Santa Monica Sun Candidate Questions & Answers

By David Cole

Questions and Answers as they appear in the Santa Monica Sun newspaper.

Name: David Cole

Age: 45

Where Born: Ohio

Residence Neighborhood: The Mid-City area

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Question. What do I see as the biggest problem facing Santa Monica?

Answer. A lack of representation of the many diverse voices in City government and meeting the real needs of the community by this current City Council.

Question. What to I intend to do about?

Answer: I'm doing it. I'm running for City Council with no hidden agenda and I encourage other members of the community to seek office and otherwise become more outspoken in our community.

Question. When?

Answer. Right now and in the future.

Question. Do I support the Chamber of Commerce's Living Wage Initiative or the SMART Initiative and why?

Answer. I believe that the SMART Initiative and our City Council's support of it is ill conceived. I also believe the Chambers Initiative is flawed. But, I do support the people's right to have a voice and vote on this issue.

Question. What do I feel should be done about the homeless?

Answer. Change our funding priorities to provide real life changing help to get people off the streets and end their suffering. And to use the criminal justice system to effect change if help is continuously refused.

Question. What would I do about Parking?

Answer. The City must work actively with businesses, schools and residents to effectively solve the problem citywide. Additional parking must be provided with the help of our City government. And a Master Plan addressing parking must be done.

Question. What would I do about traffic?

Answer. Restrict traffic in residential areas and facilitate greater use of cross-town arteries. This will require signal timing, removing current and planned obstacles and increasing the number of lanes in some areas.

Question. What would I do about development?

Answer. I understand that a City must change to meet the times but buildings should not grow any larger. I will only support development that solves problems such as adequate on-site parking

Question. What would I do about residential development?

Answer. This City is dense enough. I support some limits on size of projects. I do wish to see more new housing that is affordable and could be purchased by any of Santa Monica's financially diverse residents.

Question. Where can the public obtain more information about your platform?

Answer. By speaking directly to me at 310-453-5075, E-mailing me at Cole4Council@aol.com or writing for information to P.O. Box 3268, Santa Monica, CA 90408.

In three hundred words or less why I am the best person for the job.

This campaign is not about how good or bad we now have it - it is about how good we will have it. The current City Council has taught us all to ignore the homeless and suffering on our streets. It has pitted the business community, the education community and resident groups against each other when it should have provided the leadership to bring people together to create change that serves everyone's needs. Powerful forces are standing in the way of progress here in Santa Monica. It is time we confront the hard issues of our community and we must return the power of the people to the people. We must remove control of our community from special interest groups. We have real problems with the homeless, with our schools, with traffic and parking, with massive ongoing over-development, with a growing resentment towards City leadership and we live in a City that is dominated by only one political voice for all the people and that is just not right or fair. I seek to provide a balance for this community. I will work hard and listen to everyone and treat him or her decently with respect. I value people.