Candidate for
Council Member; City of Belmont

As a Council Member I will prioritize:

- Keeping Belmont safe and family friendly.
- Fostering a symbiotic relationship with our education partners.
- Focusing on appropriate economic development rather than over-restrictive tree ordinances and sign ordinances.
- Developing the transit corridor (away from our open spaces) proactively with smart growth principles as a guide.
- Partnering with the Belmont business community to help - existing businesses succeed and attract new businesses.
- Increasing community engagement and participation through a "Belmont Bucks" program.
- Exploring viable options for converting Barrett Community Center into a modern, thriving recreation facility.
- Engaging Crystal Springs Uplands School to revisit its middle school project.

EDUCATION: Meet and surpass expectations

Belmont is home to a large and diverse community of top-notch public and private schools offering pre-K through graduate programs. Our city presents a host of amazing options at every level, including nationally renowned Carlmont High School and Notre Dame de Namur University, enabling us to legitimately claim the title, "the Education City."

Our schools need our support in order to meet, and surpass, our high expectations. A city's relationship with its education partners is symbiotic. Great schools not only attract thriving families to Belmont but also draw students and visitors from other cities. These visitors shop at our stores and eat at our restaurants. Our schools need our support in order to meet, and surpass, our high expectations. Our leaders and residents must embrace our education community and treat our public and private schools as integral members of the Belmont "family." Wherever possible, we must work with our education partners to accommodate their growth and success. As your Council Member, I promise to reach out to our public and private school partners, listen to their perspectives and find ways to implement our common vision of a better Belmont.

SMART GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Attract and welcome new businesses and revenue

The Bay Area is expected to grow by two million people by 2040, creating a challenge to manage growth in smart and reasonable ways. Belmont is not alone in facing this challenge and cannot succeed alone. While we must resolutely preserve key components of what our community values, we must also work hand-in-hand with our sister cities and other governmental entities to facilitate growth. Belmont needs leaders with vision to guide it through smart transit-oriented growth. With hard work, synergistic partnerships, and foresight, I will ensure that the Belmont of tomorrow truly is a better Belmont.

Success will involve attracting innovative businesses while preserving family-friendly living. That requires smart, managed, and transit-oriented development. Growth should be focused in the transportation corridor, away from our open space and single family homes.

For too long our council has been focused on created over-restrictive regulations like the tree ordinance and sign ordinance. Meanwhile, economic development has lagged. Economic development does not happen without a city government willing and able to help it happen. We cannot afford to miss valuable opportunities to grow our tax base while preserving our core character.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL PROJECT: Build opportunities and grow our education community

In 2012, Crystal Springs Uplands School (CSUS) offered Belmont a remarkable opportunity to house a nationally renowned middle school and add needed dollars to the City's coffers. When the project was first proposed, the City Council seemed overwhelmingly supportive. The project called for the replacement of 83,000 square feet of older office space with a 52,000 square foot state-of-the-art, green, modern educational facility. As a not for profit entity, the school was not obligated to pay property taxes, but it offered Belmont a $1,000,000.00 one-time payment and a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) of $250,000.00 per year (approximately $150,000.00 more per year than the existing site generates.) In addition, CSUS offered public access to the school's all-weather soccer field which would have been a boon to Belmont's youth soccer programs.

City Council Members Warren Lieberman and David Braunstein made excellent arguments for accepting the school's proposal or, at the least, continuing the conversation, but a majority of the City Council voted to end the process and leave CSUS out in the cold. The missed CSUS opportunity has become emblematic of a process that's broken. Intentionally or not, Belmont has sent a message to the broader business and development community that they will not be guaranteed fair or reasonable treatment by the current City Council. If elected, I will make every effort to salvage this lost opportunity and welcome CSUS as an outstanding addition to Belmont's education community.

BELMONT BUCKS: Engage citizens and leverage innovation

As a relatively small town, Belmont does not have the resources of cities like San Francisco or San Jose. But, by using crowdsourcing, Belmont can take advantage of its highly educated and technologically-savvy citizens to come up with innovative ideas to make Belmont better. Following in the footsteps of popular programs like State Senator Joe Simitian's "There Ought to Be a Law" contest, a "Belmont Bucks" program would encourage residents to share their creative ideas about how to forge a better Belmont. "Belmont Bucks" will be a virtual currency to incentivize the process. After a certain threshold is reached, "Belmont Bucks" will be redeemable for rewards like "Mayor for a Day" or a police ride-a-long. A resident who submits an idea to make Belmont better will receive 5,000 "Belmont Bucks." A resident who votes on an idea will receive 100 "Belmont Bucks." A resident who submits an idea that is adopted and implemented will receive hundreds of thousands of "Belmont Bucks."

A program like "Belmont Bucks" will empower Belmont to draw on our creative citizenry to proactively point out issues and then propose ideas and solutions. It will allow the consideration of more viewpoints and encourage engagement.

With an online platform accessible from a mobile device, a Belmont resident out for a stroll could spot an issue and contribute an innovative idea with the touch of a few buttons. Idea forms would also be available and could be dropped off at central gathering places like the Library and Senior Center.

Our democracy works best when citizens are engaged and active. With "Belmont Bucks," the incidence of engagement will skyrocket leading to more and more innovative ideas. As your Council Member I will work with my fellow Council Members and City Staff to study how best to make a "Belmont Bucks" program a reality for Belmont.