What we have witnessed over the past three years is a myriad of lawsuits, initiatives, special interest groups, and deep pockets filling the vacuum of leadership and direction. The major problems of traffic, road maintenance, and water supplies still remain unresolved. Our communities, residents, and voters are mainly ignored until election time. This must change. I will face the issues and will put forth solutions. We need to move beyond rhetoric; we must take action now.
Where do I stand on the issues?
I have strongly supported, and will continue to support public safety; sheriff, ambulance, and fire service. I will strongly oppose reductions of funding for fire districts that will imperil our service and protection levels. I strongly opposed, and will continue to oppose fire district boundary changes and annexation efforts not related to service levels. I will not play politics with public safety.
- Road Improvements and Maintenance.
I will put forth a program to actually fund, fix, and maintain our roads that carry our most precious cargo; our families and children. Fourteen of El Dorado County's 135 bridges can not accomodate emergency fire or ambulance vehicles. The Mosquito Bridge is just one example of a bridge in dire need of upgrade to provide for adequate protection of human life and property for the residents of Mosquito and Rock Creek areas.
I will not support approving new housing projects unless corresponding road improvements can be made to offset the traffic impacts on Highway 50 and neighboring roads. We need to plan within the limits of our infrastructure. If you think traffic is bad now...there are another 32,000 to 35,000 more homes (depending on final density aprovals) which have been approved to be built in the El Dorado Hills area. In addition the Indian Casino is projected to add another (37% increase) 14,500 vehicles per day to the Highway 50 crawl. Of the four candidates, three candidates favor continuing the past pro-growth approaches, or are aligned and supported by the major developers and associations which favor continued "market-driven" growth.
As a strawberry farmer I'm distrubed that our remaining water supplies are being given away to El Dorado Hills developers before new water supplies are secured. I will not allow current residents' water supplies to be threatened by over development or poor planning. According to the latest EID Water Supply Master Plan (Dec 2001), two of the three EID Districts (Western Region and El Dorado Hills Region) are at capacity. The only available remaining water is in the Eastern Region (Camino/Pollock Pines area). Last year, we had a 75% normal rainfall which resulted in two stage water alerts lasting for six weeks, which halted all local construction projects (and we weren't even in an actual drought condition). If we consider possible drought conditions, the water situation in this County gets worse in a hurry and would impact every resident in this County.
I believe we should first support the small contractors, vendors, and suppliers who live and work in our communities before giving away our remaining road capacity and water supplies to the few outside big developers.
I support approving new retail shopping stores that residents want - like Walmart, Pennys, or Merveyns. We need to expand the retail services for the people who live here now.
I support approving new job centers in the County similar to the El Dorado Hills Business Park and Georgetown Airport Business Park. I was the Director of Operations for the Port of Sacramento for five years, and then Director of Business Development and Director of Flight Operations for Intel Corporation's corporate flight department for seven years. I have a solid understanding of business issues. A good way to reduce commute traffic is to provide for more good paying jobs in the County. I will be a strong advocate of businesses and jobs creation. I will look for ways to streamline policies and processes to make it easier to attract and retain businesses and jobs. If anyone has had the experience of obtaining a building permit or attempted to split property, the process and bureaucracy is overwhelming and absolutely not "user-friendly".
I will actively promote "regionalism" and become involved with other Counties to seek common goals and solutions to important issues such as our grid locked traffic, and limited water. This involvement will improve mutual cooperation, understanding, and reduce project costs to all of us. Just last summer, the Sacramento County of Governments invitation for El Dorado County to participate in joint discussions involving transportation and traffic issues was rebuffed by our Board of Supervisors.
By not solving the above issues, progress can not be made in the areas of economic development, new businesses, or jobs creations. Traffic, roads, water, public safety, and social programs will continue to degrade and will impact everyone in our District and County. We need to move beyond rhetoric; we must take action now. I will face these issues and put forth solutions.
There are clear differences between the District IV Supervisor candidates in terms of community service and involvement, business and leadership experience, education, and proven performance. I will be responsible and accountable to you, not just at election time. I ask for your consideration, support, and vote on March 5th.
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