League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 3, 2009 Election
	Timothy W. "Tim" Gray Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Palo Alto

The questions were prepared by the the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. In light of the economic down turn and possibly reduced income for the city in future years, how do you propose to both balance the budget and meet the cities desires for quality services ?

We must assure that our business community, especially hotels and retail, retaim the "destination of choice" to preserve our revenue stream. However, good business practices dictate that we manage our expenditures.

The first step is to inventory the services provided by our city and then define mutual priorities. This is ongoing discussion for every client I advise, and there is a standard and disciplined process to achieve this fiscal responsibility. I have discussed this with City Manager Jim Keene, and he will be an excellent cooperator with the Council, however the Council members must "pull up their sleeves" and establish the mutual priorities. City Manager Keene is a professional, and knows how to set spending limits. When decisions are made, the Council must provide a united stand, because even the most minor decrease will result in a service reduction, and we are well aware of our history of caving in to a "vocal minority."

2. An updated Comprehensive Plan is due to be approved in 2010. What changes if any should be made to the Plan and why?

We should honor the historical agreements contained within the Comprehensive Plan, however we need to tighten up on a few areas where provisions have been manipulated to allow mega-projects which have not preserved long-established neighborhood retail services, diluted our schools without coordination with the School Disctric, and failed to respect historical uses and qualities. We can look at those projects that are widely believed to be mistakes, and close the loopholes that allowed what many in our community believe was an abuse of the process. Consistency and fairness, vs. "Swiss Cheese Zoning" must be honored.

3. The Baylands Master Plan guides land use east of Route 101. Several land use changes are currently being proposed relating to composting, recycling, parkland, airport needs, and hotel development. What land uses do you think desirable and what uses are incompatible in the Baylands?

We must respect the historical choices that we have made in the past. Our airport deserves the "grandfather" protections out of an honoring of long and established choice that the resident enjoyed. I know that there are many good ideas on how the business model of the airport can even be stronger. There is a way to balance this historical resource, and keep our composting local as a central priority, and preserve our park lands. When it comes to additional uses of the Baylands, we must primarily respect the sensitive ecology as a first priority. However, man and nature can mix, and there may be a pathway for win-win proposals. More ecological benefits can be gained with a creative approach that can include a Hotel.

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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. LWV Palo Alto is using Smart Voter information to publish a paper Voters Guide. Therefore, word limits apply to some of the sections. Contact Veronica Tincher <vtincher@yahoo.com> if you misplaced the instruction sheet with the word limits which was mailed to you. Your answers will be taken from Smart Voter at 8 p.m., September 18 and will be published in the Voters Guide. After that date, you are free to enter more information according to the Smart Voter guidelines.

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

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 21, 2009 09:39
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