Candidate for
Council Member; City of Palo Alto

SOLUTIONS THAT BALANCE COMPETING NEEDS We need to match our budget with community values. We need to acknowledge that we are in a period of economic uncertainty and we must get back to basics. We must prioritize funding for our public works infrastructure and our core community assets, like schools, libraries, and parks. This will require some hard decisions and belt tightening. With 14 years of management experience, I feel qualified to approach our budget and priorities with proven business strategies. I offer you common sense fiscal accountability.

JOINT PLANNING BETWEEN OUR LOCAL INSTITUTIONS We need to recognize that only in working together can we solve our challenges and create a sustainable community. That means, planning and partnership with the school district, businesses, local neighborhoods and our regional neighbors, including Stanford. And possibilities exist, like reducing traffic impacts by combining the Marguerite with the Palo Alto shuttle including expansion of routes and frequency of service. The goal of this planning must be results, not prolonged debate

JOINT PLANNING BETWEEN OUR LOCAL INSTITUTIONS We need to recognize that only in working together can we solve our challenges and create a sustainable community. That means, planning and partnership with the school district, businesses, local neighborhoods and our regional neighbors, including Stanford. And possibilities exist, like reducing traffic impacts by combining the Marguerite with the Palo Alto shuttle including expansion of routes and frequency of service. The goal of this planning must be results, not prolonged debate

TRAFFIC SAFETY We need to ensure that children and seniors--and the rest of us--can walk and bike safely in our town. I challenge each of you to ride a bike to your local elementary school at the time when children are going to school. See first hand how dangerous the traffic conditions are in your neighborhoods. Speeding in school zones and running red lights are endangering our children. The most cost-effective and immediate solution is to enforce our traffic laws. We must make traffic enforcement a priority and as citizens, we must commit to driving sanely and obeying our laws.

JOBS:HOUSING RATIO We must fully quantify the optimal jobs:housing carrying capacity of our city and determine, with each new project, if it will bring us closer to our desired ratio. Once we have a baseline from which to operate, we can make informed decisions on projects, and we can act proactively to secure projects that better our city, including much need affordable housing.

TRAFFIC Traffic volume can be addressed with desirable, clean, timely and safe public transit. The increased ridership on the Palo Alto Shuttle is a testimony to acceptance rates of new public transportation services.

I am open to fiscally responsible solutions to traffic calming. I support options that do not require total transformation of our streets, such as enhanced canopy/plantings, transitory stop signs, gateway art/banners, residential style street lighting, and traffic regulation enforcement.

Suggestions: 1) Institute new and increase the use of current public transportation. Expand the shuttle service (routes and frequency) through collaboration with the Stanford Marguerite.

2) Better enforcement of moving violations (running stop signs and red lights) and speeding.

3) Implementing subliminal traffic calming measures such as public art or tastefully designed banners at the cities gateways to remind motorists that they are entering a residential community and phase in "residential" light fixtures (smaller and closer to eye level) rather than "freeway" lighting on the arterials.

4) Increase se the canopy coverage and plantings on arterials.

5) Employ more crossing guards and transitory stop signs. (A transitory stop is a removable stop sign that is placed at strategic locations ONLY at peak traffic periods or when children are entering or leaving schools.)

6) Require the implementation of measurable traffic calming strategies as part of any commercial or residential development with strict consequences for non-compliance.