What are your feelings on the Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency?
Chris Borello:
“The RDA needs to be taken in a new direction that would focus on creating more shopping, jobs, and improving our infrastructure. Projects such as the Aquatics Center, Centennial Center, the Community Center, and the planned Sports Complex are wonderful amenities but they strain our general fund and are used by a minority of Morgan Hill residents. The future of the RDA should protect the rights of property owners and offer incentives for companies locating in Morgan Hill. The majority of employers are small business owners and we need to welcome them into our community with same types of incentives the city currently is offering to the developers along Cochrane Road. I would strongly oppose any amendment to the RDA which would allow eminent domain powers. Rather than taking a property the RDA should try to work with the landowner to develop a plan that would maximize the potential of a property.”
Alex Kennett:
“I like the RDA but feel it needs to be managed better. The monies should be used for more than just infrastructure. By law the city can’t run what they build with eminent domain funds but they can study how to run them.”
Marby Lee:
“The RDA could be a source of funds to provide incentives for businesses to come to Morgan Hill, by offsetting impact fees, funding EIR’s, or defraying the costs of establishing planned unit developments. The success of the RDA to the present and the projects it has undertaken need to be studied prior to any expansion of the RDA is considered. Redevelopment Agency funds should no longer be used to construct facilities which rely on money out of the general fund for maintenance and operations.”
Greg Sellers:
“It is imperative that we extend the Redevelopment Agency, but we should reduce its size and focus our efforts on the completion of our downtown and on economic development initiatives that bring desired businesses to our community that both increase tax revenue and enhance our quality of life.
“We have made significant progress in downtown the past several years, improving our business mix, adding downtown market rate housing for the first time in a generation, and building needed infrastructure. If re-elected I will use my experience and close ties with the downtown to push for the completion of our “downtown renaissance.”
“As chair of our Economic Development Sub-committee, I am proud that we have not just added businesses, but we have added the right businesses to Morgan Hill. Trader Joes, The Ford Store, and the new DiNapoli Center are all positive additions to our community.”
Al Tervalon:
“The RDA seems to be a viable, functional mechanism for making positive improvements to the overall town infrastructure, so I believe it should, in principle, continue to function. It’s important to maintain vigilant oversight, so that the powers assigned to the RDA aren’t misused. In particular, under no circumstances should we allow the RDA or any other agency to utilize eminent domain to transfer private property from one owner to another.”
What will you do to reduce the budget deficit?
Chris Borello:
“The budget deficit is a thing of the past! The city went from more than $1.5 million in the red to about $40,000 in the black in less than six months. According to city staff this daunting feat was accomplished through higher than projected car sales, RV sales and gasoline sales! I would hypothesize that this radical phenomenon will not repeat itself in the future. The key to solving our budget problems is to analyze where the money is going. The city council needs to get creative with public facilities and identify a solution to solve these problems. I suggest the privatization of these facilities.”
Alex Kennett:
“Run the city’s resources like any corporation would run it’s own business and focus on economic development. The city doesn’t know where its next dollar is coming from in that it is totally dependent on the economy as a whole. We need to hire an economic development professional.”
Marby Lee:
“I’ll look closely at consultants’ fees to see if there are ways that those moneys could be better spent. I would continue to look at our budget to see what other areas may not have been considered in previous reviews. My gut feeling is that there is a substantial portion of the budget that is spent on consultants that could be better spent directly to the benefi t of residents of Morgan Hill. The responsibility of government first and foremost is public safety and infrastructure. When you spend RDA money to build recreation facilities that must be maintained with general fund money, and not increase the street staffing of the police dept as our population grows, you are essentially putting recreation before public safety, and this is not wise stewardship of the public’s tax dollars.”
Greg Sellers:
“We do not have a budget deficit, in fact we ended the year in the black and the city is today in better financial shape than ever. The reality is that we built up our reserves when times were good, and are now, appropriately, dipping into those reserves to help smooth out our budget.
“We have instituted a long-term approach to budgeting that conservatively estimates our future budget situation, a reserve policy that sets aside 25 percent of our reserves for emergencies, and a long-term economic development strategy that identifies new revenues without raising taxes.”
Al Tervalon:
“There are fundamentally only two ways to do so: reduce expenses or increase income. I’m not certain that substantial cuts to expenses can be made without causing significant negative impact on the community – we already have problems keeping streets and parks maintained. I certainly don’t want to raise taxes, either personal or business, as that creates all sorts of unhappiness and resentment. So, the primary solution that I see is to bring more business into town, creating an additional income from the sales taxes. In this area I think we can build relationships with the leaders of other “small town feel” cities like Saratoga or Los Gatos, and see what we can learn from them. I want to be careful about the type and placement of new businesses, so that the growth occurs in a manner that we can all enjoy.”
What will you do to legislate more regionally, to include issues affecting neighboring communities such as San Martin?
