League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Jan Pepper Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Los Altos

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What experience related to city government would you bring to the City Council?

I moved to Los Altos in 1985. I have two terrific kids, Danny and Jennifer, who received excellent educations in our public schools - Springer, Blach, and Mountain View High. I volunteered in their schools and with my son's Boy Scout troop.

I have two degrees from Stanford: a bachelors in civil engineering and an MBA from the business school. I'm a registered professional engineer in the state of California. I bring my 30-plus years of business experience to our city, and here are some of the things I've accomplished. I've been fortunate to pursue my passion in my professional career, and that is to create a sustainable energy future. I started at PG&E and negotiated contracts to purchase power from the wind developers in the Altamont Pass. When my kids arrived, I started my own home-based energy consulting firm here in Los Altos. I was one of the founders of APX in 1996, a company started here in Los Altos Hills, where I pioneered an innovative product for trading renewable energy, called renewable energy credits, which is now the standard throughout the world. In 2000 I started another company, Clean Power Markets, and created a new market-based program for valuing solar energy. In 2007, I started a solar financing company and received commitments from banks to install $60 million of home solar systems. A couple years ago, I joined Silicon Valley Power, the municipal utility for Santa Clara, and manage the 200-million dollar bond portfolio for the utility. I also taught a course at Stanford on our energy future. Throughout my career, I've been active in setting energy policy in California, and know how to collaborate and bring diverse viewpoints together to reach innovative solutions. I plan to apply those skills here in Los Altos.

I've been a leader in my work life, and also in my volunteer activities. I was an early volunteer with Green Town and helped get the Mayor's climate initiative passed here in Los Altos. I volunteer with Los Altos Forward. And I'm very proud of being a leader in the League of Women Voters, where I just stepped down as president.

I promote transparency, integrity and listening to all viewpoints. I will emphasize these qualities as a council member and represent everyone in our town.

2. What concerns are of particular importance to the city and how would you address them?

Civic Center The Civic Center proposal costs over $152 million. After talking to many Los Altans as I've walked the town, we do not have the appetite to fund this project in these tough economic times. I support using existing funds to maintain/upgrade the Hillview Community Center while developing a combined downtown / civic center plan with phasing and funding strategies that have stronger community consensus.

Vibrant Commercial Areas We must create commercial areas that reflect community values and provide economic vitality for businesses, easy walking and biking, safe traffic, parking, sustainable development, public spaces, and beauty. Our downtown is revitalizing. New stores are opening and properties are improving. Residents want greater vibrancy, including more restaurants and unique stores for browsing and shopping. 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 and support downtown economic vitality. We need community input to validate the existing Downtown Urban Design Plan (from 1992), the General Plan (from 2002), the Bicycle Transportation Plan (from 2012), and the Parking Management Study, which is currently underway. After we have either validated these plans, or modified them to reflect the town's current outlook, we need to set consistent guidelines so that the city and developers can implement this vision to reflect our community values. Loyola Corners is a unique opportunity to better use vacant properties and solve traffic problems. We need to gather input from nearby residents to reach consensus on how to meet the needs of this part of town.

Fiscal Responsibility The money our city spends is our responsibility and must be allocated efficiently and wisely. The First Street project had a cost overrun of almost 50%, with 38 change orders. I have experience developing contracts and evaluating financial statements. I will ask hard questions to ensure engineering plans are complete and contracts are written to protect the city.

Neighborhoods/Traffic Each neighborhood is special and we must preserve their uniqueness. Each has concerns about traffic whether they involve traffic calming or school safety. As neighborhood changes arise, I will encourage active resident participation and input so views are heard and good decisions can be made.

Los Altos School District / Bullis Charter School Although the school site issue is the jurisdiction of the Los Altos School District, this is an concern for everyone who values our excellent schools. Another school campus may be needed in Los Altos (or Mountain View) from growing enrollment in District schools, including Bullis Charter School, which draw from neighboring cities. This must become a shared concern with the other cities in the 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.

3. How would you balance the needs of the city as a whole with groups’ interests?

I am running as an independent candidate for Los Altos City Council. Therefore I am not seeking or accepting endorsements or contributions from anyone on the current City Council. I am also not accepting endorsements or contributions from companies (such as property developers) that may be coming before the City Council in the future. As a member of the City Council I will continue to maintain my independence from interest groups and strive to make decisions that are in the best interest of the entire community. As past president of the Los Altos-Mountain View League of Women Voters, I believe in transparency, community outreach and consensus building in major decisions.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Please answer each question in no more than 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 3, 2012 09:48
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