DIXON, CA (MPG) - District 2 Council Representative, past Citizen of the Year, and Ramtown Karate business owner, Jim Ernest has announced he is planning to run for re-election.

“All along I was considering a second term. Some days are more frustrating than others as a councilmember. When I first ran, I had no aspirations of being a politician, but I wanted to give back to the community,” he said. “Now, there are things in the fires that I would love to see through. It feels like we’re getting somewhere.” He referred to the development in the Pardi Plaza, the northeast quadrant, the drainage issue and the Parkway Overpass. He is proud of many accomplishments while serving since 2018.

“It’s very exciting where the downtown is going. We got County Supervisor Jim Spering to say that it was going to be about five million and I thought it was great that [Dixon] got acknowledged as a county project,” he said. “The Transportation Authority controls a lot of the money that comes down the road and so [it means a lot] to have said the dollar amount.”

Some of his goals include mentoring and encouraging younger people for involvement.

“Sometime maybe after this term we can get younger people to step up because I don’t want to do this anymore after four more years. I’m 70, and I served eight on the planning commission and now four years as council. That was my total goal. I’m not trying to raise up to Mayor or Supervisor,” he added. He is proud that the council has seemed to have less friction.

“We’ve had good people on the council for years, but there was discord and people got frustrated and insulted each other and that hurt our staff and hurt our city,” he explained. “I try to be my most professional and be my best"'even more than polite"'to stay calm because when you stay calm, you think your best.”

The most challenging part of the job is all the time it takes to prepare for meetings and serve on committees, he admitted.

“We haven’t solved the water problem and we’re trying to get that settled plus the lighting and landscape district issue. We haven’t done everything but it’s kind of exciting too that people are getting behind things,” he said. “We may not get all those things completed but I’d like to do as much as I can.”