My Priorities for Lafayette
Lafayette is a very special place to live. Our challenge is not just to preserve what is good about our city, but to look to the future and strive to make Lafayette even better.
When I returned to the City Council in 2020, the City was faced with a broad range of issues. While it has been important to have councilmembers with experience in dealing with those issues, I believe that it is even more important to have leaders with the temperament and vision to consistently make decisions that are in the best long-term interest of the entire community.
My views on the following priorities/issues are set out below:
• Reduce wildfire risks
• Open, participatory government
• Downtown
• Public safety
• Road safety
• Strengthen community
• Implement our State-mandated Housing Element
• Pass Measure H; continue Lafayette’s tradition of sound financial management
• Seniors
• Lifelong learning
• Sustainability
• EBMUD Lafayette reservoir tower
• Continue the update of our Lafayette General Plan
Reduce wildfire risks.
Much has been done thanks to the efforts of our City staff, our Police Department and our citizen volunteer Emergency Preparedness Commission. You can read about these efforts on the City website. But the magnitude of the threat of wildfire requires us to do more, including:
• With the County and the State, increase the resources available for immediate detection of wildfire ignition and for immediate wildfire suppression response.
• With the County, expand the shaded fuel breaks around Lafayette.
•. Support the ongoing CCTA study of regional evacuation routes.
•. Perform and apply our own specific study of neighborhood evacuation times to our land development policies.
• Half of Lafayette is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Start working now to make sure our Regional Housing Needs Allocation for 2031-2039 reflects that reality.
Open, participatory government.
Lafayette has always benefited from the breadth and depth of the involvement of its residents in our civic affairs. It has also benefited from the transparency of City processes and finances. I am committed to keeping our city government and finances transparent and accountable. The City Council allocated part of our American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for equipment and services that allow our residents to participate virtually in City Council meetings and in the meetings of the Planning Commission, the Design Review Commission and the Transportation and Circulation Commission. I support the use of City funds to make these meetings accessible virtually.
Downtown.
A vibrant, pedestrian-friendly downtown is essential to the City’s financial health and our sense of community. I support close cooperation with the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and our downtown businesses to continue the efforts to add vitality to our downtown. I supported the use of a portion of our American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to help The Park Theater Trust meet a deadline to acquire the theater property in 2021. I support the efforts of The Park Theater Trust to carry out the renovation of the property and create a regional center for film that will strengthen our downtown. I supported the use of ARPA funds to enable the Chamber of Commerce to carry out its mission, to help the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Building through a difficult period, to promote outdoor dining and turn the orange barriers into works of art, and to create the Experience Lafayette website to promote all our local businesses and venues. During my term as mayor I collaborated with the Chamber on visits by council members and Chamber leadership to local businesses to obtain their views and learn their concerns. In 2023 the City opened the new First Street Rain Garden at the southwest corner of First Street and Golden Gate Way, adding a place of beauty and respite close to our downtown jewel, the Lafayette Library and Learning Center. The Council approved a program to add one mural to our downtown each of the next four years. The intent is to create an outdoor gallery that will draw people
to the downtown. There is much more we need to do; the vitality of our downtown must be top of mind.
Public safety.
A fundamental responsibility of the City is to provide police protection for all its residents. This is the largest item in the City budget. Over the past four years our Police Department has done excellent work in keeping us safe. The City must continuously evaluate whether the services are being provided at the appropriate level and at an affordable cost. We will have particularly difficult decisions to make if Measure H does not pass.
Because of the risks presented by firearms that are not stored properly in homes, I supported the Council’s adoption of a safe firearms storage ordinance that requires that all firearms in a home that are not being carried by their owner be secured with a trigger lock or be in a locked cabinet. Education to make all residents aware of this ordinance continues.
I supported the adoption of the Safety Element of our General Plan, and I support its implementation.
Road safety.
