Candidate for
Council Member; City of Livermore

"I've walked your neighborhood and I've heard you! You want:

• Traffic congestion relief.
• Housing that your children can afford.
• A successful downtown.
• A fair and responsive City Council.

Traffic

Many of the traffic problems we face in Livermore are regionally induced. Although traffic congestion is a huge regional problem, locally it's a very personal one, too. As we continue to narrow the streets in our downtown to create an urban pedestrian traffic area we also exacerbate traffic congestion along Railroad Avenue and Fourth Street. There are a multitude of options to explore that can manage traffic issues in our community. As a councilmember I will seek ways to manage our increasing traffic problems. Providing additional downtown parking structures, mass transit options to HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes or HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lanes on I-580 can all help to alleviate traffic congestion in our City. Viable alternatives to driving-such as light rail, more frequent buses, more bus routes, better linked bus routes in residential areas, more comfortable places to wait, and more bike trails are just some of the options to explore.

Proposition 42 was fully funded this year which puts taxes paid at the pump back into transportation projects. Three major transportation projects are planned in the Tri-Valley. The I-580 Eastbound HOV Lane, Route 84 Expressway widening (Isabel), and the I-580/Isabel Avenue Interchange. More than $300 million is dedicated to these traffic improvements. These projects will help relieve traffic congestion and improve traffic flow along I-580 and Route 84 corridors in our Valley.

For information on these transportation projects go to these links:

http://www.acta2002.com/2000_MEASURE_B/rt84.html http://www.ci.livermore.ca.us/eng/eng_isabel2.html#link2#link2

Affordable - Workforce Housing

Livermore's strength and appeal is that it has a wide range of income levels and that it has worked to be a good community for families. I will encourage affordable housing for our teachers, firefighters, police officers and other members of our local workforce to live in the community they serve.

As an example, the Livermore Trails project in North Livermore, 2450 new homes over ten years -- it benefits all of us and provides housing under the City's affordable guidelines. A 130 acre, fully improved sports park, donations of two school sites, extensive trails, 367 affordable houses, 245 active senior houses and 750 acres of permanent open space preserving the scenic corridor. This project will be before the voters of Livermore in November. Livermore Trails will generate approximately $2.5 million dollars in property taxes at build out. It will be up to you to bring this to fruition or not. I encourage you to support our service providers and their families by providing them a place to live in Livermore. http://www.livermoretrails.com

Education

Livermore High School and Granada High School both have 500 students more than recommended by the State. More than 1000 students travel from North Livermore homes to these two high schools daily adding to traffic congestion. The Livermore Trails project if approved by the voters, will provide a third high school site and an elementary school site. Superintendent Brosnan indicated that the school district has the funds to build a new high school which come from development fees. In addition, there are plans for a Catholic High School in North Livermore and it is estimated that approximately 200 students from Livermore would enroll there. As your councilmember I will encourage the school board to support the need for adding a third public high school to the City.

With the vote and support from this community, Measure D was passed and provided much needed operational funding for our schools. However, the equalization of funds throughout Califonia continues to struggle. This past year Assemblyman Guy Houston introduced Assembly Bill 61 for the 2004-05 legislative session. AB-61 is an effort to revamp the equalization funding formula so that every school district, no matter where they are located, receives an equitable distribution of equalization dollars. This bill will be enacted in the 2005-2006 school year and will be an improvement but more work is still needed to produce a fair distribution to Livermore schools. I will continue to encourage our legislatures to equalize funding. I believe as you do that it is important to maintain quality schools in Livermore. I will continue to encourage balanced planning in our City that will keep our school district financially healthy. Producing quality schools, teachers, and housing will further avoid the financial catastrophe of declining enrollment. As your councilmember, I will lobby our legislatures to ensure Livermore schools receive their fair share of equal funding. It's fair to our children!

Downtown Revitalization

I encourage and support incentive programs that will bring new shops and restaurants to our downtown. Some housing is needed in the downtown to encourage pedestrian traffic. However, I oppose the 3200 housing units planned for the core of our downtown as I believe the high density and multi-story buildings will cause us to loose our small town atmosphere. Creating a balance of business and a practical number of housing units should be further explored by your City Council before moving forward with major changes in our downtown.

The City of Livermore has a competent and talented Chamber of Commerce willing to work with the City Council in the revitalization of our downtown. As your councilmember I will make every effort to work with them to retain existing businesses that are important to the downtown vitality.

Click on this link to view the downtown plan. http://www.ci.livermore.ca.us/firststreet/index.html