Meet Richard Casavecchia

Incumbent for Winters City Council

Results and efforts from his first term include: 

  • Successfully argued and voted for a larger electricity rate reduction for Valley Clean Energy (VCE) customers vs PG&E (Currently 5% below PG&E rates).

  • Voted to approve a rate stabilization fund to continue those VCE discounts in years where revenues would otherwise make that impossible.

  • Successfully championed the Fire Chiefs request for a new Fire Training Facility off Moody Slough. Our Fire Department now has a reusable burnable contained structure to train on that we can also rent out to other agencies and Fire Academies.

  • Proposed merging the stalled and financially infeasible Senior Center plan with a Community Center renovation; a project we can actually afford to still provide a dedicated space for seniors as well a benefit to the whole community.

  • Used a suggestion from community members and proposed an incubator/cafe space in Three Oaks Park to council, resulting in a space with utility hook ups for food trucks and other mobile startups that will be installed Fall 2026.

  • Voted to allow food truck startups to park on the undeveloped sections of Edwards and Baker in zoning that already permits restaurants, rather than the final regulation requiring them to pay for a Conditional Use Permit and seek permission to use someone else’s private property. A regulation that effectively makes it impossible for another Burger Bro’s to grow from startup food truck to brick and mortar restaurant in Winters.

  • Continuously advocated for city ordinances and policies that foster a physical and regulatory environment friendly to people thriving and businesses trying new ideas through human focused design and reduced barriers to entry and pushing for elimination of unnecessary fees.

Sign indicating the city of Winters, California, established in 1875, with an arrow pointing upward. Below, a faded sign reads 'STATE GAT.' Text on the right mentions Councilmember Casavechia attending a 2026 Strong Towns National Gathering in Fayetteville, Arkansas, learning about traffic calming and parking reform strategies.

  • Attended three Strong Towns National Gatherings to learn more about community-focused design and brought back concepts like quickbuild strategies that will help us address issues like street safety cheaply and effectively, hopefully with broader council support.

A man and a girl are standing together outdoors at a formal event. The girl is wearing a white dress with lace sleeves, and the man is dressed in a pink shirt, dark blazer, and sunglasses. They are smiling at the camera.

In his private life, Richard works as a finance and business intelligence expert, providing strategic advice and insight towards managing a Sacramento County Medi-Cal and Medicare Doctor network. He also volunteers as a Board Member for the Winters Healthcare Foundation.

Richard served in the Army for 10 years as a Cavalry Officer. His last posting was with the California Army National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters where he worked with local, state, and federal agencies managing people, plans, operations, and strategy for California’s disaster response. He helped write the California OES unified logistics plan to coordinate efforts between local, state, and federal response, which is still in use today.

He received his Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice from Sacramento State University, and earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis in Strategy and Finance from UC Davis.