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1. Many citizens have complained
that they were unaware of issues that were presented or decided
at City Council and various commission meetings. For example,
many who oppose the mosque being built, or the proposed location
of the new fire station, were unaware that these items were
being discussed.
The opposition often claims that these issues are kept quiet by
design, suggesting that the city is trying to sneak things by
them. What would you do to make sure that all City Council and
City Commission offices communicate upcoming agenda to the
public?
All Council and Commission Agendas are posted on the City’s web
site, and sent electronically to anyone who requests them. They
are also posted at City Hall. The Mosque was published on the
Planning Commission Agenda. It was discussed at the City Council
meeting, only as a result of being raised during Business from
the Floor. The Mosque would only have gone before the City
Council if an appeal had been filed. I strongly support the
agendas being posted on the web site and being sent to all those
who request them. I am also happy to provide copies of the
agendas to anyone who requests them from me. Unfortunately, as
the agenda is not finalized until the Friday morning before the
Tuesday Council meeting, it is not possible to publish them in
the Telegraph, and the Bee does not publish them either. Cal
posts them on myfolsom.com on the Friday before the meeting, yet
there are those who feel that they are somehow being kept
secret. I am, and City Staff are, happy to provide the agenda in
advance, but many seem not to be interested in what will be
discussed until after the fact.
2. What are your opinions related to urban growth boundaries
and what do you see as the future development of Folsom?
The City spent nearly 20 years trying to reach some agreement
with the County, and ultimately LAFCO in the City gaining the
“Sphere of Influence”. I played a significant role in the City
achieving our objective, ultimate development of the 3,600 acres
will be controlled by the City, not the County, once we have a
plan for development in place. That plan, will be finalized with
significant public input. The City has committed to maintained
at least 30 percent of the acreage as open space – that means
open space, not parks, and front and back yards. The City has
also committed to maintain the Oak Trees and to ensure that
development occurs in an orderly, and well planned manner, and
that the infrastructure is in place before the businesses and
residents are. I have spent a significant amount of time over
the last 8 years on this issue, and I will continue to ensure
that the City lives up to our commitment to the County, LAFCO
and the residents of Folsom to do what we agreed to do with this
land. It will one day be a part of the City and we should
control the development, whenever that occurs.
3. As build-out looms ever closer, sales tax dollars become
more valuable to long-term sustainability. Currently city
support for programming and facilities that generate sales tax
revenue (throughout the city) is minimal compared to similar
cities. Only about 10% of the Park and Rec Budget, very little
of the hotel tax and almost nothing from tourism is used to
support and promote prime activities: “historical sites,”
art/history museums and galleries as well as a full range of
cultural and fine arts events and amenities. What will you
do to aggressively increase city support for activities that
historically generate sales tax and provide the balanced program
residents and visitors expect to find in a city the size and
character of Folsom?
As many of you are aware, I have long been a supporter of
ensuring that Folsom maintains a focus on our history – you
can’t be a historical town if you don’t take care of your
historical sites, including the rail road. I have also been very
supportive of our arts and cultural commission, events and
amenities. At the same time, I have been critical of the meager
financial support that has been given to both our history and
arts and culture. And to ensure that I never forget our relative
lack of financial support, I get frequent reminders from Valrie
Jensen.
We need to increase financial support for the Museum,
Interpretive Center, rail roads, arts and culture and seniors
too. If we can’t find a way to do that through the parks and rec
budget, we need to put all of these groups into a separate
category and find a way to provide reasonable funding. I would
be supportive of dedicating funding from parks and rec and TOT
to this effort.
4. Why do you, the city council, generally ignore the
residential blight in the historic district and nearby
neighborhoods? Why are owners of apartment buildings on
Montrose, Talisman, and Alezane permitted to let their
properties fall into utter disrepair? Why is the garbage can
ordinance not being enforced? See said apartments for daily
examples.
I think there are a variety of ways to describe blight – and it
is also in the eye of the beholder. The City can not force
people to paint their property colors appealing to me or you,
nor can we force them to do anything unless it is a health and
safety concern. Those properties that are located within the
redevelopment agency boundaries are eligible for low interest
loans, depending upon the income levels of the owners, for
repairs to their homes. Unfortunately, not a lot of people have
applied for them. I will contact the Utilities Department again
on the trash cans – I have not heard back from them since the
last time you asked. I will email you directly on that one CV.
5. I've noticed a lot of businesses creeping "up the hill"
and away from their original locations. What would you do to
ensure that once well-established locations in Folsom remain
vibrant? (example, former Food Source, Ralph's @
Greenback/Madison)
Unfortunately, Food Source and Ralph’s, both at Greenback and at
Blue Ravine were not cases of “creeping up the hill”. These were
corporate decisions that were not related to anything in Folsom.