We made considerable progress during the last four years that will make our roads, sidewalks and pathways safer. In addition to the Safety Element, the Council adopted a Vision Zero policy for our City. The first step in implementing Vision Zero was the development and adoption of our Local Roads Safety Program. We adopted a new traffic calming program. We added street safety improvements around our schools and reduced the speed limit around most schools. We also launched the Slow Down Lafayette campaign. Because speed is the major factor in the severity of an accident, the short-term purpose of the Slow Down Lafayette campaign is to do the obvious — but it also aims to have a long-term impact by instilling in each of our residents an understanding that we are all safer when everyone observes the posted speed limits.
Strengthen community.
We are a stronger community when we foster in all our residents a sense of belonging and a feeling of support. It should go without saying, but there is no place for hate in Lafayette. Period. I support the work of the community DEIB Committee. I support our new annual Community Day and the way it reminds us of the value of community. I support the work of the Lafayette Historical Society as it illuminates our past and explains the changes that have made us the community we are now. I especially appreciate the LHS’s role in the City’s exploration in 2023 of 175+ years of Lafayette history, with a special emphasis on the indigenous people who were here long before the arrival of the European settlers. And I appreciate the work of the Land Acknowledgment task force that resulted in the Council’s adoption of a Land Acknowledgment Statement that will continue to remind us of those who came before us on this land.
Implement our State-mandated housing element.
After a lengthy and contentious process, our Housing Element for 2023-2031 has been accepted by the State. Our City Planning Department will bring necessary rezoning recommendations to the Planning Commission and to the City Council in September to conclude the process.
It is critical that implementing our new Housing Element is done in a way that not only includes required new housing, but also provides for downtown parks, makes Lafayette more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, expands retail and commercial business opportunities and preserves our hillsides, ridges and open spaces.
Because most of the sites for required new housing are located in our downtown, we need to think now about what changes we can make to our downtown infrastructure to enable residents to shop, get to work, get to school, get to civic, cultural and religious venues, and run errands on foot, on a bike or on public transit. While most new residents moving downtown will have a car, we need to design our downtown to be convenient enough to get around without a car that families don’t need a second car.
Pass Measure H; continue Lafayette’s tradition of sound financial management.
Lafayette’s financial management has always been exemplary. We are one of only a few California cities with a AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s, which minimizes our financing costs. The City Council and the City staff continuously review City operations to ensure that the services the City provides are efficient, responsive and cost-effective. You can learn much more about the City’s financial situation by going to the City website, so I will just say here that:
• The City’s maintains a reserve fund equal to at least 60% of the amount of annual General Fund spending. The City does this to be ready in the event of a natural disaster or a sharp downturn in the economy. Sound management requires insurance against surprises.
• The costs of providing services and of maintaining the City’s infrastructure have risen sharply. For example, the annual cost of maintaining our roads and storm drains at their current level has increased by $1,000,000.
• If the City continues to provide services and maintain infrastructure at the current level, the City will run an annual deficit of about $2.2 million. The Council is applying our remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds to avoid a deficit in the current 2024-25 fiscal year and to keep our reserve above 60%. However, our five year projections show that at current levels of funding, the reserve will fall to substantially below 60%.
• Lafayette has not had a sales tax increase since it became a City in 1968. The current rate in Lafayette is 8.75%. Lafayette, along with five other of the County’s 19 cities, has the lowest sales tax rate. Moraga, Orinda, Martinez and Concord are 9.75%; Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill are 9.25%.
• Each year the Council establishes the City budget and makes a determination with respect to the services provided and the amounts being spent. Each year there are requests for new services, new infrastructure or higher levels of service that the Council decides not to approve. In June the Council approved a budget for fiscal year 2024-25 that keeps services at their current levels and freezes hiring for four positions in the budget.
• The Council decided in July to put Measure H on the ballot so that our residents can decide whether they want cuts in services or a ½ cent sales tax to keep services at current levels. To put it another way, the Council did not want to cut services and staff positions before giving voters a chance to decide. If Measure H does not pass, then the Council will need to cut approximately $2.2 million out of each upcoming budget. The City staff has provided the Council with its suggestions for what could be cut, but the Council will make the final decisions.
