Belmont Council and Clerk Candidates Face Off in Forum

For nearly two hours last night, candidates for Belmont City Council and Belmont City Clerk answered questions posed to them by members of the audience and by forum organizers, Neighborhood Associations of Belmont (NAB). The event was held at the Twin Pines Senior Center.

Four of the five council candidates were present for the forum: Paul Brownlee, David Braunstein (incumbent), Eric Reed and Christine Wozniak (incumbent). Candidate Michael McGuinness did not attend the forum. There are two seats open on the Belmont City Council; all are four-year terms.

Both candidates for city clerk were present: Terri Cook (incumbent), and Dave Warden. There is one seat open for Belmont City Clerk; it is a four-year term.

Moderator Eric Dentler explained the rules of the forum and asked the questions. Nelson Corteway was the timekeeper. The following are excerpts from the Q&A. In some instances, the questions have been paraphrased for the sake of brevity:

Introduction and Platform--City Council Candidates:

Brownlee: I want to stop , or move it to the Highway 101 corridor from El Camino Real. I also want to improve traffic and youth sports fields.

Braunstein: I plan to explore further economic development opportunities, improve youth and community recreation venues; improve roads, sewers, storm drains, improve public safety and develop a healthy downtown district.

Reed: I hope to invigorate the Belmont business community in order to produce tax revenues to fix roads, turf the Belmont Sports Complex; improve relations with Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU).

Wozniak: I would like to continue projects the city council has already started, such as the ; pursue downtown development, especially on the south side of Ralston Ave. and along El Camino Real; keep city financially stable.

Introduction and Platform--City Clerk Candidates:

Cook: The role of the clerk is to be the eyes and ears of city government to the public; make all public records available; act as local elections official, respond to requests for public information, prepare agendas and minutes for city council meetings. I believe the job of city clerk should remain a full-time, full-salaried management position.

Warden: The city is spending too much for the clerk’s position and I would halve the current staff from two to one; and would streamline office by utilizing more technology in record keeping and transcriptions. We need to infuse the department with knowledge from the private sector.

Q & A--City Council Candidates:

The private k-12 school, Crystal Springs Uplands, has expressed an interest in building a campus on Davis Dr. Would the addition of this school make Belmont an “education city?”

Brownlee: There are empty buildings there, but they should not be monopolized for use by just one school. We also have traffic and safety issues along Ralston Ave. and Ralston Middle School.

Braunstein: We are already an “education community” and I would not support another school at this site. We need to diversify the businesses that come to Belmont.

Reed: I believe Davis Dr. should be reserved for industrial and business use. I can see the need for more preschools in Belmont, but not necessarily at that site.

Wozniak: I agree that we are already an “education city,” and the city does not generate pure revenue from a school. We also need to consider the impact a  new school would have on traffic.

What are your thoughts on the proposed 22 percent rate increase from our trash/recycling company, Recology?

Brownlee: From a policy standpoint, we need to revisit Recology as a business model. They are playing a shell game with raising our rates---we should consider putting our trash collection out to bid from other companies.

Braunstein: It’s a structural issue, and I supported the 22 percent increase because I believe we need to go with a progressive system. The reality is that a lot of people are recycling more and went to smaller trash cans. We still need to pay for recycling, event though we reduce trash.

Reed: I think we should consider an every-other-week recycling and green waste pickup to see how efficient Recology can be with that schedule.

Wozniak: We need to look at more options; we have to look at the contract to see if we can reduce the rate over time.

Braunstein (rebuttal): Going to every-other-week recycling/green pickup is not a good idea. We want to encourage people to recycle more.

What are your thoughts on the traffic safety/calming efforts along Sixth Ave.

Braunstein: Redoing the area will help with the overall economic development of the area. We will have a better traffic situation in that area when the project is done.

Reed: The benefit to the project is that it shows what a quiet neighborhood will be like once it’s completed. People tend not to obey speed limits on wider streets.

Wozniak: I support the project, but the city didn’t notify the neighbors and the businesses and the project took longer than it should have.

Brownlee: We need a better plan for a cut through to Ralston Ave.

How will you work with the Belmont Redwood Shores School District with regard to playing fields?

Reed: We need to mend the relationship between the city and the school district—we need discussion, dialogue and compromise.

Wozniak: We do a lot for the schools now in terms of field maintenance. I wish they had contacted the city sooner with regards to their school expansion plans, which will impact the playing fields.

Brownlee: We need to work with the school district because we need more field space for youth sports.

Braunstein: We have a field use agreement, and there’s no question it would be wise to talk about the school expansion projects and how they will affect the field use.

What will you do to generate new revenue and economic development?

Brownlee: We need to look seriously at businesses and not allow them to be disturbed by high speed rail; we also need to develop the area on the east side of Hwy. 101.

Braunstein: We should link the new businesses in the old Asera building with the area surrounding it—hotels and restaurants on the east side of 101.  We are on the right track, and need to keep moving forward.

Reed: Belmont has seen a significant decrease in its sales tax revenue since 2000. We need to develop partnerships between the public and private sectors in Belmont to promote our economic development.

Wozniak: Economic development is at the core of the city. We need to keep going with projects in the works, and do some other things such as encourage businesses to take advantage of money available for facade improvements. The city council should act as ambassadors for Belmont and try to bring more businesses here.

Q & A--City Clerk Candidates:

Is the discussion over the city clerk position about money or not?

Warden: It’s part money, part technological and part lack of oversight.

Cook: I’m a two-person office; reducing the salary of the person in this position does not make the work go away. The city staff is already lean and it’s already difficult to handle all the work.

Warden: We don’t need two full-time employees in there.

Closing Statements—City Clerk Candidates

Cook: It’s a good thing that nobody hears much about the city clerk’s office---if you did that would mean there’s a problem. We are a behind the scenes department. If the voters or the city council wants to change it, they can put forth an initiative. I encourage voters to go to smartvoter.org for a list of my endorsements. And I remind everyone to vote—local elections tend to have low voter turnout.

Warden: I’m not a status quo person—I’m always for change and very fiscally conservative. This is a challenge for me to take on the role of city clerk but I think I can improve the position technologically and fiscally. I’ve been on city council for 10 years, been mayor twice and I believe I can do a much better job and do it more efficiently and save you some money.

Closing Statements—City Council Candidates:

Brownlee: We need to make Belmont more pedestrian friendly and improve traffic flow. And we need to stop high speed rail; if we can’t stop it, we at least need to push it to the Hwy. 101 corridor.

Braunstein: We’re not moving in a different direction, we are coming full circle—some of us are just starting out raising our families and some have already done that you are here now. We are trying to have a balanced approach, and I am here to listen. If I don’t have the knowledge base on an issue, I will find out the information. I really value your input—it’s not my town, it’s our town.

Reed: If you think things are going well, don’t vote for me. But if look at our sales tax revenue compared to San Carlos in 2009-10, we’ve dropped by $700,000. I hope to increase our tax revenue base so we can improve our roads, turf the Belmont Sports Complex, and increase economic development. I also want to repair our relationship with NDNU.

Wozniak: It’s really easy as a candidate to throw out slogans, but it’s hard to do the work. So ask yourselves, “Who knows how to do the work?” I’m not afraid to ask the hard questions and delve deep into an issue. I love Belmont and have lived here for 30 years.

The next Candidates Forum will be at the Belmont Library on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.