POSITION PAPER
EQUESTRIAN LIFESTYLE
My Philosophy: The protection of the Equestrian lifestyle is one of my main priorities for serving on the City Council. My love of horses and things “Western” goes back to my early childhood where I was raised on a steady diet of Saturday morning westerns, such as Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry, the Lone Ranger, and Hopalong Cassidy (One of my nicknames was “Hoppy” as a child). As a youngster, I would often clean stalls at the local stable in exchange for the privilege to ride one of their horses. Finally, when I moved to
· I am a long time and proud member of two local equestrian groups: The Portola Riders and the Padre Junipero Serra Riders “Las Tortugas”, having ridden in our annual Fiesta Las Golondrinas Parade for many years.
· I am the only equestrian currently serving on the City Council. I have a strong record of supporting everything equestrian. My horse “Chance” and I can often be found riding our wonderful trails and hills of our valley.
· I have earned the support and confidence of all the major stable owners in our valley because of my support for the equestrian community.
· I am currently working with an ad-hoc committee of stable owners on revising the land use codes on equestrian standards in our City Municipal Code to simplify the implementation of these codes. This will ensure more uniform compliance with these codes and will provide for the protection of our water resources, better recycling of wastes, long-term viability of the equestrian business in our community, and better management of our facilities.
· Recently, I strongly denounced and voted down a staff-suggested “hoof tax” of $150 per horse per year because it unfairly singled out equestrians only who use our trails, taxed other horse owners that never use the trails, and would only serve to discourage horse ownership in our town.
· I am a strong supported of the San Juan Capistrano Equestrian Coalition and the South Orange County Equestrians.
· Former member of the Board of Directors of the
· My grandchildren are now taking riding lessons at our local stables and I want this legacy to continue with their children and grandchildren.
I believe that non-equestrians also derive a certain satisfaction to the soul when they see horses ridden through our communities taking them back.
POSITION PAPER
OPEN SPACE IN
My Philosophy: We are truly blessed with approximately 40% of our City being preserved in Open Space. I believe that this resource makes
- Created the current Open Space Committee with co-chair
Wyatt Hart in 2005 which is working to acquire, preserve, and improve recreational opportunities for all residents of San Juan Capistrano. - An additional 109 acres (Shea Property) was recently acquired by the City this year, nearly tripling the amount of protected open space/natural areas in our community’s northwest quadrant for the enjoyment of our residents.
- As Mayor of your City, I was instrumental in spearheading the effort to successfully block the Postal Service’s development plan that would have dramatically altered the beautiful entryway to our City.
- Created and Chair the Community Trails Committee (CTC) that meets bi-monthly with trail users to work on trail issues of connectivity, preservation, and enhancement.
- Voted to approve an initiative that will give you, the residents of
San Juan, the final say on whether to allow open space to be converted to some other use, thus ensuring that some future council can not give away our open space to developers. - Instrumental in implementing the new trail sign program that has named all our trails, added new miles of trails, connected trails that were previously not connected to the system, posted signs on trails with mile markers for safety and rapid response by Public Safety officials.
- Voted against a proposed project that would have converted acres of open space to high-density residential units.
- As a 32 year resident, have hiked and ridden all of our trails in our City and have sought to educate our residents of this resource by championing the creation of our quarterly newsletter, supporting our recent Open Space Trail Ride, and working with our Equestrian Coalition partners to improve our trail system.
Along with a reported 74% of our residents, I support our current bond initiative to fund the acquisition by our City of additional open space, thus preserving this precious resource for years to come. - Approved the final phases of the completion of our newest park in 20 years, the
Los Rios Park. This new amenity to our historic Los Rios District will complement the downtown area, promote business, and provide passive recreation for tourist and resident alike.
POSITION PAPER
REVITALIZATION OF DOWNTOWN/ECONOMIC STABILITY
My philosophy: I believe that our downtown city core is in need of economic stimulus and greater synergy of the businesses that are down there today. We are lacking some key elements that will truly benefit and revitalize our downtown. My belief is that we can turn this around by:
- Doing all we can as a council to support the re-opening of the downtown movie theater as soon as possible.
