Jan Pepper Position Statements

By Jan Pepper

I have lived in Los Altos for 27 years and I want it to continue to be a great community. Greatness doesn't happen with complacency; it happens with elected officials who make good decisions and are committed to maintaining the excellent quality of life we enjoy. I will do that as your representative on the City Council.

Good Government:

As a leader in the League of Women Voters, I am committed to good government that is transparent and inclusive.

Transparent:

City Council discussions and decisions must be made in an open process with ample opportunity for public review and comment. The Council should carefully consider the recommendations of the City's Commissions and Committees, who are community members that volunteer their time and expertise. The Council should not propose or act on major policy changes without community conversation and review.

Inclusive:

To make decisions that represent the whole of Los Altos, it is imperative that people express their views and are heard. State public noticing laws require cities to send notices to neighbors within 500 feet of projects that may affect them. Decisions often affect more than the people within 500 feet of a proposed project, so I believe it is important to reach out to all interested stakeholders and seek as much input as possible. I will treat people with respect and listen carefully to everyone's opinion. I learn best when I listen to you.

Building Consensus:

Los Altans have many varied opinions about our City. By treating each other with respect, and really listening to each other, we can move toward a consensus on major policy areas that most people will support. Through the League of Women Voters, I have led this consensus building process to develop positions on controversial issues and it works!

Strategic Forward Thinking

We must think strategically about the long-term effects of today's decisions which will be with us for many years. Buildings last for 50 to 100 years . . . and once a tree is pulled down, it is gone forever. Which people are affected by decisions, and what are all the possible responses they might have? We need to understand all possible ramifications of a decision by comprehensively engaging all potential stakeholders. I use this type of thinking in my professional work, and I will bring these qualities to our City Council.

The Civic Center Project

The proposed Civic Center project has a price tag of $81.4 million for Phase 1 (new community center, City Hall, and police department), $17.3 million for Phase 2 (new athletic fields and swim center), $39.7 million for Phase 3 (library expansion and renovation), and $14.2 million for Phase 4 (new theater), for a total of $152.6 million.

In these difficult economic times, we cannot burden our residents with this expensive Civic Center proposal which requires issuing bonds to be repaid over 30 years. I support using existing funds to maintain and upgrade the existing Hillview Community Center while we develop a vision for a combined downtown / civic center specific plan with a phasing and funding strategy that has stronger community consensus.

Vibrant Commercial Areas

There are seven unique commercial areas in town. We need to work together + residents, business owners, and property owners - to ensure commercial areas meet our needs, and reflect our community values. There must be economic vitality for our businesses, ease of walking and biking, safe traffic patterns, adequate parking, environmentally sustainable development and infrastructure, community gathering spaces, and beauty. Our community is filled with intelligent people with lots of interesting ideas. I will encourage community input to discuss these ideas to develop creative solutions.

Downtown

Downtown Los Altos is at the beginning of a major revitalization. New stores are popping up and some property owners are improving their properties. As I talk to people throughout Los Altos, there is general agreement and desire for greater vibrancy, including more restaurants and unique stores for browsing and shopping. Our downtown should appeal to all the age groups in our community + children, teens, young families, empty-nesters, and seniors.

I support a community-wide planning process, which considers the downtown triangle and the Civic Center together, to develop a vision and strategy to maintain a unique "village" feel while supporting a vibrant and economically viable downtown that meets the needs of our residents.

Loyola Corners

Loyola Corners presents a unique opportunity to better utilize vacant properties and solve traffic problems. This is a perfect example of the need to gather input from the residents in the surrounding neighborhoods to reach a consensus on how to best meet the needs of this part of town.

Fiscal Responsibility

With Stanford degrees in civil engineering and business, I started and led companies in the renewable energy field for over 30 years. I know fiscal responsibility, how to ask the hard questions, and how to make decisions. The money our city spends is our money and our responsibility, and needs to be spent efficiently and wisely. This is what I do everyday in my work.

