ISSUES

By Nancy Knight

• Public Safety

• Controlled Spending

• Traffic Flow

• Affordable Housing

• Controlled Development

• Historic West Side

• Flood Control

Quality Public Safety Service is my highest priority. We have room for improvement and I want to implement (1) victim restitution and enforcement of fines for violators of our laws and ordinances. (2) proactive officers who stop violators of our ordinances in our neighborhoods without waiting for the neighbors? call for help. (3) screening services for apartment managers to help them obtain quality tenants. (4) fines to be collected from the landlords who profit from rents at the community's expense when they harbor those who create trouble or unsightly dwellings.

Controlled Spending

If elected, I will serve the community with diligence and make informed financial decisions. I will exercise fair and impartial judgment with moral as well as financial considerations. I will seek State and Federal help to revoke the non-profit status of The Murrieta Town Hall Association and return our tax dollars to our reserve account.

I will work to eliminate city assessment taxes. For some of our taxpayers, $140 is 3 weeks groceries and for others it is one night on the town. There is inequity here. As our commercial base generates more sales tax revenue we should eliminate assessment taxes before we look for new ways to spend money.

Traffic Flow

Getting our children safely and efficiently to and from school should be a high priority for future road construction. We need to focus on residential traffic problems especially around schools and provide parking lots for parents picking up and delivering children to school.

Affordable Housing

I propose a new zoning paradigm. We need zoning to meet our state quota for affordable housing and that zoning should integrate people and provide every working family with the opportunity to experience the American Dream of home ownership. Apartment dwellings isolate families, provide no return on their investment, increase expenses over time and are a poor substitute for a "good faith effort" to provide affordable housing. Hard working families deserve better. I propose zoning 9 standard homes to 1 affordable home in every new development and one affordable rental unit per RR1 zone with an owner occupied principal residence.

Controlled Development

The aesthetic beauty of our rolling hills skyline must be preserved.

Designs and conditions that are agreed to at our public meetings must be Documented and Enforced.

Full-Disclosure must be provided at public hearings. Planning engineers have a responsibility to fully explain areas on developer plans that will or could negatively impact neighboring developments.

Commercial and industrial development designs need to include aesthetic screening of loading docks, pallets and waste dumpsters that are in public view.

Historic West Side

The historic West Side will someday have a museum.

I am against any initiative to rezone an individual's property for historic preservation unless the public is willing to purchase the land. It is wrong to rezone land and force the owner to let it sit barren.

We have no active Historical Society working to raise funds to purchase a museum site therefore taxpayer dollars will be needed. Everyone is in agreement that we need to preserve our historical past for the enjoyment of future generations. Since we have no preservable structures, the open question is where to develop a museum?

I propose evaluation of our affordable options and using artist renderings of the proposed historic development and surrounding neighborhood, the public should come to a site choice decision. It will take a community to make a museum successful and it will take a community to decide its best location.

We also need a passive park with bike and walking trails, ample parking for visitors, and safe wildlife ecosystems.

Flood Control

I will work to implement our flood control measures and eliminate the County's interference in our goals.