Pacific Sun Interview

By Eleanor Sluis

Eleanor Sluis answers questions for the editors of the Pacific Sun

I want a quality of life for all neighborhoods, which will continue to foster the long-standing values of Novato.

2. How would you describe Novato's "character"? Feel free to mention both the good and the "needs improvement"

Novato is a tolerant, diverse, friendly, educated community, which is continually looking to preserve the long-standing values of fairness and equity in its neighborhoods and businesses.

3. What are the three primary issues facing Novato and the city council in the coming four years?

- Finding adequate locations for the city offices as this relates to money issues.
- Finishing the General Plan update.
- Finding appropriate locations for state mandated housing.

4. Novato has been hit by the recession as hard, if not harder, than other Marin towns. What measures would you support to increase spending at Novato's downtown and locally owned businesses?

The downtown businesses want adequate parking for seniors, and the public so that when the Novato theater is opened and the new restaurants come in there is less time spent in looking for a place to park and more time spent in enjoying the downtown.

5. Compared to the rest of Marin, Novato has a lot of big box and chain stores. They bring in revenue, but critics say the benefits of that revenue are off-set by the commerce such stores take away from locally owned businesses. Your thoughts?

That is true. In this current recession time with low wages, and unemployment, it is difficult to maintain almost any downtown area in the states today, unless the big boxes are hard to get to and have no parking facilities. Novato is no different- it has 9 other shopping centers and most are able to remain busy in these hard times. The downtown suffers from lack of parking and yet continues to be one of the areas where people shop and dine. With the reopening of the Novato Theater, the hope is that the downtown once more will be a small thriving business center.

6. How do you feel the current Novato City Council has handled the controversy over upping its affordable housing element?

It has been inept in its handling of the placement of the required units. While most people will accept some new units in their neighborhood, the controversy has been where in the city is the best place for the required growth, which will affect the costs to the citizens to supply more money for schools, streets, roads, and safety personnel resources. Novato wants to retain its long-standing quality of suburban living and good schools while at the same time solving the addition of new housing. This means that cooperative, creative planning by the community with the city is best rather than by the city only as has been happening.

7. Do you have any comments about the community dialogue over affordable housing that's taken place this year?

When people feel they are being taken advantage of by the state and the city there is an understandable fear, which results in anger towards those who are doing the planning.

8. Do you support Novato's joining the Marin Energy Authority? Was it wise for Novato not to have joined before?

I support a choice for all the public. Novato's council did not give people a choice.

9. Do you believe climate change is taking place and, if so, do you believe it is a human-caused phenomenon?

What is important in this argument is that whether or not it is taking place that we are stewards of the planet and for the sake of future generations, it is imperative that we take care of the environment and all species that live here. There is a high need to educate people and have creative processes available for improvement in ways we can work together in order to leave the planet as a better place to live when we die than when we were born.

10. The Marin Grand Jury this year issued a report on gangs in Marin. The grand jury essentially said that various gangs have a presence in the county, but it is perhaps not quite the problem that the media makes it out to be. How big of a problem to do you feel gangs are in Novato?

What matters is that people do not feel safe in some areas of town as they have been either mugged or witness to drug dealing and abuse of others. Novato has a need for more police patrols, school resource officers, and drug counseling. There is a zero tolerance for gangs, fights, drugs, bullying, name-calling, graffiti, and abuse to women and men in all neighborhoods. Novato has pockets of poverty in which jobs, education and activities are needed to counteract the wastefulness of human actions of tearing down values instead of people reaching their potentials in valuing life as worthwhile.

11. On the advice of counsel, the Novato City Council chose not to put a signature-qualifying measure on the ballot that, if passed, would have instituted the E-Verify system of outing undocumented workers from all city contractors and subcontractors. The council and city manager said such a move would have been in violation of federal law and likely mire the town in a costly lawsuit. Should the council have placed the measure on the ballot?

I would have voted to place it on the ballot.

12. Novato was recently called a "city of rage" by the Marin IJ. While that is an example of editorial overstatement, there does seem to be a decrease in civility and an increase in rudeness within the public dialogue. What do you think is going on?

At certain times, the public is tired of ineptness by the city and calls out for change. The majority of Novato is civil in their behavior and speech. There is a time to listen and a time to be silent and it depends on the issues.

13. A community group formed this year calling itself Stand Up for Neighborly Novato--a name that inherently calls into question the town's level of inclusiveness. Is Novato as "neighborly" as it was 10 years ago?

I have lived here for almost 20 years and find that the majority of people want to live compatibly with their neighbors and are for a balanced approach to housing which complements Novato in design and density. Stand Up for Neighborly Novato only wants high-density housing of 40 to 100 units in locations, which are not compatible with the existing neighborhoods. Some reasons are that Novato cannot afford the extra monies needed for city services, water, sewer lines, and schools. Without the needed additional money for services, and the added traffic and crowdedness and even crime, how can the city preserve its long-standing values?