League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA June 23, 2015 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of San Jose; Council District 4

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of San Jose/Santa Clara and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Experience, Budget, Concerns, Balancing interests, Campaign financing Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What experience related to city government would you bring to the City Council? Answer from Tim Orozco: As a community college instructor for 10 years, I developed a strong commitment to education and taught the value of public service. Currently as a legislative aide for a state lawmaker, I've gained a solid grasp of the issues facing our area and the necessary experience to ensure effective representation for Berryessa, North San Jose and Alviso. In this role, I have worked to provide quality constituent service to the community in need. I wish to continue this commitment to public service if elected to the City Council. Answer from Manh Nguyen: I have a broad diversity of experience, from a law education to three decades as a small business owner and media professional. Having built my own business as a newspaper publisher and radio and TV producer, I understand what it takes to encourage job growth. As a journalist, I am familiar with the issues facing San Jose and the community figures involved in those issues. I am not a political insider, but I understand the way our city government operates. I also understand the needs of District 4, thanks to my deep roots in the community. I raised my three children here, and they all went to public schools in the district. 2. San Jose budget difficulties have resulted in unprecedented cuts to staff and services. How will you deal with coming shortfalls? Restoring some of the City services? And, if you think the City needs additional resources, what are your ideas for increasing revenues? Answer from Manh Nguyen: In annual surveys, the taxpaying residents of San Jose are asked to rank their priorities for city services. In the event that cuts need to be made, these recommendations should be followed. Beyond expanding our tax base, I am a proponent of finding new ways to deliver services more efficiently. A few cost effective ideas include the use of predictive analytics to deploy police officers more efficiently as well as ending the practice of deploying fire trucks to all medical emergencies, and instead deploy two-person SUV's to increase emergency medical response times. As a councilmember, I will be committed to these and other reforms. Common sense and fiscal prudence is valuable both in times of scarcity and in times of comfortable revenues. Answer from Tim Orozco: It is my firm belief that core services such as Police and Fire, should not be jeopardized in the event of a budgetary crisis. It is absolutely necessary to provide these services for any city, regardless of budgetary constraints. All other departments are subject to review of required services to temporarily maintain a lean, but healthy quality of life that also provides the optimum level of service to the City's citizens. 3. What concerns are of particular importance to the city and how would you address them? Answer from Manh Nguyen: First, we must improve the economy by helping small businesses and cutting red tape. When the business community thrives, we will have more high-paying jobs for our residents as well as a greater tax base to restore city services. We need to work on restaffing our police department, creating more affordable housing options, and improving our infrastructure. These priorities are issues that need to be solved in a fiscally responsible manner. Answer from Tim Orozco: Creating Jobs and Putting Neighborhood Businesses First The true strength of our economy is in the small businesses that serve our local neighborhoods. Our goal is to ensure that businesses have a healthy partner in City Government, and that the process to maintain or start a business in the neighborhood is made with the ease. Restoring City Services and Repairing our Streets and Roads: Our youth deserve libraries that are open and accessible, our seniors deserve community centers that provide for their needs and all of our neighbors deserve well-maintained roads and viable solutions to reduce traffic. With BART coming to District 4 in Berryessa, there is a tremendous opportunity for smart growth - a mix of residential and commercial development - and the creation of an urban village setting which meets one of the strategies of our General Plan. However, we must be thoughtful of the approach we take and consider the traffic and safety implications that come with such a multi-faceted project. Homelessness/Affordable Housing: Although the San Jose/Santa Clara County Region contains one of the highest concentration of millionaires in the country it still remains in the top 10 list of metropolitan areas with the highest population of homeless individuals. According to the 2013 Homeless Census and Survey, an estimated 12,000 individuals experienced one period of homelessness during the year, and 4,770 were identified as chronically homeless. Additionally, individuals are finding it more and more difficult to afford to live and raise a family in the "Capital of Silicon Valley". Parallel to creating regional partnerships and keeping an open door policy, easing standards to create second units, investing more in the affordable housing funds, increasing overall housing supply, softening land use rules, and promoting inclusionary zoning are some tactics I would support if elected to City Council. Restoring Faith in City Government The fractious environment at City Hall and the negative political dialogue has caused many to lose confidence in their City Government. I am interested in restoring that lack of confidence by actively engaging as many community stakeholders as possible and inviting them to the decision making table. Each election brings new personalities and I am hopeful that with this new council we'll see a new direction -- one where cooperative and collaborative approaches are taken to come up with real solutions. I will work to bring people together to make sure that the City is run efficiently and that the optimum level of services are being delivered to our residents. 4. How would you balance the needs of the City as a whole while also addressing needs of your district as well as those of special groups? Answer from Manh Nguyen: While District 4 will likely receive much of the attention in coming years with regards to economic development, I will work with my fellow councilmembers to better understand the specific needs of their districts and find areas where we can collaborate to ensure that no community in our city gets left behind. 5. How much money do you expect to raise/spend on your race, and how will you assure voters that financial contributions will not affect your decisions/positions should you be elected? Answer from Manh Nguyen: It is critical to communicate with my neighbors throughout District 4, and campaign contributions help me directly express my goals as a councilmember. At this point, I have had hundreds of supporters donate to my campaign in amounts varying from $5-$500. I am an independent thinker, who will always vote my conscience. I pride myself on the virtues of honesty and integrity. I do not generally like campaign promises, but I can assure the voters that my work as a representative of the people WILL NOT be influenced by campaign donors or special interests. Anyone who is interested in reviewing my campaign finances can find our latest fundraising report on the City Clerk's website: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?nid=451 Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answer to each question should be limited to 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.