By Jennifer Sawhney

Petaluma Voice reached out to each of the Petaluma City Council candidates for a one-on-one interview. They were all asked the same set of 17 questions, which they heard for the first time during the interview. Interviews took place between Thursday, Oct. 1, and Saturday, Oct. 3. Candidates had one, two, or three minutes to answer each question, and they could choose not to use the entire allotted time. 

For each candidate, we are publishing their answers to five key questions below. Responses have been lightly edited for readability. Readers who want to take a deeper dive and see candidates’ responses to questions about other issues facing Petaluma voters can find the full interview transcripts here.

Each candidate also answered a questionnaire. Their responses have been lightly edited for readability.

Questionnaire

First and last name: Eric Vazquez

Age: 27

Occupation(s)/where do you work: Education Advocacy and Government Relations Associate, EAH Housing

How long have you lived in the district you intend to represent: Since I was three (2003), 23 years

How long have you lived in Petaluma? Since birth, 27 years

Past committee, commission, board experience: Not past but current: City of Petaluma's Transit Advisory Committee, Vice Chair; Sonoma County Conservation Action, Board Director; Petaluma Museum Association, Treasurer.

Would you care to describe your immediate family? Spouse, kids? Both my parents are immigrants. My mother, from Honduras, came to the U.S. at 16, being forced into domestic servitude, and my father, from Mexico, at 18, looking for work picking apples in Utah. I have a 17-year-old sister in her last year in high school, and my grandmother, who lives in San Rafael.

What is the best way for constituents to reach you? Constituents can reach me via call or text, preferred, at (707) 789-5234, or email at info@ericvazquez.com.

Links to social media pages, campaign site:

• Website: ericvazquez.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ericforpetaluma
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericforpetaluma

Filings

Funds raised: Through Sept. 19, Vazquez has raised over $14,000 in monetary contributions toward his campaign and made over $6,700 in expenditures this calendar year. Including funds raised since last year, he has raised a total of over $22,100 in monetary contributions. His campaign has a cash balance of more than $14,600. (Note: the latest campaign filing period spans July 1 to Sept. 19, 2026)

Update Oct. 11, 2026 at 11:45 a.m.: The distinction between total campaign funds raised this calendar year and those raised since last year was added.

Treasurer and principal officer: Eric Vazquez

Notable endorsements (incomplete list): Sonoma County Conservation Action, Sonoma County Democratic Party, Petaluma Federation of Teachers, North Bay Labor Council AFL-CIO, Teamsters Local 665

Financial filings:  https://netfile.com/public/pet/campaign/filingsByCandidate/215407244-Vazquez-Izaguirre,%20Eric

Why do you think you're qualified to represent the residents of Petaluma on Petaluma City Council? (2 minutes)

Oh, I like that question. So I think for me, I always start off with telling folks that when we represent a city or when we represent people as a whole, in a city like Petaluma, roots – we understand they matter. But roots don't tell you what it's like to pay the bills. And what I mean by that is when we are talking about individuals who are representing Petaluma or any sort of community, a broad spectrum of representation is what matters. And for me, as I said, it's not only the roots that we lay here, I am born and raised here, but it's also the lived experiences of an individual. When we talk about having to make ends meet, having to figure out things on our own, being the first born American from my parents, they're immigrants, it's very difficult to see individuals that look like me and represent the policies that we want to see that affect working class people. And so aside from that, a lot of my experience growing up here in the city, but also my professional experience in affordable housing policy and development, has given me a very broad perspective of what it means to represent people. And particularly in this moment where California is facing its affordability crisis, we need representation that is acutely aware of the individual's needs and of their income brackets as well. And It's very telling that this city is moving forward in its representation, but we need to do better. And I hope to bring that experience to city council. 

What do you believe are our biggest issues and how do you intend to address them? (3 minutes)

Oh, that's great. Yeah. So I've got three things on my website that really give a broad spectrum of where I feel like the issues are at. The first is affordable housing. So as I said, it's no secret we're in an affordable housing crisis. We're in a housing crisis to begin with. And saying the word affordability nowadays can mean a cliche for some folks, but it's true. California is still going through a lot of it, just like in other places of the country. But Petaluma and what we can focus on here is making sure that we have systems in place to be able to create more housing. Oftentimes what I hear in my own line of work is that we have seen cities that have adopted state level policies. We've brought in different zoning changes and adjusted our ability to have different levels of density. And yet we still don't see units being built. And what we see in the affordable housing industry is that we don't have the finances for it. We need to be making commitments in our public systems to be able to finance these projects. And one of the things that I would like to see in a mid-sized city like Petaluma is an affordable housing revolving home loan fund. What that is, essentially our public financing option for affordable housing money that is set aside either at a city level or at a county level. It would mean that instead of going to a bank and having to rely on whatever a private interest wants to give us, We would then partner with the city. The city would then offer us competitive loans, if not something at a potentially lower interest rate. It would be money that would be used to gap finance or maybe even the full-scale project, but it would be for affordable housing specifically. And that would allow us to be able to then recycle the interest money that's created and then continue to fund that stream in that pot for more development. The second thing is our transit systems. I'm the vice chair of the Transit Advisory Committee. And one of the things that I hold very near and dear to my heart is my grandmother's story. She's never been anyone who's owned a vehicle. She's always relied on public transportation and seeing where our lines are. They've made very good progress in getting to where folks are. But I always tell people, It's about 15 years that I know the lines of our city like the back of my hand, and yet we haven't seen them change. And they need to change where the new populations of our city are. And we haven't addressed it, and it's something that I'd like to look at. The other one is also making sure that we have weekend service, especially on Lakeville Highway, because it's never been a thing that's had direct access from this part of the city to downtown. And overall, the biggest thing that I like to stress is that we need representation that genuinely speaks to an affordable but also working-class agenda. 

