I submitted the following text to the Santa Clara Weekly on Friday, October 22. As some of it may be edited, my answers are provided. The "***" portions are the questions from the Weekly.
- ** "How would you go about steering a range of uses to the stadium? Please be as specific as you can since generalities tend to sound like campaign promises that disenchanted voters, such as myself :-) tend to ignore"
Santa Clara has the opportunity to use the stadium for a variety of community festivals, such as Diwali (Indo-American), Tet (Vietnamese), several Latino community cebrations, Chosuk (Korean) and Lunar New Year. With the stadium situated on public transit lines and close to Milpitas, Fremont and Sunnyvale, we are well-positioned to serve a multi-ethnic demographic that can attract thousands of visitors to our City. This is good for the tax base and for community members too.
I also envision the stadium being used for technological, spiritual, inspirational, business and advocacy organizations, as a comfortable and accessible gathering space. And, Santa Clara has the opportunity to attract music and other entertainment events too.
We also will have to work closely with the Convention Center to leverage stadium use in a way that will attract more large gatherings. Our City will invest our time, talent and resources to this stadium. It must become a source of pride that extends way beyond a few professional football games a year.
- ** What would you do to promote transparency "so our community has confidence in our leaders"?
I will convene regular public study sessions regarding the stadium so the public and the council have every opportunity to stay fully informed of as many aspects of stadium issues as is reasonable. I will ensure the City reaches out to the many local faith communities to publicize these study sessions, as well as to business groups, neighborhood organizations and our broad network of educational groups. The Council may have to schedule a few more meetings, or even implement some off-site, rotating neighborhood sessions as a means of expanding community confidence. We must want community involvement and then demonstrate that commitment in action.
- ** How much taller would you have liked to see the Fairfield development go?
- ** How does the government create ownership opportunities?
When the City demands that multi-family housing be built to condominium standards, the City creates an economic incentive for developers to create for-ownership opportunities, rather than making the renter-owner gap worse. Anyone always has the right to rent out their residence, but when multi-family is built to condo standards, there is a greater chance of those residences helping young families to build equity. Within this structure of an ownership incentive, I could have supported several more stories of housing, but with staggered setbacks and more green space at street level. Density can provide for very comfortable living if one ensures significant ground floor green space. With Santa Clara's population rapidly approaching 150,000 on extended life spans alone, we have to become more creative about how we will provide for these extra thousands of residents. We can't continue to chase our young adults out-of-town because their housing options are limited.
- ** What type of development would you have liked to see on the BAREC property? What could the city have done to be "more assertive in retaining more green space"? If you had been on the City Council, I take it you would have voted to approve the development?
I'm not sure I would have voted as a Councilmember to approve the development, but I know I would have asked the same questions I asked as a Planning Commissioner. I was persuaded then by the argument that the BAREC land was publicly-owned and should not be treated the same as private land. Just because there were for-profit consultants hired by the State does not mean we should have treated the project like any other private project. My initial proposal as a Planning Commissioner involved much more open green space, accessible to the public, and offset by taller housing closer to Winchester. Do we need more senior housing? Yes. But, we also have to preserve as much green space as possible as Santa Clara transitions into a more and more urban city.
- ** What is a "reasonable way" to enhance "multistory ownership housing opportunities and" provides "quality retail options that increases the City's tax base and El Camino Real's attractiveness."?
Require all multi-family housing to be built to condo-standards. When you have an ownership base living above retail uses, the quality of the projects improves because people tend to have a longer-term view of the property. I know that some long-time Santa Clarans cringe at the idea of many condos. But we have the reality that about 60 percent of our residents are renters. That's a big percentage and we have to create residential stability because that also impacts the opportunities for school success. When a school experiences annual enrollment churn, it's very difficult to lay a long-term foundation for our students. Mid-range retailers are likely to invest in communities that demonstrate stability and a range of economic growth. Public school academic scores are one indicator of that stability.
- ** Which neighbors would you like "to encourage to discuss future options"? What is " respectful transit-oriented development that incorporates creative recreational and other green space"?
Transit-oriented development generally refers to mixed-use projects that are well-served by bus and light rail systems so we reduce car trips somewhat. While we have to urbanize some parts of our city's living space, we can't become a concrete jungle. If our developments consciously include green space, including pocket parks and some recreational space for children such as toddler lots, then these multi-family developments become community assets. Our El Camino lots often are relatively shallow, so we will have to be creative in how we encourage private landowners to assemble parcels. Single-family owners on the inside streets off El Camino Real have to be involved in these discussions. I am confident that many of these neighbors will conclude that a cleaner, well-maintained El Camino is better for their property in the long run. But, I also am prepared for lots of community meetings as we create buy-in step-by-step for Santa Clara's new look. Think of it this way.... What do you reasonably expect Santa Clara will look like in 2040? That's less than 30 years away, when today's elementary kids are young professionals starting their own families.
- ** How will the homework centers be financed? Who will staff them? What hours and days would you propose they be open? How would you measure their success or failure? Do you think parents might construe the idea that "from the last bell to the next first bell is the responsibility of the City" is another example of government intrusion into the private lives of citizens?
Anyone who lives near a middle school or high school in Santa Clara knows that citizens' private lives are impacted negatively when teen students have few productive after-school options. Talk with residents in any neighborhood around a school and you will discover that those residents actively want support from their government to keep our young people engaged in positive activities, rather than hanging out on corners and at convenience stores. I'm not swooping in as Mayor with complete fully-funded solutions for every homework center in every corner of the City. However, we clearly have different needs depending different parts of town. Some parts of Santa Clara are higher-end communities with less economic and cultural challenges. Some parts of Santa Clara have large renter populations with both parents working till late in the day. The first step has to be to acknowledge that many Santa Clara youth have challenges. Then we can figure out reasonable responses to those challenges so by 2020, we've got a good foundation laid to move ahead.
