Wine and Baseball in California

00:00:00:04 – 00:00:02:45
David Martin
This is the good government show.

00:00:02:50 – 00:00:30:58
John Marchand
The birthplace of the California wine industry. We had the first vineyards planted by Robert Livermore in 1849. Livermore is I think we’re special because we’re bringing the world together. But anybody can bring their community together. Everybody’s looking at their social media right now. They’re communicating by their phones. Nobody’s working together toward a common goal. I don’t really like politics.

00:00:31:00 – 00:00:50:28
John Marchand
It’s the price that you have to pay for good governance. Over 90% of the people that were pulled in our last poll last year agreed that Livermore is a great place to live and raise a family. In this political climate, you can’t get 92% of the people to agree the sky is blue, and yet they agree Livermore is a great place to live.

00:00:50:32 – 00:01:03:03
John Marchand
We are they. And everybody talks about how they ought to do something. But if we don’t step up and make a difference, they don’t exist because we are. They play ball.

00:01:03:13 – 00:01:23:02
David Martin
That’s not just a way to start a game. It’s an initiative created by Major League Baseball and the Conference of Mayors. The aim is to get kids out on the field playing baseball. How is that good government? The mayor of Livermore, California, he’s going to explain all that. Welcome to the Good government show. I’m Dave Martin. First, help us show the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are on social media.

00:01:23:04 – 00:01:41:56
David Martin
Make sure reviewers and share our show everywhere. We all need to talk about good government. John Marchand is the mayor of Livermore, California. This is in the Bay area. And first we talk wine because Livermore has a great wine story. And I wanted to talk about the Play Ball program. As you’ll hear from Mayor Martian, there’s a great intersection between baseball and good government.

00:01:41:56 – 00:02:00:33
David Martin
I think Mayor Marchand is the first chemist turned talked to. He got involved in politics and good government by running for a seat on the city’s water board, a job for which he was well suited. That ultimately led him to the mayor’s office. He’ll explain how he built 130 apartment buildings for the workers of Livermore. He built them despite a strong lobby against them.

00:02:00:33 – 00:02:12:28
David Martin
Just a little more good government mayors get things done, he says, and you’ll hear how Livermore Mayor John Marchand gets things done after this.

00:02:12:32 – 00:02:42:35
David Martin
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00:02:42:35 – 00:03:05:58
David Martin
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00:03:05:58 – 00:03:12:50
David Martin
Let Hello Nation lift you up and lead the conversation. That’s Hello nation.

00:03:12:55 – 00:03:31:11
David Martin
Once you wrap up this episode of The Good Government Show, give a listen to our friends over at Good News for lefties. This daily podcast highlights news stories that show there’s more good news out there. Other people in government are really trying to do the right thing. That’s good news for lefties. Listen where you’re listening now.

00:03:31:16 – 00:03:32:49
John Marchand
Welcome to the Good Government Show. I’m happy.

00:03:32:49 – 00:03:32:54
David Martin
To.

00:03:32:54 – 00:03:34:35
John Marchand
Have with me John Marchand.

00:03:34:35 – 00:03:35:11
David Martin
He is the.

00:03:35:11 – 00:03:39:15
John Marchand
Mayor of Livermore, California. Welcome to the Good Government show. Glad to be here. Thank you.

00:03:39:15 – 00:03:48:41
David Martin
So let’s start at the very beginning. Wine. You just told me a fun fact about Livermore is the heart. The the birthplace, you say of wine in California.

00:03:48:43 – 00:04:14:32
John Marchand
The birthplace of the California wine industry. We had the first vineyards planted by Robert Livermore in 1849. All right. It’s also where Concannon and went started in 1883, but the first international gold medal ever won by a US winery was Cresta Blanca in Livermore, the same year that the the Eiffel Tower was unveiled at the International Exposition in Paris.

00:04:14:35 – 00:04:35:49
John Marchand
And that was in 1889. Livermore won the Grand Prix out of 17,000 wines. We had best of show, all right, and the French were horrified. But we, as the original Concannon clones that created 85% of the Cabernet in California and the original went clones, or 85% of the charred nay.

