General Questions & Answers

1. Why are you running for reelection as mayor?

Morgan Hill elects the mayor every two years and elects two of the four other Council members to a four year term every two years, so that a majority of the Council can be replaced biannually. While I accept and support this system, I also believe that the mayor needs at least four years in office to effectively implement policy. We’ve started a lot in the last two years and I am proud of the direction we have set and want to help guide the implementation. My accomplishments and experience as mayor, Council member and businessman; my knowledge of Morgan Hill; and my interpersonal skills give me the confidence to expect that Morgan Hill will continue to benefit from my leadership; that we can make our community even better.

2. What are three things you will do to make a difference in Morgan Hill?

There is a very positive momentum here in Morgan Hill; we need to keep the many things we have going on track. Three strong focus items among these are: a) maintain our sustainable budget strategy to assure we keep our budget close to balanced and maintain our strong reserves; b) implement our redevelopment agency strategies to make our downtown spectacular; upgrade our roads and further strengthen ourselves economically; c) execute our strategies to augment police staffing and build/staff a third fire station.

3. What will you do to put the many plans for the downtown into action?

Implementation of the Downtown Plan is in process even as we are working to finalize it as a “Specific” plan. Depot Street modernization is complete and development of 3rd Street as a pedestrian-friendly promenade is underway. We have purchased several properties on the east side of Monterey between 1st and 3rd Streets that will be redeveloped by a private master developer into mixed (residential/commercial) uses that will become a downtown showcase. We’ve also purchased several parcels downtown for parking and continue to seek additional parking opportunities. Several mixed housing/retail projects have been approved for the downtown and there is a measure on the Nov. 7th ballot to exempt 500 mixed use housing/commercial units in the downtown core from the Measure C Residential Development Control System so they can be developed all at once instead of being phased. Downtown properties owners, with the city’s help, formed a Business Assessment District to become a stronger partner in helping to guide downtown vitality and there is a strong Downtown Association of business owners that is very active. I support all these efforts and will work to accomplish them as quickly and effectively as possible.

4. What is your vision for downtown?

Downtown is the heart of our community. It has some vibrancy now, but when we fully implement our downtown plan, it will become spectacular; a thriving urban center in our community with its strong “open” feeling. People will be able to live and shop and meet many of their service needs without leaving downtown, as well as easily walk to transit or bike to work. Dining, shopping and entertainment will be plentiful, retail businesses will thrive. An upscale “boutique” hotel will always be fully booked.

5. What is your vision for the City of Morgan Hill?

It will be a thriving community with a vital and vibrant downtown. People will still boast about our “small town feel” and sense of community, the open friendliness and volunteer “can-do” attitude of our residents. Residents will not need to leave town to achieve their recreational, entertainment, shopping or dining needs. In-town employment opportunities will abound. Our youth will all have the support needed to build positive assets and succeed; our seniors will have ample opportunities to stay engaged and active. Visitors will come to Morgan Hill as a destination offering many enjoyable activities.

6.What is your view on public safety services, starting with our police department?

I am tremendously proud of the Morgan Hill Police Department; all residents should be. With the lowest ratio of sworn officers per capita in Santa Clara County, our violent crime statistics rank among the best. Our proactive community policing programs are paying off handsomely; the productivity of our entire police staff is unparalleled. We need to continue compensating our police personnel commensurate with the outstanding job they do

Staffing our department to keep up with our growing population needs is very important. . We have added two officers with funding from the redevelopment agency, but still have concerns that staffing may not be adequate as we continue to grow, so we have placed a measure on the November ballot for a 2% utility tax to fund about 9 additional positions, allowing our department to more efficiently organize their personnel deployment.

7. What about fire protection?

Through our contract with Santa Clara County Fire Department, we have two fire stations in town – Monterey/Old Monterey and Hill/Dunne. We also have a mutual aid agreement with the South County Fire District for coverage from the California Division of Forestry station on Monterey south of Vineyard. I chaired an effort to update the city’s Fire Master Plan in 2001 where we concluded that we soon would require an additional fire station in Morgan Hill. Now, in 2008, with a population of over 39,000, we definitely need this additional resource. Staffing, not the building, is the big challenge. With three-person fire crews, we need to staff an additional 11 full time equivalent positions for a new station to come on-line. Meeting this challenge is a high priority since public safety is a fundamental responsibility.

