Candidate for
Member of the City Council; City of Moorpark

118 Bypass/Truck Traffic

If you have ever driven on Los Angeles Avenue, you know how horrible the traffic is. Monstrous trucks are charging their way through Moorpark as a shortcut to get to the 118 Freeway.

4,000 TRUCKS PASS THROUGH MOORPARK ON LOS ANGELES AVENUE EVERYDAY.

Trucks hauling mining ore are spilling bits of gravel that is contaminating the road. Citizens that live in homes next to Los Angeles Avenue have had to pay the price by listening to 4,000 trucks barrel by their homes.

THE SOLUTION: Since the late 1960s, Moorpark has been talking about building a bypass that will start at the West End of Moorpark, and connect to the 118 Freeway. It would run through the northern portion of Moorpark, which is a generally unpopulated area. It would be similar to the portion of Tierra Rejada Road that runs between the 23 Freeway and Simi Valley.

THE CITY COUNCIL NEEDS TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THE BYPASS! IT'S TIME TO TAKE SOME ACTION!

By building a bypass, the citizens of Moorpark will no longer need to fight the trucks on Los Angeles Avenue. This will be because the city can designate Los Angeles Avenue as a NO TRUCK ZONE.

It will also smooth out the traffic on Los Angeles Avenue, cause less noise pollution for the citizens living next to Los Angeles Avenue, and give truck drivers a shorter and faster route to their destination by going straight to the 118 Freeway without going through Moorpark.

As a Moorpark City Council Member, I will help secure governmental funding through CalTrans to pay for this project.

Communication with the People

The majority of the population in Moorpark have no idea what the City Council is doing for them. They are not in touch with the issues. The major reason for this is that the information is not easily accessible, the information is not put in simple terms that everyone can understand, it is too difficult for people to voice their opinion, and the time that has been allotted for public comments has been shortened.

My friend, who is a resident of Moorpark and a student at Moorpark College, said that he would be much more involved in Moorpark City politics if the information were easy enough to obtain. My friend does not drive, and it is impossible for him to get to City Hall so that he can have his voice be heard during the meetings. He does not understand what the issues are, even when he watches the City Hall meeting on television since the issues are not clearly explained. What can we do to solve this problem?

MY SOLUTION: This is the Internet age. As the next generation arrives, everything will be through computers, web-sites, and e-mail. This is why I feel that the people of Moorpark should be more computer integrated.

The City of Moorpark web-site is not informative to the ordinary person. I want the web-site to explain everything that is stated in the agenda so that no one is left behind on the issues. If people still do not understand what is going on, they will be able to ask questions to a City Hall Correspondent who will answer questions on any issue that concerns Moorpark. This will be through either e-mail, through the City of Moorpark web-site, or by telephone.

I want to send out weekly e-mail messages to the citizens of Moorpark to keep them informed on issues, but in simple terms. This is a good idea because a large majority of the community has e-mail. It is quick and easy to check. E-mail is virtually free, so John Q. Taxpayer will not pay a hefty amount.

I want the people of Moorpark to speak their opinions through e-mail, if they are unable to attend the City Hall Meetings. This will allow people like my friend to give their opinion without hauling themselves to City Hall.

I want to expand the time for public hearings. The current City Council had the public hearing time cut short so that they could get home sooner. That just isn't right. People should have the right to speak in front of the City Council so that they are heard.

I want everyone to know that I am very concerned about the views of the people, and as City Council Member, I will make sure that every voice be heard.

City Swimming Pool and Other Facilities by Arroyo Vista Recreation Center

Moorpark has been longing for a community swimming pool. This is an item that has been on the master plan for the Arroyo Vista Recreation Center for six years. The city needs to stop talking about it and start working on it.

I support the construction for the following reasons:

1. It allows Moorpark High School and other Moorpark Schools to have swimming teams that can practice and have tournaments.

2. It brings the community together by arranging activities that children and their families can take part in.

3. It allows people that cannot afford a swimming pool to relax and cool off on the hot days of the summer.

I also support the construction of the addition of three new soccer fields, a new softball field, a football practice field, and passive use space. The Moorpark AYSO and the majority of the citizens of Moorpark support the construction of the new facilities.

As a City Council Member, I will ask private organizations for grants as well as matching-fund programs from state or federal governments to pay for the pool and other construction. This will protect the people of Moorpark from the burden of having to pay for it through higher taxes. I will take the necessary steps to have this project completed.

6-12 Grade Students taking Moorpark College Classes

Did you know that if your children are attending schools in Moorpark and have not graduated from high school, they can attend Moorpark College TUITION FREE? This is done through Moorpark College, as they waive the tuition for those students.

This is a secret that not many people in Moorpark know about. Starting at the age of 13, I started taking courses at Moorpark College. Just one or two courses each semester until I graduated from high school. I ended up finishing two years of college TUITION FREE before I even graduated high school. Ironically, I graduated from Moorpark College before I graduated from Moorpark High School. The amazing thing is that only a handful of students are taking advantage of the opportunity.