00:04:35:55 – 00:04:38:12
David Martin
So a lot of people drink California Chardonnay.

00:04:38:14 – 00:04:56:15
John Marchand
Yes, really. The standard is is the went Riva Ranch Chardonnay. It’s the classic and it’s the original three flavors Muscat stone fruit and Green apple. And those three original clones all went clones. And they. That’s 85% of the Shard in California.

00:04:56:15 – 00:04:57:42
David Martin
What was the last bottle you opened.

00:04:57:44 – 00:05:09:12
John Marchand
Like last night? Okay, the last bottle I opened was a Darcy Kent Pinot noir. All right. How was it? Wonderful. California or it’s Livermore, okay.

00:05:09:17 – 00:05:11:55
David Martin
It’s Washington.

00:05:12:00 – 00:05:12:43
John Marchand
Grilled salmon.

00:05:12:46 – 00:05:26:02
David Martin
All right. Okay, so one of the things I wanted to talk to you about is play ball, which is a program that encourages cities to start baseball programs. You’ve been there. You said since the very beginning, how did this whole thing begin?

00:05:26:04 – 00:05:34:08
John Marchand
This started as an initiative by the US Conference of Mayors. I was here, Cal Ripken was here to launch the program. Iron man of baseball.

00:05:34:11 – 00:05:34:30
David Martin
Iron man.

00:05:34:30 – 00:05:35:39
John Marchand
Of baseball. And so.

00:05:35:49 – 00:05:36:15
David Martin
Luke Eric’s.

00:05:36:15 – 00:06:09:04
John Marchand
Record, I was I was here with with with Cal and got a great picture. We included it in the magazine this year, but I thought, what a great idea to have this, to bring our community together. One of the things that mayors do is we bring the community together, and what a great way to do this. So in Livermore, we worked with a lot of the other folks around, and we now have the International Little League World Series, the Intermediate World Series here in Livermore, and that’s the 5070 pitching path and base path and 13 year olds.

00:06:09:04 – 00:06:13:42
John Marchand
But we have the World Series every year. And Livermore, we’ve had it for the last ten years.

00:06:13:44 – 00:06:16:20
David Martin
Okay, so why is play ball good government?

00:06:16:20 – 00:06:38:00
John Marchand
Because it brings the community together. And not only that, it brings the world together. We have countries from all over the world, ten different countries coming to Livermore and bringing their families, bringing the people to play ball. You’re sitting in the stands together, you’re cheering the kids on, and they play some phenomenal baseball because they love the game.

00:06:38:00 – 00:06:59:34
John Marchand
They haven’t gotten jaded by all the politics. They just love the game. And to bring the community together and to be sitting next to someone from South Korea or from South America or from Japan, and they’re all there. We’re all there because our children love the game and they’re playing the game together. And that’s that’s what we do.

00:06:59:37 – 00:07:00:44
John Marchand
We bring the communities together.

00:07:00:46 – 00:07:03:57
David Martin
What would you tell another mayor about getting started with a play ball program?

00:07:03:58 – 00:07:24:28
John Marchand
It’s a great idea. And you as the mayor, have the bully pulpit to bring the bring your community in to make this all work. And that’s that’s the fun part is because you get to be out there with the families, with the children, and Livermore is I think we’re special because we’re bringing the world together. But anybody can bring their community together.

00:07:24:30 – 00:07:29:24
David Martin
Livermore brings the world together. You just said, that’s right. Okay. Does it cost you anything?

00:07:29:25 – 00:07:44:36
John Marchand
No. It’s free. Well, it’s free to the public. We support it through our park district supports it. The city supports it through the general fund. We we help sustain it. But all of the travel, that’s all done by by the League themselves.

00:07:44:36 – 00:07:51:02
David Martin
How? I mean, there’s little League programs in every city, in many cities, many towns. Why is this money well spent?

00:07:51:05 – 00:08:15:30
John Marchand
It encourages kids to get outside, to get off the couch, get off their electronic devices and to work together as a team. And this is so critically important because everybody’s looking at their social media right now. They’re communicating by their phones. Nobody’s working together toward a common goal. And this is forcing people to work together as a team to achieve a common goal.

