How Joyce Will Revitalize San Leandro's Economy

By Joyce Rutledge Starosciak

Attract new businesses and spend responsibly

Being Fiscally Responsible: In these tough economic times it is more important ever that every dollar our city has is being spent wisely and responsibly. As a city council member, Joyce ordered the first outside audit of the fire department contract in years to help find solutions. This resulted in $1.7 million in savings to the city. She also helped bring the budget under control by finding hundreds of thousands of dollars that were meant for the City, but were being kept by the County.

Economic Vitality through Quality Development: Our Transit Oriented Development projects and downtown area will be revived and revitalized in the next 4 years. Joyce believes that good jobs in commercial, retail, and housing units all need to be part of the plan. In particular, Joyce wants to make sure the City will be actively involved in the development of the new Kaiser Hospital facility west of Interstate 880, which will be a large part of the City's successful revitalization plan over the next several years. Kaiser will become the anchor for additional new retail development in the surrounding area -- which will be good for our local economic base. Joyce wants to make sure all San Leandro development -- especially the projects above -- are implemented in a way that works for pedestrians, traffic flow and a sustainable environment.

Creating Destinations in our community: Fine dining downtown, attractive retail at Bayfair -- all of these projects can become destination sites for San Leandro residents and guests. Joyce believes that quality "destinations" will attract people to San Leandro to spend money and enjoy our many places to play. Plus, they will all improve our local quality of life.

A Business-Friendly San Leandro: As a small business owner herself, Joyce knows that vital businesses provide vital city revenue and a healthy economy right here in our own community. With that in mind, the City must position our community to attract more businesses to do business in San Leandro. We must continue marketing our downtown, Bayfair, and West San Leandro as business-friendly and great places to locate a business. To attract and retain quality businesses, we must continue to have the lowest business license fees, easiest permitting processes and build relationships with business owners.