Candidate for
Council Member; City of Oakley

I believe that Oakley has been historically shortchanged by the County. Creating the City and establishing city level of services is a long process but one that is well under way after the past nine years. I have worked to do so with our very limited revenues to give to our residents the services they are just as entitled to as the residents of every other city. We have done a lot, including many new parks, youth recreation services, our own police force, and more. The job however is not completed:

Oakley's ongoing Needs:

Oakley needs and I want to continue working on the following:

1. Making sure your needs & desires are heard & met by the City! In all things, the City must be listening to and acting fairly with its residents.

2. Getting Business & Job Growth that the residents support!

3. Getting a Full Service Fire Department for Oakley and Brentwood. This requires finding the financing to make up the substantial difference in revenues. It won't be easy but must be done.

4. Getting more Police Officers, we are still not at 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents.

5. Implementing traffic calming measures in many neighborhoods to slow down neighborhood traffic.

6. Building our own Library. It's time for Oakley to take the library out of the High School and establish a full sized library for its residents.

7. Establishing a Senior Center. Our seniors have a great need for a center both to meet and more importantly as a place to plan and provide for badly needed services.

8. Finishing Oakley's roads & sidewalks so that we all have safe streets and sidewalks.

9. Finishing our regional transportation projects especially Highway 4, Vasco safety improvements, and our Highway 160 / Highway 4 Bypass interchange Connectors.

10. Protecting our small town values.

11. Protecting our shoreline and expanding our access to it. As we attempt to walk our shoreline, we see a continuous fence blocking access to it. Oakley's residents should be able to freely access the river.

12. Aiding our residents so those that want to, can use solar power and wells. A recent law change allows cities to help with the funding of solar systems for local residents, the residents are able to pay for the work via their yearly property taxes instead of having to come up with the full amount at the time of work. Several cities are leading the way to show us how it can be done. Oakley has two great natural advantages that no one ever talks about or tries to take advantage of: abundant sun and lots of ground water. I believe we should assist our residents to take advantage of these two great resources if they choose to.