Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Placentia

I hope you will join me in working towards a better community for all of us.

I ask for your support in the coming city council election so I can provide effective, unifying leadership to address Placentia's challenges. I will serve our community as a councilman who will restore our voice in city government.

My volunteerism and service throughout Placentia cover more than 30 years, and it is in this spirit that I am running for office. I believe I can make a positive difference in helping to make our city a pleasant place in which to live, work, shop or play.

As councilman, I will work to reduce our huge debt and restore needed programs; listen to people's concerns; make public safety a priority and target gangs, graffiti and drugs; complete the Melrose Underpass and Quiet Zone, which are independent of the train trench; encourage careful spending and an open government; and keep Placentia's interests first. I care about Placentia and its people, and have always believed in getting involved to make a positive impact.

As councilman, I will encourage immediate changes in our city's free-spending habits so we can get our finances under control and provide the services that our city requires and our citizens deserve. I will also propose that our new public works director administers the grade-separation projects, and Placentia can continue to seek grants without the OnTrac consultants.

I support silencing the train whistles and completing the Melrose Underpass, but in a cost-effective manner. We must make it a policy to responsibly manage our finances and only spend public funds on projects when the money is in the bank. Project spending must not take money from important services and programs relied on by our citizens. If elected, I will make it a priority to bring our massive debt under control, but it will take time to solve.

I support market-driven economic activity and revitalization, but oppose eminent domain to force people to sell their land to benefit developers. Our nation's free-market system is sound, and developers should negotiate purchase prices with property owners, not rely on government to seize the land.

Beautification and improvement of our Old Town area are reasonable goals, and I will encourage a cooperative revitalization that partners the city with businesses and residents, and respects owners' property rights. Preservation and reuse of old downtowns have happened in Fullerton and Encinitas, and it can work in Placentia too. I support citizens' rights, and that's why I led the recent effort to stop the city's attempt to force eminent domain on business properties.