Candidate for
Council Member; City of Palo Alto

Finances and Capital Improvement

Fiscal responsibility and accountability is needed to carefully allocate resources, maintain the high quality of our City services and protect financial reserves.
As a careful fiscal steward over the past four years, I have...

• Supported a balanced budget that reduced operating expenses by nearly $10 million.
• Earmarked almost $22 million to upgrade community facilities serving children, families and seniors.
• Saved $4.8 million in staff costs in the current budget.
• Called for a "City Report Card" to inform citizens of measurable progress with respect to stated goals, timelines and budgets.

Planning and foresight are the best ways to ensure the public's safety in the event of a disaster.
To improve responses in emergency situations, I have...

• Helped create a collaboration between City and private emergency service providers.
• Co-founded a grass-roots neighborhood volunteer preparedness initiative, Palo Alto REDI (Resources for Emergencies and Disasters Initiative)-- for helpful information and links, see <http://www.paloaltoredi.org>.

Vibrant neighborhoods contribute greatly to the quality of life we enjoy in Palo Alto.
To support neighborhood walkability, livability, safety, and convenience, I have...

• Led the effort to protect retail uses in neighborhood commercial areas.
• Successfully pushed for speed monitoring devices on city streets and more shuttle services for students and seniors.
• Supported adoption of the Charleston corridor traffic study and the Comprehensive Bicycle Plan.

A diversity of housing options contributes to the richness of a community's fabric.
To support attainable housing opportunities,I have...

• Lobbied to make affordable housing a City priority and for neighborhood-compatible below-market-rate housing.
• Helped create a City loan program for owners of below-market-rate units facing the possibility of losing their homes due to skyrocketing maintenance costs.

Children are the heart of our future.
To keep Palo Alto an inviting place for families, I have...

• Re-established effective relations between the City and the School District.
• Helped develop a Youth Master Plan, and a City-private plan to upgrade the Junior Museum and Zoo.
• Supported the Athletic Fields Committee Report recommending new ways to increase athletic playing fields to fully satisfy the year-round needs of our children.

Being good stewards of the earth's resources begins at the local level.
To ensure that Palo Alto is a leader in protecting the environment, I have...

• Successfully lobbied for the City's Sustainability Plan by which City staff scrutinizes all City activities to find ways to use less, pollute less and waste less, saving money as well as resources and the environment.
• Helped save the Bressler Estate, the last piece of privately held land contiguous to the beautiful Arastradero Preserve, from private development.