Palo Alto Neighborhoods
Questionnaire for City Council
Candidates
September 2003
Please note that no response was received from Ed Power. An essay from Victor Frost is included at the end.
1. What
skills and experience would you bring to the City Council?
RONNY
BAR-GADDA
I am a 21 year resident of Palo
Alto, first as an apartment renter, then a condominium owner and finally a
homeowner. I have started up 3 companies and have managed them within budget.
The last company I raised over $12 million even in the midst of a recession. I
bring both experience with managing and operating businesses, as well as
working with city and state governments on various projects. I also bring a
fresh perspective and creative ideas.
BERN BEECHAM
I bring to
the City Council a set of leadership skills, experience and knowledge that our
community needs now more than ever. My
conservative voice on City fiscal matters will continue to be critical in
meeting short and long-term budgetary constraints. Under my leadership, the
Council passed and implemented my motion for a permanent 5% structural
reduction in city expenses. In addition, I called for a controlled
restructuring of City Hall, which was unanimously supported by both the Finance
Committee and the majority of my colleagues.
I voted to maintain commitment to preserving our infrastructure. My leadership will be critical in preserving
a sound financial and business structure for Palo Alto’s City-owned
utilities.
LADORIS CORDELL
I served as a State Court judge for almost 19 years, during which time I routinely analyzed complex material, balanced competing interests, and arrived at fair and sound decisions. This ability to be decisive, and move on, is an important quality for a City Council member. During three of these years, I was the Supervising Judge of the Family Court where I was able to forge the highest percentage of mediated settlements in the Court's history. I have served on many committees, including The Community Working Group for the Opportunity Center and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (I am a past Chairperson), and have consistently had amicable and constructive relationships with my colleagues. As a Vice Provost at Stanford, I am responsible for a large and complex budget, and am experienced at making hard choices to reduce expenditures and balance the budget, while maintaining the quality of services.
JOHN FREDRICH
I have lived in Palo Alto for over 30 years, mostly as a renter
downtown. I have a couple of Stanford degrees and I served on and chaired
numerous committees at school and church. I teach on the south side (Gunn H.S.)
SKIP JUSTMAN
In 1976, 1 founded my real estate law practice. I have managed a
business budget during boom times as well as recessions. I know how to eliminate
wasteful spending and dedicate a percentage of revenues to future capital
needs.
NANCY LYTLE
I am an
energetic leader, homeowner and a parent of a school-age child. I have two
decades of municipal finance, redevelopment and city planning experience,
including 10 years in Palo Alto. Please
refer to my website at www.nancylytle.net for a more complete resume.
In my
first term as a Council Member, I voted against both oversized city operational
budgets and proposed making cuts based on resident priorities; worked for the
successful reopening of Terman Middle School and protection of Ventura School
as a future school site, championed library, park, sport field and tennis
upgrades now budgeted. I want to see my
efforts through to completion and assure we maintain the best schools,
libraries, parks and quality of life in the Bay Area here in Palo Alto.
JUDY KLEINBERG
I am the only practicing attorney on
the City Council. My expertise is often an advantage when legal matters are
being evaluated or when my colleagues want an unofficial “second opinion” when
dealing with advice from our City Attorney. I am also a credentialed mediator
and these skills have proven helpful when negotiating among stakeholders, as
when I was called upon to mend the breakdown in relations between the City and
the School District, which I was able to do over many months of negotiations
between the two organizations. I have earned a reputation for being
collaborative, bringing differing groups to agreement, and being a constructive
influence on the Council and among my colleagues.
I have extensive regional experience
working with Santa Clara County, and currently as a member of the Social
Services Advisory Commission, in providing comprehensive, cross-sector,
culturally sensitive social, health and mental health services. I am also the
only candidate who has worked as a child advocate on behalf of children and
family services at the local, regional, state and national level. This background
gives me the experience and network to promote more progressive and
comprehensive youth and family services in Palo Alto. In this regard, I
participated in the development of a Youth Master Plan for our community, and I
was able to secure my colleagues’ unanimous vote to allocate additional funds
in the current budget for increased services for frail seniors, the homeless,
the developmentally disabled, and youth leadership programming.
I have been actively involved in
promoting affordable housing for our City, taking an active role both on our
Council and regionally. As a member of the Santa Clara County Housing
Leadership Council, the Housing Action Coalition and the Silicon Valley
Manufacturing Group’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Teachers and Affordable
Housing, I have worked hard for legislation and funding strategies to support
and incentivize more affordable housing.
In my third year of trying, I was able to get a vote of the Council to
make affordable and attainable housing one of the City’s top five priorities. I
also initiated efforts that created a new City loan program to preserve below
market rate units.