00:08:15:32 – 00:08:27:15
David Martin
Wow. Baseball certainly calls itself America’s pastime. You know, certainly football has proved to be incredibly popular. Soccer has proved to be incredibly popular. Other sports as well. Why baseball?

00:08:27:17 – 00:08:49:54
John Marchand
You know, there’s the complexity of the game. I didn’t really understand the complexities until my my younger son got involved in Little League, and then he later on became an umpire. But all the strategies, I mean, to me, when I first started out, you hit the ball and you run around the bases, but then the strategy is about, well, okay, when do you walk a player, you know, when do you bunt?

00:08:49:57 – 00:09:09:24
John Marchand
All of those strategies which really make the game that much more interesting, and the fact that you’ve got everybody on the field and they’ve got all be on the same page to understand, okay, we just shifted the positions. So the odds are 90% ball is going to go to left field. And that’s where we need to concentrate the players.

00:09:09:24 – 00:09:19:48
John Marchand
So the strategy behind it there’s a lot of finesse in the game. It’s not so much brute force okay. It’s the finesse of the game. And it’s I think it’s got a lot of class.

00:09:19:50 – 00:09:21:57
David Martin
Have you thrown out the first pitch? I have.

00:09:22:09 – 00:09:26:24
John Marchand
On many occasions. I’ve been out the first pitch. Yeah. Well it’s the World Series. Okay.

00:09:26:29 – 00:09:27:49
David Martin
Do you practice, Mr. Mayor?

00:09:27:52 – 00:09:45:48
John Marchand
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it’s. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t have been pretty okay. But, I mean, at least going to hit the backstop. All right. Good, good. You. If you throw a strike, even better. You know, I’ve seen people miss the backstop, and it’s not pretty. All right. And I haven’t bounced it, so that’s good. Okay. Are you a baseball fan yourself?

00:09:45:53 – 00:10:06:18
John Marchand
Who’s your team? Well, I’m still working on that. It was the Oakland A’s. Oh, and that’s why there’s pictures of me actually with my dog in an Oakland A’s uniform. Oakland A’s are now in Sacramento and moving to Las Vegas. But some there may be the Giants I don’t know I just you can’t stay with it. You can’t stay with the A’s.

00:10:06:33 – 00:10:32:31
John Marchand
Just it’s it’s you know, the problem is it’s just not fun anymore. You know when you had Miggy on there and Dave Stewart and it was it was fun. Yes. And now it’s just a slog. It’s just not that much fun anymore. But, you know, with the when you go back to, you know, Charlie Fiddly and the campy campaigners and all those folks, it was just it was a lot of fun.

00:10:32:34 – 00:10:51:53
John Marchand
Yes. And it’s just it’s not fun anymore. It’s like government, as long as it’s fun to see what this is going. As long as it’s fun, I’ll keep doing it. All right. There have been times where it’s not as much fun and it goes back to, you know, politics is from the Latin root poly, meaning many. And we need bud sucking parasites.

00:10:51:54 – 00:11:12:12
John Marchand
So, you know, it’s it’s difficult because you just make up the tics part. No. Okay. But but but is it’s politics and I don’t I don’t really like politics. It’s the price that you have to pay for good governance. I’m not a politician. I prefer to call myself a public servant. Okay? And and I love what I’m able to do.

00:11:12:14 – 00:11:34:51
John Marchand
That’s what I, what I really enjoy is when you can actually do something that improves the lives of your residents. And that’s the key to being a good mayor. I should have set this up earlier. Livermore is basically the Bay area of San Francisco Bay. We’re about suburbs. We’re about 40 miles east of San Francisco. We’re in the San Francisco Bay area, so we’re north of San Jose.

00:11:34:56 – 00:11:52:55
John Marchand
We’re east of of San Francisco. We’re as I said, we’re the original wine region of California. I don’t think you can switch for me in an ace fan to a Giants fan, by the way, I don’t I don’t know, I haven’t even tried it. Yeah, I, I could not name two pictures, by the way. Okay. If my life depended on I couldn’t name two pictures.

