Answers to Progressive Coalition Questionnaire

By Michael E. "Mike" Rotkin

This document gives the reader a good sense of my position on a number of the important issues in this campaign

A. TRANSPORTATION

1. Yes/No. Do you support a one-half-cent sales tax to fund the widening of Highway One?

No. I would not oppose letting local citizens vote on the matter.

2. How would you resolve the Highway One traffic problem?

Public transit, including light rail, more carpool and vanpools, bicycle commuting, add metering lights at the major on ramps. Create more affordable housing so there is less need for people to commute so far.

3. Yes/No. Will you vote to purchase the Union Pacific Railway right-of-way?

Yes.

4. What is the number one traffic problem in Santa Cruz, and what will you do about it?

The East-West commute. See number 2 above.

B. WATER

1. Yes/No. Would you support a joint project with Soquel Creek Water District to develop new water sources for both jurisdictions?

Yes.

2. What is your position on a building moratorium until an adequate water management plan is available?

I do not support a building moratorium, because you cannot legally do a partial moratorium, and, therefore, a moratorium would halt all construction of affordable housing, and other needed projects in the City of Santa Cruz. We have to work harder on developing an acceptable water management plan. C. DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ/COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Yes/No. Will you support extending the Living Wage Ordinance to include coverage of for-profit businesses that are given City economic assistance in the form of tax waivers, subsidies, and/or public works improvements?

Yes.

2. Are there publicly held or publicly subsidized properties that you would consider opportunity sites for safe sleeping zones? If yes, please identify them. If no, please explain.

No. I strongly believe that if Santa Cruz becomes the only community in the United States to support "safe sleeping zones, " we will draw more homeless people to our community and overtax our social service and homeless service network. As an alternative, I support expanded public shelters and expansion of services that will help people get out of their homeless condition.

3. Do you support the downtown ordinances passed in July 2002? Did you support the process involved in ordinance consideration and passage? Did you take a public position on the ordinances? Please explain.

The situation downtown has deteriorated seriously over the past couple of years. I am not talking about people's appearance, but the aggressive panhandling, cursing and harassing women and seniors, open drug deals, crowds of rude people blocking the sidewalk who will not move aside, etc. The police and Downtown Hosts have gotten a tacit message that the City Council majority did not want existing ordinances enforced.

The Council was faced with an unhappy choice: appear to do nothing and ignore the problem or send some kind of message that things had to turn around. They decided to pass new ordinances to "send a message." I would have worked harder earlier on to avoid having to make such a choice. It would have involved stricter enforcement of existing laws, working with the court system to make sure that people violating the law face real consequences, working with the merchants to get them to take more responsibility for collectively confronting the problems and sending a clear message to the police that the City Council will support them when they do their jobs and enforce the law.

With only two exceptions, I have avoided meetings and lobbying the Council for the past two years.

4. Please explain your views of the economic relation between large corporate retailers and/or small independently owned and operated businesses as part of the City's tax base revenue.

We should put our energy into supporting small, independently owned and operated businesses over large corporate retailers. Our current mix of these two types of businesses is about right. Large corporate retailers like Costco bring in massive amounts of sales tax to the City which formerly leaked out to other communities when our local residents drove to Sand City and Freemont to shop there. But we have to be careful because certain large corporate businesses such as Walmart do, in fact, replace local businesses, depress the wage scale, and move capital out of the local community. However, the City Council has to carefully evaluate each proposal for development on its merits and not get caught up in decision-making based on simplistic abstractions. Judging by environmental factors and resident convenience and as measured by the large local working class patronage, and the relative lack of local business replacement, the Costco decision was a good one. I doubt that our community could absorb a Walmart or Home Depot, however, without a result of more negative than positive impacts. We should approach any future proposals for large outside corporate businesses with great skepticism and focus on creating the kind of positive business climate that will support the sustainability of smaller, locally owned and controlled businesses.

5. Are you for or opposed to converting all of part of Pacific Avenue to a pedestrian-only mall? What are the financial and social impacts of such a proposal?

Opposed. Pacific Avenue is relatively successful as it is and quite pedestrian friendly. I believe we should create more events each year that close the street to automobile traffic and explore closing parts of the street more often.

