Council Candidate Michael Salazar Answers Patch Questions -- posted 10/31/17

Article Source: San Bruno CA Council Candidate Michael Salazar

San Bruno Patch sent a set of questions to each of the 4 candidates running for San Bruno City Council (2 to be elected) and to the 2 candidates running for the Mayor's position. Below is the answers provided by Council Candidate Michael Salazar.

Consider sharing his answers with your fellow voters.

20 QUESTIONS FOR 2017 SAN BRUNO MAYOR AND COUNCIL CANDIDATES

As a service to San Bruno Patch readers, I will be posting these questions and answers received from candidates seeking your votes in the upcoming November San Bruno 2017 election. Some of these questions were provided by San Bruno residents.

Please consider answering these questions and sending the questions and your answers back to me as a WORD document. Thank you from San Bruno Patch readers.

1. 1. Where have you served in an elected position?

I served the people of San Bruno as a councilmember from 2009 to 2015. In addition, I have served San Bruno as an appointed member of the Crime Prevention Committee and as an appointed member of the Parks and Recreation Commission. I also represented the City of San Bruno as an original member of the Peninsula Clean Energy Advisory Board which is currently supplying Peninsula consumers clean and sustainable electricity at rates that are equal to or better than PG&E’s. This year I was also appointed to the County’s Measure K Oversight Committee.

While every elected official has their detractors, there are many people in the community that know and understand the benefit I brought to the City Council. If elected, I will continue to serve San Bruno with the same enthusiasm and commitment to a vision for improvement that I have demonstrated in the past.

1. 2.What have you done to prepare yourself for office?

When I first ran for office in 2005, I made it a point to attend as many city meetings as I could to learn about the issues facing the City. I also learned about the processes, procedures and regulations involved in municipal decisions. Often what may seem very simple, is not, due to City, County and State regulations.

I applied and was accepted to serve on committees that support the Council’s decision-making process. I served on the Crime Prevention Committee initially, and volunteered to be the committee’s liaison to the Community Preparedness Committee. I am currently serving as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission where we have engaged extensively with the public in creating two brand new parks.

As a councilmember, I continued to educate myself on the issues that came before us. Even with years of experience in the private sector, I found I didn’t have all the answers to the complicated issues we face as a city. Holding office is a continuous learning experience and even today, I continue to study our problems hoping to find better solutions.

1. 3. What abilities do you have that makes you qualified for this position?

I would like to include in this question, “what qualities do I have that qualify me for this position”. I believe that the most important quality any person can bring to an elected office is the desire to serve his neighbors. In this context, neighbor means every resident in San Bruno. I have that desire.

Many of my endorsers have spoken about my integrity. I also have empathy for people in need, respect for everyone’s opinions, open-mindedness about new ideas and different approaches to problem solving, and I have the ability to bring people together for the greater good of the community.

On a more practical level, I have experience as an engineer, a project manager, and staff manager in many different industries including Biotechnology, Information Technology, Banking and Government. I also have extensive experience with volunteer organizations including committees I served on at my church, the San Bruno Park School District, Capuchino PTO and Alumni Association, and Operation Clean Sweep (where I have picked up litter, painted and helped beautify the City every year for the past 14 years)

1. 4. What will your priorities be if you are elected?

I will ensure that communication is improved across the board so that residents, staff and elected officials have complete and timely access to the information they need to contribute to the Council’s decision making and to understand the rationale for decisions the Council makes. While there has been some improvement over the years, the City continues to struggle with getting important information to the public. These delays and lack of detail cause the public to lose trust and confidence in their government. The Council has approved funding for a skilled communications person to assist the City in keeping the public informed on a regular basis. I will pursue that action.

I will ensure that we continue to move forward with the massive and much needed infrastructure improvements the City has started. It took a lot of planning to begin these efforts and I want to see an efficient and sustainable plan in place. I believe that to be sustainable, the plan will have to include provisions for keeping our utilities affordable to ALL residents.

