Candidate for
Council Member; City of Palo Alto

Manage & control our budget with clear policies and strategies

The issue most important to Palo Alto today is the need to manage our city budget. We face challenges in 1) current and future revenue constraints, 2) our responsibility to provide high-quality services, and 3) an infrastructure deficit that has been decades in the making.

I have taken, and will continue to take, a comprehensive range of actions to address these complex challenges. I initiated a successful effort to cut City Hall costs, which produced a permanent 5% reduction in operating expenses. Mayor Mossar and I jointly called for our City Auditor to complete a performance audit of our Community Services Department, the City's largest in terms of operating budget, to seek restructuring opportunities and other cost savings there. Moreover, I have called for the City Manager to present a detailed plan to restructure City Hall to address the fiscal challenges that lie ahead. These are the most comprehensive steps taken to date to achieve the budgetary controls we need for the coming years.

At the same time, we must continue to provide needed high-quality services that make Palo Alto a highly desirable place to live and work. Our city-owned utilities are the highest rated in the state and provide favorable utility rates while generating revenues for our general fund. As the acknowledged utility-fund expert on the Council, I have worked over the past four years to protect these community assets, reduce our costs and plan for the future.

Like other cities across California, we must acknowledge the need to maintain and improve our parks, libraries, and community facilities. My work as a member of the City/Stanford Liaison committee will bring new athletic fields to Mayfield, meeting long-felt community needs, at virtually no cost to Palo Alto. Our libraries need renovation and repair. 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.

To address the accumulated infrastructure deficit, I initiated successful efforts to boost capital funding over the next two years, and I will continue to champion work toward this end. For example, by my motion, the Council has directed the City Manager to present a new plan for upgrading our out-of-date storm drain system.

To ensure that we can continue to meet ongoing community needs, I have also taken new steps to boost city revenues. On my initiative, the City Council recently passed my motion to develop policies that will support our nine auto dealerships. I will continue the work begun as a member of the 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.

Our City budget will continue to be under pressure for the next several years. With my leadership as a member of the Finance Committee and on Council, 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. 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.

I have successfully worked with elected officials throughout the Peninsula and Northern California. On the Peninsula, our neighboring elected officials have selected me to be Vice Chair of the new Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency. And my colleagues at the Northern California Power Agency, which manages more than $1 Billion of our collective assets, have elected me Chairman of the agency. Demonstrably, I have earned their trust and confidence.

Manage growth sensibly balancing city & neighborhood needs

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. Further, I took taken the lead in seeing that a stringent assessment is made of new traffic volumes concomitant with anticipated development along the Charleston/Arastradero corridor. I continue to promote traffic-calming in neighborhoods that support it, having led the Finance Committee and, later, the full Council to increase by 50% our FY 2003-2004 budget allocation for traffic-calming city-wide.

Managing growth sensibly also requires that we look to current needs and identify what kinds of infrastructure improvements are needed. 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.

Our 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 and, at the same time, a center that is valued by all Palo Altans, particularly residents who live south of Oregon Expressway.

As earlier, we must continually improve infrastructure and manage growth in conjunction with our need for parks, libraries, recreation facilities, schools and roads.