00:11:52:55 – 00:12:13:32
John Marchand
So, you know, let’s talk a little bit about good government in Livermore. What’s going on? What are you working on? What’s the what’s the big project that’s making people’s lives better? And Livermore. Well, a couple of different projects. One, we just completed Stockman Park. That was something that was originally agreed to back in 1962. And then it got forgotten.

00:12:13:32 – 00:12:36:19
John Marchand
And after 57 years, when I got back into office, we worked with the Rodeo Association, and we actually made that happen. And in the heart of our downtown and the park is in the shape of a horseshoe, okay. That commemorates the sacrifice of the veterans of Livermore Pleasanton in Murray Township. And it celebrates the stockmen, the people who the ranchers and the cowboys.

00:12:36:19 – 00:13:01:29
John Marchand
And those are the folks that founded the city of Livermore back in 1869. So working on that, we are working on Veteran’s Park, which is going to be adjacent to to Stockman Park. And I think what’s very exciting is after having approved this seven years ago, no. So I termed out and I actually came back because this project was so important to me.

00:13:01:29 – 00:13:31:01
John Marchand
It’s 130 affordable apartments for families that live and work in Livermore now. My wife was a fourth grade teacher in Livermore schools, and she had children in her class that were homeless. Now, Livermore, as a fairly affluent middle class community, there were homeless children in my wife’s class. And so we’ve been working for seven years to get this project built, 130 apartments.

00:13:31:01 – 00:13:56:05
John Marchand
We have a handful of multi-millionaires, have spent over $6 million trying to stop this project. Why are they stopping you? Because they want to build another theater there, and they’ve got these vanity projects that they want to do. Okay. And they’ve spent $6 million trying to stop 130 apartments. They’ve used Sequoia lawsuits. The sequel lawsuit was over. The shape of the windows.

00:13:56:07 – 00:14:20:41
John Marchand
Sequoia. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Sequoia is. We’re talking jargon. Yes. Secret is the is sica. It’s the California Environmental Quality Act. Okay. And it’s similar to the the Nepa, the national equivalent. But they were every single lawsuit they came up with. They tried to referendum, they tried lawsuits and initiatives, all these different things to stop this project. And we were laser focused.

00:14:20:42 – 00:14:44:38
John Marchand
Get this done because it is for families that live and work in my community. These are the service workers, these are the teachers, these are the people that we want in our community. And as I said, I came back after turning out so that I could get this project finally across the finish line. And last month, we finally got the ruling from the California Supreme Court that you were going to go ahead with it.

00:14:44:38 – 00:15:03:27
John Marchand
So I’m very excited about it. Seven years in the making and we’re finally there. The first one was 57 years in the making. The next one was seven years in the making. What is slowing things down in Livermore? The thing of it is you’ve got a few people that are Luddites, they’re NIMBYs, and it just takes perseverance to get these things done.

00:15:03:27 – 00:15:27:01
John Marchand
And this is one of the things that I’m very proud of is that mayors get things done. You mentioned earlier that you have homeless shelters in your in your city. Yes. And not just for your city, but for the region. Why did you build these for people outside of your city? Well, it’s for any. It turns out that 80% of the people that end up homeless in Alameda County lived in Alameda County before they became homeless.

00:15:27:06 – 00:15:50:31
John Marchand
Most of the people that are homeless and Livermore lived there before they became homeless. In fact, what’s a real tragedy is I can by name, I can name five people that died homeless in Livermore, that all have families that live in Livermore. So if you have a family member who is homeless and you can’t raise them up, what chance does a municipal bureaucracy have to accomplish that?

00:15:50:34 – 00:16:23:44
John Marchand
Yeah, yeah. So you can’t. But so Robert Livermore, the rancher, had a foreman name was Joshua Neal. And he Neal, in his diaries, said that Livermore would send his vicarius out into the countryside looking for immigrants. And that was the term Neal used looking for immigrants because Robert Livermore was an immigrant from from England, okay. And they were under orders to ride up to them, determine their needs, and then bring them back to the rancho and ensure that they had the resources that they needed to complete their journey.