1. 5. Describe your goals and how you will accomplish and fund them.

I hope to revisit the City’s sewer lateral program which we ended in 2015. At the time, I proposed bringing back an updated program with a proper funding source. I would want to see information on how many residents are enrolled in the warranty program and how many units are currently failing and resulting in overflows. I believe a revised program could be funded from existing ratepayer charges.

I want to see San Bruno Cable continue its expansion of modern high speed internet to the homes of every resident. We are starting to see competition from AT&T and we have to get aggressive with our plans. Possible funding sources would be additional debt financing, which has proven unpopular with some residents, or a further reduction in the Cable Enterprise’s contribution to the general fund. In the second scenario the general fund would have to be supplemented in another way.

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1. 6. Have you studied the City’s Transit Corridor Plan? Will you support it as San Bruno grows? If not, why not?

The TCP was developed with input from the community and urban planning professionals and should continue to be our blueprint for the City’s development efforts. Having said that, any plan of this magnitude requires constant review to make sure the assumptions remain valid. Because San Bruno does not have any open areas, all new development will be infill and will have an impact on surrounding neighborhoods. The careful consideration of these impacts is critical to the success of the TCP and any other new developments.

1. 7. How would you propose to improve the residential parking concerns?

The City’s parking problem is not a new one but it does appear to be getting worse. Unfortunately, suburbs have created an environment where cars are a necessary part of our lives. Looking at longer term solutions, we have to design communities that allow more people to use public transit, telecommute or work in the areas they live. I have heard people discussing a residential parking permit program but I am not convinced that it is the best solution for San Bruno. Ultimately, residents can decide if it is appropriate for their neighborhood, but we have to consider the impacts which include a cost to residents for the management and enforcement of the program. I will support the work of the current parking subcommittee to sort out the issues and brainstorm solutions as well as listen to the needs of the residents.

1. 8. What hourly parking meter fees would you support along San Mateo Avenue and ECR if any?

Currently, our commercial corridor is fragile and imposing parking fees could hurt it more than benefit it. It may be difficult to find a balance where the charge is low enough to not chase away customers and still provide enough revenue to support itself. We are trying to attract business to downtown and must address this thoughtfully if the fees could be a deterrent.

1. 9. Would you support the City hiring one or more additional police officers?

If we could find the resources to pay for more officers, I would fully support it. We have reduced the numbers in the department over the years and it would be great to help our officers improve their work life balance.

1. 10. What additional tasks would you support for the City’s Code Enforcement Officers?

I would rely on our Chief of Police to determine what duties might be reassigned. Our police officers go through extensive training to perform their jobs. I would not assume to know what tasks may put the CSO’s in situations they are not prepared to handle. Changes would also have to be negotiated so they do not violate the terms of the agreements with the Union.

1. 11. What actions would you support to provide more low and very low income housing in San Bruno?

Offering incentives to builders is one tool that could work toward providing more affordable units but some of the concessions offered in the past could lead to other problems. Each project would have to be examined individually.

1. 12. What kind of off street parking structure would you support and WHERE?

Downtown would be the logical place for a large structure. It could serve Cal-Train as well as the downtown businesses. At this point it is hard to speculate how the structure would look since we still don’t have information yet on how a renovated downtown might impact parking demand.

1. 13. What kind of a San Bruno Shuttle would you support if any?

A city owned shuttle would be expensive to operate and falls outside of the services generally managed by a City. The city does operate one shuttle for the Senior Center, but that is a special and limited case. I have discussed bus routes in San Bruno with SamTrans in the past and they felt that there was not enough demand to justify more routes. The proposed development of the Bayhill Business Park may bring a renewed discussion on this topic. I would be supportive of a shuttle that provided an economic benefit while not burdening our residents with additional expenses.

1. 14. What steps would you support to improve the City’s water and storm water infrastructure (remembering this as an Enterprise Business and only gets their funds through user rates)?