I am actively involved
in open space preservation, not only as a Council member, but also as a
volunteer, which I have pursued for nearly 15 years. I am a former President of the Committee for Green Foothills,
during which time I led that organization’s successful advocacy for maintenance
of the greenbelt and coastal preservation throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo
counties. And I currently serve on the Board of Directors of the Sempervirens
Fund, which preserves old growth redwoods in Santa Cruz County. I worked with one of my colleagues to secure
funding to purchase the Bressler property, a prime piece of land contiguous to
the Arastradero Preserve, saving the property from private development. And
with another colleague, I helped initiate the City’s Sustainability Plan under
which the City will use less, pollute less and waste less.
DENA MOSSAR
̊
Mayor, 2003
̊ Vice Mayor, 2002
̊ Member, Council Finance
Committee, 1998, 1999; Chair, 2000
̊ Member, Council
Policy and Services Committee, 2001-2002; Chair, 2001
̊ Member, National League of
Cities—Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Steering Committee,
2001-2003
̊ Delegate, National League
of Cities—Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee, 2003
̊ Chair, League of
California Cities—Community Services Policy Committee, 2002; Vice Chair, 2001;
Member, 1998-2002
̊ Member, League of
California Cities, Smart Growth Subcommittee, 2000-2001
̊ Delegate, Association of
Bay Area Governments, 1998-2000
̊ Director, Bay Area Air
Quality Management District, 1999 to present
̊ Director, Valley
Transportation Authority, 2002-2003
̊ Director, San Francisquito
Creek Joint Powers Authority, 1999 to present
̊ Director, Altamont Commuter
Express, 2002-2003
̊ Alternate
Commissioner, Bay Conservation and Development Commission, 2000 to present
̊ BCDC Delegate, Regional
Airport Planning Commission, 2003
̊ Chair, Santa Clara County
Pollution Prevention Committee, 2001-2002; Vice Chair 1999-2000; Member, 1998
̊ Delegate, Northwest Flood
Control Zone Advisory Committee, 2000-2001
̊ Chair, Valley
Transportation Authority Policy Advisory Committee, 2001; member 1998-2002
̊ Director, Santa Clara
Valley Housing Trust Fund, 2002
̊ Member, Blue Ribbon Task
Force: Teachers and Affordable Housing, 2003
̊ Delegate, San Francisco
Airport Runway Reconfiguration Committee, 1998-2000
̊ Founder, Palo Alto Try
Transit Campaign, 1996
̊ Founder, Special Event
Shuttle Program, 1996
̊ Member, Downtown Parking
Committee, 1993-1997
̊ Board Member, University
South Neighborhoods Group, 1994-1997
̊ Member, Comprehensive Plan
Advisory Committee, 1992 to 1995
̊ Alumni Advisor, Leadership
Midpeninsula—Environmental Issues, 1992-1998
̊ Co-chair, Research Park
Transportation Task Force, 1993-1997
̊ Founding Board Member,
Silicon Valley Pollution Prevention Center, 1995-1997
̊ Founding Member, Santa
Clara County Creeks Coalition 1993
̊ Member, Needs Assessment Committee,
United Way, 1997
̊
Member, Education and Outreach Committee, Housing Action Coalition
2. What do you consider the three most significant issues facing Palo Alto residents? What would you do to address these issues?
RONNY BAR-GADDA
Traffic Situation in Palo Alto:
The traffic issue is an important one for this community. A huge amount
of money has been expended for traffic blockers. My pointed questions as to the
legality of arbitrarily closing a public thoroughfare for the benefit of some
local homeowners, was brought up City Officials at the orientation meeting for
candidates. My position on this matter is that you cannot block public streets,
since I consider this as an illegal act, in that it is prejudicial
for the benefit of a minority of local residents at the expense of the majority
in Palo Alto. It also discriminates against the majority of Palo Altans, in so
far as they are not being treated in an equitable manner. Could you imagine
blocking every street in Palo Alto in order not to discriminate against
everyone? Their reply (at this meeting) was that this was considered as an
" experiment" and "temporary". I believe these statements
were made to get around the issue. The bottom line is that some residents will
benefit from this activity at the expense of all the other residents of Palo
Alto.
The issue of response
time also came up. Here are some interesting facts that residents of the City
may not be aware of: The number of fire calls has risen over 78 % in the last
five years; medical and rescue calls have increased over 12%; service calls
have increased by more than 116% while staffing in the fire department per
1,000 residents have remained flat. In addition, the same fire stations have
had to increase the number of residents served by over 500 per fire station in
the last five years. This increases the potential for a less safe environment
and increases our response time for emergencies. By creating a labyrinth of
traffic blockers we are courting disaster for our community. The present City
Council has seen fit to increase the administrative budget by 44% over a
five-year period at the expense of fire and police protection.
