Political Philosophy for Joseph S. "Joe" Kleitman

Candidate for
Councilmember; City of Mountain View

Maintain and improving critical city services

I believe preserving public health and safety are the top jobs of local government. I voted for and spoke out in support of the expansion of Mountain View's Police and Fire departments at the highest levels of recommended staffing. I supported the city's new Paramedic program, the addition of a new North Bayshore fire station, and our Community policing policy. I will take a leadership role in supporting "911" emergency medical advice programs and work hard to change the county's service degrading monopoly on emergency medical transport so our firefighters can get Mountain View citizens the medical attention they need quickly in the future.

I have actively promoted higher levels of customer service since I served as a member and chair of the city's Environmental Planning Commission. At that time, I was outspoken on including language in the city's "General Plan" committing our city to improve customer service. I will continue working cith city staff to find innovative and effective ways to better our treatment of citizens, the effectiveness of their work, and the quality of life we enjoy.

Limit our growth and development to sensible levels

As a substantially built-out city, Mountain View's future developments must be designed to be extremely sensitively to surrounding neighborhoods and existing land uses. There is a lot of talk these days about "sustainable city's", I believe in that concept. I also believe our city has a "carrying capacity", meaning we can only support a limited amount of growth without ruining our lifestyle. This growth must be of the highest quality. It is extremely important that the City Council carefully scrutinized all developments so that additions to our community add to the overall quality of life and do not create unacceptable environmental or social impacts. The record shows I voted both for and against development proposals - both residential and commercial entirely based on my evaluation of their benefits and impacts. I will continue this approach in order to assure that in the future, Mountain View continues to be a place we can all be proud to call home.

The City Budget

There has been much talk about the huge "budget surpluses" governments enjoy today and many suggestions about how to spend the windfalls. However, in Mountain View, I have and will continue to support a balanced and frugal approach to the budget. The city faces a huge expense (tens of $Millions) to rehabilitate our aging water system to meet even minimal emergency needs. We currently have barely a single day's supply of potable water storage capacity should our water supply be cut off. In my mind, funding the upgrade to our water system is the number one spending priority for any "surplus" the city has. Additionally, Mountain View's currently relies heavily on sales tax as it's primary income source. There is little we can do to shift this reliance, however, we can plan for the effects on the city budget future cyclical down turn in the economy. I have supported creating the city's Economic Contingency Fund to do just that. We are planning for hard economic times in order to assure city services remain intact. I feel this is a prudent approach to our budget and I will continue to exercise the restraint and discipline necessary to avoid unwise spending.

Continue investing in the youth of our community

Since first taking office in January 1995 I have worked very hard to successfully get the city to take on a leadership role in youth and family issues. Since that time, we have successfully created a Youth Action Plan, convened two Mayor's Youth Symposia, built a demonstration skate park, fully funded the "Tween Time" after school program in our two middle schools, opened a teen center, expanded our partnership with local schools to maintain and manage school park fields, and put together a resource guide for the youth in our town. Mountain View, in 1995, also became the first in Northern California city to participate in the nationwide Safe Place program where kids fine the help they need in crisis. More work needs to be done and I will continue to be an outspoken.

Continue supporting the seniors of our community

Mountain View provides senior services second to none. My commitment is to continue supporting senior citizens by finding new opportunities for senior housing downtown and protecting the funding for vital senior services the city provides. I would also like to find more ways for our city's seniors and youth to become involved with each other. So much good can come out of a mentoring program. I will work to find mentoring opportunities for seniors after we move the Senior Center's youth activities into a more permanent home in the Escuela house next door.

Find a new home in Mountain View for the Community School of Music and Arts

I have been an outspoken supporter of continuing the city's partnership with the Community School of Music and Arts by helping to provide them with a new Mountain View home. The city has worked with and funded CSMA for over 30 years, delivering top quality arts and music education to the city's school children. This vital collaboration must continue into the future and I am committed to finding ways to make it work.

Steven's Creek Trail

Some have incorrectly quoted me as having made up my mind on this issue. This is a good opportunity to clear that up. For four years, I have served as Chairman of the Council's Neighborhoods Committee. I have been a leader in neighborhood issues and have unwaveringly supported neighborhood preservation efforts throughout our city. I led the way for Council and staff to re-open the public input process and hear from the neighborhood at the February 24, 1998 Council meeting. I insisted on having neighborhood meetings because there are a number of critical neighborhood issues that must be thoughtfully dealt with as the city proceeds with planning the possible expansion of Steven's Creek Trail south of El Camino Real. I was also the only Council candidate or Council member who attended the first Neighborhood meeting.

