Political Philosophy for Diane M. Underhill

Candidate for
Council Member; City of San Buenaventura

Local government is there to fund necessary and essential public services like police, fire, and infrastructure maintenance. Local government needs to protect the interests of its citizenry by understanding what those interests are, and by making sure any ordinances or ammendments to local plans are in keeping with these interests. Local government must also be able to effectively represent these local interests at the state government level so that state legislation will be favorable.

In the case of Ventura, our local government should control growth so that infrastruture, public services, and present quality of life are not overwhelmed by unlimited growth and density. Of course local government has to worry about sustainability, but merely throwing the gates open to unlimited development will not achieve sustainability. On the contrary, the faster Ventura grows (or the more crowded it gets with "higher densities"), the more money must be spent on ADEQUATE police and fire departments, ADEQUATE roads, water and sewer lines, street lights, parks, overall city maintenance, securing ADEQUATE water sources... Even if we "break even" with unlimited development and higher densities, that is to say, the increased sales tax revenue and increased property tax revenue actually cover the cost (which is doubtful) of all the public service increases needed to guard the public health and safety, we have still lost because we will have lost our quality of life to this higher density development. Our streets will be congested. Our crime rates will be higher. Our water supply, our air quality and other natural resources will be taxed to their limits. We are now a built up city, any development from this point must be SLOW and careful or we will lose this livable city we currently enjoy. I believe it is local governments' duty to protect their constituents' quality of life.

I also believe Ventura is a fiscally conservative town and that the voters do not want their City Council to engage in Redevelopment's public money giveaways to big business, nor would they want their elected officials to use Redevelopment to make an end run around the law that requires a two-thirds majority vote to authorize bond sales. (I cannot say this often or clearly enough: PUBLIC money should be spent on PUBLIC services and not be given to subsidize private business.) I think Venturans want a City Council that listens to them and protects their interests. I would like to be a member of such a council. If your political philosophy about local government is in line with mine, I would appreciate your support and your vote on Nov.2. Thank you.

DIANE UNDERHILL # PUBLIC SAFETY ASSOCIATIONS CANDIDATE FORUM QUESTIONNAIRE

1. My definition of Public Safety is appropriately staffed and funded police and fire departments that are both proactive and reactive. I say appropriately staffed and funded, because our police force currently has fewer sworn officers now with a city population of 102,000 than we had with a city population of 65,000 (1981). Ten of these current officers are funded with temporary grants. I understand the City's policies in staffing the fire department are also inadequate. There is a federal law commonly known as "Two In Two Out" which mandates that for firemen to enter a burning building there must be a minimum of four men per fire engine. The intent of this law was to have four men on each truck to ensure the safety of the fire fighting personnel. The result of this law is: when a Ventura fire truck arrives at a burning structure manned with only three fire fighters (city policy) they are forced to wait for a second truck to arrive. As they wait, the fire gets larger and more dangerous. This delay eliminates the safest, most effective "quick attack" method of fighting a fire # a method proven to reduce the loss of life and property. We must elect members to our City Council who understand that public safety is of preeminent importance, and who don't short change the public or the public servants on this crucial issue.

2. Staffing essential public services like police and fire should be the city budget's first priority. As a Council Member, I would make the public aware of the above statistics and the apparent policy of under funding that the City has adopted in recent years. I would fight to ensure that public safety gets the funding necessary for adequate staffing and up-to-date equipment before a penny of general fund money is spent on any non-essential budget items. Public Safety is (and should be) the public's number one concern, as such, police and fire should be funded first. Additionally, I would lobby state legislators to amend Prop. 172 to make revenue distribution between the county and the city more just.

3. My short and long term visions for recruitment and retention of quality officers would be similar. First, salaries and benefit packages should favorably compare to those of surrounding local communities. Second, ensure our city maintains its present excellent quality of life draw by guarding it through sensible, sustainable, slow growth policies. Third, make sure police force numbers are always in line with the current population, so that officers can effectively police the city. Fourth, ensure we provide a good work environment for the officers. To accomplish this city management must acknowledge the high stress levels of police work and implement policies to control the stress created within the department.

4. Employee morale is a major issue in the City. (I am sorry I am not aware of the exact nature of the ongoing problem with morale between the firefighters union and Fire management. I am going to answer in broad terms that would apply to most fire or police employee/management problems. ) The City should adequately staff, then properly train, pay and respect our public safety employees. We should keep inner-departmental stress to a minimum by ensuring that all officers know exactly what is expected of them, conversely, they should know what they can expect from their department. (Such as: 1.Consistency within the hierarchy. 2. To have their field decisions backed by the department.) I think the tone for management policies is set at City Hall. So the question is: Are we going to continue to elect City Council members who will continue to allow a City Manager (who is hired by and works for the Council) to set the tone by micro-managing city employees or are we going to elect Council Members who will make some positive changes at City Hall including, but not limited to, enacting policies that empower the line level employee? My personal management philosophy is select quality employees; train them well; trust them to do their job; back them in their decisions.

5. My vision for re-establishing these valuable programs and positions that the fire department has lost is pivotal to my campaign theme's "back to basics" spending. By "back to basics" spending I mean, as long as our funding resources are limited, we need to prioritize spending so that essential services are funded first, and other non-essential niceties are paid for only after these essential. In my book, any program dealing with public safety is a priority. I understand that the County halted our Paramedic Transport Program, I would definitely fight hard to reinstate it. Citizens, in particular seniors, are very concerned about the documented slower response times of the current private services. This is not a budget item corner to cut. A few minutes slower response time could mean the difference between life and death. Again, we must elect council people willing to battle the county (or any other entity) that tries to deprive Venturans of the best possible public safety services.

6. The Police and Firefighters Union can be assured that if I am endorsed and elected I will represent their interests on the Council. This diversion of funds from major essential public services, especially public safety services, to non-essential items is one of the main reasons that I am running for City Council. We need to get our current staffing up to acceptable levels. We need to ensure that if we add things like:

• Higher density zoning (more crime)
• An East End "Regional" Sports Park (more accidents and injuries, night time crime...)
• Developments to our hills (increased fire risk and response times...)

Thank you for your time, Diane Underhill