Candidate for
Council Member to succeed (replace) Donald Kuehne if recalled; City of Hercules

Hercules financial situation has deteriorated very severely since 2008. $70+M lost in the drain, $6M of deficit in the GF and $1.5M deficit in the RDA, not even mentioning the $168M in debt... The real estate and economic downturns are partially responsible for this unfortunate outcome. However, extremely bad decisions were made until the fall of 2010. Buying real estate properties was part of a very bad strategy approved and not corrected by the Council we had at that time. For example: in 2009, more than $80M were spent! (voted 5-0 in Consent Calendar). How come nobody reacted to this madness? A City/RDA should not act as a developer, we should not have taken risks, this is not the business of a City but the business of private enterprises. The Challenges we are facing today are the direct consequences of those bad choices. "Right the ship" will require wise decisions and difficult choices. We know cuts will have to be made, drastic cuts...

We need to find the best compromise to solve THE CHALLENGE #1: Keep General Fund alive while Investing in our Future. I hope the community will accept the challenge despite bumpy roads ahead of us. If elected, I will work with other Council members and will do my best to "right the ship" in that direction. This is possible, this is not a dichotomy.