League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Sonoma County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Healdsburg; 2 Year Short Term

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on budget, bridge maintenance, community building Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. In their overall review of budget priorities many cities are questioning their retirement and employment benefit packages. Would you support cutbacks in these areas? Answer from Loretta Petersen Strong: I support a two-tiered pension approach where newer employees hired after a certain date are entitled to less expansive benefits, rather than taking away benefits from already tenured employees Answer from Shaun F. McCaffery: Yes, however I believe it is important that Healdsburg remains competitive when it hires city employees. If retirement and benefit packages in Healdsburg are sub-standard, how can we attract qualified employees? I feel that guidelines for this issue should come from the state or federal level. 2. Because there are no city funds for maintenance of the Memorial Bridge (either the old or a new), should new funds be provided for not only maintenance of the bridge, but also for possible construction of a traffic circle in the area of Healdsburg Ave. and Westside Road/Vine Streets to redirect and possibly alleviate incoming and outgoing downtown traffic? Answer from Shaun F. McCaffery: On September 7th, the city council voted to make the rehabilitation of the Memorial Bridge the preferred option going forward. I think this decision is a step in the right direction. It preserves the bridge we admire and it also saves lots of money and resources. I like the idea of a traffic circle at the 5-way intersection. However, I think careful planning is required to make the intersection friendly to drivers not used to traffic circles, commercial traffic, and the future SMART train system which runs through the middle of the intersection. Answer from Loretta Petersen Strong: There are probably grant funds available for the maintenance and upkeep of a certified historical bridge and that can be pursued outside of city funding. The traffic circle would have to be explored within the context of the entire re-development and build out of the south end retail area. 3. What measures can be taken to help the people who buy in Saggio Hills become a part of the Healdsburg community? Answer from Loretta Petersen Strong: When constructed the development at Saggio Hills won't be much different than Chiquita Hills, Parkland Farms or the estates of Dry Creek Valley. People will come to town and shop at Big John's, attend Tuesdays on the Plaza and dine out at all of our great restaurants. Answer from Shaun F. McCaffery: I believe that the conference center included in the Saggio Hills project will be the cohesive force that unites the development with the rest of the Healdsburg community. It can act as a music venue, meeting hall, theater performance facility - the possibilities are limitless. The artificial turf athletic fields will also serve to unite the community with youth and adult sports programs that can be held year-round with no watering needed and no muddy clothes to wash! Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. Candidates may not refer to any other candidates in their answers. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.