Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Riverbank

I have lived in Riverbank for 37 years. My husband is Art Benitez, a native of Riverbank. We have two daughters and three grandchildren. The "grands" attend Riverbank High School. I am active in my church. I teach a religous class once a week and volunteer as an altar server.

During the time I previously served on The Riverbank City council, I promoted and supported city staff in the writing of grants for city services such as:

1. The Jacob Meyers Park
2. CNG buses for the dial-a-ride service and for
city vehicles.

I served as Chair of the committee to rebuild the Riverbank Community pool. We collected enough funds to re-build the pool with most of the funds coming from private donations and the rest from the State of California and the City of Riverbank.

I served on the committee to build a community gym in partnership with the Riverbank School District. The gym has been in operation for several years and is used regularly. I believe all government agentcies should work together to continue improving the City of Riverbank. As President of the Riverbank Federated Woman's Club, we formed a partnership with the City to apply for a beautification grant from United Way. We received that grant and will soon be at work in various areas of Riverbank.

I am a supporter of the Galaxy Theater. I worked with city staff to bring about the establishment of this business. This company has been a an asset to our community.

The City is growing by leaps and bounds and has been since the late 1980's. I am not against growth, but feel it should be controlled and planned to fit the city. My concerns at this time is water quality and wastewater capacity. I also believe that all growth should pay for itself. This means keeping building fees at a level that does not affect the city funds. All developers should be willing to build beautiful and safe living areas and pay the fees.

As we grow we need to provide more retail services as well as social services to our citizens. Economic growth is very important to the city and the citizens. We need to continue to invite viable businesses to our city, and find ways to have them establish their business in Riverbank.

The growth of Riverbank although positive, does bring some problems. One of which is the lack of affordable after-school day-care. The Healthy Start program at Rio Altura School has a waiting list of over 60 students. We need to find ways to expand this type of care. It is important that we take care of all our children. We also need to provide more housing for our senior citizen. With the coming of age of the "baby boomers", the City of Riverbank will need to enlarge the Riverbank Housing Authority by building more housing for those that will be retiring.

It is my hope that you remember me from the past and agree that I have been good for the City of Riverbank and will elect me to the Riverbank City Council. Thank you.