I support Measure H because it is necessary to maintain our current level of services and maintenance. If we do not have the revenue Measure H will bring in, there is no alternative but to make cuts in services. I believe that our ongoing reviews and approvals of the budget and the ongoing work of our City staff have already cut the “fat” from the budget. To maintain the services and quality of life in Lafayette our residents expect, we need to approve Measure H.
If Measure H passes, I will make sure we are providing services as cost-effectively as possible. The financial vigilance for which the City is known will continue.
Seniors.
We strengthen our community when we include all generations. We need to make it easier for seniors to continue to live in Lafayette and to contribute to our community. The percentage of older adults among our residents has increased. Demographic studies show that the percentage of California residents 85 and older will continue to increase dramatically. Our City surveys indicate that a top priority of our older residents is to stay in their homes. Last year the City bolstered its efforts on behalf of seniors by entering into a collaboration with a non-profit organization known as Lamorinda Village. Lamorinda Village is not a place, but an organization whose purpose is redefining aging by supporting independence, fostering connection, cultivating healthy aging, and providing opportunities to volunteer. All of these help older adults stay in their homes. The City is making it possible for more of our residents to benefit from Lamorinda Village’s services and is helping Lamorinda Village expand its reach.
I support the efforts of the Lafayette Senior Services Commission as it creates an Age-Friendly Action Plan that will serve to broaden senior community inclusion in Lafayette.
Lifelong learning.
I support lifelong learning as a core value of Lafayette. We are justifiably proud of the quality of our schools. The City will continue to support the mission of our schools and strengthen the cooperation between the City and our schools. The City should continue to promote the success of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, organizations dedicated to the visual and performing arts and the City’s Parks, Trails and Recreation Department. Another opportunity for lifelong learning comes from public art. I support the work of the City’s Public Art Committee as it enhances public spaces and gives a sense of discovery and vibrancy to our downtown.
Sustainability.
I was the mayor when we formed the City’s Environmental Strategy Task Force in 2005. Climate change is an existential global challenge, and we need to do our part at the local level to meet that challenge. On the recommendation of the City’s Environmental Task Force, the City Council adopted an ordinance requiring that all new multi-family buildings in Lafayette provide access to EV charging for each unit. Again on the recommendation of the Environmental Task Force, the City Council adopted the ban on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers that went into effect July 1, 2024. In addition to eliminating a source of pollution, the ordinance has resulted in quieter neighborhoods. I also supported the program developed by the ETF and the City’s Parks, Trails and Recreation Department to make loaner electric leaf blowers available to residents to check out and try.
EBMUD Lafayette reservoir tower.
The iconic tower at the Lafayette Reservoir is owned by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). EBMUD intends to reduce the height of the tower, for all intents and purposes eliminating it as a landmark and altering its impact on our physical and aesthetic environment. A five person citizens technical advisory committee, composed of Lafayette residents who are renowned architects and structural engineers, has been attempting to engage EBMUD in a consideration of alternatives that would be safe, if not safer, and that would maintain the full height of the tower. I support the work of the committee and the effort to reach a satisfactory solution. I encourage you to follow the discussion of this issue at City Council meetings.
Continue the update of our Lafayette General Plan.
Every California city is required to adopt and update its general plan, which is a statement of the community’s vision for the future. Our most recent update was completed more than 20 years ago with the adoption of the 2002 Lafayette General Plan. In late 2020 the City appointed an 11 person General Plan Advisory Committee which began work on an updated Housing Element. If all goes well, the Housing Element will be reviewed by the Planning Commission and adopted by the City Council in September. The GPAC also completed work on the Safety Element, which was reviewed by the Planning Commission and adopted by the City Council on August 28, 2023. There are still six more elements to be completed. The members of the GPAC have done great work in completing these two elements. I helped to develop the 2002 Lafayette General Plan, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue to be part of the effort to update our Plan to guide Lafayette’s future.
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