D. ELECTORAL PROCESS

1. Do you believe there should be mandatory limits on campaign contributions and expenditures for City Council candidates? If yes, why and what are those limits? If no, why not?

Yes, democracy over money, current limits.

2. Will you sign or have you signed a voluntary pledge to limit your campaign contributions and expenditures? If yes, what is the limit to which you have agreed? If no, why not?

Yes: Individual contributions = $250; business and labor PAC contributions = $600. Total expenditures = $19,108.

3. Yes/No. Do you support public financing of local campaigns?

No, the City cannot afford it.

E. HOMELESS NEEDS

1. Yes/No. Would you support a City/County task force to identify regional solutions to homeless needs?

Yes.

2. What is your position on revoking the sleeping ban?

I oppose revoking it.

3. Yes/No. Do you support the use of parking lots in City Parks or other locations for sleeping in vehicles?

No.

4. What other solutions do you propose to address homelessness?

See section C, Nos. 2 and 3..

F. AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND OVERALL DEVELOPMENT

1. What do you propose to increase the affordable housing stock?

We need to change the zoning downtown to encourage more affordable housing, and mixed commercial/residential projects. Also, deeper public subsidies.

2. Do you support changing limits on density in residential neighborhoods? If so, what changes do you propose?

No. The appropriate place for greater density in the City is primarily downtown, near urban transportation routes, in Beach Flats, and UCSC.

3. Do you support an increase in the City Property Transfer Tax to financial low cost and affordable housing development and retention? If so, what rate do you propose?

Yes. Exact rate needs more study

4. Yes/No. Do you support defending mobile home park rent control?

Yes.

5. Yes/No. Would you support a Just Cause Eviction ordinance?

Yes, but we would have to be strategic so it wouldn't immediately be repealed in a referendum organized by the real estate interests.

G. BUDGET

1. If the City is faced with budget shortfalls, name five of the cuts you would make to balance the budget. Rank in your order of priority.

The City IS faced with budget shortfalls. Careful reductions of the City's fund balance with across-the-board cuts to City programs. I will not cut social programs at a greater rate than other city services. Need to work with management and the unions on exact cuts.

2. Besides cuts, what other measures do you support to balance the City's Budget?

More tax-generating small, local businesses and a successful conference facility. Restore business confidence in our downtown, so that we can generate sales tax revenues.

H. BALLOT MEASURES

1. Yes/No. Do you recommend a yes or no vote on Measure P: City of Santa Cruz Initiative Petition to Repeal Utility Users Tax?

No!

2. Yes/No. ...and will you allow the campaign you support to use your name publicly?

Yes.
3. Yes/No. Do you recommend a yes or no vote on Measure Q: City of Santa Cruz Tax on Hotel Occupants?

Yes, I would not have put this particular deal together, but if the choice is laying off City workers and cutting services, I support Measure Q.

4. Yes/No. ...and will you allow the campaign you support to use your name publicly?

Yes.

I. LABOR

1. If elected, how would you help management and labor in their contract negotiations?

Meet with the unions and fully understand their issues. Do my best to represent those concerns in helping develop the City's bargaining proposals. As a lifelong labor activist, I will maximize the interest of City workers in the bargaining process within the City's real budget limitations.

2. Yes/No. Do you support the Living Wage Ordinance to require the inclusion of city contractors in the non-profit sector?

Yes, within the City budget, but moving ahead on this is a high priority for me.

3. Earlier this summer, CalPERS announced it was dropping two of its available health plans, HealthNet and PacificCare, effective January 1, 2003. If elected, how would you use the influence of your office to improve the state of the current employee health plan?

Use the City's leverage to pressure local health providers to offer decent health plans to local residents and direct the City to take an activist role in setting CalPERS policy.

4. What is your position on utilizing temporary workers for City jobs on an ongoing basis?

I oppose it. I played a major role in the conversion of hundreds of temporary positions to permanent ones in my past City Council service.

5. Under what circumstances do you support the contracting out of existing City services?

None. J. COMMUNITY RELATIONS

1. What will you do to increase diversity in City government and staff?

Pressure the City Manager and Department Heads to support affirmative action in hiring and ensure that all City workers receive the training necessary to make the City a workplace that is inviting to diverse employees.

2. What will you do about racial profiling and improving police/minority relations?

Make sure our police get proper training and clear policy direction.