Candidate for
Council Member; City of Escondido

TIME FOR CHANGE IN ESCONDIDO

Escondido employs a lobbyist. It is past time to start lobbying for a local Border Patrol Office. The divisive "symptom-based" legislation must stop! I am PRO legal immigration and welcome anybody willing to do it the right way and become a citizen. I am UNWILLING to leave Escondido as a sanctuary any longer. We must be FIRM and TACTFUL as there is NO ANIMOSITY on my part towards illegal immigrants, they are forced to live a very difficult existence. However, that does not change the business of running a city. The benefits of the city are meant for the citizens of the city. Driver's license checkpoints must continue because DRIVING IS NOT A RIGHT. Driving any vehicle carrys with it a huge responsibility for yourself and any others that may be effected by your vehicle. Escondido must also pass an ordinance barring day laborers from seeking "curbside" employment. Our actions as a city must convey the message that other cities will be easier on you if you happen to be an illegal immigrant.

Proposition S must be repealed at the next election. This debacle was in response to an overbuilding of apartments 12 years ago. In reality, it has reduced Escondido's growth to an expensive crawl. Not all growth is bad, but when a developer finds out that they must fund an election to get the ball rolling, they immediately leave Esco and go to our neighboring cities. There is ample time for public comment during all phases of planning, Prop S is merely a hamstringing of the politicians you place your trust in at the polls. Repealing Prop S will attract higher paying jobs to Esco and raise the median income level over time. How many more car dealers and building suppliers can this city handle? Its time to attract a more diversified tax base to our sweet city and look to the future. Thoughtfully planned logical updating of our 120 year old city is absolutely called for. Citizens of Esco have already figured out that Prop S did not preserve anything. It just just made our city look worn out. It also lowered the median income, drove the money and prosperity right out of town and made us very appealing to droves of illegal immigrants who found that they could afford to live here with many families to one house.

Finally, Fiscal responsibility is going to be the key to our long term viability as a city. Whoever wins this election is going to see all the "numbers" change for the worse because of this country's dire financial straits and they are going to have to make the tough calls next year when the budget shortfall hits. There will be many looking for their customary "piece" of Escondido's pie come budget time, but with respect to their love of Esco, Esco may have to say NO for awhile. Its time to get back to good old fashioned fund raising. Not relying on a subsidy from the city may make these groups more self sufficient in the years to come. Its good for everyone to tighten up and live lean for awhile until our economy bounces back. With the huge size of Escondido's sales tax base, we should seriously look to possibly raising the sales tax .5%. This would surely help cover some of our city liabilities. Furthermore, some of our neighboring cities have already gone to 8.25% so I do not feel that this is out of line with the times.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR CHUCK VOELKER!!