The City needs to continue the improvement program that was implemented a few years back. Not only does the City need to catch up on deferred maintenance, we need a program that will continue to update the system on a regular basis. As construction costs and materials continue to get more expensive, the task of funding the projects will become more difficult. I have opposed aggressive rate increases in the past but without other sources of revenue, it may be difficult to continue the work. This is not an easy problem to solve. I would propose developing regional partnerships that might provide cost savings, similar to the waste water treatment agreement with South San Francisco. More of the work could be financed by issuing bonds but that only delays the inevitable.

1. 15. What steps would you support to address citizen’s concerns about the cost of garbage, recycling, and composting fees?

Garbage fees continue to rise and as we fill our dumping sites, we have to go farther and farther out. Even when we attempt to minimize the amount of trash we produce as individuals the prices continue to rise. While I was on the Council, I supported renegotiating the terms of the City’s contract and we consulted with a rate expert. Ultimately, we determined that the contract was in line with industry standards. Going forward we have to make sure we continue to monitor the use and work with the company providing services to keep costs down.

1. 16. What would you support to improve the San Mateo Avenue Business District?

In the short term, we have to help promote the businesses that are there. If we don’t support them ourselves we can’t expect them to thrive. We have to work with the Chamber of Commerce to highlight new businesses and support their marketing efforts. In the long term, new businesses will come to our downtown. Plans are already in place to accommodate modern higher density structures. Our focus then will be on controlling any negative impacts and attracting the businesses that fit into our community’s standards. The design of the new Bayhill expansion should keep in mind ways to connect the development with downtown San Mateo. This could create incentives for existing business owners to afford improvements to their storefronts and attract new businesses.

1. 17. What would you support in trying to retain the use of the Crestmoor Field for local sports?

The Crestmoor fields are an institution in San Bruno. Even our residents who are older and no longer have children, agree that these fields are the fabric of our community in being responsive to youth and their affection for sports. The High School district has expressed interest in preserving the playing fields and I support their decision. Any other developments proposed for the area would have to be designed in a way that support the use of the fields.

1. 18. What will you do to motivate businesses and Caltrans to embrace a bicycle, scooter, and/or car-share infrastructure?

El Camino Real is the main artery through the Peninsula and falls under the responsibility of Caltrans. Because of the volume of traffic and the speed this road is very dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians. While I support building-in cyclist friendly lanes and pedestrian safety measures it may take some time for these things to be realized. Businesses should be encouraged to support and sponsor spaces for bicycle storage. Some new bike sharing companies are starting to show up in San Bruno and should be encouraged to expand.

1. 19. Have you studied the City’s Pavement Condition Index and what would you propose to upgrade our City streets?

I have studied the PCI and during my time on Council supported the increased spending to improve the City’s overall index. The City has been successful in obtaining grants for repairs on the main roads, but the funding for the neighbor streets is still inadequate. Some possible factors that could help, include using more durable materials, limiting heavy truck traffic, and reducing costs by developing in house expertise in the repair and replacement of street surfaces.

1. 20. How will you speed up street repair? My street has not been repaired in 20 years.

My street is also in need of repairs, but I know other streets in the city need even more attention. During my time on Council I was able to advocate for certain streets that were in the worst condition. During that time, we also emphasized the need to coordinate the resurfacing of streets with the sewer and water upgrades to minimize costs. Without additional funding, it will be difficult to catch up on the repairs and we will have to continue re-evaluating and prioritizing streets each year.

“Extra Credit Question” – What will you do to improve the enforcement of our traffic and parking and code enforcement laws?

We need to do a better job of tracking reoccurring issues and identifying problem areas. If we can target those areas for periodic inspection and outreach we may be able to eliminate the root causes. With the City having implemented a new app for reporting issues, we should have access to that information. After evaluating the results, we can determine if a combination of additional staffing or increased fines are appropriate.

Michael Salazar - salazar2017@sanbrunocable.com

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Robert Riechel

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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives

Source Credit: San Bruno CA City Council Candidate Michael Salazar

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