POSITION PAPER

By Allan L. Bernstein

What is the No. 1 problem in the city of Tustin? What would you do to solve it? The number one problem for our City is the tremendous impact that the perilous state budget has on Tustin's ability to provide services and the millions of dollars that Sacramento has raided from the City of Tustin treasury in the past year. Our city council, in the past two years, has done a remarkable job of navigating the most difficult economic conditions in recent memory. Your elected leaders must continue to think strategically and creatively to insure that we are prepared for the state's continued intrusion into our budget. Public employee pension reform must be continued, business development must be encouraged by maintaining a lid on taxes and fees for our small businesses, and the measured development of Tustin Legacy must be cultivated to maximally benefit the taxpayers of Tustin.

What would you do to help resolve the legal battles between the city and school district? I will urge the Tustin Unified School District to drop the law suit which has wasted the taxpayer's money and come to the table to discuss our differences. As the parent of a Tustin High School graduate, I am extremely proud of our local public schools. I would also support reforms to the governance of our school district that would place the same term limits on members of the Board of Education as apply to the Tustin City Council. This would ensure the infusion of new ideas and the periodic removal of old grudges t further ensuring that decisions are predicated upon the good of the student and not motivated by politics.