Greg was born and raised in Vacaville.

I'm proud and fortunate to have been born and raised right here in Vacaville, back when this city had fewer than 36,000 people in it. I can still remember the Onion Festival at Pena Adobe Park, Fiesta Days on Buck Avenue, and the old Nut Tree. My mom was an educator who became the Special Education principal for the Solano County Office of Education. My dad proudly served as a United States Air Force pilot through Vietnam and was later stationed at Travis Air Force Base, before he spent 27 years in real estate here in Solano County. Travis isn't an abstraction to me. It's part of my family's story, and it's part of why I believe so strongly that it should anchor our economic future too.

I went to elementary school, middle school, and high school here in Vacaville, where I built friendships I still have today. Playing sports growing up taught me something I still lean on: hard work, staying focused on a positive goal, and pushing through to a good result is what it takes to get anywhere in life. I played college football at Eastern New Mexico University, then earned my business and sociology degree at Cal State Long Beach. That's also where I met my wife, Melissa. I'm a proud Black man married to a Jewish American woman, raising two beautiful mixed kids, Joslyn and Jadon, right here in Vacaville. If Dr. King ever had a picture in his mind of what he hoped this country could look like, I like to think my family is a small piece of it. We came back to Vacaville because it's home, and because we wanted to raise our kids in a community that reflects the same diversity and decency we live every day.

My career in real estate finance actually started almost immediately after college, in Los Angeles. In 2012 I brought that experience home and opened my own mortgage brokerage in downtown Vacaville. Since then, Citizens Financial has grown to two more offices and now employs around 32 people across California. We built our whole company around a simple idea: proud to serve those who serve and keep our community safe. We're known as the Badges Broker because we go out of our way for first responders, peace officers, military families, educators, and healthcare workers, the people who show up for all of us every single day. For six years now, I've gotten to support public safety personnel here in Vacaville and at agencies across California, and it's been one of the most rewarding parts of my life. I do that because it's the right thing to do, not because of anyone's politics. I've never once asked an officer, a firefighter, or a paramedic who they voted for before deciding they deserved my support.

I also served on the Kairos Public Schools board, volunteer with the Vacaville Veterans Hall American Legion Post 165, and am absolutely proud to be a soccer dad to  my kids in soccer, soon flag football. Life is not a spectator sport, and I've never believed in showing up only when it's convenient.

I first ran for this seat in 2020 for one reason. I watched the national conversation turn into "us versus them," "you're either with us or against us," and I refused to let that poison take root here in Vacaville. This city has always been better than that, and I ran to make sure it stayed that way.

Six years later, I'm running again because I believe Vacaville still has more good ahead of it, not less. I'm not running against anyone or anything. I'm running for a city that keeps growing the right way, keeps its promises to the people who protect it, and keeps room at the table for every family who calls it home.

As a small business owner myself, I understand what it takes for the businesses on our streets to thrive, and I believe smart growth, small business support, and real community connection are what keep Vacaville moving forward. I believe in smart, controlled growth, not growth for its own sake, but growth with a plan behind it. I believe in building a real mix of housing so the people who grew up here can actually afford to stay here, paired with the good jobs that let them live, work, and play in the community they love instead of commuting out of it. I believe Travis Air Force Base, our largest and most historic employer, should be the anchor of a real aerospace and defense ecosystem right here in Solano County, and that we get there through serious public private partnerships, not slogans. I believe in economic opportunity that reaches every neighborhood and every background in this city, because that's the Vacaville I grew up in and the one I want my kids to inherit.

There's a difference between a city people have to live in and a city people want to live in. I've spent my career serving the people who serve us, and I'm running to make sure Vacaville is the second kind of place, for everyone.

Contact Phone: (310) 405-4744 or GregRitchie4Vacaville@gmail.com