If there is an earthquake, fire, or other disaster, such as a medical
emergency, we are open to a lawsuit if it turns out that the cause of a death
or injury was due to increased response time from traffic blockers. There are
other prudent solutions that will work and does not entail pushing the problem
onto other communities or endangering lives. My program will ensure the
building of more parking garages, traffic bumps to slow traffic, as well as
establish a long- term regional plan for public transportation.
Administrative Overhead in
the City of Palo Alto: Statistically
speaking, approximately less than 1% of the population of the United States
(~284,000,000) was employed by the Federal Government. That number (2,700,000)
also includes our entire armed forces.
The State of California employs less than 0.6% 220,000) of the population (35,000,000). The City of Palo Alto
has about 1,200 employees servicing a population of about 60,000, amounting to
a percentage of 2%. Even if you subtract the utility employees from the total,
we still have over 30% more civil service workers than the entire Federal
government. As one can tell by the
numbers, the City of Palo Alto has a much higher percentage of the population
employed as civil servants compared to the state and federal level. On a local
level, comparing other cities with Palo Alto, the differences are even greater.
For example, Redwood City has about 9 employees per 1,000 residents (FY
1999-00) as compared to Palo Alto of 17 employees per 1,000 residents. Alameda,
which offers electric and telecom services to their residents, has about 15
employees per 1,000 residents served.
Although Palo Alto has over 350 utility employees our average
residential electric bill has increased by 27 per cent over five years. The
City of Santa Clara has a smaller average residential bill than the City of
Palo Alto. For the last century, Santa Clara utility customers have
enjoyed lower rates for utility services than many other communities in our
County. On a recent survey of 105 cities and agencies in the nine Bay area
counties, the City of Santa Clara provided the lowest combined water, sewer and
electric service charges! The City's residential electric rates have averaged
about 35% lower than rates from private companies in the surrounding areas.
If elected, I will ask the City Council to
review the organizational structure of the City. This will include a review of
the manpower allocation, remuneration and staffing levels in the City. Although
I consider layoffs as a last option for the reduction of
expenses, it will be reviewed along with other proposals and options for cost
cutting.
Affordable Housing: Smart growth for me entails cooperation not competition. The
City should encourage regular meetings between concerned citizens, business
leaders, government officials and developers. If there is a new development
that is desired, we must implement a City policy that ensures adequate parking.
This should be part of the building code. In addition, I would encourage the
instituting of an infrastructure tax. This tax would be implemented across the
board (new business, residents, etc.) However, it would be weighted so that the
most beneficial party would pay more of the tax. For example, if a large chain
or company desired to move into Palo Alto but did not attempt or prioritize the
hiring of local residents first, they (company or chain store) would pay the
preponderance of the tax. This is because there would be added stress to the
existing infrastructure since additional housing would be needed. However, if
the company or chain desired to hire local talent then the preponderance of the
tax would be levied more on the residents. Why? The reason is simple. The local
residents are the principal beneficiaries of the entity doing business here and
since local citizens are being hired, the stress on the existing infrastructure
would be diminished. Affordable housing is possible if a sane growth policy is
adopted.
Affordable housing will only result
if a comprehensive City and regional strategic plan is developed. I will
encourage the City Council to create public forums so that developers, residents
and business owners will co-create a vision for the City.
BERN BEECHAM
Manage the budget:
our budget will continue to be under pressure for the next several
years. We have successfully balanced
the budget by permanently reducing costs and overhead. But as the State is forced to do the same in
their budget, we must plan for further constraints in our own
expenditures. You ask what I will do –
I’m pleased to tell you what I have been able to accomplish just in the past
several months on our current budget. I
have already called for the City Manager to present to the Council a detailed
plan for restructuring City Hall (motion accepted by Council). I have also called for the City Auditor to
conduct a performance audit of the Community Services Department, our largest
department (accepted by Council). In
addition, I have moved that we increase capital funding over the next two years
(accepted by Council).
Restore trust and confidence in City leadership:
I will continue to build consensus within the community on difficult
issues. I believe I can work with all
my Council colleagues. Over the past
four years I have crafted joint memos with nearly all my fellow
Councilmembers. Further, I have
successfully advocated for open government, and continue to promote the
philosophy that our elected officials should be accessible to Palo Alto
residents on all issues.