What could be done to support small businesses here in town? (3 minutes)

Oh, that's a good one. You know, I often think about that because we had our kickoff at Pub Republic down the road and they were so welcoming, but these are also individuals who oftentimes find it hard to make ends meet. And so when we are welcoming development – if not development, (then) small business owners and small businesses into the city – we need to make this easy for them. They offer a lot of a community flavor that we need, especially in our downtown. There are a lot of vacant areas that we would like to see come back. But part of that is also the permitting process. Part of that is also everything that has to do with getting a business up and running, especially for minority groups. I know the owners of the Petaluma Pie Company, and as a first-time business owner, there's a lot of hoops to go through, and we don't entirely know all these things unless we're connected. And as someone who's a first-generation Petaluman, we don't always have those resources. And so to have resources and tools at our disposal for the city to educate new prospective business owners, it's key. We want to make sure that whatever is coming in, it's of authenticity. And a lot of the folks have plenty of great ideas that they want to see come into the city, but they don't know where to start. And having those workshops and even working with our chamber to make sure that new business owners can come in and offer something that's great for the city, it's going to be important. But it's also going to look at the diversity of our city. We have so many business owners that look like me that want to be able to expand. They want to be able to grow. But where do we start? We don't have a lot of this representation in our city council, but also really in a lot of these institutional networks of individuals that are trying to just make it work or plug in ways that works for them. And we need to be able to bridge that gap with folks.

What are your main concerns about the city budget as it currently stands? (2 minutes)

Yes, so a lot of that is also wrapped up in what we may be anticipating with federal cuts, especially with everything that comes from the Big Beautiful Bill. We're going to feel that here in the city. And there may come a point where budget cuts are going to be looked at. If and when we get to that point, I want to make sure that our frontline workers are protected, first and foremost. It should not be broad cuts across the board. We really need to make sure that what we need to prioritize and if and when we need to get lean on some things, we're really taking into consideration the livelihood of people and what systems are going to be affected and what resources are going to be affected by this. In terms of what we can do, to begin to address some of these issues, is we need to be a lot more dynamic in understanding what we can bring in as revenue for the city. One of the things that I'd like to see, and I've been told that this is something that the city council may or may not be exploring sometime soon, is a vacancy tax. We need to be more dynamic in where we come up with our revenue. It's one thing to look at our sales taxes, but to be honest, a lot of people are really feeling that in their wallets nowadays. And so I'm not entirely keen on going in that direction because sales taxes are very, they disproportionately hurt lower income individuals. But something like a vacancy tax is going to hold individuals who have vacant units of commercial building across our city accountable. And it could be a way to continue to backfill what we may be anticipating later. 

Anything else that I missed that you'd like to address or that you would like your constituents to know? (3 minutes) 

You know, what I've said to people, and it's interesting seeing how, if elected, I would be, at least from my knowledge and what I've been able to look up, I'd be the youngest elected to the city council. I'd also be the first full Latino on the city council. And there's a lot to that for a lot of the individuals who are very supportive of my campaign, but also this district as a whole. It's 30% Latino. And like I said at the very beginning, that representation truly, truly does matter. We may not be able to get everything done on day one, but it's having the proper representation that really makes the difference with folks. But it also speaks to who I am and what this campaign has been about. I'm a very, very independent thinker. And a lot of that I attribute to my parents. My parents came from nothing. I come from nothing. And they met in Marin County, settled down here in '97, and then they had me in '99. There is a lot to be said about the hard work and the grit and the resourcefulness of individuals like my parents who came from nothing and made something work of this American dream. They bought a home, they raised me, they're raising my sister, and we're still standing. But all along the way, we've had our hiccups and we've had our financial woes because it's not easy. It's not easy being an individual who doesn't look like the majority of the city and not knowing where these resources are. And I feel very fortunate to be in a position where I've been able to plug in and begin to understand what the city has to offer, where we're still missing the mark, and be that bridging voice with people who really are feeling the struggle and want to see that representation. But again, it always ties back to my parents. They have driven in me this grit and hard work spirit of an immigrant And that's what I am. And that's what I want to continue to be when I get to council. The other thing, too, is that for folks who really don't know me, I've been involved with Sonoma County politics for a number of years now. And not only Petaluma, but just the circles of what is Sonoma County politics through, I was president of our youth chapter of the Democratic Party in the county. I'm on the board of Sonoma County Conservation Action, the port of our Petaluma Museum Association. And like I said in the beginning, plethora of connections with elected officials across the county and organizations like North Bay Organizing Project, Jobs with Justice, all of these groups that are really feeling hurt right now with this administration and their policies coming down to affect us. I always call myself a coalition builder because I feel like being on council I'm going to be able to effectively navigate what we have as a city and bring in these new voices that have long felt like they don't have the representation. And I can't say that it hasn't been a very rewarding and fun experience, and it's very thankfully translated into a lot of support from the Democratic Party endorsing, folks like the Teamsters endorsing, the North Bay Labor Council, our assembly members Chris Rogers and Damon Connolly, and of course our Senator Mike McGuire. 

Find the full interview transcript here.

Jennifer Sawhney is a reporter and co-founder of Petaluma Voice. She can be reached at jsawhney@petalumavoice.org.

Tobias Young, Nate Seltenrich, and Crissy Pascual contributed to this report.