Describe how effectively you and your beliefs will fit into the dynamics of this City Council.
Having been on the City Council for the past four years and having been active in Culver City politics for eighteen years, I have well-formed and strong beliefs on most Culver City political issues. I have worked over the course of the past four years to develop good working relationships with my four colleagues so that we could implement policy that reflects those beliefs, and I have been very successful. You are never going to have five Council members who all agree on every issue. Nor would you want that since a healthy political discourse helps to build community. However, we need to strive to form a city government that works jointly with the entire community to enact policy and legislation that will help Culver City to move forward.
One example is the recent disagreement over the location of the Skateboard Park. The Council originally voted three to two to place the park in a location that would cause us to lose green space. As an avid environmentalist, I opposed such a plan while some of my colleagues believed that safety dictated this new location. Because of my strongly held beliefs, I continued to work with my colleagues on the Council, city staffers and members of the community to develop the eventual solution of keeping the park in its current location, which passed unanimously.
Describe your philosophical approach to development, particularly the Washington-Centinela project.
My approach to development has always included four major components:
• Reconcile what is best for the community at-large and what the neighbors want, if they are in conflict.
• Include residents and business owners in the decision-making process
• Work collectively with our neighbors in Los Angeles and other cities since developments will often influence entire regions and
• Include housing (and affordable housing) in developments in order to relieve traffic congestion and the housing crisis on the Westside.
Over the past four years, I have implemented many of these philosophies, including the formation of the Advisory Committee on Redevelopment, a nine-member board that reviews development projects and offers suggestions to the Council. As a member of the committee working on the Washington-Centinela project, I have met with the neighbors and city staff to collect suggestions and answer questions.
As part of the initial Washington-Centinela project, two mobile home parks were unfortunately included. After visiting the mobile home parks many times and speaking with the residents, it was clear to me that they wanted to remain at that location. The predominantly lower income residents, many of whom are elderly and/or disabled, have discovered their supportive community and strongly desire to live at the mobile home parks.
It is ethically wrong to keep the mobile home parks in this development because the residents will be forced to relocate, thus causing tremendous needless suffering. The only humane solution is for the Culver City Redevelopment Agency to use part of its required affordable housing money to make the mobile home parks permanently affordable, similar to the action taken years ago by the Redevelopment Agency for the Playa mobile home park residents. I am working on crafting such a solution.
Describe the approach you favor, from this point, for establishing an above-grade light rail terminal at Venice/National and how you will convince your Council colleagues to join you.
As Culver City’s representative to the Exposition Construction Authority, I have worked diligently to bring light rail to Culver City in order to improve mobility, decrease traffic congestion and pollution, and help our business community. It is best for Culver City and for Metro if our station is built above grade. That is everyone’s preference. However, an above grade station is very costly. Neither the Construction Authority nor Culver City has the money to pay for it at this time. Therefore, the Council decided to approve the project Enviromental Impact Report (EIR) that would allow for a temporary station to be built on Wesley should the money not become available in the near future. However, I have been working with all of our representatives at the County, state, and federal levels, and I believe that we will find the money in order to build the elevated station since construction will not begin for some time. If we are unable to find the money, remember that the temporary station will only be in service temporarily since ours is the last station to be built during the first phase and first to be built during the second phase to Santa Monica.
I have already worked to convince my Council colleagues to support this plan and am proud to have been joined in this historic vote by Mayor Albert Vera and Council members Carol Gross and Steve Rose, a supermajority. We all realize the importance of this project and the long-term benefits of working in conjunction with Metro and our neighbors rather than fighting them.
Describe your specific solution to the problem of Recreational Vehicles being parked on the street in residential and commercial areas.
Many of the decisions that we, as Council members, have to make seem black and white, with two options and little middle ground for compromise. However, when there is an opportunity to bring people together and find a solution that would satisfy all parties, it behooves us to at least attempt to find it. On this issue, the Council had just such an opportunity. Residents were complaining about a small number of people living in their RVs or parking them on the street in unsightly locations. At the same time, taxpaying Culver City residents and homeowners were adamant that it is their right to park their vehicles on the street just like everyone else, especially because alternative parking areas are expensive and far away. I suggested that we bring both sides together and attempt to find a compromise such as a permitting system that might include the collection of signatures from neighbors. However, I was not able to get majority support for that idea.
Describe in detail how you do/would prepare for each City Council meeting, and specifically how you do/would follow up on pivotal actions taken at the weekly meetings.
In preparation for each week’s meeting, I always read the agenda packet and staff reports, speak to relevant city staffers, and discuss issues with members of the community that may be impacted by my decision. If necessary, I do my own research of the issue. Additionally, I sometimes speak with one Council member for input and clarification because the Brown Act precludes a majority of Council members from discussing items outside of the public meeting. I follow up on decisions through regular communication with Jerry Fulwood, the CAO, and other members of his staff.
Identify three subjects currently facing the City Council that strongly interest you, and explain your resolution for each.
I am going to mention three items currently being researched and agendized for upcoming meetings that I have raised. First is the concept of establishing Green Building Designs for all businesses within the city. Culver City is on the cutting edge of creating one of the most environmentally-friendly construction ordinances in the country. Through the establishment of these designs, we will be able to save our businesses (and the city) money in heating and cooling bills while also working to conserve energy. Additionally, Green Building Designs will make the work environment healthier and friendlier for the employees.
Second is the creation of a teen advisory council to involve interested young people in city government and encourage their voices to be heard on issues affecting them. I have spoken to many teenagers in the city, and I know that there is strong interest in this project across the board. I am looking forward to its implementation.
Third is the issue of local animal control. Unlike the two above, this issue was brought to me by a group of community activists – Friends of Culver City Animals . They saw a problem with city services and wanted to solve it. I was a strong supporter of establishing a local animal control program from the beginning, and I have worked to create a consensus among my colleagues by establishing a Council sub-committee that I sit on with Mayor Vera. By researching this issue with staff and the community activists, I know that we will realize that there are funding sources resulting in a safer city.
Explain what single activity/assignment in your life has been the best preparation for your duties on the City Council.
Before joining the City Council, I was an active resident for fourteen years. I was active in the schools, as an appointee of the City Council, on numerous civic boards, and on U.S. Rep. Diane Watson’s Community Advisory Committee. However, the best preparation for the City Council came from my work as a community activist. For years before I ran for the Council, I worked as a resident to advocate for those neighborhoods in need of assistance. When the residents of Madison Avenue did not want their street to be closed, I met with them and helped. When the residents of Blair Hills were desperately seeking help from the City Council to stop the development of a housing development that could have destroyed their houses and taken parkland, I helped them. Those and other similar projects helped to prepare me for my role as a neighborhood advocate on the Council.