00:16:23:53 – 00:16:42:31
John Marchand
He was known throughout the region for his kindness and his generosity, and I believe that that continues to exist in the DNA of our community. So our community is willing to step up to those that are in need. So it’s not just for Livermore, it’s for anyone who is in need. And as we’ve stepped up, we’re very proud of that.

00:16:42:33 – 00:17:00:37
John Marchand
Do you get on your horse and go ride around looking for immigrants? I don’t I don’t ride a horse. I don’t even I don’t even ride a bicycle. I see, but it’s the spirit of the community. And and that’s something that we work with a lot of nonprofits, a lot of faith based organizations that do a tremendous amount of work for the region.

00:17:00:39 – 00:17:18:55
John Marchand
Is the mayor a full time job? Is a full time job. It does not pay as a full time job. Okay, I spent my career as a chemist, and when I was elected mayor, I realized that I could do one or the other. I was a water quality chemist for drinking water, and I realized I needed to do this full time, so I either.

00:17:19:04 – 00:17:36:03
John Marchand
So I retired and now this is what I do full time is I’m the mayor of Livermore. As I said, it doesn’t pay full time. I make $18,000 a year. Okay. Big money. And people ask me, well, why do you do it? And I said, because I love our community and this is what it takes to keep our community a great place to live.

00:17:36:08 – 00:17:54:45
John Marchand
90 over over 90% of the people that were pulled in our last poll last year agreed that Livermore is a great place to live and raise a family. In this political climate, you can’t get 92% of the people to agree the sky is blue, okay? And yet they agree Livermore is a great place to live. So chemist to mayor, a natural translation not of that happened.

00:17:54:48 – 00:18:19:25
John Marchand
Not at all. Because there are absolutes in chemistry. And there are laws, immutable laws in chemistry. There are no immutable laws in politics. Politics. You can go all over the map. And what are you into this? Well, long story short is I tested the water at my house when I was working as a chemist, and my water did not meet federal drinking water standards for a class of carcinogens known as Triple-A methane.

00:18:19:30 – 00:18:40:35
John Marchand
Chloroform is the best known. And so I knew as a chemist that you could treat the water and not create these disinfection byproducts, as they’re called, these carcinogens. So I ran for the water board and got elected, and I served on there for 15 years. Loved it. Yeah. And then another problem. You say I had the right skill set to solve that problem.

00:18:40:47 – 00:19:02:32
John Marchand
Well, then there was we have an urban growth boundary around Livermore, and there was an initiative to break the urban growth boundary. And I realized that I was the only one that had the the experience and the skill set to preserve our urban growth boundary. Okay, so I ran and my wife even asked me, why are you running?

00:19:02:34 – 00:19:22:02
John Marchand
Why is that to be you? And that’s because I know that I can win. Yeah. So then I got elected to the council. Then our our mayor turned out, and again, I had the skill set that was necessary to continue the momentum to keep Livermore the great place that it is to live and raise a family. So that’s how I got into politics.

00:19:22:02 – 00:19:36:06
John Marchand
And then then I turned out, and I was happy to turn it up. I was on vacation. We had a great time, and that’s when I found out that the mayor wasn’t going to run again. So I realized that you’re able to run again. Well, and my wife told me because I asked her, I said, well, should I, should I run again?

00:19:36:11 – 00:19:53:29
John Marchand
And she said, you have to run, it’s who you are. And I thought, okay, if she will support me, I can do this. So your wife is obviously a very understanding woman. She is. All right. We’re going to get to a list of questions in just a minute, okay.

00:19:53:33 – 00:20:17:22
John Marchand
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00:20:17:22 – 00:20:28:51
John Marchand
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00:20:28:55 – 00:20:58:44
John Marchand
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00:20:58:49 – 00:21:24:06
Narrator
Across America, there is a growing demand for leadership that delivers results over rhetoric. The Good Government Institute brings together proven ideas, principled leaders, and real world solutions to strengthen how we govern not by reinventing the system, but by advancing what already works. On our flagship podcast, The Good Government Show, we highlight the leaders behind that progress, demonstrating how effective governance begins with listening, respect and a commitment to serve.

00:21:24:09 – 00:21:29:59
Narrator
Visit Good Gov Institute to learn more.