The former Ralph’s location at Blue Ravine is currently being
marketed by the new owners of the building. The owners are
specialists at reworking former grocery stores, where the
building is effectively split to accommodate more than one
tenant. When I was contacted by Wal Mart, with regard to their
desire to build a super Wal Mart near Highway 50, I suggested
that, if they feel that they really need a grocery component,
they should locate it at the existing Wal Mart center, in the
former Food Source location. If this were to happen, I would
have serious concerns for the existing Albertson’s store at Blue
Ravine and East Bidwell. The Greenback location has been
problematic for some time, as has the Wal Mart location on
Riley, with respect to retaining tenants. Both of these sites
should be the focus of economic development efforts.
6. Direct Election of Mayor and Vice-Mayor: Are you willing
to initiate and/or support changes to the Folsom City Charter to
provide for direct election of Mayor and Vice Mayor based on
City Council election results, as is currently done in Roseville
and other comparable cities? If not, please explain how Folsom's
current practice of having only the 5 City Council members
decide in special meeting who will be Mayor and Vice Mayor is of
greater benefit to the residents than having the residents elect
the City's leaders.
Several years ago, I requested that the City convene a Charter
Review Committee, on which I served for 9 months. We suggested a
number of changes to the Charter, none of which were supported
by a majority of the Council at that time. This issue was one of
the items that the Charter Review Committee discussed, at great
length. We discussed numerous alternatives for changing the
manner in which the Mayor is selected. Unfortunately, as much as
I do not particularly care for the way in which the Mayor is
chosen, even with the wide range of opinions that were
represented on the Charter Review Committee, we were not able to
come up with a method of selection of the Mayor that is better
than the mechanism that is used now – at least not one that 20
people could agree on. In reality, the selection of the Mayor is
even more unpleasant to at least some of the Council members
than it is to the public. Having said that, the method proposed
would lead to the Mayor and Vice Mayor changing every year.
Every 2 years, it would be the top 2 vote getters and 2 years
later, the top 2 of 3, like this year. During the last election
cycle, where 2 seats were filled, the 2 people elected would
serve as Mayor and Vice Mayor. That would mean that Council
Members Starsky and King would have served as Mayor over the
past 2 years, with Council Members Morin and Miklos having
served the 2 years prior to that. Since I have been the third
highest vote getter in my 2 terms on the Council – I would not
have served as Mayor, which is true to the model, as I have
never served as the Mayor. I also would not have served as Vice
Mayor, which I have done twice now – so, at least in my opinion,
the short answer is, be careful what you wish for.
7. Folsom will be working over the next few years to annex
land south of 50. Landowners will reap hundreds of millions (if
not billions!) in profit from the change in zoning from current
agricultural to residential, commercial, etc. What will you as a
councilmember do, prior to the annex and rezoning, to ensure
land for public facilities (schools, parks, branch library, etc)
is both zoned for public uses and reasonably priced? In other
words, how will you ensure both the city and school district
have options to buy annexed property within a reasonable time
frame at prices that are not inflated due to the rezoning?
As indicated in a previous question, any development will be
required to ensure that the required infrastructure is in place,
before the businesses and residents are there. The School Board
is moving forward with a bond to provide for the schools that
will be required, once the development is planned. Current City
ordinances require that park land be provided at the time the
development is approved. Ultimate development of this property
is all about planning and ensuring public input to the process.
8. Folsom is a great place to live, but it is becoming more
expensive by the minute. What will the candidates do to create
more affordable housing? We need low-income housing, but also
need housing for those starting out. What are your plans for
creating more diverse housing in Folsom?
As a result of the litigation against the City, the City rezoned
acreage to allow for the construction of affordable housing, and
created an ordinance for the provision of affordable units or
payment to the housing trust fund (where the total number of
housing units to be constructed is small) so that money will be
available to buyers or for decreasing purchase prices to make
units more affordable. In the last several years, the City has
approved projects that provide more diversity in housing.
Examples include townhomes, condos, condo conversions, zero lot
line homes and other ownership opportunities that are typically
less expensive than single family homes on standard size lots.
Pricing of units that are not deed restricted as affordable
housing is dictated by the market and the City has no ability to
control pricing. The flip side of this discussion is that
existing homeowners expect the City to do whatever it takes to
protect the value of existing homes – with the assumption that
values will continue to increase. Folsom has the highest median
income and associated home prices in Sacramento County.
9. How do you plan on working with RT to increase running
times on the light rail, specifically having trains from
downtown run later than they currently do? Do you plan on
allocating money to have a turn-around installed on the Folsom
run so that we have trains run more often?
