League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 3, 2009 Election
	Gail A. Price 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 ?

A balanced budget will require compromises. Additional savings will be identified with more focused discussions and establishing an on-going joint benefits committee that explores more creative and feasible solutions from both sides. It is unlikely that community members will support additional user fees at this time and we continue to operate within the constraints of Proposition 13. The proposed business license tax will be a needed source of revenue. I would like to see a hotel proposal explored.

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

The Comprehensive Plan defines the vision and guiding policies for the City but it is too long and the vision is not clear. I propose: 1) Reducing the number of themes and chapters because it is too ambitious, disperses our efforts and does not identify which are the most critical or important. 2) Streamlining the Land Use and Community Design chapters by reducing the number of policies to the most critical in order to set the stage for an inspired vision 3) Relocate or separate the Governance chapter to the beginning of the document or as a separate document to provide context for City government practices. The very broad reach of the Comprehensive Plan is presented through the 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan. While the detail is useful, I believe it does not clearly note relative priorities, feasibility, and importance to achieve measurable outcomes for City government

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?

The Baylands Master Plan is the long-range vision and plan for the appropriate and balanced land uses and functions within its boundaries. I support the conference center and hotel, adjacent to Highway 101; it will provide needed revenue to the City. I support co-locating the composing functions, incorporating new technology, with the Wastewater Treatment Plant although it will delay conversion of properties to enhance parkland. Local composting will likely reduce energy and transportation costs.

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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 20, 2009 13:10
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