My Key Issues

By Frank Z. Kertai

The key issues for Scotts Valley are: Smart Growth, Public Safety, the Environment and Open Governance.

I am in favor of the Town Center as it represents a good mixed use project and appropriate development of downtown. The Town Center proposes new construction that represents a 50% increase in retail space. As we bring this additional retail space online, we must protect the local business that is already here. The proposed Target project would add another 25% of commercial retail space in a one-stop, single destination format at the edge of town. I don't believe our local economy can absorb this much additional retail space over the next few years without adversely affecting existing local businesses. In addition, I believe the Target project, as proposed, would have a net negative economic impact on both the local economy and the local city government.

"Smart Growth" also means making sure that the appropriate infrastructure is in place to support and mitigate impacts from development. Development of both the Town Center and the Target would result in unacceptable traffic impacts on the main through routes of Scotts Valley. Our infrastructure can support the Town Center with appropriate mitigations. It cannot also support the standalone big-box retail store at the Southern Gateway Entrance to Scotts Valley.

Public Safety
Public Safety is one of my central issues. A top priority is to assure the safety and quality of life for all of out citizens. The citizens of Scotts Valley are fortunate to live in a very safe city. Much credit for this is due to the dedication of our own local police force. Increased staffing levels and having control of our own local emergency 9-1-1 dispatch center helps to keep our response times low. The biggest challenges we face with our local public safety program are recruitment and retention. The major local fires of this past year demonstrated the importance and necessity of working closely with the Scotts Valley Fire District on fire prevention as part of public safety.

Environment
Water is our number one environmental issue and concern locally. Scotts Valley currently has one source of water + our local aquifer. The use of this water source is shared with the San Lorenzo Valley. We may already be using this water source at higher than sustainable levels. We need to do everything we can to conserve, recapture and reuse water.

The Town Center Specific Plan EIR specifically says that this project, combined with those that are proposed or currently under construction throughout the city, could require more water than is currently available to the City given the limited amount of water resources. We need to make sure that the implementation of various water conservation efforts and use of recycled water will reduce overall demand significantly enough to offset this additional demand before all of these projects are built.

Part of what makes Scotts Valley such a wonderful place to live is the local environment. Policies which help conserve local open space encourage the preservation of local flora, fauna and the vistas which help give our community its unique character.

Open Governance
I believe it is import for us to have open, transparent and participative government. Citizens should be encouraged to express their views and allowed every opportunity to provide inputs and feedback for checks and balances to the governance process.