Statement to Our Citizens

By Peter J Murray

Experience provides the best gauge of character and service to the Pinole community going forward into the future

Hello, I'm Peter Murray, Mayor of the City of Pinole, I would appreciate your support in the upcoming election

Many of you know me, I have resided in Pinole for over thirty-eight years, I am married, and my wife and I have with three children and four grandchildren all of whom are Pinole residents as well.

I am a member of the St Joseph church in Pinole and had volunteered as coach and assistant coach in the local little and soccer leagues for many years.

I believe in keeping actively involved in the community, it is through these and other activities that I have been able to keep in touch with the needs of our citizens large and small.

For as long as I can remember, I have been willingly involved always working to better our community.

I have over 20 years of experience serving as a planning commissioner, councilmember, redevelopment board-member and four-time Mayor.

I understand the ins and outs of local government and our city, and I believe my service mentality is well understood by the Pinole community.

My sense is that `service' is what the role of government is really all about, that if one is being trusted to doing the best work one can on behalf of those that have given that trust, that is the the job you do.

My sentiments are you put the community first and I won't support those that do not act the same.

I have always taken this responsibility seriously providing the leadership, concern and accountability necessary in support of our community's needs, interests and well-being.

I believe today, our biggest challenge is keeping our communities safe and whole protecting our community during these difficult times of recession and fiscal uncertainty.

Supporting public safety is of great concern to Pinole citizens and rightfully so. Our city council today is working to maintain our public safety staff's capabilities.

I will strive to maintain our police department's community preservation unit which supports a number of proactive programs like a neighborhood watch group in every neighborhood.

Today, we can count on these groups to augment our police. Our public safety responders are working with our local businesses to protect their businesses, as well.

Our fiscal situation is a result of the times we find ourselves in nationally and locally, depreciating home and land values, and the loan industry crisis, the result is a squeezing of our general tax revenue and a intense scrutiny of our fiscal situation.

As your Mayor and a part of diligent city council, we have begun addressing the issue by tightening our budgets and creating a three year budget plan, with minimal percentage increases to keep our budget balanced over the three year period.

The council and I have taken a conservative stance on our budget, working to preserve our financial revenue streams, while maintaining a prudent grasp on expenditures.

In addition, through redevelopment we have been renewing our aging facilities and older business areas, without our redevelopment programs we will need to be more creative in marketing Pinole aggressively to strong companies.

As long as I have been involved, the City has been progressive in attracting strong businesses and we have some wonderful results to show for it. ( Trader Joe's, Tina's Place, Kaiser Permanente and transformation of Anthony Auto wreckers into Pinole Shores Business Park)

I'm proud to say; we have been proactive in these matters and I'm proud to have played a role in our accomplishments.

I have been here all along, partnering with our council to guide our community through several particularly rough periods and they understand my commitment and service nature.

The council and I have created a whole new era of openness and transparency. The city has provided seminars for the community so they might understand how the city operates and how our service programs actually work and benefit all.

There has been the creation of committees to achieve greater citizen involvement and be a more knowledgeable community as well.

It has been great to be a part of all this, I hope you give me the opportunity to do more.

Let's keep Pinole, `PINOLE' together.

Mayor Pete Murray