League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Greg Schmid Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Palo Alto

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What are the most important recommendations of the Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission Report: Catch-up, Keep-up and Moving Ahead? Why?

--Creation of a constantly update Infrastructure Management System that will provide an up to date inventory of our infrastructure, current and future needs and available funding.
--Assuring that each budget contains annual funding for both 'catch-up' and 'keep-up'
--Go to the public to approve funds for major facilities update/upgrade

2. In balancing the budget, what are the critical decisions when deciding which services and which infrastructure projects should be funded?

Pensions and benefits are taking an increasing share of our annual budget. We must utilize the recent state reforms in benefit options to make sure that our longer-term commitments are in line with the longer term growth in revenues. This would give us the opportunity to maintain our infrastructure and a reasonable balance of important public services.

3. Bay Area regional planning agencies are planning for growth along transportation corridors and for infill development over the next 25 to 30 years.  What are the advantages and disadvantages for Palo Alto in participating in this planning process? 

State and regional agencies are moving in the right direction to create incentives to target growth into infill developments along transportation corridors. But ABAG has been consistently allocating regional housing mandates that are far higher than the actual growth of population in California and the Bay Area. We must include in our planning process acknowledgement that population growth in California is slowing.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. 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: September 27, 2012 12:01
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