League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Los Altos

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Experience, Concerns, Balancing interests Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What experience related to city government would you bring to the City Council? Answer from Alexander D. Glew: As a licensed engineer in CA, I have a certain expertise in Community Development (Building and Planning), Public Works (engineering and maintenance) and City Services (such as code enforcement and maintenance requests). These are core services that the city must offer to its citizens. As a business owner, I with experience in finance and extensive experience in Technology. I have experience with operating a business, owning a commercial building, and remodeling it in Mountain View. This gives me empathy for small business owners and building owners, but not create a conflict of interest, because my operations are in Mountain View. Also, I serve on the board of a merchant group that co-owns a parking center for their joint uses; this gives me some experience with parking issues and business coordination relating thereto. Answer from Jean H. "John" Mordo: My 30 years career has been as chief financial officer of Fortune 500 companies. I have served 2 years on the Planning Commission and 8 years on City Council in Los Altos Hills, where I resided in the past. Answer from Mary Prochnow: For 42 years, I have been a businessperson in Los Altos. I have been appointed to and served on numerous city committees regarding zoning, parking, code revisions and planning. As President of the Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the Economic Development Committee, in collaboration with the City of Los Altos. 2. What concerns are of particular importance to the city and how would you address them? Answer from Jean H. "John" Mordo: The most important challenge facing Los Altos is the need to develop moderately to update our building stock and promote increased vibrancy, while conserving the charm and character that is the reason people love Los Altos. Currently building is uneconomical on many downtown lots because of the requirement to provide parking. A city sponsored parking structure which developers buy into via "in-lieu" fees would solve the problem. Answer from Alexander D. Glew: Development of the Civic Center and Recreation Center: The 18 contiguous acres that constitute the civic land in downtown Los Altos are not adequately utilized at this point for the benefit of the citizens. The civic center needs to be more of a destination for Los Altos residents, with greater recreational options for all, young and old. I would like to see better integration between the downtown Civic Center and the downtown-shopping district so that they can mutually benefit each other. Many people are concerned about losing the character of Los Altos by having extensive development in either the Civic Center or downtown business district. However, gentle development of the Civic Center will bring more Los Altos people downtown, which will in turn benefit the business district if properly executed. They can develop together, thereby having a mutually beneficial impact on each other, greater than either alone. I would like to see the downtown and civic center better able to serve city events, such as the Festival of Lights, Pet Parade, holiday shopping, farmers markets, Art Fairs, and others by creating additional parking at the civic center. There needs to be improved pedestrian flow between the two. Greater recreational options at the civic center can bring more foot traffic to downtown. Together, the downtown shopping district and civic center can better serve as "[T]he Village." Gentle Development of the downtown business district: I would like to see Los Altos retain as much of its character as possible. However, in order to have better businesses, restaurants, retail shopping, and a more enjoyable experience, certain things will need to change downtown. The more people from Los Altos who come to downtown Los Altos to shop and enjoy themselves, the greater sense of community Los Altos will have. Traffic mitigation: There seems to me much frustration in the city about traffic in the neighborhoods. Most of Los Altos is residential, and most of the streets are residential. There needs to be better coordination between the city of Los Altos and the neighboring cities. Further, there needs to be better planning by the school district, so that students and their parents do not have to travel as far to schools. A Los Altos city council member needs to sit on the Valley Transit Authority (VTA) as one of the 18 seats. We need to engage on regional transportation issue, such as the El Camino Real Precise Plan, the VTA Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan for El Camino under consideration, 280 impacts on Foot Hill Expressway and others. Answer from Mary Prochnow: Community-paced development: Take the time to absorb recent changes and develop a Specific Plan that will integrate the downtown and civic center to serve as the heart of the community. Leadership with respect: Listening to all ideas, respect others, and engage local talent to make Los Altos an even better community. Common-sense solutions: Use a common-sense approach to build consensus among diverse constituents through open communication and collaboration. 3. How would you balance the needs of the City as a whole with groups' interests? Answer from Jean H. "John" Mordo: I would have a public engagement process to develop a consensus on the public's view of the future. Economic modeling shows that moderate development could significantly improve vibrancy. 3-D computer modeling would show residents what the City could look like in 5-10-15 years. I believe that we can find a rate of development with which residents are comfortable and at the same time be good for business. Answer from Alexander D. Glew: The needs of the city as a whole take precedence over special interests. However, there is nothing inherently wrong with special interests; nearly all interests can be considered special by others. One could argue that the sum of the special interests create the public will. Nonetheless, the desires of the special interests should be publicly debated on their merits. Special interests can consume an inordinate amount of time in the public debate and agenda. City government and the public can only focus on a limited number of issues at a time. One of the most important aspects of handling special interests is to make sure that the ones that serve the greatest public interest get more time for public scrutiny and approval. Answer from Mary Prochnow: Listening respectfully to the concerns of interest groups can bring information to council decisions. Seek options for mitigation, if possible, and in the final analysis, decide what is best for the City as a whole. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answer to each question should be limited to 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.