00:21:30:04 – 00:21:48:03
John Marchand
So I asked this question of every mayor. We have a list of several questions here. This is going to get to the heart of your real philosophy about government. Are you ready? Okay. All right here we go. The first one is the hardest. What is good government to find it. What is good government is to maintain the correct priorities.

00:21:48:12 – 00:22:11:04
John Marchand
Asset management. And it’s what’s in the best interest of the community. And not about wearing the big hat. If people are frustrated with government, what should they do? Do what I did, step up and make a difference. But that’s hard. It is. It’s extraordinarily hard. But it’s a lot easier to be a keyboard commando and sit there and sniveling whine on the computer than to step up.

00:22:11:04 – 00:22:33:55
John Marchand
In my freshman year of high school, I wrote my valedictory speech that I worked to deliver four years later. Were you last valedictorian? I was, and my speech became the defining principle of my life. And the name of the speech was We are they. And everybody talks about how they ought to do something. But if we don’t step up and make a difference.

00:22:33:57 – 00:22:53:47
John Marchand
They don’t exist because we are they. So were you the kid in the back of the classroom that said, teacher, you forgot to assign homework? I have the feeling. No, I give a speech as a freshman, I don’t know, I don’t know, it just shows I was driven to make that message clear. So you touched about this a little bit, but you know, what drew you into public service?

00:22:53:49 – 00:23:13:12
John Marchand
What made you say, I’m going to run for the water board? And then from there, you know, obviously on up to mayor, I realized that I had the skill set that was necessary to succeed, that a lot of people didn’t have that, and that I had the specific skills that were necessary to improve the lives of everybody else.

00:23:13:19 – 00:23:39:49
John Marchand
And I it was a unique skill set. And that’s why I encourage students that I, that I talked to every opportunity that you have, build your skill set. I’m the mayor of Livermore because I taught chess to fourth graders when I worked at the Hayward Library, because when I graduated from college and I applied for this teaching position at the point Melanie Marine Lab, they said, do you have any teaching experience?

00:23:39:49 – 00:24:00:14
John Marchand
And I said, yeah, I taught chess to fourth graders. And that’s what got me the job. And that was the first step in this whole line that that I kept building that skill set until I was the one that had the skills to solve the problems. And that’s why you run for office is to identify the problems and then find a way to solve them.

00:24:00:16 – 00:24:29:19
John Marchand
Did you see yourself running for office? Did you figure out I’m going to run? Never. The only reason I ran for public office, I ran for the water board because I knew that I was the only one qualified to do that job. Okay? Within five years of me being elected to the water board, the agencies that I worked for as a chemist and the agency that I was a board member for, Alameda County Water District and the zone seven Water Agency, both of those were recognized as two of the top ten agencies in the nation.

00:24:29:22 – 00:24:49:01
John Marchand
Out of 161,000 water utilities. The two that I worked for were two of the top ten. And when I went to the national conference to accept the award, I got the first one for the for Coody. And when I got up at the end to collect the word for zone seven, the guy looked at me kind of funny and I said, the name’s Marchand.

00:24:49:01 – 00:25:09:46
John Marchand
It’s water quality from A to Z. So how’s the water in your tap in your kitchen? Now? I drink the tap water. I don’t drink any filtered water. All right. Who inspires you? I get to work with great people. And so it’s my job to inspire great people to do great work. I tell them it’s my job to get to the tools that you need to do your job.

00:25:09:48 – 00:25:30:06
John Marchand
It’s your job to tell me what those tools are, okay? And so those are the people that inspire me, the people that do great work in my community. So water board, city council, mayor, you’re you’re a government insider. What would you like people to know about government? It’s not as easy as you might think. The mayor does not have veto power on one vote on a council of five.

00:25:30:08 – 00:25:52:31
John Marchand
Okay? And I need to get to get anything done. I need to get three votes. And this 458 employees for the city of Livermore, there’s only two that work for the council. Everybody else works for the city manager. So I can’t tell any employee what to do. I have to go through the city manager, and in order to do that, I have to get three votes.

