Candidate for
Council Member; City of Los Alamitos

Priorities for the Los Alamitos City Council

1. Safety. I guess that's just the Scoutmaster in me: Safety is Job 1. We live in one of the safer towns around, but maintaining and improving safety here should always be a top priority.

Safety includes everything from crime prevention to traffic and pedestrian safety, especially for our kids, to safe play equipment and playing fields without gopher holes at our parks.

2. Improve traffic flow and reduce "cut-through" traffic on residential streets. This isn't easy, but it's important, and there are many areas where improvement is possible. See my post on "7 Ways to Cut Local Gridlock" for my general approach and my post on Farquhar for some specific examples.

3. Maintain and build our sales tax base. Sales tax is our largest single source of revenue, generating almost three million dollars most years. The current council has shown some commendable unanimity on this priority. Good job+let's keep it up!

4. Long range planning. Our culture tends to overestimate what can be accomplished in a short time and underestimate what can be accomplished over a longer time. If we can define what we'd like our city to look like in 20, 40, and 60 years, we have a better chance of steering things in that direction. However, if we aim at nothing, we're sure to hit it!

This would involve community participation through a variety of venues and the promotion of creative, long range thinking. More freeway access and better freeways, perhaps light rail or a monorail system down Katella or using existing abandoned rail easements, a quality regional sports park for our youth and adults, possibly on the base, possibly using some of Cypress' Race Track land. More trees, bikeways, more uniform signage, possibly a village or early California theme throughout the town or just in the business districts. That's just some of my ideas+just imagine what we all might come up with if we put our heads together! The possibilities are practically limitless. Why shouldn't Los Alamitos be "the little town that could!"

At the same time, the current economic slowdown is the perfect opportunity to review both our general plan and our building codes. The time to review development standards is while the developers aren't busy! Do we have adequate open space, parking, and traffic mitigation requirements in our multi-family neighborhoods? We should also review our setback and height requirements in both multi and single family neighborhoods, with an eye to avoiding the blight of mansionization. Doing it now, while few builders are active, reduces outside influences and lets our residents have the primary voice in what our neighborhoods will look like in ten, twenty, and thirty years.

5. Communication. It's often too hard for residents to make a suggestion, find an answer, or have a discussion. There's lots of room for civic interaction on important issues in cyberspace, in print, on LosAlTV, and in community forums and town halls. An on-line suggestion box should be featured on the city's website, which could also use interactive blogs from the City Manager, Chief of Police and Mayor, among others. Effective 2-way communication is another critical element to effective team building.

6. Resident (and business) services. I've found city staff to be courteous, pleasant, professional, and helpful, but it's still often hard to get answers. I think we need an "Troubleshooter Team," possibly composed primarily of volunteers, who are available by phone or e-mail to help with problems from coyotes to noisy trucks unloading behind Vons early in the morning. All too often I find that nobody's really responsible for or responsive to the concerns that voters have brought to my attention as I've been canvasing our neighborhoods. You shouldn't have to bring your injured dog to a City Council meeting to focus city staff on a resurgence of coyotes!

7. Build strong working alliances with our neighboring communities and other governmental agencies. Sure, we have things that divide us, but we have plenty of things in common as well. Prudence and discretion are required, but so are diplomacy and sincerity. Lots more gets accomplished when we work together than when we fight each other. We can't make our neighbors work with us, but our goal should always be to identify and build on common ground for mutual benefit.

8. Be thrifty and wise in spending your money. I believe elected officials need to be at least as careful spending the taxpayers' money as they should be spending their own. Get the most out of every taxpayer dollar. (Maybe even drive themselves to the airport sometimes.) Get matching funds or grants wherever possible.

The budget the council just approved has a significant structural deficit that's only going to get worse as we work through the current economic downtown. It would be prudent for the Council to review the budget now to find ways to save, rather than to put off the hard decisions and burden the 2009 -2010 budget.

That's my take on priorities, one month into the current election, 20 years into living and working in Los Alamitos, and 50+ years into living in the general area. But I'm just one guy, and setting priorities is a community project.