Orange County, CA | November 3, 1998 General |
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Statement of Introduction and QualificationsBy Kenneth A. "Ken" BlakeCandidate for Member, City Council; City of La Palma |
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I have been a resident for 27 years and active in our community. I am running for re-election so I can utilize my experience to better serve the citizens of La Palma.I have enjoyed the opportunity of serving the citizens of La Palma as a City Council member, Mayor Pro-Tem, and Mayor the past four years. I have lived in La Palma for the past 27 years with my wife Karen and are two sons, Chris and Ryan. Since moving to La Palma, I have been active in the community, local schools, and church. I am running for re-election so I can utilize the experience I have gained over the past four years to address continuing vital issues affecting La Palma and provide continuity to the council's long range planning. It is important for a small city like La Palma to have experienced council members to provide a voice on appointed committees and provide continuity on the council to handle continuing issues and long term projects. When I was elected four years ago, I made a commitment to be an involved and informed council member. I believe I have kept this commitment. I have taken an active role in representing La Palma on appointed city council committees, Orange County boards and committees, and a state policy committee. I'm currently chairing the Orange County Fire Authority's Planning and Operations committee. I am active in our committee on Youth 20/20 committees, John F. Kennedy High School Scholarship Foundation, John F. Kennedy School Site Council, La Palma Days Parade committee, and I'm the current President of the La Palma Kiwanis Club. The job of council member in a small city like La Palma requires a larger time commitment than most citizens realize. I am fortunate in that my employer is committed to allow me the time required to adequately perform my responsibilities as a city council member. This is critical since most of the required representation by the city, such as Sanitation District, Orange County Fire Authority, Orange County Public Library Advisory Board, Orange County Vector Control and the council's Business Retention and cable TV committees, hold their meetings during the day. I have the ability to attend these daytime meetings. An example of how valuable this involvement has been is the fact that after the bankruptcy, La Palma's library was scheduled to be closed. This occurred the first year that I was on the Community Services State Policy committee. This committee provided me the information required to persuade the Orange County Librarian and Board of Supervisors to keep La Palma's branch library open, but only for three days a week. After being appointed to the Orange County Public Library Advisory Board, I was able to negotiate with larger cities to provide a standard minimum level of service of five days a week at all Orange County public libraries. For La Palma this represents a subsidy of $85,000 per year which we do not have to pay out of the General Fund. As with the Orange County Public Library, the Fire Authority will be looking at the cost of fire protection for our city. La Palma needs a council member with the experience and understanding of this issue and who is familiar with the other board members. This knowledge will be essential to negotiate with other cities to cover a portion of or the entire amount of our shortfall. I have proven this ability! I am proud of my accomplishments as a council member over the past four years:
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 31, 1998 13:51
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