League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; Town of Los Gatos

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Experience, Important Concerns, Balance Needs Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What experience related to city government would you bring to the City Council? Answer from Peggy Dallas: During the past ten years I have worked in appointed positions to create the Town's Land Use Policies with independence,integrity and vision. I first became involved with the town when I volunteered to completely rewrite the General Plan with about 26 fellow residents carefully chosen to represent the different neighborhoods, ages, and occupations of people in town. I spent two years listening to the hopes and dreams of the group which were then documented by staff to become the Year 2000 General Plan. Through this process I not only became very familiar with the General Plan, but I also understand the hopes and dreams that it is intended to represent. In subsequent years, I've served on the Architectural and Hillsides Standards Committee where we spent four years writing the current Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines document. During the writing of the Hillside Standards, I fought for protection of our beautifully wooded hillsides by allowing only appropriately scaled development and guidleines for protecting our hillsides from a devastating wildfire. I worked pro bono with staff, teachers, parents and students at Lakeside Elementary School to prepare a Master Plan -- a process that helped the school community decide on the location of a new multi-purpose room and several new classrooms on campus. As an architect living in Los Gatos for the past 18 years I have experience processing projects through the Community Development Department. I am qualified, as I am the candidate with formal academic training in land use planning. As Los Gatos faces growth pressures, I am the candidate who understands how to preserve our neighborhoods and natural environment while permitting sustainable development. Answer from Michael Kane: Four years ago I was unanimously chosen by the Town Council to serve as a Planning Commissioner and currently hold the position of Chair. Four years ago I thought I had achieved a great honor and only thought about all I needed to learn to be a competent Commissioner. I had the greatest respect for our Town Council members and never thought about making a move towards Council, as there was no need. With the passage of time and with Council overturning too many Commission decisions, I decided I could better serve the Town as a member of Council. I have also run my own business (Kane Financial Services) for 26 years, serve as a governing board member of the Los Gatos Community Hospital, a member of Los Gatos Morning Rotary, former Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, and have volunteered for numerous Town activities. Answer from Steve Rice: I have served on the Town of Los Gatos Planning Commission, the Conceptual Development Advisory Committee, the Historic Preservation Committee, the Commercial Specific Plan Committee (vice-chair), and the Santa Clara County Roads Commission. I am a past president of the Rotary Club of Los Gatos and the Los Gatos Museum Association. I have coached Little League and youth soccer in Los Gatos and was a Scout leader for 8 years. I am a Financial Planner by profession and, in addition to my community involvement, I have served on a number of industry boards. I have a lot of experience building large (County Roads) and small (Santa Clara County Estate Planning Council) organization budgets. Answer from Barbara Spector: I am currently Mayor of the Town of Los Gatos and was first elected to the Town Council in 2004. Last year, I served as Vice-Mayor. During my tenure on our Town Council, I have represented Los Gatos on regional bodies including the Association of Bay Area Government (ABAG) General Assembly, the Guadalupe West Valley Water Shed Advisory Committee, the Santa Clara Valley Water District Commission, the Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee, the Santa Clara County Cities Association City Selection Committee, and on Santa Clara County's Airport Land Use Advisory Committee. Additionally, I have served on the Town Council's Policy, General Plan, Finance and Conceptual Development Advisory Committees and as liaison on the Dittos Lane Housing and Highway 9 projects. I was a member of the Los Gatos Planning Commission between 1980 and 1988, often serving as either Chair or Vice-Chair. During my tenure, the Commission developed new zoning ordinances, the Hillside Plan, the Downtown Specific Plan, and a revised General Plan to protect our hillsides, historic homes, neighborhoods and local businesses. 2. What concerns are of particular importance to the city and how would you address them? Answer from Steve Rice: Change is inevitable, but it can be managed. I view myself as pragmatist and concesus builder. I will work with the other Council members to assure that our outstanding "Quality of Life" in Los Gatos is maintained, or even made better for our children and grandchildren. Our Town's operating budget will go negative in less than two years. In addition, approximately 10% or our operating revenue is from a single source - Netflix. I will use my financial training and experience to build a budget that maintains the high level and quality of services our Town residents deserve. Los Gatos has an reputation as being unfriendly to businesses. Unfortunately, this reputation not undeserved. I will encourage and be supportive of a vibrant, resident-serving business community. Answer from Michael Kane: As your Council member, my primary goals would be: #1, Protection of our hillsides (and better adherence to the existing hillside standards), #2, Preservation of our neighborhoods (and better adherence to our exisiting residential design