Monez won't run for Napa City Council

By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer

Dan Monez, Napa’s former police chief, announced Friday that he would not be running for City Council in November.

“After much deliberation, I have decided that my commitments to my family, to my board at Napa Valley TV and to working with several non-profit fundraisers between now and November would not allow for a fully committed campaign,” Monez said in a prepared statement.

Monez, 58, said earlier this month that he was considering running for council. Two council seats as well as mayor will be on the November ballot.

The incumbents, Mayor Jill Techel and Councilmembers Jim Krider and Mark van Gorder, are running for re-election.

The only announced challengers are Don Huffman, the owner of a local graphics design and public relations agency, who is vying for mayor, and Amber Martin, daughter of former Councilman Harry Martin, who is a council candidate.

Monez said he hoped that the issues he cares most about — growth, water availability, public safety services and the city’s “failing” infrastructure — would be discussed by the other candidates.

Monez, who was police chief from 1987 to 2004, is executive director of Napa Valley TV.

Between now and November, he will be working on fundraisers for Napa Emergency Women’s Services, Napa County Hispanic Network, Parents Can, Queen of the Valley Medical Center, Napa Valley Opera House, Copia, Dreamweavers, Napa Valley Education Foundation and Trinity Prep, he said.

The deadline to file candidate papers is Aug. 8.

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