Vision for the Future Below are areas of opportunity:
- The City Council needs to take care of the "nuts & bolts" of the City. That means keeping our infrastructure in good repair and delivering the health and safety to our residents that they deserve. To do this, we need to raise more funds. The current council has put forth a 1/2 cent sales tax on the November ballot and has raised the water and sewer rates. While no one likes more taxes or fees, we all have to pay our fair share to keep services flowing. It takes money to deliver our water and remove our sewage as well as pave our roads. For these reasons I support the actions of the current council. If elected I will make sure those added funds are spent wisely and for the needed repairs to our infrastructure. In addition to fees we need a vibrant local economy. I will pledge to work with the local business community to help wherever I can to encourage shopping locally and bringing in appropriate healthy businesses to the community.
- Traffic will continue to be a problem that needs attention. If elected I will urge the city to do all it can in conjunction with CalTrans to try and mitigate these impacts. I'll also work with individual neighborhoods to try and slow traffic and ease congestion where ever possible. I will work with our Police Department to help catch speeders and make our streets safer for pedestrians and drivers alike.
- Environment - I helped author the Laguna Park Master Plan as well as the General Plan when in office previously. I believe the City has done an excellent job on Environmental Issues, including reducing it's Carbon Footprint by installing solar at all of it's facilities. I designed one of those major solar arrays in Spooner Park. I will continue to work with all the environmental constituents to do all we can to protect the Laguna de Santa Rosa, Atascadero Creek, and to reduce our use of energy and water throughout the city. If elected I will work with the city and the Water Agency and PG&E on rebates for old appliances and fixtures and new insulation to the best of my ability. It is our older homes and businesses that use the majority of our energy and water and there needs to be help for those owners to upgrade.
- Sustainable Design is an area where I am an expert. New construction is under our new CalGreen Building Code and Sebastopol has elected and even higher standard, Tier 1. This means that new construction must meet very rigorous standards for energy and water use. The Water Quality Control Board has issued very strict requirements regarding storm water control and quality. The greatest need in for the rehabilitation of existing homes and businesses to come up to the current codes. As mentioned above, I will work to establish funds for upgrading those existing buildings. In addition we need to keep in mind the preference for infill development and higher densities in the down town core, and avoid sprawl. This will also create a more pedestrian friendly environment. I support the renewal of our Urban Growth Boundary.