League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	John Karl Fredrich Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Palo Alto

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. How would you balance neighborhood and city-wide concerns?

I see a congruency between city-wide concerns and neighborhood needs. Wherein they diverge it is necessary to weigh the public good in terms of cost benefit trade-offs. Some neighborhoods are suffering disproportionate impacts from traffic and others have pressures for more housing. I recommend hitting the pause button on development until it is more clear as to how heavily the big build out at Stanford and the technological boom here in the North County have already over-shot the mark in the area of negative impacts. Intersections that already have an F rating and are near newly suggested developments need special protection. Page Mill and El Camino is a good example.

2. Palo Alto and surrounding communities are under economic pressure to grow and environmental pressures to live and work closer together. How do you envision Palo Alto responding to these pressures?

I believe we need to revise and refresh our understanding of how to sequence events. Doing the California Avenue make-over before the Stanford housing expansion next to College Terrace between Hanover and El Camino is a big mistake. California Avenue, including the clear-cutting of trees, should have been held up until after the housing and new office footage was completed. I call it 'getting your albatrosses in a row.' The quantum amount of building on Stanford lands, not just the campus center, but the Hospital, the Shopping Center, Ronald MacDonald House, and the above mentioned changes at the edge of the Industrial Park are all of the scale to require a pause in order to absorb the impact. We need some people on the Council capable of saying NO to those rallying to the cry of MORE.

3. What proposals do you have to alleviate the traffic and parking situation in Palo Alto?

We should concentrate on livable, affordable housing and, as such, see to it that the Housing Element of the Comprehensive Plan up-date has room for the building of studios, in-law units, cottages, and accessory housing on larger lots near alley-ways and on corners. Placing a small structure (300-600 square feet) adjacent to a larger building on a 7500 - 8000 square foot parcel in some parts of town should not be a burden and could be handled quite nicely if the Planning Department were to prioritize that as a community need. That would be a perfect complement to the suggested consolidation of lots into larger 3/4 acre parcels in order to make multi unit projects where space and zoning allow. In all cases the management of traffic and parking needs to be evaluated honestly to see if any expansion at all is feasible.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answer to each question should be limited to 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 18, 2014 17:18
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