League of Women Voters of California
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2003 Election
	Val Carpenter Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Los Altos

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Altos/Mtn. View Area and asked of all candidates for this office.

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

1. Do you feel that our community needs a high-caliber, public swim complex and if so, how should the city accomplish this?

I feel that Los Altos needs to bring back our community swimming pool. For many years, Los Altans enjoyed the community pool located behind Covington School. When the school district decided to reopen Covington as an elementary school, the pool was closed, and ever since, various groups have been working to once again provide this popular amenity in a way that makes sense in the 21st century. Building a facility with separate wading, recreational and competitive pools seems ideal. The Rosita Park location is where the previous pool was, so replacing it there also makes sense, although I'd want to see the results of the pending Environmental Impact Report before moving forward.

2. What would you propose to solve parking availability in downtown?

I'm not yet convinced that parking availability in the village is a problem that needs to be solved. Even at lunchtime on Friday, I've never had to park more than 1 block away from my destination. Therefore, I think the problem may be one of different expectations regarding how far one has to park from one's destination is acceptable, and I would start with gathering input from merchants and shoppers to clarify this before taking any additional action on downtown parking.

3. What do you see as the City Council's role in helping to preserve and enhance the vitality of our creeks and riparian corridors and their function for conveying storm water runoff?

I think Los Altos needs to work closely with Los Altos Hills and the Santa Clara County Water District to ensure that private property along our creekbeds is safe from water damage under flood conditions while also preserving the ambiance and privacy of these properties. To me it's a delicate balancing act that will work best if property owners, local governments and agencies, and environmental groups are actively involved in setting and prioritizing objectives and identifying solutions.