Manage growth sensibly: Just as I
worked to moderate the Housing Element Update for our Comprehensive Plan, I
will continue to carefully assess how to achieve the housing required by state
law against their specific impacts on neighborhoods. I moved the Charleston/Arastradero Corridor Study, specifically
incorporating Alma Plaza into the moratorium.
LADORIS CORDELL
I believe that the three most significant issues facing Palo Alto
residents are (1) traffic/safety; (2) affordable housing; and (3) the city's
budget. I am committed to protecting
school commute areas by implementing traffic calming measures, and by closely
monitoring proposed developments for traffic impacts, before approving these
developments. Please see my answer to
question #10 for more on this issue.
Truly affordable housing must continue to be a priority for our
City. Please see my answers to
questions #6 and #7.
Palo Alto's annual budget for 2003-2004 is $121
million. The budget for 2004-2005 is
$126 million. While it is commendable
that the City Council has passed a balanced budget, given the large size of our
budget, one wonders why we are left with inadequate revenues to fund our
libraries and other important infrastructure costs. I suggest that it is time for our City Council to undertake an
in-depth look at our City's budget to enable us to better understand and manage
it, so that we can fund clear community priorities such as libraries, athletic
fields, etc.
JOHN FREDRICH
Community Development and Quality of Life
Housing and Traffic
Honesty and Competence in Government
I would hope to broaden the range of opinions & improve
decision making by moving away from an ersatz concensus towards open
deliberations.
SKIP JUSTMAN
Deteriorating infrastructure ‑ I will seek a charter amendment to
require a dedication of revenues to infrastructure projects.
Deteriorating business climate ‑ I will require a new
mission statement from our Planning Department.
Lack of affordable housing ‑ I support a yes vote on Measure C.
NANCY LYTLE
There
is a structural budget problem. Escalating employee costs, the local
effects of the state deficit and the aging infrastructure are on a financial
collision course.
I voted against the last two budgets because the priorities
did not reflect community needs and they failed to address our structural
financial problems. We can solve our budget problems by cutting services in
areas that are low priority for Palo Altans.
For example, we should not have spent our money and staff
CIP resources on the Baylands Parking lot
project. Nobody wanted us to pave that parking lot beyond the current surface
treatment. On the other hand, everyone
wants to upgrade our libraries. The
hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the parking lot and staff resources
to build it should go instead to the Children’s library. The grant funding for the lot should be
returned to the grant provider to be used on a project that is supported by the
community. This is just one example.
We also need to work collaboratively with other partners,
like the League of Cities and Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, to put an end
to ERAF shifts and retain local tax dollars locally.
We must continue updating and
modernizing our old infrastructure, like storm drains, police headquarters,
libraries and parks and fields. We have
now achieved capital commitments for sport fields and some modernization of our outdated library
system. That is a good start.
We need to complete our private and public match fundraising
and develop partners to eliminate wait lists for our children in team sports
and summer camps. And we must keep working
to make Palo Alto’s libraries a source of community pride again. We must move
forward on getting our entire infrastructure inventory up to snuff.
JUDY KLEINBERG
Fiscal reform and budget management through further reduction of
operating expenses while maintaining the high quality services that our
residents expect, and rebuilding trust and accountability about City financial
decisions
Promotion of pedestrian-oriented
neighborhoods
through protection of first floor retail services, traffic calming measures,
and our Zoning Ordinance Update (in compliance with our Comprehensive Plan) and
through continued capital investment in our parks, libraries, community service
facilities, and supporting infrastructure
Development of
neighborhood-compatible affordable housing, linking services such as parks and alternative
transportation, including shuttles and bike routes, to planning decisions.
DENA MOSSAR
Restructuring
city hall operations. I took the lead in directing our City Auditor to begin
operational audits of our largest and most costly department – Community
Services. Our Auditor is also at present, completing an operational audit of
our Planning Department. I believe that both of those audits will yield many
ideas for streamlining the way we do business with the community and will
enable us to reduce our budget and provide better service to the community.
Solving traffic problems. I have
supported increased police traffic patrols, voted to fund additional crossing
guards and worked aggressively for city/school traffic safety measures. My
leadership has resulted in a city-sponsored shuttle system, improved bicycle
and pedestrian access and national recognition as a "Bicycle Friendly
City."
Housing. I have been a strong advocate for infill housing in our community. I am committed to approve solid housing projects. I voted for 800 High, and support infill housing on other sites in the city that are transit oriented and designed to be sensitive to their surrounding environment.
3. What steps would you propose to increase City
revenues and/or reduce City spending to meet anticipated budget shortfalls?