As I member of our Public Safety/Community Services committee with Larry Carr, I’ve helped develop a strategy that will enable us to establish the third station. The strategy would involve annexation into the Santa Clara County Fire District, who would also assume responsibility for the unincorporated areas of South County. This regional approach would make for a more efficient fire operation while eventually enabling expansion of services in Morgan Hill by the addition of the third station.

8. The mayor has no official role with the school board, yet aside from public safety, schools are the biggest issue in the community. What would you do to find acceptable solutions?

Working with the Morgan Hill Unified School District on items of mutual concern is important. I have been a member of a City/School Liaison Committee with School Board representatives for several years. I have very good relationships with many of the Board members and with the superintendent and his deputies. As mayor, I will reach out more strongly, not only to the School District, but also to other regional organizations to strengthen bonds with them, enhancing partnerships and solving problems collaboratively. The entire City Council needs to be involved in these efforts.

9. What are your views on economic development?

It is important, and needs to be done in a suitable manner, meaning it must be acceptable to our residents and conducive to achieving our vision for Morgan Hill. The big, big box retail stores do not belong in Morgan Hill, and we need to be quite prudent about how many car dealers we allow, and where we locate them.

We must exhaust economic means to balance our budget before looking to tax increases. But we also can’t be overly optimistic about what we can get through economic development, and when additional services appear to be justified, we should not hesitate to ask voters if they are willing to fund them, as we are for police staffing on the November ballot.

10. How should the city accomplish its economic development strategy?

It is being done effectively now. Two city council members serve on an economic development subcommittee that is constantly reviewing and updating our strategy, and is bringing important economic development policy issues to the entire council. The city has a partnership with the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce that is producing results in business attraction and retention. Several of our Business Assistance and Housing Services staff also serve as ombudsmen for the city, helping businesses that want to locate or expand here. There are effective mechanisms in place to accomplish the city’s economic development objectives; it will take some patience and perseverance.

11. The operations and maintenance costs for our community facilities (Community Center, Aquatics Center, Centennial Recreation Center and Outdoor Recreation Center) are paid for in part by the general fund. Doesn’t this take away from our ability to fund more public safety?

We spend 83% of our discretionary general fund budget on public safety, and only 8% on recreation. Our recreation and community services staff is doing an outstanding job of minimizing the general fund subsidy of these facilities, providing very high quality services to our community. We achieved the community’s “vision” for these facilities as it was conceived in the mid-90’s and I believe they exceed our expectations in their contribution to our quality of life. And they indirectly impact public safety by creating positive alternative activities.

That said, I also agree that public safety is very important and that we need to avoid burdening our general fund any further for non-public safety oriented reasons. So I will not support any further burden to the General Fund caused by RDA capital projects.

12. Do you think the general public in Morgan Hill is involved enough in helping guide our local public policy?

No, I would really like to find ways that would engage more of our residents to make their voices heard on many of the issues we face. The “community conversations” of two years ago were successful, and we had two recent town hall meetings to get input on public safety funding that were also well received, but attended by very few people.

We do conduct statistically valid polling periodically and that is very valuable, but too expensive to do more regularly. And polling does not allow dialog, which I think is very valuable. I find the dialogs I have while campaigning to be extremely valuable in providing ideas and validating or refuting our policy directions. We will continue to seek out new and different approaches to achieve more public engagement.

13. Do you support the growth control we have with Measure C?

Yes, growth control started in 1977 when sewers were at capacity, schools were on double session and other infrastructure was also severely taxed. Measure E, followed by Measure P were both adopted via the initiative process, the voters indicating strongly that they favored the targeted population and competitive approach to housing allocations. I chaired a committee in 2003/2004 which recommended extension of Measure P with some updates and revisions. The update, Measure C was passed overwhelmingly by voters in 2004. Our residents support growth control and it has served us very well for many years.

We are continuing to fine-tune Measure C to meet current conditions. The current ballot measure to exempt downtown mixed use development will enable achievement of our downtown plan/vision by allowing projects to be completed in whole rather that by phases, which is impractical. And it will not change Measure C’s 48,000 target population for 2020.

14. Why would you be a good mayor?

I love Morgan Hill; it is a very special place. Living here, I have grown increasingly attached to and involved in this wonderful community. My community knowledge and experience, coupled with my leadership skills prepared me for the ultimate leadership role in Morgan Hill, and I believe I have performed it very well over the past two years. I am excited and eager to continue serving a mayor.