The frequency of RT to Folsom is dependent upon the completion
of double tracking in Downtown Sacramento, which will be
completed next year (if I remember correctly). With regard to
the operating hours, the City is working with RT to extend the
hours into the later evening. At present, RT does not have the
funding to extend the hours and they have not yet presented the
City with detailed information on the cost to extend the hours.
At that time, the City would need to determine if we are willing
to provide the financial subsidy required.
10. Is there a plan to time the street lights to the train
crossings?
To the extent possible, with the existing equipment, the lights
along Folsom Blvd are timed to coincide with Light Rail. I
travel Folsom Blvd on most days that I am in town, and I have
not noticed any significant problems – but then I am relatively
knowledgeable about timing of lights. If I had thought the
lights were not properly timed, I would have contacted City
Staff about it, right away – as I do whenever I see a traffic
control problem that can (at least in my opinion) be fixed
relatively easily.
11. What are your goals for revitalizing the Historic District?
As well as the efforts by Fedcorp and others, what more do you
think could be done to improve the vitality both commercially
and residentially? and what could you do to help make it happen?
At present, there is no financial framework for the
revitalization. Up to this point, the City has allocated funding
to assist with the planning effort and there is an ongoing
discussion about how to fund the construction phase of the way
finding project. We need to come up with a mechanism for funding
the remainder of the program, upon completion of the planning
phase. We need for the planning effort to include the Sutter
Street sub-area first, with the remainder of the 98-blocks
incorporated into later phases. I would support funding for the
program from the redevelopment agency and give serious
consideration to the use of TOT money and grant applications.
12. What would you do to stop the cut through traffic in the
historic district, stop the speeding on residential streets,
what traffic calming solutions do you have and what ones are you
willing to use, also how do you plan to stop the commercial
traffic in the historic residential neighborhoods
One thing that will help is construction of the new bridge below
the dam. That will go out to bid before the end of the calendar
year. Once the new traffic patterns are established, we can take
another look at what needs to be done to reduce traffic through
residential neighborhoods. I have met with the historic district
residents at public meetings and at peoples homes to discuss the
traffic issues. It is not possible to stop all commercial
traffic in the Historic District, as there are businesses
located there as well, but there are a variety of alternatives
that can be looked at, on a case by case basis. Give me a call
with any specific issues – I will be happy to chat about traffic
engineering, from a Civil Engineer’s perspective, and my
experience and background.
13. What do you anticipate the worst problems facing Folsom will
be in the next 5-10 years? What can the city council do now in
anticipation of these problems?
Traffic, congestion, noise from autos and airplanes and the new
bridge (planes, trains and automobiles)
Ensuring that we have adequate public services and public safety
personnel to meet our needs as we reach build out.
Economic development to bring new business (and tax dollars)
into Folsom.
Revitalization of the Historic District – starting with
construction of the parking structure and the Railroad Block
project.
Maintain healthy financial reserves for the future.
14. What will you, as a new city council member, do to ensure
that public safety services are well planned, and future needs
regarding both police and fire services will be kept up in a
proper manner?
We can already see the fiasco that is currently in place with
trying to play "catch up" in the Empire Ranch area with a new
Fire Station. Wouldn't it be prudent to hire the adequate number
of police/fire/parks&rec/public works people as build out is
occurring, not 5 years after the fact????
Actually, I am not trying to be a new City Council member – I am
shooting for being an Old City Council member. Yes, we need a
new fire station in Empire Ranch, and we will get it built. We
will also look into the existing dispatch system that is
contributing to response time issues. At present, Empire Ranch
is served by the Stations at Blue Ravine and Oak Avenue and the
new station at Broadstone – nobody in Empire Ranch is in danger.
We also need to increase staffing in the police department. I am
not aware of any staffing shortages in parks and rec or in
public works – though you can never have too many engineers.
15. What would you do to make the bus system in town more
viable, usable and popular?
I would love to tell you that there is a magic pill that would
make people ride the busses in Folsom – there is not. We live in
California, where people nearly live in their cars. The bus
system is usable, but will never be as convenient as driving,
most locations in the region provide free parking, so no
economic incentive there – but light rail has achieved
significant ridership increases since last October, which is a
good thing. So, at least there are some people using public
transit. Transportation funding is a very complicated animal and
we all need to think twice when choosing our modes of
transportation, deciding how to consolidate our trips, when to
make them and by what mode of travel. When was the last time you
took a bus in Folsom? When we were doing our campaign tour of
the parks last Saturday, and as we will do this Saturday, we
rented the Trolley for the day, which saved us from driving
several cars around town, provided us with sufficient space for
lots of balloons and the ability to chat, and have a very
enjoyable day, without driving. That and we thought it was about
time that there was a bus driving around Folsom that had more
than 3 people on it. If you are interested in taking a ride on
Saturday Oct. 21, get in touch with me!
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