RONNY BAR-GADDA
Please see the answers
to question 2.
BERN BEECHAM
* Through my leadership, we have achieved a balanced
budget that has cut expenditures by 5% overall while keeping reserves intact
and not cutting any critical service.
* See also comments in previous response.
* I will continue the work begun as a member of Economics Ad
Hoc Committee to strengthen partnerships with private enterprise, including
business-to-business, regional retail and neighborhood retail sectors to
increase sales tax revenues while providing needed services. Council passed my motion to develop policies
regarding supporting our nine auto dealerships.
LADORIS CORDELL
I would increase developer impact fees for new housing to cover more of
the actual costs that the City incurs from housing. Currently, developers are required to pay $6,930 per housing
unit, whereas the actual cost to the City is $10,329, leaving a deficit of
$3,399 per unit. (see City Manager's Report #188:02, dated March 25,
2002).Given our bleak financial situation and the lack of funds for library
expansion, new parks, new schools, and other infrastructure cost, it is imperative that new development pay
its own way.
See my answer to question #12, for ideas about being proactive in
bringing in more retail services to expand our city revenues, and my answer to
question #2 re a city budget review.
JOHN FREDRICH
Changes in Washington, D.C. and
Sacramento are needed. The Republican & Democratic parties are corrupt
influence peddlers ignoring the long term needs of theaantion. I’m for
reforming Prop 13, reducing Bush tax cuts & locally (as a council person)
eliminating some middle management.
SKIP JUSTMAN
I would reduce the
Planning Department budget by $3,000,000 a year.
NANCY LYTLE
I championed the
institution of development impact fees for parks and community centers, and
more equitable fees for traffic controls and housing. I also promote the use of
tax increment in the Cal Ventura area and some segments of El Camino Real. High
quality redevelopment of retail will boost City revenues.
Spending reduction can be accomplished by negotiating with
employee unions to share escalating benefit costs, reducing operational and
capital spending on areas that are not priorities for Palo Alto residents, and
auditing all contracts to reduce redundancy and dependency on contractors for
services that are low priority (using instead services in-house).
JUDY KLEINBERG
I would raise the TOT
rate (the hotel transient occupancy tax) to be competitive with our neighboring
cities, which would bring in millions of dollars a year depending on how much
was raised. I would also work with local businesses to negotiate their
designation of Palo Alto as the point of sale for their businesses, thus
capturing now lost sales tax revenue. And I support an organizational audit of
City services and would continue the present structural reorganization,
especially in keeping with the audit findings and recommendations, to
streamline management while maintaining the highest level of direct service to
residents and businesses. Finally, future contract negotiations with unions
must address in a collaborative way the escalating costs of retirement
benefits.
DENA MOSSAR
I support
restructuring City Hall, so that we can run a “leaner and meaner” organization
and continue to provide the services we treasure at a time when both the State
and Federal governments are reducing our revenues. I also support working with
the League of California Cities to encourage the State to return control of our
local tax dollars back to the cities in which we live.
4. What changes in organizational structure or
services, if any, do you believe should be made to our City-owned utilities to
ensure that they serve our residents well?
RONNY BAR-GADDA
Having worked in the energy field both in management and
also as an inventor; I invented a garbage-to-gasoline process as well as a new
hydrogen from water process technology, there are many things that can be done
to improve service and lower rates. First, I would introduce an equitable
net-metering program to lower utility rates. This would empower homeowners to
invest in their future while potentially profiting from creating their own
energy. In this deregulated environment, city municipalities must find ways to
leverage their assets and influence in order to get better utility rates. We
now flare off the biogas at the City dump. That precious energy can be best
utilized within our utility system.
A complete review of
the contracts made by the City Council should be done as a priority. In July of
1999, the City Council signed a 20 year agreement with the Western Area Power
Administration starting in 2005. This contract will substantially change the
way energy will be provided to the City. Because the power will come from
hydroelectric sources, the energy provided will vary with hydro-conditions. The
result as stated by the Utilities Department will " leave the City with a
substantial "energy gap" starting in 2005 that varies by year by
month and by hour". The second part of the contract is undefined and will
require substantial department resources to define what will be delivered to
the City. As the Department admits in its overview, " supply costs are
projected to increase substantially, compared to past years, as the City makes
supply commitments to fill the energy deficit starting in 2005". Who ever
heard of signing a contract in which prices and energy type is not known?
BERN BEECHAM
* Our utilities comprise one
of the best municipally-owned utilities in the state. Its overall structure has proven sound as we and other muni’s
have emerged strengthened after the energy chaos of the last several
years. Nonetheless, we need to ensure
our utilities have sound “cost accounting”.
