Why I Am Running For City Council

By Eleanor "Ellie" Sluis

I am running for City Council of Novato to help solve policy issues, protect the uniqueness of Novato, and find a balance between competing interests.

The Community Vision Plan identifies that providing and maintaining a healthy and safe environment are two of most important goals for the next 25 years. It is up to the city council to further this through implementing policies that are in accordance with these goals.

This means to me that reducing pollution from traffic is critical. The issue of traffic and transportation will mean studying it in a creative and analytical manner. It will mean that there is a need to connect with the residents, city government, and the business owners to help with the solutions.

Secondly, I want to protect the uniqueness of Novato. Our Community House, 100-year-old historical buildings, and the surrounding area stand at the heart of our cultural heritage. However, they are unnecessarily threatened by development. Growth is not inherently bad, but we need to find effective ways to manage it in order to preserve Novato's historical areas.

City planners have begun to do this at Hamilton. It is time for city planners to preserve Novato's Historical Area, which includes at least eleven buildings and the Community House. To lose this opportunity is to lose the experience of uniqueness and charm that only Novato has in all of Marin and California.

I want to help in preserving these buildings by collaborating with local groups and the city government in finding out what policies need to be implemented to further this goal.

Finally, I want to work towards finding a balance between development, city government, and the residents competing interests. This might take the form of more communication between the differing biases, more analysis of short and long term costs to the community, revising policies, and establishing understandings or finding common ground between the groups. I want to have a voice in this process, which is another reason I am running for City Council.