Bob Bohner on all the issues

By Bob Bohner

Public Safety, Residential Development, Commercial Development, Traffic Enforcement, Facilities and Open Space Strategic Planning, Education, Environment, and Making A Place For Seniors In Our Community

Keeping our population safe requires that we follow through with the kinds of programs to ensure public safety remains our top priority. Bob is a strong supporter of our Manhattan Beach Police and Fire Departments. He will make sure that we pursue policies that retain highly trained first responders, and give them the tools and resources needed to respond to emergencies.

Residential Development

Bob will consistently work to preserve our quality of life and the existing character of our neighborhoods. He will do this by amending our applicable codes so that future residential lot mergers meet supplemental open space requirements, and contain building structures which are reduced in height and are limited in overall building area. He also believes that we should revise our applicable codes to make it easier to remodel homes so as to encourage the retention of existing smaller homes rather than encourage our residents to build their homes out to the maximum allowable lot limits. Bob also supports proposed revisions to our zoning code, which would allow an adjacent commonly owned parcel next to a parcel developed with a principal structure to be used for an accessory use that creates more open space in the area. These efforts will encourage residents to maintain existing smaller homes and preserve open space while respecting the property rights of our citizens.

Commercial Development

Bob recognizes that the relief of traffic and parking congestion associated with commercial development is a primary concern of our residents. Bob will work to mitigate the adverse traffic impact of commercial development in both our city and the surrounding area. He will require traffic studies, detailed parking demand analyses and detailed traffic mitigation proposals from commercial developers as part of the approval process before commercial development will be allowed to proceed. Bob will ensure that the proposed expansion of the Manhattan Village Shopping Center will as a prerequisite thoroughly mitigate any adverse impact that this development has on the adjacent neighborhoods. He will also work diligently with the City of El Segundo and other neighboring communities to continue ongoing efforts to mitigate traffic associated with the development of Plaza El Segundo.

Traffic Enforcement

Bob understands the level of traffic control problems caused by the overflow of traffic (during peak driving hours) into our residential neighborhoods from the main thoroughfares, such as Sepulveda and Aviation Boulevards. That is why Bob is a firm supporter of the efforts our Police Department has made to divide the city into quadrants for better traffic control and enforcement purposes. Bob will continue to encourage these efforts and provide our police officers with all the necessary resources and personnel required so that they can better access and develop unique problem-solving strategies that are tailor made to address traffic control issues associated with the particular neighborhoods in their enforcement area.

Facilities and Open Space Strategic Planning

The efforts our city is making to involve the residents in identifying and prioritizing community and recreational needs is a great way for us to reach a collective consensus as to which community facilities we should support and develop in the future. Bob believes that involving the residents directly in this process will lead to significant community support as we decide which community facilities should be given priority in the planning and developmental process. A full analysis detailing the actual costs of each suggested facility, and how our community proposes to pay those costs must be undertaken with full disclosure to the residents.

Education

Achieving the highest quality schools benefits everyone in Manhattan Beach. Not only are our children our future, but also good schools mean higher property values for all our residents. Bob is committed to building a cooperative and complementary relationship with the Manhattan Beach School Board. He will identify issues that the city and the schools can jointly resolve. For example, the city council can help defer infrastructure costs such as outdoor lighting, etc. This would free up budgeting constraints, and allow the school district to allocate funds more directly focused on learning. Bob will also direct the city to partner with the School Board in identifying issues associated with local education and the administration of our schools that might impact our community and help the School Board address those issues.

Environment

Our beaches are a precious resource that we must preserve. Bob will provide strong leadership to create a regional solution for reducing storm drain runoff from surrounding communities, to keep this pollution off our beaches. We must continue to raise the bar on this issue, insisting on best management practices that require new developments to create and follow a plan to reduce storm water runoff. We must protect our local environment; we owe it to our children and grandchildren, and for the future of our community.

Making A Place For Seniors In Our Community

Our seniors simply do not currently have the opportunities that they deserve here in Manhattan Beach. Bob believes that the lack of such meaningful opportunities to enhance the health and social life of seniors is the critical issue facing our older residents. Seniors need a place where they have a wide range of activities, programs and resources that will allow them to lead vibrant, healthy and active lifestyles. If elected, Bob will support a new senior facility center, either separately or as part of a multi-purpose community center, in order to provide our seniors with a place to congregate and to obtain information and assistance. Our seniors need a place where they can participate in meal and nutritional programs, health and fitness programs, art programs and have recreational, transportation, educational and social interaction opportunities and services. A new senior center would provide an excellent means of delivering those services.