League of Women Voters of California
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2003 Election
	David Casas 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 support a community pool with the basic necessities to enable a community swim program. It is imperative that we strike a balance between community benefit and neighborhood rights prior to any development being initiated.

Currently, there are 2 standard pools and 1 small wading pool planned for property adjacent to Rosita Park. The current Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will not be completed until after new City Council Members are chosen in the upcoming November election. Therefore, I believe it is essential that the next City Council provide leadership and guidance by bringing this issue back into the public discourse, as a part of a well thought out decision process.

Once the EIR is complete, I recommend that the next steps be taken in 2004 in relation to the proposed location: 1) Hold a neighborhood meeting in the Rosita Gym to discuss the EIR outcomes, findings, and recommendations 2) If the EIR specifies the Rosita property as suitable, solicit neighborhood input to help frame tangible solutions to truly mitigate neighborhood impacts as a result of any development 3) Revisit the pool design and operation, as appropriate, to incorporate mitigating aspects 4) Ensure that the pool operations are set up to be financially self sustaining 5) Design ongoing recreational programs that provide for reasonable community access and "free swim" opportunities 6) Establish a realistic timeline for the development and eventual opening of the new Los Altos Community Pool

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

Parking availability varies by location and time of day. The lack of street parking (Main, State, 1st, 2nd, etc.) is usually acute during the mid-day hours. Public parking lots, within the downtown area, are also impacted to some degree. However, parking is still available in the lots that are farther away from high traffic businesses.

To solve the downtown-parking problem, decisions need to be made that bring long-term relief to an ongoing problem. To be clear, I do not concur with the recently enacted parking permit process for downtown businesses. The permit process is only addressing the symptom, through the creation of a bureaucracy, without addressing the root cause. For background, the City owned property at 1st and Main was originally acquired to add parking capacity into the downtown area. However, this location is a gateway into downtown, and the City has been hesitant to envision the property solely as a parking lot. As a potential solution, the City could sell this property and utilize the money to increase parking capacity elsewhere in the downtown area.

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?

As stewards of the environment, the City Council should continue to work with other governmental bodies and oversight agencies in the protection of watershed resources, creek preservation, and storm water management designs. Along with the Santa Clara County Water District, the City Council plays an active role in managing development along our riparian corridors. Clearly, all decisions establishing increased environmental protection should also ensure appropriate consideration of individual property rights. I will work to enhance the long-term vitality of our waterways utilizing a balanced approach.