Politics & Government

Mayoral Candidate: John Marchand

John Marchand is a candidate for the Livermore mayoral race in November.

We sent an e-mail questionnaire to every candidate running in the local November election. Here's the answers we received from John Marchand, who is running for Livermore mayor.

What is the primary reason you are running for this office?

I am running for this office for the same reason that I originally ran for public office twenty years ago; to make the community a better place to live.  That is why I served on the Zone 7 water Board.  My experience and leadership resulted in significant improvements to water quality that the region still enjoys to this day.   

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These are difficult times and I am the only candidate that has the leadership experience that Livermore needs to thrive.   I have served four terms as Vice Mayor and a year as the Acting Mayor.  I have actually done the job and from all accounts, I have been successful.  Working with the other Tri-Valley Mayors, we brought back over $5M of our tax dollars from Washington D.C. to rebuild and expand Livermore’s transportation and communication infrastructure.

Furthermore, in the most recent Citizen survey, 92 percent of the respondents agreed that Livermore is a great place to live.

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What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

My top priority will be to ensuring the continued economic vitality of our award-winning downtown and our community by bringing in new investment and jobs.  Through a combination of public-private partnerships and leveraging new investment, the new LLNL and Sandia lab open campus, the High Performance Computing Center as well as the i-GATE and i-NEST business incubators will position Livermore at the  center of new investment in clean, high tech industry. I was instrumental in bringing in the new Paragon Outlet mall which will mean millions of dollars in new revenue and thousands of new jobs. 

We can do all of this but in order to protect our region and prevent sprawl, we must also protect our Urban Growth Boundary.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

What sets me apart from the other candidates is my experience. I am the only candidate to have held any elected office. I have served on a regional agency Board like Zone 7 which taught me the important of inter-agency collaboration.  I have served almost six years on the City Council, four years as Vice Mayor and one year as the acting Mayor. The City and the region have benefitted from my proven, effective leadership skills.

Where do you work and what is your job title?

I work for the Alameda County Water District where I am the Senior Water Quality Chemist. I have worked there for over thirty years ensuring the safety of the drinking water.

Age and birthplace?

I am 58 and was born and raised in Hayward.

Who's in your immediate family? Spouse, children?

My wife, Sue, is a teacher for the Livermore School District. We have two adult sons, Dave and Steve who both graduated from Livermore schools.

Please list the schools and colleges you attended, the degrees you attained and when.

I attended California State University at Hayward, majoring in Chemistry and Biological Sciences.  I was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences in 1976.

Have you ever held an elected or appointed public office?

I was appointed and served on the Livermore General Plan Review Committee in 2004 and was a founding member of the Livermore Commission for the Arts 2004-2005. 

Have you run before for an elected public office?

Yes, I successfully ran and was elected four times to the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors. I served 15 years on the Board and was twice president. I successfully ran for city council in 2005.

Approximately, how much money do you expect to spend on your campaign, both total spending and personal?

So far, it looks like the campaign will spend around $10,000. Almost all of that has been donated by local, Livermore residents. Almost all of it will be spent on local Livermore businesses.

Have you ever served in the military?

No

Have you ever been convicted or charged with a crime other than a minor traffic violation?  

No

Have you or a business you owned or had principal interest in ever filed bankruptcy?

No

How long have you lived in Livermore?

I have lived in Livermore since 1985, 26 years.

What's your favorite thing about Livermore?

My favorite thing is the small-town ambiance and the fact that we live in a beautiful wine region. We have cutting edge technology balanced with open space, agriculture and our vibrant arts community.

What is the biggest problem in Livermore?

Livermore doesn’t have any single “big problem”, but there are many important issues facing us in the near future that we must deal with. The raids on our General Fund by the State have had a significant impact on our ability to budget. It is difficult to develop a budget to provide local services when the State can come in anytime and raid our coffers. That is why I helped draft and worked with the League of California Cities, to pass Proposition 22, the initiative to keep our local dollars within our community. 

We must be vigilant about defending our Urban Growth Boundary which protects our quality of life.  I voted to keep BART on the 580 alignment.  However, there are development interests that would use the Council-approved BART on 580 alignment as a means to break the citizen-initiated Urban Growth Boundary. There are those that would turn west Livermore into a development like east Dublin. In fact, the City of Dublin is now studying a potential new development in Doolan Canyon. Livermore is now working to bring Doolan Canyon into Livermore’s sphere of influence.      

Employment costs, pensions and other post-employment benefits costs will be important to control and we have already started to address this. 

Do you have a campaign website? If so, what is it?


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