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1. What is your opinion on light
rail throughout Folsom?
Light rail was first seriously considered in 1988-1989. Then Mayor
Jack Kipp and City Manager Bill Kime started negotiations with
Regional Transit and several other jurisdictions for both
right-of-way and construction plans. When Mr. Kipp left office, the
project was forwarded to then Mayor Robert Holderness.
I generally support light rail in Folsom. It may provide a valuable
link for businesses on Sutter Street and in Folsom as a whole. I am
concerned about the parking or more importantly the lack of adequate
parking. If this line is very successful the minimal parking spaces
allotted at the Iron Point lot will be swallowed up fast, forcing
others to park in the Factory Outlet parking lots.
Light Rail is only one element in the overall approach to
transportation improvement.
2. What is your view on the south of
50 situation? What do you support in terms of development?
This issue is simple. It is a question of who will control the
future of the area South of Highway 50. Currently the Sacramento
County Board of Supervisors, of which only one member represents
Folsom controls it, and four members do not. If the City of Folsom
controls the issue, all five members of the City Council represent
Folsom exclusively. What Folsom voters want would be of little
interest to the Board of Supervisors.
I support the right for the citizens to vote on whether the area
should be annexed and how it should be developed.
3. What actions would you like to
see taken to mitigate excess high density housing in south Folsom?
One of the primary reasons for my candidacy
for the City Council is to curb the excessive high density housing
throughout the neighborhoods of Folsom. During my tenure as
Assistant City Manager, I took the position that Folsom was already
doing much more than it’s share as a city with high density housing.
After all, we house over 6,000 of California’s most dangerous
inmates in two prisons within our city limits. The advocate within
our City Council for high density housing would have you believe
that the city has no choice. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
4. What are your opinions on an grow
out population for Folsom ? 70,000, 90,000... over 100,000?
In order to effectively establish land use patterns and set policies
regarding population the City Council must have a thorough
understanding of what the citizens of Folsom desire. As such, I
support a general plan that is designed with citizen input and
adopted by the City Council. The citizens recommended general plan
will indicate the population growth desired.
5. What plans do you support to
control out of town traffic within the city, without interfering
with residences right to access?
Obviously, on a regional basis, transportation and traffic is a
major issue, an issue that the entire region must deal with. In
Folsom, I was a strong participant in working with El Dorado County
for cooperation on the construction of new commuter lanes on Highway
50. I believe our great city was a leader in this regional solution.
I strongly believe in our continued participation in Sacramento Area
Council of Governments (SACOG) to assure regional approaches to the
traffic problems. The new bridge, Lake Natoma Crossing was funded
entirely by the City of Folsom, but is primarily a regional crossing
of Lake Natoma.
I would open all roads – those closed roads are used primarily by
Folsom residents. Residents who have already paid in the form of tax
dollars to construct and maintain. Let the out of town traffic stop
to purchase items, thus increasing our tax base.
6. What are your opinions on the
Folsom Library?
Build it. This issue has been battled and argued for much too long.
Having said that, it must be understood that amenities such as
libraries are not designed to be profitable. Therefore, when we
decide to open such a facility, we must be able to identify the
source of long term funding to operate it. I strongly support a new
public library and say “lets go on with it”.
7. Why is Folsom trying to keep its
own solid waste system when a great savings and better service for
the residents of Folsom can be obtained by contracting this service
out ? What are your plans to revisit this in the near term ?
I would challenge anyone who has lived in Folsom for any length of
time to find a more responsive solid waste system. To believe that
privatization always means better service at lower costs is a
fallacy. Solid waste services on the surface, seem like a simple
task; picking up garbage and hauling it away, but it is one of the
more complex operations of any agency.
With the implementation of AB939 in 1989, which mandates a 50%
diversion of garbage from landfills to usable recyclables, for all
State of California jurisdictions, the solid waste industry went
from just providing services to an industry that is required to
produce a commodity (recyclable material). The teeth of the
legislation are a $10,000 a day fine for not meeting the state
requirements. Privatizing our local service would not remove the
accountability of the City of Folsom to meet the diversion
requirements.
Since the implementation of Recycling laws the City has met and
exceeded this mandate, which should bring high praise from our
citizens. The City also provides many environmentally friendly
services such as e-waste recycling, needle recycling program,
emergency response, drop-off-sites, compost education, commercial
recycling programs, and the new 3-cart system to be implemented
soon.
As long as the City can meet State recycling mandates and provide
quality service I believe local control of all of our utilities is
important. The City Council, City Management, Utility Advisory
Committee, and Citizen input has provided a checks and balance
system that works well. I support the ongoing monitoring of service,
accountability, and cost.
8. What are your opinions of the Dam
Road closure? Do you think an effective compromise is obtainable?
I look at this road closure differently then most. If the Bureau of
Reclamation wants the road closed than close it, but close it at
Folsom-Auburn Road with a concrete curb. This way no vehicle access
is allowed. The approximately 75 employees who work for the Bureau
and State Parks can park across the street and walk in. Let the
Federal and State employees be inconvenienced and we will see the
road open.
9. With the growing population, how
will the city ensure adequate public safety services?
