What are some key issues facing Pacific Grove?
A recent survey showed that a large majority of our citizens are pleased with the way things are going in our city. That doesn't mean it's perfect - we can and need to work on improvements. I will continue to improve walkability by improving sidewalks. Biking can be easier and safer with more bike racks, bike routes and enforcement of safety rules to make bike use safer, particularly for kids. We can improve sightlines for crosswalks by replacing certain parking spots with bike racks.
Our city is fortunate to have an abundance of beautiful public spaces. Our parks and shoreline are magnificent - and need care. Some of the parks are in reasonable shape, but some need significant attention to keep them healthy and welcoming for residents and visitors. I will work on setting priorities for investment in infrastructure projects and work on funding those by curbing unnecessary expenses and increasing revenue raised primarily from our visitors. [
We have more and more visitors every year and the crowds can be very aggravating for residents. Yet, our economy depends on visitor spending. We need to find ways for our visitors to pay their fair share of the expense of maintaining the city. Paid parking (that still favors residents), small fees to offset impacts and perhaps a small bump in sales tax would help us pay for improvements since 74% of sales are to visitors.
Housing and renting in Pacific Grove is very expensive, pricing out long-term residents and keeping families from moving here. We need more housing and will also need to meet the State's requirements for building new units. Figuring out how to do this, while keeping our city's historic character is very challenging and we will need innovative solutions. Yes, our city is changing and we need to figure out how we can move into a new landscape and keep our identity.
One of the most important tasks of any Council is supporting a solid financial picture now and for the future. I support using a set-aside trust fund to apply to our massive pension obligations and closely monitoring projects, staffing and resources to make our city's operations efficient while delivering excellence in every-day services - traffic safety, parking, sidewalks, paving, and even litter abatement. I support these goals by setting policies, enacting enforceable ordinances and supporting staff's hard work. I support the current Council's trend of limiting consulting, assessing the long-range impacts of current spending, and matching our spending to our revenue.
We have underinvested in infrastructure (streets, roads, parks) for a long time. Recent assessments indicate the city needs to invest $20million in the next 10 years to keep our city in good repair. We need to choose projects judiciously and evaluate options to get the most for taxpayer funds. It's not magic- we need to take care of the "needs" before the "wants".