I want more students in Moorpark to take advantage of the great fortune that is right in front of them.

THE SOLUTION: At Moorpark High School, students have the chance to take Moorpark College courses in place of high school courses. In effect, they get double credit by earning units for both Moorpark High School and Moorpark College at the same time. This is something that I want to expand to Chaparral Middle School and Mesa Verde Middle School.

By initiating this idea, students will not be "overloaded" with work from both schools. They will surpass their peers across the State academically.

I will create a very close relationship between the Moorpark Unified School District and Moorpark College. Bringing Moorpark College Councilors to Chaparral Middle School, Mesa Verde Middle School, and Moorpark High School on a regular basis will do this.

By bringing Moorpark College Councilors to Moorpark Schools, students can be advised on which courses they should take. They can also create a schedule for the next several years to budget their time in order to complete the college course requirements, and have an advantage over other students when they graduate high school.

Moorpark College has helped me out tremendously. As City Council Member, I will make sure that students in Moorpark take advantage of the treasure that awaits them at Moorpark College.

Moorpark College Parking Problem

As a former Moorpark College student, I know how hard it is to find parking at Moorpark College. I drove around the parking lots for as long as 30 minutes searching for students who were walking back to their cars, hoping to take their parking spot.

The parking problem at Moorpark College has gotten out of hand. It has gotten so bad, that the kind people of the Campus Park Estates have had to endure the trash, traffic, noise pollution, and potential accidents of the parking problem after the dirt lot next to their homes has been turned into a temporary parking lot because of the massive overflow of students. Moorpark College was forced to do this because they do not receive any money from the state to help build parking lots, only for new school buildings.

There are 14,000 students attending Moorpark College this semester alone. By the year 2010, the number of students will jump to 20,000 per semester. This problem is going to become worse if it is not dealt with quickly.

Because the college does not have the money to build a parking complex, I fear that college students will clog neighborhood streets, and that will be a problem that I want to prevent from happening.

MY SOLUTION: I want to work with the Ventura County Community College Board and Moorpark College President James Walker by closing the lot next to the Campus Park Estates and restoring it to the original condition.

The only possible solution is to build a multi-level parking complex at the East End of the campus. At the same time, I will work with the State and other organizations to help combat Moorpark College's parking problem through funding for the complex.

This will solve Moorpark College's parking problem as well as pleasing the people of the Campus Park Estates.

I want to protect the people of Moorpark before the problem gets any worse. As City Council Member, I will take this responsibility seriously and solve it as soon as possible.

Making Homeownership Possible

Homeownership is central to the American Dream, and I want to make it possible for everyone to live in our wonderful community. The amount of housing is a huge concern as is the inability of seniors and young families to live comfortably in Moorpark.

We are driving people out of Moorpark with the high cost of housing. We need to allocate more land for affordable housing to allow more people to live in Moorpark.

If you vote me as City Council Member, I will give seniors and young families the opportunity to live in Moorpark.

Keeping Our Kids Safe Platform

In the state of New York, a small community near Albany has been experiencing problems with their sons and daughters. They have been going places that they should not be, and the parents don't know where their kids are.

One mother from that community became so fearful that she called the home where her daughter was going, to speak directly to the chaperone. She felt that she had to know exactly what her daughter was doing, where she would be going, whether her daughter's friend's parents would be home, and at what time she would be back, even before her daughter left the house. That is the way parenting should be.

Eventually, the parents of this small community created a program called "Safe Homes". This program would allow parents to know one another and to have close connections.

Moorpark does not have this problem on such a large level as this New York community, and that is the way I want to keep it. I would like to see Moorpark initiate the same type of program. We would call this program "Keep Our Kids Safe". Parents would take the name and telephone numbers of each of their children's friends. They would at that time call each telephone number and speak directly to the parents. This will create a close network between parents, allowing their children to be in homes that they know are safe and can be reached if necessary.

I want to work with the families of Moorpark, and the Moorpark Unified School District to have the "Keep Our Kids Safe" program be carried out. As a Moorpark City Council Member, I will make sure that this program works efficiently and effectively.

Taxes

I was reading the comic strip "Frank & Ernest" a few weeks ago. Frank said to Ernest, "I'd like to live on my own money, but the government keeps taking it away from me." When the average American family has to work more than four months out of every year to fund all levels of government, it's time to see change.

We get taxed on everything. Whether it's gasoline, car repairs, lawnmowers, we get taxed on it. We even get taxed when we die. What if all that changed? What would happen if the government only took exactly what it needed and nothing more? Imagine a world where we you can die peacefully without the United States Government molesting you.

As a City Council Member, I cannot repeal any federal, state, or county tax. What I can do is search for local taxes that we can eliminate without hurting the Moorpark treasury. If you elect me as City Council Member, I will protect the people of Moorpark by taking the government out of the people's wallet. It may be a small step, but small steps add up.