Questions for SM City Council Candidates by Brentwood Media Group

By Chuck Allord

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

Age: 38

Where born: Santa Monica

Neighborhood: Neighbors for a Safer Santa Monica (Lincoln to 20th St. & Santa Monica Blvd. to Santa Monica Freeway)

BACKGROUND:

• Q: What do you see as the biggest problem facing Santa Monica?
• A: The current City Council is unresponsive to the people's need and is irrational.

• Q: What do you intend to do about it?
• A: Vote them out of office.

• Q: When?
• A: Now.

• Q: Do you support the Chamber of Commerce's Living Wage Initiative or the SMART Initiative (or neither?) Why?
• A: I do not support either one because wages should be set at the State or Federal level. Let the voters decide it in November.

• Q: What do you feel should be done about the following?
• A1: The homeless
• Stop inviting the nations problems to our doorsteps. I prefer encouraging cooperation from other cities and the State to bear their shares of this burden.

• A2: Parking
• We have to stop granting parking variances to buildings & businesses that are knowingly under-parked and modify our zoning ordinances to increase the parking standard.

• A3: Traffic
• Stop the bonehead traffic calming procedures and move traffic rather than backing up traffic which is making it unsafe for all of us.

• A4: Development: Commercial?
• Intelligent redevelopment is preferred, but large scale commercial development should be carefully examined.
• A5: Development: Residential?
• We have a severe density problem in this city and we should have policies that aim to improve the quality of life in our community.

• Q: Where can the public obtain more information about your platform?
• A: E-mail me at ChuckAllord@Hotmail.com or drop me a line at 1543 10th Street, #7, Santa Monica, CA 90401. For more information, visit http://www.SmartVoter.org.

I have been fighting for our community's rights for as long as I can remember. I am a native of this area and I've been helping people my whole life. I am running for City Council to change people's lives for the better - I want to reverse the trend in this city and put the needs of residents first. I have specific plans to improve traffic, parking and congestion; to eliminate the blight of vagrancy; for responsible development and to improve the city's schools. Anytime a council spends more per capita on vagrants than they do on their students, they have got it backwards.

As a renter myself, I believe that while renter's rights are important, it cannot be the only issue the Council sees. This town has been run by groups of single issue, single minded people and now is time to end that ideological philosophy. I helped to expose Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush's wrongdoings. I look at myself as a consumer activist. I am one of the founding members of "Neighbors for a Safer Santa Monica" which has successfully lobbied the city on behalf of area residents.

I am demanding a responsive and sensible Santa Monica City Government. I am proud of being the only true independent candidate out of this highly politicized campaign and I will stay with the ideal of fighting for, helping, and representing the community. Remember, this campaign is not about the status quo, but about the citizens of Santa Monica not letting the special interest groups dictate our lives and the development of our great city. It's time for change, it's time to regain the soul of this city, it's time to vote for Chuck Allord for Santa Monica City Council.