Key Issues for Atherton Residents
Responsible Housing Growth
Yes, I know we have the State issuing new laws undercutting our control of Housing and changing our community’s look and feel. That said the Council had passed, where allowed, additional requirements on these State issued land use laws which are intended to protect the neighbors privacy and home values. These include setbacks, height restrictions and look and feel of the new developments as well as to meet the objectives in our plan both in the number of new homes/ADU’s as well as the occupancy in these new developments which meets the range of income levels as directed by the State.
In a year or so, the State will be auditing our progress against our plan and if we are not on track, we will be required to consider new locations for rezoning. As such we are working with the developers and our residents to follow up with their plans as well as consider renting housing to new residents (using HIP Housing) or renting to other individuals and/or relatives and reporting the duration of the rentals and the amount being charged, even if it is zero dollars, which would qualify as a very low rental.
Furthermore we need to continue to work with the College and our private schools to develop housing for their staff and students. Our plans have this included in them and we need to continue to work with the Presidents of these institutions to follow up with what was projected as those numbers will go a long way toward our meeting the goals set for us in the Housing Plan.
Finally we need to plan for the future as the Housing Element is required every eight years and currently indications are that the required housing will be as high or higher that that of this period. Furthermore the numbers of new residents in all income levels will also grow. As such we will need strong public engagement as this comes along as well as in our reporting on the current work we are collectively doing.
Thank you for your help in getting us this far and for your contribution. Remember that these land use laws that are changing our look and fee are coming from Sacramento. One way to impact these are to provide our Assemblyman and State Senator with your comments on laws as well as for voting for candidates who share your view on this.
Street &
Home Safety
Resident safety, be it at their home or while on our roads driving, biking or as a pedestrian has always been at the forefront of my focus. Our residents should both be safe and feel safe. Over the years, our Chief has hired excellent local officers and we need to keep them funded with the tools to assist all residents. I am and have pushed for technology additions which will improve our police response times, as I believe one burglary is too many and we need to solve cases. More traffic patrols are necessary to keep speeding down and keep pedestrians safe. Furthermore, more focus is necessary to mitigate traffic and speeds, especially the cut thru traffic we experience and which results in congestion, pollution, noise and make our streets more dangerous. I have pushed hard to get funding for streets as well as Bike and Pedestrian ways. As the former lead Council member on the development of the Town’s Transportation/Bike/Ped Master Plan, developing safe routes to school and key bike lanes and pedestrian ways is a passion of mine and I want to have this done responsibly and with the consent of the residents along the effected routes. Finally, as a member of the County’s Disaster Management Council and a trained community emergency response volunteer, I will continue to ensure the Town continually funds assets and programs to support our Town in preparation of or during an emergency or disaster. Our Police and Fire District are both well staffed and funded and have excellent leadership. That said, I also want to make sure our support staff delivers economically as our Police Department is the single largest portion of our budget.
Strong Fiscal
Management
As always, money plays a big part of this, for without proper funding, few things can be accomplished. Since my first day on the Council, I have been fully focused on ensuring our Town is well run. This includes being able to fund needed operation as well as having continued surpluses. To do this I pushed for the restructuring of our Town Staff, revamped our benefit plans, moved Atherton (during my first term as Mayor) from deficit spending to net positive, and led the push to paying long-term liabilities (pension and other post-retirement benefits). We did all this, while still keeping our streets in good shape, improving our park, and funding our all necessary operations. Now as we move forward we need to fund key infrastructure projects which manage our drainage issues. It is unacceptable for us to know that every time it rains we will have flooded streets. These need to be fixed and will take time and money. To meet the challenges and the community’s needs we the Town will need to have continued strong fiscal management.
Better Resident
Engagement
Often times I believe the issues we are discussing at a Council meeting have not communicated well enough to get timely resident attention. I know we can do better. To this end, I have for many years held open door office hours at the Town Center where anyone can drop in and discuss issues and concerns. These are held on Tuesdays at 12:30-1:30. Additionally I am available/contactable by cell and or email.
Over my terms, the Town has substantially improved its outreach to residents through the use of technology, including social media. The Town has revamped its website, developed tools to allow searching and drilling down on budgets and plans. Additionally, our See/Click/Fix tool has improved the responsiveness of Town Staff in addressing issues. While mailers and emails do go out to residents regularly, they do not seem to gain the attention of our residents so they can be both informed and involved, if they so choose. I will push the Town to continue to review other Best Practices to set a course to better inform and engage residents.