Chris Borello:
“I would work with the elected officials, political groups and business owners in Gilroy, San MArtin and Coyote Valley for the greater good. I would come to the table ready to learn, listen, and comment. It’s going to take a careful understanding of each community to meet the needs of the larger community of South County. As a community we need to keep an open mind and listen to our neighbors. Through patience, understanding, and respect the four communities will function more efficiently.”
Alex Kennett:
“Where the law allows, the city should look into regional management of fire and other services that benefit both communities. As a common law city Morgan Hill doesn’t have the flexibility that a charter city such as Gilroy has.”
Marby Lee:
“I am elected to serve the residents of Morgan Hill, logically therefore, what I vote on only applies to the residents of Morgan Hill. Where the interests of Morgan Hill and other communities, such as San Martin, align, I will work with their representatives to establish policies which are mutually benefi cial, but fi rst and foremost, I will be acting in the best interest of Morgan Hill.”
Greg Sellers:
“I am excited by the prospect of San Martin becoming a city, but if they do there will be significant challenges and opportunities that Morgan Hill must face. We should work with San Martin to establish cooperative agreements to provide public safety and other vital community services. We must also work with San Jose in the development of Coyote Valley, and we need to work closely with the Morgan Hill Unified School District in developing solutions to issues of mutual concern to our children.”
Al Tervalon:
“I intend to meet and build relationships with the leaders of these and other communities. In some cases, it may be appropriate and more effective to act in concert with our immediate neighbors. In others, we may simply have something to learn, like electrical power management from Santa Clara or Palo Alto. As various issues are addressed by the Council,
I expect to continually evaluate whether regional partners exist to help address those issues, and take a pro-active to engage those partners to create mutually beneficial solutions.”
What are your views on downtown Morgan Hill housing and business development controls?
Chris Borello:
“A specific plan for downtown needs to be drafted and incorporated into the general plan. By creating a specific plan the city will clearly identify the types of developments it would like to see and periodically check on the progress they are making. The permitting process in downtown Morgan Hill needs to be streamlined. To get developers to build these types of projects they need to be the easiest projects to get approved. The businessmen and women who are going to be investing in the downtown are going to continue to embark on the path of least resistance. We need to make mixed use developments which are made up of commercial space on the bottom floors, office space on the second floors and condos and flats on the third and fourth floors, the easiest projects to get approved.
Alex Kennett:
“I would like to see our downtown become our version of Santana Row. Third and fourth stories for living; second stories for office and retail and entertainment at street level. We can adjust Measure C to accommodate our needs to keep our growth rate and cap within original guidelines.”
Marby Lee:
“To the extent that these controls act in concert to bring new residents and new businesses to Downtown, they’re fine. However, I’m concerned that the development approval process has become so complex and expensive that it deters rather than encourages new development, particularly business development. I’d also prefer to see the Downtown housing unit allotment be a part of the 250 annually allowed units, rather than an addition to that limit.”
Greg Sellers:
“I helped craft our new growth control policies that led to the approval of hundreds of new housing units downtown, and I authored Measure F to ensure that we bring attractive mixed use development to our downtown core area. I also led the effort to provide incentives to new businesses that locate in the downtown.
“If re-elected, I will push for the extension of our redevelopment agency, and will convene workshops with downtown property owners, business owners, residents and the community at large to initiate a long-term plan that ensures our “downtown renaissance” continues and expands to make our downtown better than ever.”
Al Tervalon:
“I believe downtown requires additional residents to create the necessary foot traffic to support a bustling downtown area, as well as additional & appropriate businesses to provide services and entertainment. The growth restriction measures clearly show the will of the residents to grow in a controlled manner that maintains our sense of community. The great challenge will be to assess a) what is a “bustling downtown area”; b) how many residents might be required to effectively support it; and c) what kinds of businesses are desired in the area.”
What are the top three issues in your campaign platform?
Chris Borello:
Public safety
Balanced budget
Protecting property rights/downtown development.
Services – public safety must grow with Morgan Hill; environmental sensitivity – retain the quality of life that is Morgan Hill.
Nice, user-friendly government – promote transparency of government.
Sensible fiscal responsibility – build things we can sustain and manage; Eeconomic development – allow Morgan Hill to pay for itself.
Marby Lee:
Balance the city budget
Revitalize downtown
Increase staffing for public safety.
Greg Sellers:
“Public safety has always been my top priority, and today we have more police and firefighters than ever in our history. I will continue that focus on public safety by adding new police officers and firefighters and implementing a long-term financing plan to ensure our future public safety needs are met;
“Extend our Redevelopment Agency and use agency funds to complete our downtown and bring desired businesses to our community.”
Al Tervalon:
Responsible fiscal management.
Making city facilities more easily available to all residents.
Increasing voter education and overall turnout at elections.