- ** Can you explain how "enhanced mentoring and tutoring efforts" will work? Would these be funded by the City?
"Enhanced mentoring and tutoring efforts" will be inspired by City leaders and elected officials, but the private sector has to step up to provide the actual mentors and tutors. The City would provide only minimal out-of-pocket costs, but we would strongly encourage community adults to become more involved in education-enhancing efforts. Project Cornerstone (http://www.projectcornerstone.org) seeks to "ensure that every element of our diverse community--individuals, businesses, community organizations, schools, and governments--understand and embrace the fact that interacting with young people is important." I want Santa Clara City to be a leader in this effort. We live in one of the only local communities that does not currently participate. These support efforts demonstrate partnerships between the corporate community, the small business community and the neighbors who are the core of individual neighborhoods.
- ** Assuming the homework centers and the mentoring/tutoring would be financed by the City and since the City is facing a budget shortfall, where would the money come from for these ideas? Can you provide some specific examples of what types of things a Mayor would need to look for when they're being aware of each school's performance? What metric or guide would you, as Mayor, use to consider each school's performance? What types of things would the City do to respond to unique neighborhood challenges?
It is reasonable to expect the Mayor to empathize with community members who live across the City. At minimum, the Mayor needs to know several years of Academic Performance Index scores and CST results for each elementary and middle school, including a range of demographic trends. This doesn't mean we expect the Mayor to "fix" challenged schools, but we have many Title One-eligible schools in Santa Clara, and these residents are just as much "Santa Clarans" as those residents who live in more affluent areas. If I'm speaking with someone who owns a home near Kathryn Hughes, as Mayor I have to relate to the concerns. If I am speaking with someone who lives near Sutter, I have to relate to those residents' perceptions as well. While we all live in the Mission City, we each have very different perceptions of what it means to be a Santa Claran. We're partly working-class, partly recent immigrant and partly affluent high-end. The Mayor must juggle it all.
- ** How would the City, working with landowners, business owners and neighborhood residents invigorate retail?
Work to invigorate investment. Be well aware of obstacles to development. Care enough to enter into regular dialogue. More than anything, have a vision of quality and recognize that darn near EVERY Santa Claran believes El Camino Real is not the shining star of our City. We must change that perception.
- ** Do you advocate building multi-story housing units on El Camino Real? Are there specific parts of El Camino Real that you think should be rezoned to either housing or mixed use (housing/retail? housing/light industrial, etc)?
Yes. Absolutely, we must look to multi-story housing - but I prefer ownership options. We don't need much rezoning; we need to take advantage of the mixed use opportunities that already exist. And, there are some parcels that should continue to be commercial/industrial. The goal here is look ahead decades. What's the City going to look like? We are a City in transition.
- ** What would you do, as Mayor, to make government more transparent and to build trust?
Hold some rotating meetings/study sessions around the City a few times a year at different times of day and on weekends so our working class residents have the opportunity to engage. Visit the high schools occasionallly. Meet at Santa Clara University now and then. Take a proactive role towards translation of materials and providing some outreach to our communities who are less comfortable in English. We have to listen more and be respectful. And, we have to step outside of City Hall to get into the real heart of Santa Clara on a regular basis. I'm lucky enough to speak some Spanish and I have engaged lots of residents in discussions about their lives here. Building trust doesn't mean we have widespread distrust. But, we have lots of disengagement. We can do better.
- ** What aspects of the stadium campaign do you think damaged transparency and trust?
After the campaign, some leaders of the "Yes" side started talking about "crushing" the people who voted "No." That approach is completely inappropriate and erodes trust. The City leaders - both "yes" and "no" - have to share as much info as possible with the public. There is nothing to hide if we have trust. Politics is just one aspect of public life. Engaging empathetically with neighbors creates respect even when we disagree. Also, the stadium discussions sucked so much energy out of our community that we forgot to discuss the really important aspects of Santa Clara, such as our neighborhood needs, the future of our young people and the housing and job challenges facing many families. The all-or-nothing approach left folks on both sides feeling empty, despite a "yes" decision chosen by the voters.
- ** When you say, "we must be fully committed to sharing these (furloughs, cutbacks and project deferrals) processes with all Santa Clara constituents" what do you mean? How would you, as Mayor, envision the City sharing these processes?
The Council is a part-time Council - basically volunteers who get a small stipend. In this model, the residents of Santa Clara have to step up and get involved too. I expect that as we hold more study sessions and rotate some meetings into neighborhoods that our residents will increase involvement. I want to hear input and sometimes that means we have to ask personally for opinions, not just sit back to hear from the engaged extroverts.
- ** Who would be your target audience as you try to "strengthen a culture of mutual respect and disclosure"?
Everyone, but especially our young people. Today's teens and 20-somethings will be tomorrow's statesmen and stateswomen of Santa Clara. We'll have an even more diverse looking population as the years pass. I will focus on building trust with our City's employees so they feel trusted in sharing information publicly. I will encourage our young folks to ask questions and to learn about our City. I will ask our retirees to engage and learn. The City Council is elected to make decisions and we have to honor that role. But we also can ask our leaders to seek active involvement and to encourage a culture of engagement throughout our communities.
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