Candidate for
Council Member; City of Palo Alto

What distinguishes my candidacy?

I am not running on Problem Labels: Traffic, Housing, Libraries.

I am running on the on the old fashion notion that representive democracy means that the elected official represents those who elect him and that the candidate has the responsibility to check with his constituents about the issues that are important to them.

For me, the issue is not simply traffic, not simply the high cost of housing but how Palo Alto will continue to fund the wide variety of community programs and facilities that we in Palo Alto have been blessed with. Fragmenting the financing of our services, even for something as important as libraries means that other programs and facilities will be left with the choice of seeking their own bond measures or possibly being left out in the scramble for program funding. That is no way to run a community.

Palo Alto has a long and admirable history of environmental protection whether in the nature of preserving unique habitats such as the Baylands, Foothill Park or the Arastradero Preserve or in developing programs to increase recycling or to treat waste water. The challenge for the future is to ensure that these special resources and programs continue to receive thefunding necessary to keep the sites in pristine condition and to ensure that the programs continue to be effective. Funding depends on fiscally responsible management and I believe that I can contribute in this area.

One of Palo Alto's major resources is our highly committed and active citizenry. Through such organizations as the Committee for Green Foothills, the Sierra Club, or the Peninsula Open Space Trust, we, the community, actively monitor our environment and develop proposals to protect and safeguard it. In my role as a volunteer and in my professional capacity, I have experienced first hand the frustration felt by dedicated and informed residents who feel that they are ignored by those whom they have elected to represent them. Responsiveness to the community is fundamental to a participatory democracy and, if elected, I will make it a central principle of my decision process.

For me, how a decision is made is almost as important as the issue itself. And I believe passionately in the fundamental principle of American democracy: the principle that those elected must be responsive to the community that elects them. For me, that means that my first commitment is to you, the community at large, and not to a personal agenda.

The second principle which will guide my Council decisions is the concept of fiscal responsibility. It is not that money decides everything but in a community like ours, with a wide variety of community programs and services, preserving those services requires careful oversight of the City's financial resources. The City is just now realizing that we are in the midst of a recession. Sales and occupancy taxes are down substantially. If we are to preserve our valued community programs and services, the City must quickly develop a strategic fiscal plan to husband declining City revenues.

Living just off Oregon, I know first hand that traffic is a major annoyance. But I also know that the larger community does not support draconian measures which would undermine the vitality of our businesses community or discourage those who come to work in our community from contributing their sales tax dollars to our city coffers.

As the former auditor of the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, I understand first hand how housing assistance for low and moderate income can effectively enable families of diverse income to remain in our community. But I also understand the underlying cost of that assistance and I realize that the willingness of our community to subsidize housing does not mean that the community has given the City Council a license to overbuild and adversely affect the character of our neighborhoods.

Libraries are one of our most cherished institutions but our 6 libraries are not the only facilities in need of substantial upgrading. Since the passage of proposition 13 almost 30 years ago, the City has lacked the resources to invest in major capital improvements. The Junior Museum, Mitchell Park Community Center, Cubberly not to mention the city's recreational facilities and its infrastructure all have extensive deferred maintenance. Unless other funds, such as the proceeds of a new bond measure, are introduced into the financing equation, funding the library demand of $65, million dollars will almost certainly prevent the city from meeting the needs of other equally deserving facilities. Fragmenting City financing and funding one very deserving component of a wide array of community needs is poor fiscal policy.

The challenge we face is to find ways to accomplish all that the community wants in a time when our resources are being seriously stretched. My approach will be first to listen to the community, then to carefully analyze the options and utilize my financial expertise to make clear and firm policy decisions that balance competing interests for the benefit of the entire community.