Linda Linder, Candidate For Anaheim City Council 2010

By Linda Linder

I would like to provide a voice for anyone in the City who has felt ignored regarding City services or who have suggestions or complaints; I will work with the residents and business owners in the City to make Anaheim beautiful and to be responsive to their needs and desires.

I have worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and retired from that position. I have had the honor of serving as a Grand Juror on the Orange County Grand Jury where the Jury was responsible for monitoring and auditing the county, cities and any agency which utilizes public funds. The Jury was responsible for replacing school Superintendants, school board members, Agency Director; jail improvements and freeway upgrades among other issues. It was a rewarding experience. Each year from October to January, the Jury takes applications from residents to serve the one full year term of service. I highly recommend it to anyone who has the time to apply for this rewarding experience.

I am a member of the Tea Party, the Heritage Foundation, the National Rifle Association, Judicial Watch, the Orange County Grand Jurors Association.

I am a conservative who believes in limited government; the public must have the first and last say in how government operates. I do not approve of eminent domain. Nor do I aapprove of the State ordering funds from cities or counties inorder to balance the state budget.

I have been employed by the City at the Convention Center for the past 15 plus years. I have dealt with City Management and Human Resources during Union negotiations and on the LMC (Labor-Management Committee). I have witnessed for myself the frustration and complexities involved with City Management. There needs to be an overhaul of the attitudes of management towards employees at every level of management. The condescending attitudes of management has to be reined in and controlled. The management positions need to be reviewed and adjusted accordingly. The supervision in each department needs to be reevaluated for effectiveness. Some departments have few or no supervision which has to be adjusted.

I see this same attitude towards the residents and business owners. The City Management and City Council members must contribute more attention to the tax payers. The tax payers are the backbone of the community. I would like to spend more tax money in the communities and businesses within the City. Some of the business owners have asked the City Council for assistance in expanding their buildings. The City has offered zero assistance. That attitude is unacceptable. The business owners must have the undivided attention of the City Council. Variances can and should be considered for the advancement of the local businesses.

The residents have felt ignored in the neighborhoods where there is blight and under-development. These areas deserve the attention of the City Council to upgrade the communities and to provide businesses in those blighted areas. The undesireable transcients have to be dealt with by removing them from the premises and relocating them to rehabilitation or mission facilities. The City has organizations in place to deal with this situation. They could use additional assistance from the County as well. The gangs have to be removed from our neighborhoods. The City Council should place a moritorium on the gangs by allowing the police to dismantle them within the City. Any known gang member or anyone with gang tatooes should be detained by the PD and relocated to their perspective countries of origin or told to leave the City as undesireables. This method was used on the Hell's Angels by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department many years ago. It is time to take back our City and remove all of the blight.

The blight in the City has another element as well. The City streets need repairs, sidewalks installed, safety speed humps placed on long streets; sewer, gas and electrical pipes updated and placed underground.

The City Code Enforcement Department needs to be expanded as it was years ago when the Department brought in a large portion of tax dollars from parking citations. These citations helped upgrade the communities by having residents and businesses remove broken down vehicles, junk and trash from around the buildings which helped beautify the neighborhoods. Code Enforcement also monitored the apartment buildings and homes which contained multiple families by limiting the number of residents in each building. This action provided the communities with fewer damages to properties and better living conditions, as well as monitoring how many vehicles are parked around these living areas. The same employees gave notices to residents who did not maintain there residences to the same standard as the rest of the community, which upgraded the neighborhoods. Code Enforcement offers vital support to the community.

I work in the Resort area and have witnessed the expansions of the Convention Center and surrounding areas. A great deal of tax money has been assigned to the Resort area. The City wants to continue expansions to the Convention Center. I do not agree with that decision due to the City budget problems not being able to meet the standard finances of the City. The Resort expansion needs to be placed on hold until the City can afford the expansion without depleating the funds for the remainder of the City.

The other development the City has been promoting is the high-speed rail which has Federal funding attached to it. This is a dream of the City and Disneyland. It is not as desireable by the residents. This project needs to be reevaluated. The public needs to have a say in what happens to the communities and how the rail will be established, including where it will be built. Will the residents have to relocate inorder to accommodate this rail? How will eminent domain be utilized for this project? Will the system run along side or above the existing freeways? There are too many unanswered questions by the public. This project needs to be stalled or deleted. There already is transportation to neighboring cities such as San Diego and Los Angeles. The high-speed rail does not satisfactorily provide the needs for short distances. If it is put in place, it should only be used for long distances such as from Anaheim to Las Vegas or Sacramento and San Francisco. To date, the first stages of the rail is scheduled for the shorter distances which are already in place by trains and metro-rail.

The Resort area has been discussing a monorail system to connect the outer regions of the Resort to Disneyland. That project should be paid for by the Disney Corporation since the monorail system will benefit Disney more than the City. The City should not have to pay for that project.

I believe in the residents and the business communities having the most power in the City. We the people must have the final say as to how the City Council agrees to spend our money. (The City Council has placed some of the decision making issues on the ballot.) We voters must pay close attention to the issues on the ballot. These issues will effect our lives in the City of Anaheim.

PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE. VOTE FOR LINDA LINDER FOR ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL 2010. Thank you.