* In the last budget cycle, I supported the
separation of expenses by city employees who support Utilities from General
Fund employees. In addition, I
requested that the City Auditor assess the expense relationship between the
General Fund and Utilities.
* I will continue to work with cities in our region
to assert appropriate control over our Hetch Hetchy water supply, managed by
San Francisco.
* We have the opportunity to enter a new utility area
– Fiber to the Home (FTTH). We need to
look at this opportunity with an open mind, assessing both the possible
benefits to residents and the inherent risks.
LADORIS CORDELL
It is important to distinguish between our City Utilities and the Public
Works Enterprise Fund, both of which are owned by the City. The Fund's employees (app. 111) address refuse, storm drains, and water
quality. Our Utilities employ 234
individuals for gas, electric, water, wastewater, and fiber optics. Our Utility's budget is separate from the
General Fund. Recently, streets lights,
traffic signals, street sweeping, and sidewalk washing were shifted from the
General Fund to Utilities. This means
that a general city expense has now been passed on to ratepayers i.e. Palo Alto
residents. To better understand the
impact of the Enterprise Fund and Palo Alto Utilities upon city revenues and
upon our residents, and before recommending any service or organizational
changes, I suggest that our City Council undertake an in-depth review of the
City's utility budget.
JOHN
FREDRICH
Some part of these revenues should be unavailable for
transfer to the general fund except for utility infrastructure. I don’t know if
that’s currently the case.
SKIP
JUSTMAN
I support fiber to the
home.
NANCY LYTLE
We
need a full audit and inventory of all City contracts. It would make sense to put an oversight
committee, working with our Auditor, in charge of reviewing status and
redundancy of all City contracts. The
focus would be to reduce contract dependency and bring more services in house.
No expansion of staffing is justified in this economy and we should utilize
attrition and reorganization to reduce the size of the organization.
The size of the organization should be reduced at the top as
well. I would strongly support a Charter amendment to reduce Council size to
seven members.
JUDY KLEINBERG
I believe our Utilities department has been a leader in delivering high
quality, reliable and sustainable services to residents and businesses. The
proposal for adding fiber to the home as a new City utility is a visionary
proposal worth careful evaluation for value and cost. We should increase our proportion of utilities that are from
renewable resources and look for opportunities to streamline the organizational
structure to reduce costs.
DENA MOSSAR
City-ownership of our utilities remains a great decision for our community. Our utility rates have remained highly competitive with other providers. Palo Alto is among the top 10 users of green energy in the nation. Utility taxes have enabled our continued $6 million investment in local schools. I support continued efforts to increase water and energy conservation and the use of alternative energy.
5.
Do you believe that any of our
infrastructure (parks, libraries, recreational facilities, schools, etc.) is inadequate for our current
population? If so, please explain what
specific improvements are needed and how you would fund them.
RONNY BAR-GADDA
In this tight environment, we need to make sure that
the infrastructure does not fall into disrepair. My priority, if elected, will
be to sustain the infrastructure during these difficult times.
BERN
BEECHAM
*
We have an infrastructure deficit in several areas – and Palo Alto is
not alone in this. Cities across
California acknowledge the need to maintain and improve our
infrastructure.
* According to National Park Standards, Palo Alto
needs additional parkland to accommodate current population. My work to ensure new parkland and athletic
field space at Mayfield will help to meet this need. Additional work needs to be done to create usable parkland to
serve the neighborhood surrounding Greer Park, and a new park in the South of
Forest neighborhood.
* The new soccer fields at Mayfield will provide the
ideal test for synthetic turf. Should
it prove successful there, synthetic turf, where appropriate taking into account
neighborhood compatibility concerns, can extend the usability of our existing
fields.
* Libraries need renovation and repair. We cherish our branch library system,
providing library access to neighborhood residents across Palo Alto. The successful public-private partnership
that is working to repair and improve Children’s Library to meet current and
future needs is an example of what we can achieve. Other libraries, recreational facilities and community centers
across town will need improvement.
* The City will continue to lease the Cubberley community center from PAUSD, providing $6M per year to the school district. This supplements development impact fees in providing funds critically needed by our schools. I will continue work begun earlier to partner with the schools to explore areas of common interest, including traffic safety.
LADORIS CORDELL
Our libraries are severely in need of expansion, and are totally
inadequate for the current needs of our community (much less the additional
demands of future growth). This is
unacceptable in a community which
values learning as much as Palo Alto does.