- Work with the property owner of the Vaquero West/Mexico Lindo building across from the Depot in rebuilding this structure to house new and exciting retail shops and restaurants.
- Build a visitor’s center for our downtown that will help our many tourists with a central repository for information on what there is to do and see in
San Juan. - Work with our El Camino Real Playhouse to enhance and improve their facility so they can continue to grow and prosper.
- Work with the owner of the old Mission Inn to construct a new destination hotel on this site that could bring increased tourism dollars, hotel occupancy taxes, conferences, another wedding reception venue, and beautification of this crucial entry into our town.
- With my fellow council members and members of the public, we will soon be launching a ‘Strategic Business Plan” for City finances to ensure that we identify and implement all best business practices and a Master Plan to secure a stronger tax base and better economic engines for our City.
- Research ways to make our downtown more pedestrian friendly, especially in front of the
Mission. - Use redevelopment agency funds to support local businesses
- Implement our Tri-City trolley plan with the assistance of the other cities and the Orange County Transportation Authority.
- I supported the Ventanas Project which will bring in much needed redevelopment agency funding and additional jobs and business opportunities for our community. Build in conformance to all city codes, this project will be a great addition to our community.
- I strongly support the proposed Distrito La Novia project, with continued input from neighbors in that area and work by our Council appointed ad-hoc committee. This is in the area of
La Novia Ave.and Valle Road. - I support the wise implementation of a Lower Rosan Ranch plan that will optimize sales tax, provide a mixture of affordable housing and rental properties provide RV/Auto Dealer storage, while retaining ownership of the land in the hands of the city.
POSITION PAPER
TRANSPORTATION ISSUES
My Philosophy: I believe we must work for reasonable solutions on a regional basis to divert traffic around our community and not through it, while assuring that much needed traffic improvements made in our community promote safety, mobility, and preservation of our village character.
- As the City appointed Board of Director’s member of the Tollroad Corridor Agency (TCA), I have worked with my colleagues in all the South County cities to complete the tollroad system supporting the 241 Tollroad South. Listed as a Primary Strategy in the City of San Juan Capistrano’s Strategic Transportation Plan, this traffic improvement will serve to divert I-5 traffic around our community, thus reducing the traffic congestion and pollution along this vital corridor. It will also increase mobility of all Californians on this strategic transportation route, provide for national security, public safety response, alternative evacuation route, and the movement of goods and services for a more vibrant
California economy. - Member of the Renewed Measure M committee that successfully championed the overwhelming passage by voters in 2006 of continuing the ½ cent sales tax to build traffic improvements for our area. Just drive across the county line into
L.A. county and you will see the difference that Measure M has made in providing traffic relief for Orange County! - As a member of the South Orange County Major Investment Policy Group, I participated in working towards identifying reasonable traffic solutions for our area which will be presented to the Orange County Transportation Authority for further analysis.
- Voted to sue, if necessary the California Department of Transportation (CALTrans) to force a complete Environmental Impact Report before proceeding with their plans to remove the chokepoint of .9 of a mile of State Hgwy 74, the
Ortega Highwayfrom the Hunt Club east to the City limits. This will ensure that this state controlled project will retain the character of our historic scenic highway and the eastern gateway into our City. CALTrans continues to work on this EIR. - Working diligently to ensure that the new I-5/Ortega Hgwy. interchange project will address our transportation needs by providing for the safe and efficient flow of traffic through this key gateway into our city. After nearly 50 years of service, this interchange is functioning at level “F” and will continue to fail our residents and visitors alike.
- Voted for the Verdugo Street Enhancement project that will beautify this 400’ long connector between our downtown business district and the train station/Historic Los Rios District. This pedestrian friendly plan will enhance the experience of visitors and residents alike by providing more seating areas, walk able spaces, landscaping, and sidewalk improvements.
