League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA March 6, 2007 Election
	Steve Tedesco Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member, 6; City of San Jose; Council District 6

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of San Jose/Santa Clara in partnership with the San Jose Mercury News and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. There are proposals to add 30,000 houses and more office space in North San Jose, thousands more homes in Evergreen and to build a new community in the Coyote Valley. There has been no in-depth study of how these plans will affect one another or services throughout the city. Should San Jose complete a thorough, public review of its general plan for growth before approving any more major development plans? Silicon Valley needs more housing, but San Jose needs more jobs to strengthen its tax base. How would you balance those conflicting pressures?

There is no question that San Jose will continue to grow but we must do so in a way that allows us to accommodate the growth while maintaining services to our residents. That means that our first priorities should be in-fill projects around light rail stations to reduce traffic and commute times; completely assuring that new developments pay for themselves with tax revenues that will fund facilities and services they require; and making sure that there are adequate jobs in close proximity to new developments. Balancing these interests requires a commitment to the principle that San Jose will grow in a managed and quality manner to assure that we maintain and enhance our quality of life.

I completely support an update to the city's general plan to make sure that all of the impacts of the past fifteen years are taken into account. While quarterly uipdates are fine, a comprehensive review is necessary to review the full unpacts of the growth in housing, changes in our economy, and related impacts on our quality of life.

2. San Jose has a council/manager form of government. Over the past few years the balance of power has shifted toward the mayor and there are some elected officials who support this stronger role for the mayor. Should San Jose move to a strong-mayor form of government or have a strong professional administrator? What kind of city manager will you look for?

We should respect our current City Charter which provides for a council-manager form of government. It is the best way to have professional managemnent of our city while still retaining the political direction over policies and priorities demanded by the voters. I am opposed to the current system where the powers of the mayor have gravitated to a hybrid. Lets respect what we have.

That is not to say that we should avoid a discussion of the possibility of going to a strong mayor form of givernment in the future. I would support the establishment of a citizen's commission to review and explore these o ptions. But until the voters decide to make achange we must respect the Council-Manager form of government we have, delegate the authoity to the City Manager as required, find the best city manager available, and make certain that the powers of the Mayor are appropriate under the current charter.

3. Safety often includes services such as homework centers and code enforcement for neighborhoods, but the city budget now being prepared could cut much needed services. If there is no other source of funds to maintain safety-related centers and gang prevention, would you consider reducing the funds going to support the police and fire departments? Can the growing costs of police and for pensions be covered without depleting funds for other community service in the future?

I am proud to have been a part of meeting the needs of young people at risk by creating homework centers and after schol opportunities through the Boys and Girls Clubs. When I took over the organization these programs were in jeopardy; they are now financially stable and growing.

I believe that we need to enhance programs like these, and use other tools as well, to give young people things to do in order to divert their attention away from being involved in gangs and other activities. That means continuing to fund programs in law enforcement. The growing costs of public employee pensions are a concern but I would not start there as a way to fund gang prevention programs. Instead, I would start by eliminating unnecessary programs, reducing bureaucracy, and making the City fiscally responsible.

We have not been successful enough in growing our tax base. It is business that pays the lion's share of the bill and that is the only way to significantly increase our resources. That includes solving the jobs-housing impbalance and obtaining a larger share of sales tax revenues. That will allow us to grow our budget and to provide the needed services.

4. Money to maintain and operate the city’s public facilities such as parks and libraries is in shorter and shorter supply. So while new or expanded community centers have been proposed previously, the city is looking at closing or privatizing up to 30 existing centers it cannot afford to operate. Should the city re-examine its plans to add parks and other public facilities? Are there services the city could cut to find money for these highly valued ones?

There is no sense closing down community centers because we can't afford to maintain them, and then opening up new facilities. Instead, we should focus on maintaining and improving what we have. Only then should we consider new facilities. In addition, we must also make sure that as new areas develop, these developments not only provide funding for the cost of new neighborhood and recreatiuonal facilities, but that they also generate adequate tax revenues to pay for the cost of providing services to those new developments, including public safety, recreation, and neighborhood services.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: January 22, 2007 17:26
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