Our schools are overcrowded. In
the elementary schools, there are so many portables that they are encroaching
on the space for children to play. Our high schools are also overcrowded. It may be necessary to open a third high
school at Cubberly, which would exacerbate the already inadequate community
service space in south Palo Alto. Our
Comprehensive Plan calls for a two-acre park for every 1,000 residents; and, we
are already out of compliance with that requirement. Even if developers pay a park impact fee, we lack available land
on which to build new parks. Fixing
these inadequacies is a major challenge in tough financial times. We must allocate part of our budget every
year for the repair and expansion of these services, including the acquisition
of more public land.
Developer impact fees should be raised to cover the FULL
proportionate increase in demand created for these services. Our City is too focused on more and more
housing growth without concurrent planning for the services that must accompany
the increase in population, such as new schools, parks, libraries, etc.. This balance must be corrected.
JOHN FREDRICH
All of them…But it’s a question of economics…As I
said, I believe state & federal taxes for the richest people in our society
are too low (question 3)
SKIP JUSTMAN
We need to rededicate our general revenues to parks, libraries, etc. by
reducing the Planning Department budget by $3 million a year.
NANCY LYTLE
Yes. Our libraries
are inadequate, as was documented in the library bond effort. Our parks do not meet national standards,
particularly for district park facilities, as documented in the Comp Plan EIR. Our schools are overcrowded, particularly at
the high school and north Palo Alto elementary level. We have insufficient facilities for children’s sports and summer
camps, as documented in our Fields Subcommittee Report.
The first step was the institution of impact fees. Next, we need to put more teeth into our
Subdivision Ordinance to require exactions as part of the re-mapping of
property. New taxes in Palo Alto are difficult to achieve, as evidenced by both
the failed library and storm drain bond ballot measures.
I propose we redirect our capital program to these
facilities on an urgent basis.
I also promote working at the State level with partners to
reduce the 2/3 voter approval requirement for libraries, schools and park
bonds. And I support tax increment as a
partner in financing these facilities.
JUDY KLEINBERG
Our infrastructure had fallen behind in meeting the
needs of the changing population in our community, especially with respect to
the needs of young families. Our parks and libraries are in greater demand
today than ever, and our Children’s Library, Museum and Zoo, and Children’s
Theatre are all in need of renovation and upgrades. The south neighborhoods of
the City especially need expanded and refurbished libraries and community facilities.
The failure of the Mitchell Park Library/Community Center effort should be
studied and a new scaled-down plan developed as soon as practicable. We’ve done
a good job upgrading parks in the past five years and the current focus on
improvements and upgrades is commendable and reaping tangible results.
We need more land for playing fields, micro-parks for neighborhoods that don’t have parks now, and mixed-use development and redevelopment of under-utilized property. I believe our Capital Improvement Plan, which for too long went under funded, is now being funded at a greater rate and we need to further increase our investment and timeline in these upgrading facilities.
As we look for ways to fund infrastructure
improvements, the investment/staffing priorities should focus on:
*
preservation of emergency services and safety strategies/systems (safe streets
and school corridors through traffic calming methods and alternative
transit/shuttle support, emergency response time, neighborhood preparedness)
* utility service personnel and top-quality equipment and service
* community services (libraries, parks, senior, youth
and homeless services)
DENA MOSSAR
We have a
rich mix of city facilities and services. We need to continue to dedicate
significant resources for their protection and enhancement. It is clear that
libraries are crowded and need repair, and that we need more playing fields.
All of these things cost money and we will need to set our budgetary priorities
in order to meet these needs.
6. How would you harmonize the State/ABAG housing
requirements with infrastructure needs (including parks, libraries, recreation
facilities, schools and roads) relating to that level of growth?
RONNY BAR-GADDA
Please see previous
answer.
BERN BEECHAM
* Palo Alto must continue to provide housing to meet requirements the State defined when approving our Housing Element Update. This update calls for zoning that will allow 250 affordable units to be built, not concentrated in one area of the city, but on carefully-defined sites in various parts of Palo Alto.
* As earlier, we must continually improve infrastructure to meet needs
of a growing population, and must manage growth in conjunction with our need
for parks, libraries, recreation facilities, schools and roads.
LADORIS CORDELL
I am committed to building more truly affordable housing in our
community and am proud to say that I serve on the Community Working Group which
created the Opportunity Center in Palo Alto.
I oppose current City policies which allow developers to count units as
"affordable" when they are
not actually affordable to our teachers, police, and firefighters. For example,
the units at 800 High Street may require an occupant to have an income of
$60,000 or more to purchase them. Too,
the "affordable" units at 800 High Street are too small to
comfortably accommodate the needs of even a small family.