In contrast, the First Street project had a cost overrun of almost 50%, with 38 change orders, and construction lasting 9 months exceeding the initial schedule by 6 months. This is unacceptable. Admittedly there were unexpected surprises when the street was excavated. However, 38 change orders tells me the project was not fully thought through and designed correctly.

As an engineer, I know how to read plans and engineering documents. As a seasoned business person, I have extensive experience in developing contracts and evaluating financial statements. When I am on the city council, I will ask the hard questions to make sure engineering plans are complete, construction schedules are realistic and contracts are well written to protect the city.

Environmental Sustainability

The Packard Foundation chose to locate its new net-zero energy headquarters in Los Altos. This provides a great example for us to follow. Los Altos has the opportunity to lead the way toward an environmentally sustainable future. Environmental sustainability also saves money in operating costs, and reduces the cost of structure over its entire life. We can:

• Implement stronger energy and water efficiency standards for new/refurbished commercial buildings
• Install electric vehicle charging stations for all new and refurbished parking areas in our commercial districts
• Install more bike racks in the commercial districts
• Test the idea of converting part of our downtown to a pedestrian mall and community gathering space
• Provide more bins for recycling and composting throughout the commercial districts
• Incorporate publicly-accessible green roofs and parks on top of commercial buildings

We need to keep our streets safe for all modes of transportation + cars, bicycles, and pedestrians. Each neighborhood has its own particular concerns about traffic that should be considered when changes are proposed. Traffic calming in one area of town may create a new traffic problem in another.

Traffic safety near schools is of paramount importance, as our kids need to be safe. We need to work with existing parent, school, and community groups to continue to encourage more bicycling and walking to school. Along with that is teaching bike riders the rules of the road.

Neighborhoods

One of my goals is to encourage neighborhood groups to actively engage with the City Council in determining the future of our City. Knocking on doors and talking to people throughout our town reaffirms that each neighborhood has unique concerns that need to be heard by the Council. Some neighborhoods already have neighborhood associations, Neighborhood Watch groups, or are using yahoo groups or nextdoor.com. I would like to establish associations in all neighborhoods so that they can actively participate in city decisions that affect 1) their specific neighborhoods and 2) the city as a whole.

Each neighborhood in Los Altos is unique and we need to preserve the qualities that make them special. As proposals are made to change neighborhoods, each situation needs to be considered individually, as one size does not fit all. I will encourage active participation and input from residents in neighborhoods so that all views are heard and good decisions can be made.

I support having council and select city staff meet with the neighborhoods on a regular basis. This would be a time for two-way communication about planned capital projects in the neighborhood. Before neighborhood project go too far, residents of the neighborhood should be consulted as to the best way to solve a problem. They live there - they have likely thought how best to improve their neighborhoods.

The Los Altos School District / Bullis Charter School Issue

Although the school site issue is in the jurisdiction of the Los Altos School District rather than the City Council, this is an issue for all of us, as many of us moved to Los Altos because of the excellent schools and the quality of local education is an important factor in determining property values. We need to maintain the excellence of our schools by focusing on educating our students.

It is highly likely that another school campus is needed in Los Altos (or Mountain View) due to the growing enrollment in all Los Altos School District schools, including Bullis Charter School, which draw from many neighboring towns and will be affected by the expansion of housing in Mountain View, Los Altos, and Palo Alto along El Camino. We need to collaborate with our neighboring cities, as this must become a shared concern with the other cities in the Los Altos School District: Mountain View, Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills. Our neighboring communities must join us in solving this problem. It may be appropriate to form an ad hoc working group of city and school representatives across these jurisdictions.

Although this is not the City Council's decision to make, I do not support giving one of the existing neighborhood school campuses to the Bullis Charter School and displacing students that currently attend those schools. Bullis Charter School is here to stay, and we must work together to find a mutually agreeable solution.