All of the facts are not yet on the table and I have not made up my mind on the issue. I can not support trail parking or parking lots on any of the residential streets. I can not support trail encroachments that jeopardize neighborhood security. I will continue to ask tough questions about these issues - as I always do. And, I will also continue to challenge the assumptions people are making on this important issue to flesh out the truth.

I support (and worked hard in 1992 to include) the General Plan's determination to improve bicycle and pedestrian access throughout our city and in particular, across highway 85 and El Camino. However, the devil is truly in the details of the Steven's Creek Trail Reach 4 plan and I will carefully scrutinize those details before coming to any conclusions about what the city should do. A number of citizens have shared their thoughts on this issue and I invite all of you to continue to do so as well.

Moffett Field

Now that NASA, Moffett Field's landlord, has substantially accepted the recommendations of our Citizens Advisory Committee, I feel we must continue pursuing the additional goals of annexation of the Moffett Complex to Mountain View & Sunnyvale, building a roadway and bridge connection between Mountain View's North Bayshore Area and Moffett Field, and protecting and potentially acquiring the Shenandoah military housing complex at the corner of Moffett Boulevard and Middlefield Road, an important gateway to Mountain View. Over the years I have actively worked to find positive new uses for Moffett Federal Airfield that do minimize impacts on the city and our environment. I cast the swing vote putting the Advisory Measure regarding air cargo at Moffett on the ballot two years ago because I believe the people of our community have a right to speak out on this important issue. I also was the first Council Member one to suggest creating a permanent City Council Moffett Field Committee just a few months after I took office in 1995. We now have such a committee, which I served on for two years after it's formation. The city must continue it's frugal, but active monitoring of the shifting winds in Washington DC that have the potential to affect us and Moffett Federal Airfield for years to come.

K-8 Education

Education is not a primary role of city government. However, I have always felt that there needs to be a strong partnership on the part of the city with schools. Therefore, since being elected to council I have held numerous informal meetings with local school board members to learn about ways the city can participate in the partnership. I have been a member of Project Cause, a unique collaborative that supports schools and youth projects and the Challenge Team - another important community collaborative working to reduce truancy and youth substance abuse. Additionally, I have been a member of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Network, looking for ways to specifically target and educate young woman at risk. If you have a baby - going to school takes second place.

I also founded a non-profit organization to improve science education in school called Rock-IT Science Educationally Useful Programs (RISEUP). There has been much said in the newspapers about my participation in this positive educational venture and there has been all kinds discussion about conflict of interest. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have prepared some information for those interested in learning more about it. Please e-mail me and I will be happy to send you the information.

Cuesta Park Annex and the Skate Park

I first suggested the city should evaluate the construction of a demonstration Skate/BMX park project at the Cuesta Park annex site on January 14, 1997. This was in response to what I had learned as a participant in the first Mayor's Youth Conference and as a member of the Youth Action Plan Steering Committee. The number one request from our city's middle and high school aged boys and girls was to build a skate park.

It turned out, the kid's idea for a demonstration Skate Park was a very good one - the Charleston Park temporary facility is one of the city's most heavily used recreational facilities. It also turned out, the idea for building it at Cuesta Park Annex was not a good one - this became clear after hearing from the Annex neighbors and open space advocates throughout the city.

At every turn in the eight month community discussion on this issue I supported keeping the dialogue open for neighborhood input. I carefully listened to the neighbors and citizens who spoke on this issue. I also supported asking the city staff to come up with new site alternatives, research school sites, and deeply research the specific neighborhood issues of building a temporary skate park. Once it became evident that the Annex was not the best place for the park, I focused on finding other sites for the facility and evaluating them on the very same issues the Annex neighbors had brought to Council's attention.

After numerous meetings and hearings, on August 26, 1998 staff brought the item back to council After talking to the school district we were told school sites were not a viable option. Additionally, staff presented a number of new potential sites to council for the first time. One of those was the Rengstorff Pool Parking lot location. After considerable public testimony and council deliberation, I supported the putting the demonstration skate park on the Rengstorff site. It was a six to one vote with Council member Figueroa voting no. I based my decision primarily on the fact that this site was the farthest away from any homes and would also require the least ammonite of investment on the city's part.

Since the community discussion of the Skate Park, I supported Cuesta Park Annex being designated to remain Open Space until a master plan for it's ultimate use is developed in an open community process. That process has not yet been scheduled and the Annex will essentially remain untouched until the community decides what is the best use for this valuable piece of open space.