Vision

Petaluma is a beautiful mix of rolling hills, rustic downtown, agricultural business, and family-owned shops and restaurants. We are mid-sized, artistic, and a popular worldwide destination. I am running for City Council to help preserve our city's charming identity and improve upon that which makes us unique.

We need to continue to fund infrastructure improvements such as road repairs and make sure we budget money to fix our parks. We should create more affordable housing and try to help find ways to fill all of the empty storefronts. To help preserve our unique downtown character, there should be an architectural review process to ensure that any new or modified construction stays true to our historical look and feel.

Walking and cycling around town should be safe and easy without negatively impacting traffic or parking. We need to complete the Rainier crosstown connector to help alleviate traffic congestion. Our river is a spectacular resource and the city government should do what it can to help maintain the river, including fixing the trestle at the Turning Basin.

Petaluma should find compassionate and effective ways to help the unhoused. We must continue to reduce our contribution to the climate crisis.

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Get To Know JJ

JJ was born in northern Ohio and never lived far from Lake Erie until moving to Chicago's northwest suburb of Buffalo Grove at age 14. He played Pop Warner Youth Football, built model cars and airplanes, read a lot, learned to draw, and hiked the woods anytime he could. His family was relatively poor and home life was challenging enough that JJ ran away at age 16. He was fortunate to be able to graduate from high school early and lived on his own until deciding to start college at age 21. He earned an art minor and a Bachelor's degree with Honors in Theoretical Computer Science from Northern Illinois University and eventually a Master's degree in Computer Science from Northwestern.

JJ started his career writing computer games back when they were sold on floppies and soon became co-owner of a software game publisher. When he and his wife, Debra Ann, started a family, JJ joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, writing software for digital telephone switches and public telephones. In 1995, Pixar Animation Studios recruited JJ to head up the software development for games related to Toy Story and he eventually transitioned to the film division to work on A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2. After Pixar, JJ joined a small start-up to develop software for mobile devices. In 2003, JJ joined DreamWorks Animation as a Character Rigger, where he's been working on animated films ever since.

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It was the opportunity at Pixar that brought JJ, his wife, and their three children, Ryan, Austin, and Alayna to Petaluma, where they have lived for the past 29 years. The kids each graduated from a different high school in Petaluma, moved out, and eventually settled here in town. JJ coached the kids in Petaluma Youth Soccer and Petaluma American Little League, where he also served on the Board of Directors. While the boys were in Cub Scouts, JJ served as Cubmaster and built an infra-red finish line detector for their pinewood derby racetrack. The family volunteered to host two girls from Belarus as part of the Chernobyl Children's Project charity where JJ joined the board and served as Public Relations Director. Since 2012, JJ has volunteered as an election poll worker for Sonoma County.

In 2017, JJ answered a call for volunteers at the Petaluma Veterans Memorial Building to help the evacuees from the Tubbs Fire. This was before Sonoma County had an organized response to deal with large numbers of evacuees and JJ became an integral member of a core group of volunteers. He managed the logistical challenges of tracking evacuees and donations. JJ again volunteered with that core team to support evacuees at the Veterans Building during the Kincade Fire in 2019 and the Complex and Glass Fires in 2020.

In 2013, JJ and his family started Petaluma Hills Brewing Company which eventually led to JJ leaving DreamWorks. Everyone in the family helped to build the brewery and worked there at some point. JJ designed the branding to be as Petaluman as possible, including naming most of the beers after local landmarks, such as the Line & Twine IPA and Old Adobe Stout. The brewery's taproom was a popular place for people to hang out and helped JJ and the family become deeply rooted into the community. After the brewery went out of business, JJ returned to DreamWorks Animation, working on animated films from home.

JJ and Debra Ann now own a fixer-upper house across from Casa Grande High School. They like the joyful noise from the high school and it's easy to get to all the local activities they enjoy so much. JJ and Debra Ann like to bike around town and often ride to Shollenberger Park and Two-Niner Diner. They kayak the Petaluma River often and like to explore the sloughs south of the Marina. They love to support all of our local shops and restaurants and can often be found hanging out somewhere downtown. They almost always attend downtown events such as the Antique Faire and Arts and Garden Festival.

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jj@jjjay4petaluma.com

   

Paid for by JJ Jay for City Council 2024

FPPC #1470307