Question #1

What are the top four major impacts the citizens of West Sacramento are experiencing and how will you deal with those impacts?

Traffic (air quality)--I believe we have to search for creative traffic solutions such as transit—we are already conducting a study of a starter streetcar trolley line, a Broadway Bridge to provide another access across the river and the phasing in of future developments in Southport to keep up with road expansions and expanded service needs.

Improved education for our children—The city needs to continue to find ways to partner with the school district to improve our educational system. With the City investing $15 million in a joint use recreational complex as part of the new high school, that long delayed project is scheduled to break ground October 28^th. The City will continue to find ways to work with the school district on a joint use corporation yard that would benefit both agencies. Lastly, the City needs to work closely with the school district so that the schools are in place as development occurs, to avoid overcrowding at existing schools.

Lack of adequate commercial and recreational opportunities-- Housing growth has been good to our City, but now we have to focus on creating public areas and storefronts necessary for our residents to be able to shop, dine and have fun without having to leave the city. That means we have to be more business-friendly and aggressively compete for new commercial, retail and industrial opportunities looking to grow in this region. We also need to require these amenities from new developments sooner, so that new residents aren’t waiting years for the shops and services to be built. Next year will be a good year for retail expansion with the scheduled opening of Target, Wal Mart and Home Depot.

Development of West Capitol and Triangle areas to open up the riverfront--Development of West Capitol and the Triangle area is key to solving several issues. First, the housing will create the demand for the shopping, recreation and transit and new jobs we need. It will also help revitalize our downtown into a safe, thriving neighborhood, with the centerpiece being a new complex across from City Hall that includes Sacramento City College, a new Library and a community center, with senior facilities.

Many of these development efforts will also assist the City in gaining new revenues to support our police officers and firefighters.

Residents are experiencing impacts relating to growth. Citizens’ greatest concerns are:

Traffic

Flood Protection

Better Schools

Police and Fire Response

Reaching a consensus to solve these problems is a high priority and can best be solved by:

Assuring the General Plan Update reflects existing residents’ needs

Oversight/Funding Support for the Levee Re-Certification Inspections

Supporting WUSD efforts to reverse their financial chaos.

Raising compensation to hire more Police and Firefighters

Traffic:

The next Council will complete a required review of the City’s General Plan, where decisions made will have the greatest impact on mitigating traffic. As a previous Council Member and Chair of the City’s Planning Commission, I participated in earlier General Plan Updates. I’ll be a leader in assuring that new planning decisions reflect the priorities residents have identified, such as traffic mitigation on Jefferson Blvd. and a feasible transit system the City can afford to build and operate in the near, not far, future.

Flood Protection:

With West Sacramento surrounded by levees, it is understandable that residents’ concerns about flood protection arose well before Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans.

The Reclamation District 900, City of West Sacramento, Army Corps of Engineers and various state agencies have overlapping responsibilities concerning the integrity of our levees. With so many agencies sharing jurisdiction, it is vital that locally elected officials stand up and take primary responsibility for oversight of the levee Inspection and Re-Certification process currently being undertaken to comply with FEMA standards.

Whether as a member of the City’s Joint Powers Authority with RD900, or as a Council Member, I’ll use the skills that made me a successful executive to carefully monitor the levee inspections, and will lobby my Council colleagues hard on the need to put more of the City’s revenues directly behind levee improvements.

Schools:

WUSD continues to experience financial chaos. Now that the new high-school construction costs have increased to well above the amount supported by the recently passed school bond, it is clear that the slate of candidates swept into office in the last election have no greater mastery of the problems than their predecessors.

Less meddling into district affairs is called for, as well as an objective and supportive participation in joint use programs that maximize the City and District’s resources in pursuit of mutual goals, such as park and play areas and an expanded Library system.

Police/Fire Response:

While a new fire station is finally under construction in Southport and repairs are under way at the 15^th St. Station, fire response times do not keep pace with the City’s rapid growth. More than new buildings, we need more police and firefighters. Our recruitment efforts are hampered by our lower wage and benefit package, as compared to other jurisdictions. Since the Measure K sales tax was passed on the promise that funds would be used to hire more police and fire fighters, I will honor that promise and improve our compensation package to be competitive with other cities.

