Bay
Crossings Interview
In late 1996, the Vallejo’s
City Council recognized
Mayor Anthony Intintoli’s hard work over many years to expand and
improve Vallejo’s ferry system by naming the catamaran, M/V
Intintoli in his honor. Bay Crossings correspondent Wes Starratt
recently sat down with Mayor Intintoli for an interview.
Tell us something about
your background.
I have had a varied
background. I grew up in New York State on Long Island, went to
public schools, then to Notre Dame University, and later received a
law degree from St. John’s University Law School. I am a member of
the New York and California Bar.
I joined the Air Force and
was an active duty JAG stationed at Travis Air Force Base until
1968, stayed on with the Air Force Reserve and retired with the rank
of lieutenant colonel. I practiced law in the Bay Area until 1977,
when I switched to full-time teaching at the high-school level in
Vallejo. I taught until 1995, while also earning two masters
degrees.
How did you find time for
public service?
I have always enjoyed public
service. I enjoy trying to broker the various demands on public
services. I was first elected to the Solano County School Board in
1973 and then to the Vallejo City Council in1977. I became Mayor of
Vallejo in 1987, was out of office for a period because of term
limits, and then returned as Mayor 1999.
What do you look to
accomplish in this term as mayor?
During my first term, we
developed a reuse plan for Mare Island. In this term, I would like
to see its implementation, and the final transfer of most of the
base to the City of Vallejo. I am also working with the Federal
Government to set aside a sufficient amount of money to clean up the
base to the standards that match our reuse plan.
And the
Downtown/Waterfront Development Plan?
It’s been difficult to
bring Vallejo’s downtown back to what it once was. When Federal
Redevelopment Programs came to Vallejo in the 1950s, I think that
they made a tactical mistake in cutting off the major east-west
streets from the waterfront by the construction of new buildings
such as the library and the city hall. They just closed these
streets off from the waterfront, which was the most attractive
aspect of the downtown. The Waterfront Plan incorporates a proposal
to extend those streets back to the waterfront. One of them is
Georgia Street, which will terminate directly in front of the Ferry
Terminal, and will bring direct access from I-80 to the ferry. So,
one of the major aspects of the plan is to reconnect the downtown to
the waterfront.
CONTINUE
