West County Times & News Letter to the Editor

By Kathy Austin

Time to move on from the CVS/Chase issue and focus on our Future.

We are facing a tough financial future. Our city depends on tax revenue to provide services. This recession has hit the City hard. Our reserves are down. Our acting City Manager is also the City Attorney. Our Police and staff have been reduced to 1986 levels. Our infrastructure is aging and in need of replacement and repairs, thus the increase in the Utility Fees. The City Council has proposed a ½ cent sales tax for the Nov. ballot. While I suggested a ¼ cent tax so that we would not have the highest tax in the county, I am supporting this decision because without it, we will be in even worse shape. It's very important to shop locally to support our City and businesses. Without a strong economy we won't have the funds to help preserve and enhance our built and natural environment.

This leads me to ask, when times get tough does experience count? What is better someone who talks the talk or someone who actually produces results? During my four years on Planning Commission and four years on the City Council, we updated our General Plan and Zoning Ordinance and other key ordinances. While on the Council and as Mayor we conducted a search for a City manager. I've been there and I'm ready to do it again.

As an architect I designed smart growth mixed use projects like 509 South Main Street and 820 Gravenstein Hwy. So. which have a mix of commercial and residential in the downtown corridor and maintain our small town charm. I helped the Barlow get approved and develop its design. I've designed affordable housing all over the North Bay. I understand what it takes to encourage the kind of development and business Sebastopol needs.

Now is the time to be proactive and approach CalTrans to better coordinate our stop lights to lessen traffic congestion. We need to bring the community together to form a vision for the future of downtown. We need to reach out to the business community and find ways to improve the approval process for new business and bring needed jobs and tax dollars to the city. We need to bring together the stake holders to protect and improve our natural environment. We need to find a new City Manager with excellent financial and managerial skills to help us prosper in this difficult economy.

I reject those among us who are trying to divide our community when it comes to decisions they dislike. Behavior that includes verbal intimidation, email bombardment, misleading statements, lawsuits and trying to kill an approved project is about as far from Democracy as you can get. These folks are supporting candidates with little or no experience in governance. I hope you agree that the choice is clear come Nov. 6th that experience counts. Please elect Kathy Austin for the Sebastopol City Council.