I favor reasonable levels of development. I am opposed to over development, by which I
mean more development than can be absorbed in a given location without
unacceptably high impacts on traffic, safety, noise, etc. I will work diligently to satisfy the
State/ABAG housing requirements; however, I will not support projects which are
excessive. Our current City planning
pushes too much development in areas which already have too much traffic,
endangering children walking and bicycling to school. I favor looking for new locations for housing to minimize and spread
the impacts, and to focus development in areas which are either in walking
distance to train stations and supporting retail, or near the freeway to reduce
traffic impacts. As a Council member I
would make every effort to meet the State/ABAG requirements within the
above-listed constraints.
JOHN FREDRICH
I believe broader
revenue sharing & larger community block grant funding is necessary. The
federal housing assistance monies were gutted in the Reagan tax cuts.
SKIP JUSTMAN
I would support the purchase of existing apartments by the Palo Alto Housing Corporation. This would increase affordable housing without increasing density.
NANCY LYTLE
We
can meet our ABAG requirement and keep pace providing infrastructure to our
growing population, daytime and 24 hour. But we have to acknowledge and
understand those numbers and plan accordingly.
We have been in “denial.” A 1990
to 2000 census analysis and demographic projection update for Palo Alto has yet
to be performed. It is unfortunate that
an educated community is functioning in a climate of ignorance on a matter so
important to our future.
Parkland should be provided at a rate of four acres (2
district and 2 neighborhood) per thousand as national standards require and our
Comp Plan. These are not a luxury items. They are necessities. We must preserve
school sites, like Ventura, so that we can reopen them to meet populations
projections. We should not ignore our
responsibility to plan ahead. We need
to build all-affordable housing projects and develop partnerships for doing so.
One partner is the Palo Alto Redevelopment Agency. This is the largest finance source for affordable housing in our
state, and Palo Alto has refused to use it.
We must also work at the state level on legislation to
reduce the 2/3 voter majority requirement for library and school facility
financing, at minimum.
JUDY KLEINBERG
We must meet our ABAG
fair share responsibilities through the development of neighborhood-compatible
affordable housing, linking services such as parks and alternative
transportation, including shuttles and bike routes, to planning decisions. We
must look for ways to allocate housing units that discourages densities that
overwhelm nearby neighborhood streets and facilities, and that is why I have
pushed for our new Zoning Ordinance to rezone areas of the City that are
currently commercial to a mixed-use or residential zone, which may provide
incentives for housing in less dense areas such as along the eastern
now-commercial corridor of the City (along 101) where empty office buildings could
be converted into housing or mixed uses.
One of the major challenges is to provide for affordable and
attainable senior housing. The senior population is the fastest growing
population in our City and seniors need and want affordable alternative housing
that allows them to remain as residents while reducing their housing burden.
Senior housing is relatively low on infrastructure burdens (fewer car trips,
for example). We must also consider a program for land banking, whereby the
City would create a fund to buy up parcels for later affordable housing
development.
DENA MOSSAR
For 30 years, Palo Alto has had a successful housing program. The program requires below market housing to be included in every residential development. We have also required in lieu fees for commercial developments. Last year, when I was Vice-Mayor, we increased these in lieu fees from 10 – 15%. In lieu fees have been effectively used to build successful affordable housing like Alma Place and Oak Court.
7. What specific steps would you take to create
sufficient affordable housing to ensure economic diversity?
RONNY
BAR-GADDA
A comprehensive housing
plan. What the city residents need to ask is where do they want Palo Alto to be
in the next 10 or 20 years? What kind of City do we want? Before we can answer
your question intelligently, it is important to define the Vision for Palo
Alto.
BERN BEECHAM
* I have championed affordable housing, and support
implementation of the Housing Element Update as approved by the State. Specifically, I have supported the increased
requirement for Below-Market-Rate housing, increasing from 10 to 15% for
parcels under 5 acres, and from 15 to 20% for parcels 5 acres or greater. This will improve our ability to achieve
economic diversity.
* Economic diversity is critical to a thriving
community. I will continue to support
projects such as the Opportunity Center and
Oak Court, just as I have previously supported Alma Place and Lytton 4.
All provide low and very low income
rentals. I also support mixed use projects that provide ownership opportunities
at costs below comparable market rate units.
LADORIS
CORDELL
As I wrote in response to question #6, I am committed to building more truly affordable housing in our community and am proud to say that I serve on the Community Working Group which created the Opportunity Center in Palo Alto. Our finest affordable housing developments are those which we have built using funds derived substantially from developer impact fees and grants, such as Webster Woods, Alma Pla