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Health & Fitness

More Questions For San Mateo County Supervisor Candidates

More voter questions for San Mateo County Supervisor Candidates

Adina Levin, Neighbor
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Not all of the questions posed by voters to the candidates for San Mateo County Supervisor could be answered during the 90 minute League of Women forum in Menlo Park last Thursday.  

Questions that didn’t get asked during the live forum are listed below.

Priorities What do you see as the 3 most important issues facing the county, and what would you do to address these issues? What do you believe are the two most important issues facing San Mateo County, and what do you propose to do about those issues?

What would your top priority be in your first year in office?

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Budget/Finance

The state is pushing its financial burden down to cities and counties. How should the county deal with this, especially in the area of social services for those most in need.

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What is your position on pension reform for government employees What would you do to fix the unsustainable pension costs for the County? How would you prevent a reoccurence of major investment loss to the county as experienced with the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy

Do you support a repeal or a reform of Proposition 13?

 

Budget/Public Safety Do you support the expansion of contract services by the Sheriff’s department to more cities?

What is your view of how the county should deal with the realignment of jail services and parole services for non-violent offenders

 

Transportation/Land use

As a supervisor, how would you help create solutions for housing and transportation using regional and state help from the Climate Change law (AB32) and regional planning (SB375)

 

Housing/Land Use With the dissolution of Redevelopment Agencies, more money is expect to flow to counties. Should the county take responsibility for housing programs that are no longer funded by cities? How many houses to you expect to be built in the County in the next 20 years? What percent will be low income? Please define “low income”? Where do you see them being built? Can the county afford to add more homes without destroying the environment? What, if any steps are you willing to take to stem the tide of foreclosures? Will you require banks to be fined for the blight of unoccupied foreclosed homes? Where do you stand on the proposed Saltworks development? Transportation

 

 

Given expected economic growth, should San Mateo County strive to ensure that a large proportion of new trips use transit, biking, walking, and other alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles? If so, what are your thoughts about ways to achieve this goal

What is your vision for the Caltrain Corridor? Caltrain and SamTrans have serious financial problems. What should be done to ensure stable funding for public transit in San Mateo County?

Many residents say they’d like to bike or take transit more often but don’t feel safe bicycling on streets in San Mateo County and transit is too slow. As a supervisor, how would you address these issues?

 

Economic Development What plans do you have to bring large employers to the County

Have you been instrumental in bringing any significant employers to the County?

 

Environment Would would you do to deal with sea level rise in the County? What are your thoughts about development near the Bay? What are your environmental priorities? What are your plans for actions to take on a County level to alleviate climate change?

San Mateo County does not manage its groundwater resources, although it shares an aquifer with Santa Clara County which does regulate groundwater.  Should Santa Mateo County add policies to manage groundwater resources?

 

Parks/Environment How will you invest to improve wildlife habitat in County parks? What link do you see between healthy habitat and improved fire and flood protection?

San Mateo County Parks department currently forbids dog walking and mountain biking on dirt trails within County parks. What is your position on opening dirt path areas to mountain bike riding and dog walking within San Mateo County Parks.

 



Health Care/Laura's Law

Do you intend to vote to implement Laura’s Law in San Mateo County (court-ordered treatment of serious mental illness)

Local

 

What do you see as the unique needs of South San Mateo County and what would you do to address these needs?

What will you do to protect the underserved communities of color in Redwood City, East Palo Alto, and Menlo Park? How will you educate voters beyond the 4th District about your qualifications? Regional

 

Members of the Board of Supervisors serve on many regional Board and Commissions. On which of these are you interested in serving and why?

Should there be district elections or county-wide elections for County Supervisor in San Mateo? Other Issues

 

Would you be willing to move County funds to credit unions? Why or why not?

Would you be willing to consider bans on the number of new payday lenders, check cashing stores and pawn shops (in unincorporated areas of the county)? Is taking campaign donations from labor unions a conflict of interest? What would you do to help our county deal with the impact of airport traffic and noise?

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