THE DANA POINT CITY COUNCIL & ISSUES

By Eric James

I pledge to focus solely on issues & solutions, & respect opposition. Here's my positions on the issues.

The City now has three sources of income: 1. Transient Occupancy Tax. 2. Real Property Tax. 3. Retail Sales Taxes. I support bed & breakfast hospitality development as well as a new hotel in Monarch Beach & moderate size hotel on the Headlands I also support assessing transient occupancy taxes on time share rentals. About 400 new homes in the coming years will add new property taxes.I support adding retail/restaurant establishments in the City. I will seek innovative solutions for creating additional income & preserve Dana Point citizens from bearing debt.

I support removal of conditional uses for open space lands, disposal of excess municipally owned property, conversion of in-fill lots to neighborhood parks, development of existing large parkland sites, an identification and schedule of infrastructure for a 25 year period, & provision for emergency expenditures. OUR CITY PARKS SYSTEM Parks are about neighborhood character, land use, and social connection. The best benefit of a richly diverse parks system is the sense of local community which results.

My proposed Master Plan of Parks, Income, & Infrastructure updates the 1994 Park Plan with a current needs assessment for families, social groups, & our aging population. A development timetable is established, insuring active, passive, & cultural parks development. Existing facilities are upgraded. Regional approaches are arranged to meet cost intensive uses. Financing mechanisms are provided for open space & new parks acquisition. Commercial active use of dedicated open space is no longer allowed.

LANTERN VILLAGE My Master Plan of Parks, Income, & Infrastructure provides solutions. Under my Master Plan proposal, streets get cul-de-sacs now. Other streets transform into green-belt parks. Proceeds from selling the red house fund beautification loans to property owners who spend matching funds .City beautification is scheduled. Code enforcement officers are made effective, accountable, & supervised. Contract building inspectors are replaced by a staff inspector, providing enforcement officer #3 & saving $100,000 in added cost. Code violations have a deadline process for resolution compliance & severe penalties for failure. Parking permits insure against overcrowding by accounting vehicles per dwelling. Neighborly pressure, backed by City support, is placed upon absentee landlords to upgrade. Rents rise. Property values rise. Crime declines further. Community commitment is enhanced by a coalition of property owners, Lantern Village Association, working in concert with the City of Dana Point.

CAPISTRANO BEACH / DOHENY VILLAGE One more reason to adopt my Master Plan of Parks, Income, & Infrastructure. People in Dana Point communities know what's best for them. Our City Council must respect all neighborhood needs & desires & not make political footballs os these issues.. Streetscape is needed in Doheny Village. More parks in Capistrano Beach. The historic palm trees, which have long given identity to this community, must be replaced expeditiously. Utilities need undergrounding. Drainage is an overwhelming problem inherited from the County. My master plan addresses these needs & provides solutions.

HOUSING I'll defend property values. The best way to defend property values is to add value to our community. This will guide my every decision. For 7 years I acted as real estate legislative advocate for the largest trade association in California. I also wrote a weekly newspaper column in the Daily "Law" Journal publications. The value of a property is linked to the value of quality-of-life amenities offered by a City. Many people misunderstand what maintains & increases value in property. The market itself is the chief influence. However, before people buy a home or a business property, they investigate a City's amenities and quality of life. Only when satisfied, do they invest their savings. Dana Point is poised now to become the Beverly Hills of South County. More million dollar homes. Higher income levels. Greater degree of affluence. More demands for amenities which contribute to well being and quality living. My background has prepared me to recognize this unique challenge to defend property values and to meet it. CAPO BY THE SEA I'm on record. This issue is before me as planning commissioner. The law limits me to my previous public hearing comments. This is one of Dana Point's jewels. The primary asset of this unique site is a lush forest. It's enjoyed from many viewpoints in Dana Point & offers natural relief from surrounding development. Whether the site becomes a park or low density housing, the site's primary asset value must be preserved. Development must integrate within the forest. A neighborhood view park is also necessary. The historic Dolph House can be restored as a housing development's required art-in-public-places contribution.

THE HARBOR I seek responsible development. The County of Orange, which owns the Harbor, sees the issue as revitalization. Dana Point sees the issue as over development. For me the issue is responsible development. An increase in commercial business space must be phased to ensure existing successful business remain and are not driven out. Adding more rooms to the existing hotel increases revenue to the city. A three story parking structure, if implemented, must be camouflaged. The Harbor must remain a small craft harbor. Adding 48,000 sq.ft. of new construction to the Marine Institute site - the size of an Irvine office building - is objectionable. The Institute should scale back its ambitious plan and respect the land as well as it respects the sea. I propose that the City join the County in approaching Caltrans & the State to construct a spur from the I-5 off ramp, which will by-pass the PCH-Del Obispo intersection, to take Harbor traffic directly into Harbor parking.

REESTABLISHING COMMISSIONS I support other means for achieving commission objectives. I served on the Community Services, Cultural, & Planning Commissions, plus Underground Utilities Committee. Excluding the Planning Commission, I oppose reestablishing commissions.
1. Commissions compound expense, effort, & time for the City & public.
2. Commissions shield Councils from politically unwelcome considerations.
3. Commissions create political power bases.
4. Commissions have no authority. The public bypasses input to the Commissions and goes directly to the City Council where the real decisions are made.
5. City Councils ignore commission recommendations.

To assist Dana Point's non-profit organizations in accessing greater private funding resources, I propose establishing a local, private, permanent, grant agency, using a one-time minimal municipal funding.

To assist those interested in public service I support the City Council working closely with local private organizations. Local government is no place for entry level experience. Public service aspirants should first prove their merits in private organizations before testing them on the City. A City Council should do its own work. It should study the issues, hear its own testimony, & make its own decisions. When people feel excluded from input to the Council, it is because the Council has excluded them. The City Council must correct its own inadequacies to insure public inclusion. Idon't want a City Council to pass the buck to unproductive Commissions. TAKING CONTROL OF THE WATER DISTRICTS Reducing water rates sounds great. What cost,though? Savings must balance the investment.

What can Dana Point expect, taking over an agency with 24 pending criminal indictments against its employees? Are we prepared to add a $60 million water bond to our $5 million park debt & $200 million in pending infrastructure costs? What ultimate cost is Dana Point prepared to pay to clean San Juan Creek, sewage,& drainage pollution that closes our beaches ?

That's why I propose a Master Plan of Parks, Income, & Infrastructure...also a surgical eye & extreme caution attached to our pending LAFCO application.