During my tenure as Assistant City Manager, there was a record
growth in new sworn Police Officers and Fire/Paramedics. Because
Folsom is still growing there will be a continuing need to add more
Police and Fire personnel. These services must be paid for from city
general fund revenues, which are a direct result of a healthy
business climate in our city. This is why I am dedicated to
promoting such a positive climate.
10. Rainbow bridge is a landmark to
the city. It is also one of the more memorable sites to visitors.
What will you do to clean up the graffiti from RB and preserve this
city treasure?
Rainbow Bridge is in fact the single local landmark that has come to
represent the City of Folsom. The existing Rainbow Bridge with its
reinforced concrete open spandrel arch was constructed in 1917. It
is unfortunate that this structure has become a target for vandals.
What is being done to prevent graffiti and what will I do to clean
up the graffiti problem?
During my tenure as Assistant City Manager I implemented a city
policy to remove all graffiti within 24 hours of it having been
discovered. City staff has posted the bridge for no jumping and no
trespassing.
Removing the graffiti can be a complicated task in this day and age.
Rainbow Bridge spans the pristine waters of the American River. This
makes removal by traditional methods such as sandblasting difficult
at best. No paint or sandblast materials would be allowed to fall
into the water. Access from the roadway is difficult at best. Even
with the new American River Crossing and with all the local road
closures the traffic load on the Rainbow Bridge remains very high.
It is my understanding that the City has begun preliminary
Engineering on a rehabilitation, which will widen and restore this
structure. I would recommend that this project include graffiti seal
coating to aid in removal of any future graffiti. I would also
recommend that this project look to limit access to the structure.
11. How do you plan on making Folsom
more bicycle-friendly?
Work on completing the remaining gaps in the planned 16-mile
Humbug-Willow Creek Trail system. There are currently 14-miles
completed with another 2-miles to go to complete the system. Also
providing more consistent on-street bike lanes through the older
sections of Folsom. The newer arterial street all have bike lanes
but due to limited right-of-way, some of the older streets need to
be improved to provide consistent bike lane widths for the entire
corridor.
One other area the city needs to focus on is motorist education to
share the road with cyclists. A major education campaign should be
undertaken to educate the motorists and the cyclists about the rules
of the road and how to safely co-exist on Folsom roadways. This type
of campaign would help improve the safety of the cyclist and help
improve driver awareness.
With the combination bike facility improvements and a strong share
the road campaign Folsom would move closer to being a truly bicycle
friendly community.
12. How do you see Transit Oriented
Development (TOD) fitting into Folsom's future (north or south of
50)?
Integrating land use and transit is a
key to managing the impact of rapid growth. The existing traffic
patterns are grossly inadequate for the amount of vehicles already
on the road. This of course is exasperated by all the silly road
closures that the City Council has allowed - indeed directed.
We must focus on land use that is a mix of office, commercial
shopping, civic and residential that is within easy walking distance
of a transit station. We must design areas that are village like
neighborhoods where people can live, work and play without driving
miles on already closed streets.
13. What would you propose to
improve the long-term (after the new bridge) prospects for traffic
in Folsom, particularly in the historic district?
I strongly support an additional river
crossing. The Federal Government must pay for this crossing/road.
When the Dam was built, four access roads were closed, and traffic
was diverted onto the Dam Road. Now that the Government has closed
the road, it is clearly their obligation to provide funds for its
replacement.
Traffic is a major concern throughout our region and throughout our
state. We must continue to support SACOG, and to continue what past
City Council’s have done to make improvements within Folsom, such as
construction of the Lake Natoma Crossing. I would not close any
streets in our City and I would open the streets that have been
closed. The street closures have had a dramatic effect on businesses
throughout the City. This needs to be corrected immediately. In
addition, to help our businesses on Sutter Street I would open the
light rail ramp on the Natoma Crossing. As an example of how bad
traffic congestion is, 100 years ago it took about ½ hour to travel
from Orangevale to downtown Folsom by horse and buggy. Today it
takes 45 minutes or more. The various solutions that have been tried
by the City Council have made the problem worse. We need to reverse
that action.
14. Many of our major roads (Prairie
City, Iron Point, Greenback) are major thoroughfares, yet are
unlandscaped. What would you do to help beautify these areas?
It would be a major improvement if we
could just keep them clean. I would have to look closely at the
finances before I could commit funds for landscaping and
improvements. But let’s try to keep them clean first and go from
there.
15. What are your thoughts on
Measure T? (Note to voters: Measure T will not be on the ballot)
I support annexation of the area south
of Highway 50. 4,400 people signed a petition hopefully allowing
citizen input to address traffic, air pollution, density and our
general quality of life. This initiative would give the voters, the
citizens of Folsom the power to approve or disapprove the
development plans for this land.
16. What are your thoughts on
Measure W?
Measure W if adopted by a majority of
the voters would require identifying and securing water supply,
adopting an infrastructure funding and phasing plan, a plan to
maintaining 30% of the area as natural open space, and adopt a
general plan amendment for the development of this area. I remain
concerned and somewhat skeptical that the majority of the City
Council will adhere to any mandate of the citizens.
This measure leaves the current “status quo” power structure in the
hands of the same politicians that approved the high density land
use that has clogged our streets with traffic.
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