- Will continue to push for projects that provide for traffic congestion relief, such as:
- Extension of La Pata to
San Clemente Junipero Serra/Rancho Viejo Roadintersection (construction to start soon) - Camino Capistrano/Del Obispo intersection
- Del Obispo/
Alipaz Bridge Improvement (construction to commence in 2009) - Camino Capistrano southbound off-ramp from the I-5
- Stonehill Off-ramp from the I-5
- Work toward making the area around our historic Mission San Juan Capistrano more pedestrian friendly.
- Valle Road/
San Juan Creek Rd.intersection - Northbound Camino Capistrano off-ramp from the I-5 and the realignment of this off-ramp with La Novia.
POSITION PAPER
PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES
My Philosophy: I believe that Public Safety is the most important and fundamental responsibility of government. Drawing on my 33 years of police experience, I will continue to support our enforcement efforts of our Sheriff’s Department and the fire safety efforts of the Orange County Fire Authority and will seek ways to increase our police services and to enhance the fire fighting capabilities of our fire fighters.
- As a member of the Board of Directors’ of the Orange County Fire Authority, I recently voted in favor of the recommendations to approve the addition of 36 professional firefighters, two helicopters, and two year round hand crews over the next four years to improve the public safety of the residents of San Juan Capistrano. This was all accomplished by not increasing taxes whatsoever to our residents.
- As your Mayor, I was brought into the early planning stages for the joint Orange County Sheriff/Orange County District Attorney Gang Injunction for our City and the City of
San Clemente because of my prior law enforcement experience and my ability to respect the confidential nature of this effort. I will continue to strongly support the Gang Injunction so that known gang members cannot terrorize our law-abiding residents and we will give our youth the support they need to stay out of the gang culture. - Upon my suggestion and initiative, our Police Services created a new School Resource Officer position at the new
San Juan Hills High School and the San Juan Middle Schools to act as a liaison between law enforcement and school officials while also providing a police presence on the campuses. - Support the efforts of our Deputies in the areas of traffic enforcement, such as motorcycle enforcement, red-light cameras, drug enforcement, and interagency task forces.
- Will look for new creative ways to increase of law enforcement staffing in the field in order to decrease our emergency response times and increase our police presence in critical areas.
- I have suggested a plan to join with our trail-user community to form a “Voluntary Citizens’ Patrol” of our Open Space areas and our trail system by using hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians. This voluntary patrol will monitor trail safety issues and will “observe and report” hazardous conditions and provide for safety services to all our trail users.
POSITION PAPER
GREEN INITIATIVES
My philosophy: I believe that we must be better stewards of our environment and the resources that our Creator has bountifully bestowed on us. We must adopt better ways of conserving resources, recycling material, and disposing of wastes.
- I have supported our proposed Water Conservation Ordinance, which will help our City conserve its vital water resources.
- I have supported our Groundwater Recovery Plant, plans for a joint cities Recycled Water facility, and further research into a joint cities Desalinization facility that will take ocean water and turn it into drinking water.
- This past year, we passed a “Sustainability Charter” that identifies the importance of environmental protection and sustainability as part of all City operations and decisions, thus improving the quality of life in
San Juan Capistrano. - We are pursuing the adoption of a voluntary Green Building Program and also adopted a solar energy incentive program that will give residents and businesses monetary incentives for solar energy.
- Supported a resolution known as “Extended Product Responsibility Legislation”, which requires the manufacturers of hazardous materials to recycle or dispose of these products, thus taking on a bigger responsibility from the consumer.
- I have supported our horseshoe recycling project, plastic bag recycling, and adoption of drought-tolerant landscape standards for new developments.
- I have worked with our contract waste hauler, CR&R, to cooperate with our stable owners to better dispose of and recycle manure from their businesses.
- I have worked with our 5 District Supervisor to approve a recycling facility for used construction waste at our Prima Desecha Landfill Site, thus reducing trash trucks on Ortega Hgwy. and causing this material to be recycled locally instead of trucked through our community.
- I strongly support our regular public outreach efforts such as our annual Earth Day and Creek Cleanup Day.
- Currently working with staff and our Stable owners to revise our land use codes relating to equestrian uses so as to address water runoff issues, waste storage, handling and disposal, best management practices, and sanitation issues.
