League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 7, 2006 Election
	Clark Williams Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member, 6; City of San Jose; Council District 6

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of San Jose/Santa Clara in partnership with the San Jose Mercury News and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. There are proposals to add 30,000 houses and more office space in North San Jose, thousands more homes in Evergreen and to build a new community in the Coyote Valley. There has been no in-depth study of how these plans will affect one another or services throughout the city. Should San Jose complete a thorough, public review of its general plan for growth before approving any more major development plans? Silicon Valley needs more housing, but San Jose needs more jobs to strengthen its tax base. How would you balance those conflicting pressures?

As a District 6 neighborhood leader, I have long called for an update to our city's General Plan. Far too often, I have seen our city makes poor land use decisions due, in part, to an outdated General Plan that fails to protect the character of our vintage neighborhoods. As a councilmember, I will advocate for land use policies that protect our neighborhoods from poorly planned development proposals.

To resolve the continued imbalance between jobs and housing, I will strongly encourage all of our city residents - including our District 6 neighborhood and business leaders - to join the community planning process associated with the General Plan update. Only through community collaboration and creative problem-solving will our city best be able to resolve our land use conflicts.

2. San Jose has a council/manager form of government. Over the past few years the balance of power has shifted toward the mayor and there are some elected officials who support this stronger role for the mayor. Should San Jose move to a strong-mayor form of government or have a strong professional administrator? What kind of city manager will you look for?

I support the council/manager form of city government and believe that the mayor and city council need to fully respect the important balance between policy-making and city administration. As our city studies this matter, I will strongly advocate for full public participation so that our city residents can fully appreciate the implications of any proposed changes to the city charter.

Hiring a city manager will be one of the most important decisions before the next city council. As a non-profit executive with experience in identifying and hiring good staff, I will look for a city manager with solid academic credentials, impeccable technical skills, strong leadership traits, respect for public participation and a core set of values and ethics.

3. Safety often includes services such as homework centers and code enforcement for neighborhoods, but the city budget now being prepared could cut much needed services. If there is no other source of funds to maintain safety-related centers and gang prevention, would you consider reducing the funds going to support the police and fire departments? Can the growing costs of police and for pensions be covered without depleting funds for other community service in the future?

As a District 6 neighborhood leader and a member of multiple boards and commissions, I have fought for programs and services that improve the quality of life for our city residents + including more code enforcement officers and an expansion of our city's homework centers. As a parent and a neighborhood advocate, I will not support any reductions to our trusted public safety programs and services.

In addition to strengthening its tax base through strategic economic development programs that highlight job growth opportunities, our city must make improving the quality of life for our families and our neighborhoods a top priority.

4. Money to maintain and operate the city’s public facilities such as parks and libraries is in shorter and shorter supply. So while new or expanded community centers have been proposed previously, the city is looking at closing or privatizing up to 30 existing centers it cannot afford to operate. Should the city re-examine its plans to add parks and other public facilities? Are there services the city could cut to find money for these highly valued ones?

The fact that San Jose is building and opening parks and community centers without being able to adequately staff or maintain them is one of the greatest challenges to our city's quality of life.

Like many families in San Jose, my family and I take full advantage of our city's wonderful parks and community centers. Yet, even as more parks and community centers are being built, we have seen a dramatic decline in funding for the maintenance, care and staffing of these recreational facilities. Through no fault of our city's over-burdened city employees, even our newest parks and community centers are showing the wear and tear of standard recreational uses.

In many neighborhoods, residents living near our parks, trails and open spaces have been stepping up to halt the deterioration of our city's parks by cleaning up trash and other waste. However, as the city maintains responsibility for maintenance of our parks and recreation facilities, I believe that we should consider increasing the portion of the construction and conveyance tax set aside for park maintenance. Also, the city should prioritize and expand the "Adopt a Park" program that recruits and trains city residents and community-based organizations to care and nurture our city's parks, trails and open spaces.

Finding resources to build and maintain new parks and community centers is complex and we must be pragmatic when addressing the issue. The city must always be looking for new sources of revenue sources while ensuring that new housing pays for itself without diminishing our city services. One concept that should be considered is land banking, especially in neighborhoods that are park deficient. While the city may not have resources now to maintain a public park, we should not allow any neighborhood to go without one for eternity. Within all legal bounds, the city should use its capital monies to reserve land for park space so a park may be constructed in the future. Quite simply, parks are essential to maintaining the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

As a non-profit management consultant, I support city efforts to find appropriate community partners to operate our community centers. However, I have opposed the community center re-use strategy--as originally designed--for the policy failed to properly address key concerns from the non-profit community and from residents most impacted by the proposed strategy. If the community center re-use strategy is to move forward, the city will need to work more closely with the non-profit community in designing a common-sense, fair and equitable strategy that will meets the service needs of all constituencies in our city.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 22, 2006 21:04
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