00:25:52:31 – 00:26:10:44
John Marchand
I’ve heard other bears say that you’re responsible for everything and blame for everything, right? Yes, but have I have a 30 over nothing, right? Yeah. Pretty much. Now, there are strong mayors. Some of the other mayors that here today are strong mayors. We are a mayor manager system. There’s a lot of people who have expressed a total lack of faith in government.

00:26:10:47 – 00:26:38:16
John Marchand
What are you doing to make sure that people have faith in government? Well, you lead by example, for one thing. Now it’s interesting. Local government has an approval rating of 75%, right? The state government in California has an approval rating of 35%. The federal government, depending on who you’re talking about, they’ve got a rating of about 13%, which is all the more remarkable when you figure that had an approval rating of 17% and you saw what happened to him.

00:26:38:19 – 00:27:01:10
John Marchand
Yes. The overthrew his government. Yes. But there’s a lot of cynicism because they see all the divisiveness. What I try to do in Livermore is to prove and we have disagreements on the council, but the purpose of our government is to improve the lives of the people that we serve. And people have told me that they may not agree with me, but they firmly believe that.

00:27:01:10 – 00:27:23:47
John Marchand
I believe that I’m doing what’s in the best interest in my community. What’s the best part about being mayor of Livermore? Working with with young people, going to the elementary schools and reading to the kids. I used to work in a library, so I have a deep fondness. That’s right. You are a fourth grade chess teacher. Yeah. And so I, I, I love trying to inspire the kids that they can they can step up and make a difference.

00:27:23:57 – 00:27:42:46
John Marchand
Last week, I talked to two Cub Scout troops about how they could work to improve the community and something as simple as just picking up litter from the community. What’s the hardest question the kids have asked you? Because they asked the best question. They always ask, how much money do you make? Okay. And another one has said, you know, where’s your Ferrari?

00:27:42:49 – 00:27:59:50
John Marchand
And I point to my 1996 pickup truck in the in the parking lot. Everybody thinks I’m rich. So you’ve talked a little bit about the wine of Livermore. I’ve never been there. I’m coming to your town. You’re taking me out. What are we having? Where are we going? What is the dish of Livermore? Well, what is it that you want to eat?

00:27:59:52 – 00:28:23:32
John Marchand
We’ve got, I want, I want the best Livermore has to offer. Well, so out of the 34 cities in the East Bay. Yes, the top 100 shops and restaurants in the 34 cities in the East Bay. Livermore has 28 of them. Okay, so the best tie, the best barbecue, the best sports bar. The best Indian cuisine. The best Italian cuisine.

00:28:23:34 – 00:28:45:38
John Marchand
Best bakery. We had it all. So it really is. We’ve got a new Spanish place that came in. Makes amazing paella. Okay, we have a Korean barbecue place. We’ve got a Hindu pizza parlor. So you have curry pizza. All right. So all these from Brooklyn Curry pizza kind of wrong. Yeah. So we’ve got all this wonderful cuisine in Livermore.

00:28:45:40 – 00:29:05:12
John Marchand
Yeah. So everything from vegetarian Indian cuisine, they do a phenomenal chili there. We’ve got just this great cuisine all over the all over the city. So it really kind of depends on what you feel like. All right. But we had the best Italian we had. We just rock. Last two places you went to. What were they? What was the two?

00:29:05:17 – 00:29:30:42
John Marchand
El Campo, which is the Spanish tapas place. Okay. Went to the bourbon pair with an amazing lamb shank and Onda wine bar, which is Italian. We also have simply fondue, which is a wonderful fondue place. What do you do for fun? I love photography, I love getting out and just walking out. And we have some beautiful parks south of Livermore, so I love getting out into the public.

00:29:30:56 – 00:29:55:24
John Marchand
Heading over to the coast. But I the the ocean sort of reinvigorates me, recharges my batteries. Right. But getting out in nature, getting out into the open space lands in Livermore 20 minutes from the downtown. You can be at a trailhead to the Del Valle Wilderness and spend three days on a 26 mile wilderness trail. That’s 20 minutes from my office.

