Foothills Sentry Candidate Questions

By Frank Finn

2. What do you consider to be the three most important issues facing the city?" Today: Traffic congestion, graffiti and other gang activity, and providing a representative government to the people." In the foreseeable future: Responsible, well balanced growth that takes into account the needs and desires of current residents in addition to those of big corporate developers, expansion of city services at the same rate as population growth, and fiscal accountability.

3. On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the best, how do you rate:" The performance of the City Government in providing services? 8. This City is staffed from top to bottom by a truly professional workforce that is dedicated to providing the best service possible within the fiscal restraints imposed by the council. The performance of the City Council in addressing city issues? 5. I have observed an obvious arrogance on the part of some current Council Members. They appear to be more inclined to promote their own personal agenda rather than being representative of their constituents.

4. What areas do you identify the present City Council is not paying enough attention to? They are not responsive to the needs and desires of the majority of residents, but instead, cater to big business and a small group of very vocal citizens who do not represent the common people.

5. What is your position on the "Old Towne" restrictions? In general, I am a firm believer in the rights of property owners to be free of onerous over-regulation. I also ardently believe in preserving our heritage and recognize the historic significance of Old Towne. I support the current restrictions as long as the majority of residents of the district are aware of, and back them, and each request for a variance is given a fair hearing with every accommodation being made to allow improvement while preserving the historic character of the structure.

6. It seams likely that the Fieldstone Company will seek approval for a residential development at the Sully Miller site. Are you inclined to support residential development at this site? What other uses, if any, should the revised plan include? The imminent start of construction of the massive development of the east hills with over 4,000 homes and an estimated City population increase close to 10% without significant commercial development to increase the tax base has raised many questions that have not been adequately answered by the Irvine Company or the City Council that approved it. I would vote against any further growth until a comprehensive plan that addresses the many serious concerns of current residents such as traffic congestion, school and park issues, provision of emergency and other city services, water run-off, and preservation of natural habitats are addressed.

7. How much reliance should local government place upon current or future state financial support for local municipal services? Any responsible city council must be fiscally conservative and maintain a balanced budget at all times without being overly dependent on outside sources since state and federal funding can be pulled at any time. In times of prosperity they must put money aside to cover lean times. When state and federal money is available, it is incumbent on them to aggressively pursue it to supplement the general fund. I have a great deal of experience in this area, having successfully written and administrated four grants in the last six years which have secured over $725,000.00 in additional county, state and federal funding for traffic enforcement and provision of child safety seats at no cost to low income residents of the city I work for.

8. Should the City of Orange adopt a policy similar to the City of Costa Mesa and Orange County allowing trained officers to identify and process illegal aliens accused of committing crimes in the City? As a 24 year veteran law enforcement professional, I whole heartedly support any measure that removes predators from, and protects citizens of the cities I work for and live in. If police apprehend people for violation of state or local codes, and determine they are undocumented, they should immediately be turned over to the Border Patrol At the same time, I am intimately aware of the fact that local agencies have our hands full just trying to enforce state and municipal laws and it is the responsibility of the federal government to enforce immigration law.

9. Do you support the City's current law restricting residents from parking recreational vehicles on their property? This is the issue that motivated me to run in this election when the current Council dismissed the will of the overwhelming majority of constituents and promoted their own agenda to usurp the rights of property owners. There are sufficient laws on the books that require vehicles to be registered and operational, and prohibit blocking sidewalks or parking on lawns. The current City Council wasted money, time and the efforts of city staff while totally disregarded the wishes of the majority of residents by revisiting this issue a mere 2 years after it was resolved by the prior Council. Of the approximately 150 complaints received over the two year period preceding their poorly thought out vote, some 100 were called in by just 3 individuals with one person responsible for a quarter of all complaints. I respect my opponents, Mark Murphy and Planning Commissioner Dennis Bilodeau and the late Steve Ambriz for standing up to the tyranny of the vocal minority and say shame on the other three Council members for their support of a few elitists over the will of the majority of citizens who spoke against this infringement of property rights. Their arguments against RV parking on private property were ill conceived and totally without merit. The primary justification given by the aforementioned Council Members for passing this overbearing ordinance was to stop the reduction of property values caused by the parking of RVs in driveways. Since the appraised value of my home has increased from $95,000 to $610,000 while always having an RV or boat in the driveway for the last 22 years, this excuse is nonsense.Another rationalization given was to prevent collisions caused by reduced visibility resulting from RVs in driveways. As a police officer since 1982 and a traffic officer since 1989, I can tell you I have not once responded to, or even heard of a single accident that resulted from such a situation. If that were the case, these council people are negligent since they did not place the same restrictions on vans and SUVs which are equally restrictive of sight planes. Will restrictions on these vehicles be next? The final argument was that RVs and boats in driveways look trashy. Since camping and boating are activities primarily pursued by middle class working people trying to make the most of the time away from their jobs, and spend it with their families, this reflects the disdain if not outright contempt supporters of the ordinance have for the working families of Orange who can ill afford the $200 + a month it costs to store an RV at a storage facility if they could find one with vacancies. When I see clean, well maintained RVs and boats that are worth $20,000 -$100,000 or more parked in driveways, I recognize a neighborhood of hard working people with strong family values that enjoy participating in outdoor activities with their families and friends. I pity those Council Members and few residents who see an eyesore that they feel compelled to control and eliminate.

10. How important is education to the community? Are there local education problems?In this day and age, education is more important than ever. Anyone without an advanced education or training in a trade is at a real disadvantage. With the high cost of living in Southern California, unskilled workers are hard pressed to support a family. The Board of the Orange Unified School District does not have a close working relationship with the Orange City Government. A recent report shows 14 (33%) OUSD schools are failing to meet API testing goals. This must be rectified to provide the highest quality education to the children of Orange.