guidelines), #3, Economic vitality (and better adherence to our exisiting commercial design guidelines). Answer from Barbara Spector: THE TOWN MUST CONTINUE TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SERVICES FOR ITS CITIZENS WHILE BALANCING ITS BUDGET. In adopting its balanced budget for 2008/2009, the Town also made its financial projections for the next 5 years, noting that in the next 2 to 3 years, our expenses would exceed our revenues. Now, because of its huge deficit, the State of California intends to take away some portion of our Redevelopment Agency (RDA) funds, further reducing our Town revenues. We must address this situation by continuing to be proactive and not reactive. The Town staff has already begun the analysis to make its recommendation to address the projected deficit in preparation for a report to Council. Staff must now factor in the state take-away of RDA funding. At the same time, we must determine if the State has the right to "take away" RDA funds that have already been allocated to defined projects such as the proposed library. THE TOWN MUST LOCATE PROPERTY AND FUNDING FOR RECREATIONAL FACILITIES FOR OUR YOUTH. This concern must be addressed on several levels. First, we must move forward with our plan to spearhead a partnership among the Town, county, private sector, public sector, faith-based organizations and schools to locate property and funding for recreational facilities for our youth and other citizens. We must also move forward with the priority placed upon the development of the recreation element of our new General Plan so that the public can weigh in on its vision of recreation for the next 10 years and then we must implement the goals that are established. We must utilize existing recreational areas already identified in the Town's recreational inventory with maximum efficiency while working cooperatively with the private and public sector property owners involved. WE MUST PROTECT OUR HILLSIDES AND THE ECONOMIC VITALITY THEY BRING TO OUR TOWN. Los Gatos has been called "The Gem of the Foothills." Our location distinguishes our Town from other municipalities. Our hills are a significant factor in attracting residents, businesses and visitors to our Town, thereby contributing to our economic vitality. Answer from Peggy Dallas: Without a doubt the biggest concern for the Town of Los Gatos is the continuing loss of revenue over the past several years. This combined with the increasing costs of running the Town has the staff projecting that the Town budget will go negative in the year 2010. With the recent loss of yet another auto dealership and our dependence on the 10% of our town revenue that comes from Netflix alone, it is imperative to maintaining the quality of life in Los Gatos that new and diverse sources of revenue be found. Fear of change has prompted many land use decisions aimed at stopping growth. When growth is stopped -- death starts. You only have to look at the loss of auto dealerships on Los Gatos Boulevard to see this. We must accept change as part of living. By looking forward at change fearlessly, with an open and optimistic mind and still embracing our town's values, an intelligent solution becomes possible. I have the experience and training and confidence to do just that. The Town needs to be more friendly to new business opportunities and work with them in a positive and respectful way to help them find a fit with our town values. Making sure that Los Gatos stays fiscally sound is Job #1. All other issues follow from there. 3. How would you balance the needs of the City as a whole with groups' interests? Answer from Peggy Dallas: The Town has a General Plan that expresses the values of the Town as a whole. Special interest groups add value to a public discussion and should be considered in balance with the entire town's values. Special interests efforts to bully the Town Council by sheer volume or intimidation will be regarded by me as just that when I am on the Town Council. I will work with everyone to achieve better results for our whole town, not just the few. I believe strongly in mutual respect, understanding and civility. I will bring these qualities to the Town Council. As mother and architect, I do not play favorites. I listen to all sides and makes decisions based on sound public policy and not politics. Answer from Barbara Spector: At almost every public hearing conducted by the Town Council, testimony is received from individuals or groups with differing interests. That is not unusual. On the other hand, the needs of the Town have been identified by our General Plan, ordinances, standards and guidelines, adopted by the Council following public input. Therefore, a group's interest must be evaluated against the adopted plans and ordinances guiding our decisions, which must be made with transparency, fairness and consistency. Answer from Michael Kane: I believe that listening to the members of the community is paramount in making decisions as a Council member. Los Gatos residents have diverse views and opinions -- one of the reasons why this Town is so special. During my 4 years on Planning Commission, and especially this past year as chair, I have a strong record of attempting to reach compromise between parties. I fully intend to continue to strive for consensus on difficult decisions. Answer from Steve Rice: Los Gatos has a diverse population. Young singles and newly married couples, families with children, teens, "empty nesters" and seniors are all valuable members of our community and each group also has unique needs. Even dog owners have their own issues. I find the best thing to do is to listen. I want to hear from ALL our citizens as to what they believe to be important. My job as a member of the Town Council will be to find the common ground and work within the contraints of budget realities to provide services to all the members of our community. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.