00:29:55:26 – 00:30:09:52
John Marchand
This is the good government show. We always bring it back to good government. You’ve been mayor for, I guess, nine years. Well, nine years plus three years. Nine years, plus three years, I came back. Tell me about a good government project. We haven’t talked about that. You’re excited that you were able to get done? Well, I’m still working on the downtown.

00:30:09:52 – 00:30:32:05
John Marchand
The downtown is going to be an absolute key. We’ve got several new our town square, the blacksmith Square, is coming up out of the ground. So that’s very exciting. The asset management program that we had, we just brought in a new parking structure. The number one priority for the Livermore residence was more parking in our award winning downtown.

00:30:32:10 – 00:31:01:49
John Marchand
And it’s difficult because they wanted open space and they wanted parking. Well, problem is, parking takes up open space. And as the mayor, I’ve got a parking ticket. So we, we we went vertically. And that’s going to allow room for this affordable housing project. It allows room for an additional park. And at no time during all this construction, even though there’s a 500 parking space parking lot that we’re taking out at no time when we have less parking, as we’re bringing in more parking and these two other projects.

00:31:01:49 – 00:31:18:26
John Marchand
So it’s all about staging. And so we’re bringing the community everything that they asked for. Well, what was it, 57 years to make one park and seven years to make another park? Yep. Downtown is going to be beautiful. It is, it is. Come on down. I’ll show it to you. All right. And then we’ll go out to God knows where.

00:31:18:28 – 00:31:30:30
John Marchand
I’d have whatever you feel, whatever I feel like. John Marchand, the mayor of Livermore, California. It is a pleasure talking to you and play ball. Very good. Play ball.

00:31:30:35 – 00:31:52:02
John Marchand
The Good Government Institute has a new partner, the Charles F Kettering Foundation. I really like their podcast to context, and I bet you will too. They have a new series called Democracy Under Construction. The show is hosted by historian Alex Lovett, and he looks back at the first 250 years of U.S. history. Alex digs into the moments that have pushed us towards an inclusive democracy.

00:31:52:05 – 00:32:00:33
John Marchand
You can find it where you’re listening right now, or visit Kettering and give them a follow.

00:32:00:38 – 00:32:18:32
John Marchand
Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host Leading Iowa Good Government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Kavanagh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talked to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:32:18:34 – 00:32:26:39
John Marchand
Join us right here. We’re listening. Now that’s leading Iowa. Good government in Iowa cities.

00:32:26:43 – 00:32:46:40
John Marchand
What if Lincoln hadn’t been shot? What if World War One hadn’t happened? Jim Ludlow, Good Government show executive producer, explores both those ideas in two books in Lincoln Beyond the Bullet, he imagines that Lincoln lives, and while cousins, he imagines what would have happened if three kings, all cousins, hadn’t blundered their way into war. What if. Think about it.

00:32:46:42 – 00:32:53:30
John Marchand
Go to Good Institute and order a copy.

00:32:53:35 – 00:33:12:43
John Marchand
Here’s what Mayor John Marchand said. I don’t really like politics. It’s the price you have to pay for good governance. I’m not a politician. I prefer to call myself a public servant. How’s that for a governing philosophy? That mindset can only lead to good government, and it seems to with a 90% approval rating. And he does all this for $18,000 a year.

00:33:12:46 – 00:33:30:13
John Marchand
That’s actually a decent take home pay for a mayor, believe it or not. And for most mayors, it isn’t about the money, it’s about the work. And that’s good government. And for the kids, that’s the answer to their first question. Now they know being mayor won’t make you rich, at least not in Livermore. But they do have curry pizza, and we’ll have to see you on that one.

00:33:30:16 – 00:33:49:39
John Marchand
That’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and shares with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening, and check out our website. Good government show for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government in action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

00:33:49:43 – 00:34:27:53
John Marchand
The Good Government Show is produced by the Good Government Institute, a nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement and civic education. All donations to the show help promote trust in government. You can donate at Good Govt Institute. That’s good govt institute. Executive producers are Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin that’s me and David Snyder. Jason Stern is our editor and producer. Join us again to hear good stories about our government right here on The Good Government Show.

00:34:27:58 – 00:34:31:00
Narrator
This podcast is part of the democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.