ministry. It’s always been about, how can I help somebody else?”
Young went on to say that if the public goes to other council members instead of her to have their voices heard, even on issues she has worked on where others on the council subsequently took on leadership roles, it’s a sign that the representative nature of local government is working as it should.
“We can’t answer the call for every single person individually, but we do what we can to help others, and that’s what we should be doing. We all grow the network.”
Installation of the two new council members went quickly, with City Clerk Adrianne Richardson swearing in Abercrombie, returning to the council after having served between 2006 and 2012. By the end of the meeting Abercrombie was also appointed to the position of Mayor Pro Tempore, selected on a 4-0 vote.
Abercrombie restated his motivation for running again: to bring stable leadership to a council that has been sharply divided for the past few years.
“It’s time to put the past in the past. Things have been toxic. Things were toxic in the election. Let’s put it behind us. Let’s move forward in a positive direction,” he said.
Assemblywoman Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy) administered the oath of office for Nygard.
Nygard found that her campaign for office was an important lesson on what Tracy residents want from their leaders.
“Whether it was conversations we shared at businesses downtown or at your doorstep, every one of you had an impact on me. I listened to your concerns, I heard you loud and clear and those conversations are why I am here today,” she said.
“People want a city council that puts the interests of our citizens first and as a retired health care professional my commitment is to improve our quality of life with more opportunities for Tracy to become a more healthy and welcoming city for all.”
Much of the meeting was dedicated to honoring the service of Bedolla, Davis and Young. Davis opted to run for mayor rather than run for re-election to the council, and Bedolla finished third among 11 candidates running for two council seats.
Councilman Dan Evans highlighted some of Bedolla’s accomplishments, particularly his service, along with Davis, on the Tracy Homelessness Advisory Committee. At the start of their term in 2020 El Pescadero Park was a sprawling homeless encampment. Today the park has been cleared and is being renovated with a new multi-generational recreation center under construction.
“You guys did a lot that a lot of people said couldn’t be done. I know I’ve said this many times before, but you guys attacked that head on. You didn’t just make that park safe again for our kids and families … you fixed a problem that was a major issue for the city,” he said.
“All along the way you guys both took a lot of flak, and you were never afraid to do what’s right no matter what the cost. I admire that about you, Council Member Bedolla: You stick to your guns and you get it done and the things you do are real tangible things.”
Bedolla said that his principles and faith guided him for his four years on the council.
“My faith has carried me through loss, challenges, on every step of this journey. When I lost my father during the pandemic it was my faith and the lessons that he and my mother taught me: work hard, stand tall and fight for what’s right. That’s what kept me moving forward.”
He cited decisions that would lower taxes on businesses, acquire land for an aquatics center and transforming El Pescadero Park, as well as his resistance to influence from special interests.
“I didn’t run for council to be a new face in the same old system. I ran to change it, and we did,” he said.
“This chapter may close, but my work with Tracy is just beginning. I will continue to stand tall, to fight for people who trusted me, and to honor where I come from, because that’s what my father taught me and that’s what I will always do.”
Young told Davis that while they often disagreed, she appreciated their differences.
“For all the work that you have done, and many, many people appreciate you — in the room here today and those who are not in the room – and the things that you’ve done. Despite differences – as I said, I don’t agree with everybody, that’s just life — I do appreciate the hard work that you have done, and I do believe that it’s from your heart that you serve.”
Davis offered her best wishes for the new council, and highlighted her colleagues’ willingness to overcome differences for the sake of progress.
“There was a time when Mayor Young and our new assembly member elect, Rhodesia Ransom, we could all be in the same room and get along just fine,” she said. “Despite the differences I am very happy to have been a part of this leadership, standing in the same room as these ladies who have led in a way that we can all be proud of and inspired by, and it is wonderful that we have inspired others to continue in leadership as well.”
Davis went on to highlight the personal growth that civic leadership brought her.
“Every experience, even the challenging ones, were perfect for molding, teaching, and growing me in ways that I would not have been brave enough to choose on my own,” she said. “I had in mind my own plans, but readily accept that God sees things differently and does things perfectly and in his own time.”
Davis added that she never lost sight of the trust that the public puts in elected officials.
“I’ve always said that that seat on the dais, it never belonged to me. It was your seat, and I was responsible for making sound decisions on your behalf. Every decision that I was privileged to make was made with our community’s very best interests in mind based on the information that I had available to me.”
Young was honored by representatives of a few of the organizations that she has served with, including the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission. ACE train, the San Joaquin County Commission on the Status of Women, which presented her with its Susan B. Anthony Award earlier this year, and the Tracy African American Association.
Council members also offered supportive remarks.
“We all talk a lot about unity, and I think we all agree that unity is incredibly important, but I think we also know that if change is going to occur, like real change … sometimes a battle is going to be imminent,” Evans said.
“When Mayor Young shows up to the battle she comes with her guns loaded, and you don’t back down.”
“Being a fighter when necessary is a quality I do admire.”
• Contact Bob Brownne at [email protected], or call 209-830-4227.
