Candidate for
Councilmember; City of Pacific Grove

My approach to politics is balanced by my willingness to set aside my personal agenda and focus on the needs of our community. I believe everyone wants to see strong leadership in local government with an educated and proactive approach to dealing with the important issues. We are facing difficult and uncertain times in our local and state economy. Pacific Grove needs permanent sustainable water solutions in order to promote strong and sustainable business and commercial development. We need to re-visit our zoning and ordinance restrictions on brand name businesses in Pacific Grove with a fairness to allowing some brand business and not others. Without a sustainable business model in Pacific Grove we will continue to see our tax revenue plummet and our unemployment rate skyrocket to a point of no return.

Lastly and simply, we cannot continue to afford the retirement obligation of Cal Pers. We need to find new "out of the box" approaches to sustaining and providing the retirement obligation of our city employees. Simply reducing the percent we contribute under the State system will only prolong the reality of eventually leading the city into bankruptcy. There are other options and solutions, and we need to make the tough decisions now; not when it's too late.