The top major impacts challenging West Sacramento are 1) managing redevelopment and other growth so it does not outpace the building of proper streets, roads and bike lanes, 2) creation of after school programs and other activities for children, 3) ensuring police and fire services are adequately funded for the safety of the community, and 4) assure that West Sacramento is economically competitive so that it can attract the best retail, restaurants, housing, office and other developments we want to see in our city.

We need make sure our growth is properly managed, and that growth benefits all of our residents and not just certain parts of town.

We have general and specific plans in place that were developed through extensive community involvement that provide a vision and path to how development should occur – development that will bring the housing, retail, dining, and recreational opportunities we all want to see in our city. Those plans that were developed through significant community input remain good reference points for planning for our future growth.

We need to be selective and attract and secure only the best in development so that our city truly becomes the gem of the region. We must assure that the impacts placed on our streets, roads and services are addressed before projects are occupied.

We need to develop after school programs for our children and partner with other organizations in the city to develop programs that allow a safe and stimulating after school environment for our children.

Of top concern to our residents are the issues of traffic control, neighborhood speeding, nuisance abatement, and safety from fire and crime. We cannot short change ourselves by under funding police and fire services that will compromise our safety. We must have policies that allow us to recruit and retain quality police and fire staff.

As the only candidate in this city council race who is not only an active West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce member, but a board member for the last 4 years and the past chair of the Chamber’s Economic Development Committee, I am well aware of the problems faced by developers and businesses looking to do projects or set up operations in West Sacramento. West Sacramento has the benefit of being a natural location for development in the region as the growth of downtown Sacramento continues its revitalization. However, project developers will build projects where they can make money. Businesses consider the cost of doing business in any relocation decision. We need to be diligent in assuring West Sacramento is economically competitive with our regional neighbors so that we get the development and businesses we want, and to not have them go elsewhere. We need to be sure our economic policies match our desire to attract and retain quality development and businesses.

While growth is the main issue facing West Sacramento today, the impact of our choices will be felt well into our future. That puts more importance on the decisions we make on our housing, roads and infrastructure, schools and public safety. For the past six years, as part of the planning commission, I’ve advocated for a mix of quality housing in Southport and in our historic areas, to make sure our roads keep up with development and planned for future needs. I’ve fought to preserve space for our schools, parks and open space that make our area unique, and made sure our fire and police departments were part of our planning process, that we can ensure the safety of our residents, new and old. I will work the same way as part of the city council, as we have the opportunity to shape the quality of our of lives by ensuring that growth occurs at a pace that we set and with a plan that provides the infrastructure and amenities that benefit the entire community that will lessen or even avoid these impacts.

Traffic is a big problem. We could get some people off the road with adequate public transportation. Some people ride their bikes. In the mean time the City would have to stop growth until our infrastructure accommodates our current needs. Widen South River Road near the freeway on ramp (where Caltrans Corporation yard is) to four lanes so that people would use it instead of the Jefferson on ramp.

A lot of people run the red lights to get on the freeway so they don’t have to wait for another light cycle. Our officers would need to focus on this and cite violators. When people go through red lights, it affects the amount of people that have the green light.

Even though we need a bridge built in the southern part of our city, it’s not feasible. It would cost easily $50,000,000 or more to meet State and Federal requirements. This isn’t an option.

Growth is an issue that has affected our police and fire resources due to the fact that we don’t have enough. I want more police and fire personnel.

I want an evacuation plan and evacuation route. We need to encourage people to be self sufficient for 7 days by having canned and packaged food, water, flashlights, batteries, bulbs for the flashlights, etc. We should have a list of residents that will need assistance should we have a disaster. The three top things that come to my mind is a flood/ levee break, earthquake, or chemical accident.

Our older established areas throughout the city have been neglected for far too long. The roads need to be repaired.

The speeding that goes on needs attention immediately. The best method is with police presence and enforcement.

There are a lot of complaints about the boom boxes in cars driving by. With police enforcement this wouldn’t be a problem.