Solano CountyCandidate for Supervisor, District 4

Devon Minnema is a fourth generation Japanese-American California family farmer. With his deep roots in the agriculture community, he was involved in FFA and 4H and served as an FFA officer while attending Dixon High School. He served on the board of directors of the Downtown Dixon Business Association and is a proud Chamber of Commerce  and Farm Bureau member. 

Minnema is a Kiwanis member and currently serves on the board of directors so he can aid our county's children and ensure that they have as much opportunity as possible. He attended Neighborhood Christian School and Dixon High School and goes to Living Hope Church in Dixon.

In addition to working on his family's farm and his duties as a councilman, he also works at a Solano County feed store. 

Since being elected to City Council, Devon Minnema has been determined to be the example of what a councilman should be. He has hosted numerous town hall-style events, written newspaper articles, started an e-newsletter for his constituents, and walked precincts year-round to ensure that his constituents' voices are being heard. 

Minnema set agenda points like increasing access to books, protecting migrant workers' ability to find seasonal housing through the Dixon Housing Authority, ensuring that local watersheds are protected through his work on the Dixon Watershed Joint Powers Authority, and making sure that local entrepreneurs have every opportunity to succeed through his economic development platform; Our Town 20/20.

He has been an advocate for young people and minorities getting involved in local politics as the only mix-race councilmember and the only councilmember under 30 in the district. He has spoken to groups like the Women's Improvement Club, the Saint Peter's Youth Group, and multiple high school and junior high classrooms.

Minnema often jokes that his constituents have the opposite reality of most people. Instead of trying in vain to have their opinions heard, they have a councilman knocking on their door asking for their opinion.

Protect Solano County has so many resources to offer and yet our government seemingly takes them for granted, as if there is no breaking point to which farmers and local companies can be pushed to. We need to lessen the burdens on our local entrepreneurs, because they are our main sources of job and wealth creation that helps all of our residents. "A rising tide lifts all boats" is a saying that we, as Solano County residents, should know better than most. 

​Likewise, we must protect our legal institutions so that we are first and foremost protecting the rights of our citizens, as that is one of the two essential functions of government. Our first question when looking at a new law should be, "Is it enforceable?" If it isn't, it shouldn't even be considered.  Restore In order to have meaningful economic growth and a stronger bond as a community, we need to identify and reform the obstacles in our county code and bureaucracy. Bureaucrats should never have final say in our affairs, so long as we are not affecting or hurting anyone else. The county should be encouraging efforts to help our fellow man, and not targeting soup kitchens and churches for extra regulation. We need to be devoting resources to the legal institutions that are part of the essential functions of government and not try to preemptively regulate until we have a functional and efficient legal system. 

​Let's restore the positive institutions that once drew us together and made Solano county a better place to call home. Unleash The Board of Supervisors seem to think that they can create jobs, but these smart people should know better. The real engine of this county is our citizens. We make the day to day decisions in our own best interest that create wealth and generate growth in this county, not a committee in Fairfield. 

​It's time we had meaningful reform that releases us to make those decisions. We must cut down our county code, eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy, and improve the legal system so that our residents can go about their lives with the confidence that their local government is for them and not out for them.