Satinder Malhi Appointed to Vacant City Council Seat

Longtime resident brings diverse background and a wealth of civic and public policy experience to the council; only five of 11 applicants attended council interviews

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An earlier version of this post misstated the date of the special City Council meeting. It was Wednesday. Also, I’ve updated the post to clarify that Brianne Zorn is the city’s first directly elected female mayor; Rosalie Benson was mayor in the late 1960s when the position rotated among council members.

In a milestone appointment for diversity, the City Council unanimously appointed Satinder Malhi to fill the remaining two years of the District 3 council term at this week’s special meeting. Malhi, a 40-year city resident and graduate of Alhambra High School, is the son of immigrant Sikh parents and currently chairs the city’s Anti-Racism & Discrimination and Pro-Inclusion and Equity (ARDPIE) Task Force.

The competition for the seat — which came open after then-District 3 representative Brianne Zorn was elected mayor — didn’t turn out to be as robust as initially appeared would be the case when 11 candidates filed applications and qualified for Wednesday’s public interviews. Four of the 11 withdrew from contention before the meeting, and two more didn’t not show for the interview, leaving the council members (Zorn, Debbie McKillop, Mark Ross and Jay Howard) to select from five applicants.

The five (Malhi, Logan Campbell, Pierre Bigras, Terry Benshoof and Debi Mackey) each gave an opening statement and answered pre-selected questions from the council members, who then voted to whittle the field to three finalists: Malhi, Campbell and Bigras. Those three were then asked to answer another set of questions before Bigras was eliminated from consideration. The final vote between Malhi and Campbell (a local business owner and community volunteer) was unanimous four Malhi.

A month after swearing in its first directly elected female mayor, the city has now added a person of color to an otherwise all-White City Council. In addition to serving as chair of ARDPIE, Malhi brings a wealth of other civic and community experience to the role. He’s been a member of the Parks, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission since 2016 and has served on the Measure D Citizens Oversight Committee since 2017. He got his first taste of city government experience as an intern in the City Manager’s Office way back in 2004, and was the student representative on the Martinez Unified School District Board of Trustees as an Alhambra student in 1996-97.

Satinder Malhi addresses the City Council at Wednesday’s meeting.

Discussions on social media over the past month about whether diversity should be emphasized in the selection process over other qualifications was rendered largely moot by Malhi’s candidacy. In addition to being a person of color in a city that has long been governed by White politicians, Malhi’s resume included an unmatched breadth of civic and community experience. He also received an outpouring of support from members of the public at the meeting.

Wearing the full beard and turban that are emblematic of the Sikh faith, Malhi focused on his diverse background, public policy experience and Martinez roots during his opening statement to the council. “Despite looking a little different on the outside — I know, it’s the glasses — I’m very much a local kid at heart,” he said, before recounting his years of schooling in the Martinez school district and community involvement. His professional career has included nearly 20 years as a public policy and community relations professional, including as an adviser for two university presidents and four state legislators, and he currently serves as a legislative advocate at the state Capitol for the California State University system.

He pledged to work with the rest of the council to further enhance the quality of life for all residents while taking a pragmatic approach to the role through a public policy-oriented and diversity lens. “I would just respectfully submit to you that experience matters, diversity matters and, yes, representation matters,” he told the council.

Wednesday’s meeting, including the statements and interviews with each candidate as well as the council votes, can be viewed here.

Investigation ordered into Martinez Refinery Release

As expected, county leaders on Thursday ordered an independent investigation headed up by Contra Costa Health Services into the Thanksgiving night “spent catalyst” release by the Martinez Refining Co. that blanketed the surrounding community with a toxic dust linked to both health and environmental concerns. I’ll have a comprehensive post on this within the next day or two, but the bottom line is that an oversight committee headed by Contra Costa Health Services now will be created to look both at the root causes of the incident, which the county has deemed a major chemical accident, and both the short- and long-term health and environmental consequences of the release. County supervisors Federal Glover (who represents Martinez) and John Gioia, acting as the Contra Costa Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) Ad Hoc Committee, made the decision to order the investigation. The oversight committee will be chaired by a representative from Contra Costa Health Services and include representation from the city of Martinez, refinery management, the refinery’s labor force, and five community members (both from the city and unincorporated area surrounding the refinery).

Thanks as always for reading and feel free to share comments or contact me directly with your thoughts.