fresno elections 2008

You don't rebuild a city with a sketch. You rebuild it one neighborhood at a time. Downtown can be viewed as the microcosm for the rest of our city. There is no such thing as a neighborhood that just has a crime problem. It has a neglect problem. It has a school problem. It has a poverty problem. And it has a jobless problem. We need to bring family wage jobs to this town and we have not been doing that. There should not be a single city subsidy, for business of any kind, that doesn't bring us family wage jobs. We cannot give a redevelopment tax break to someone who is going to build a hotel and then hire 200 Latino women to clean the rooms while being paid the minimum wage. The idea that is somehow good for the tax payers in Fresno because we got a hotel out of it, is nonsense. If a developer wants public money, they're going to live up to a public standard.

That is how you fix the quality of life, crime, neglect, school problems and poverty. And city government has to use every bit of its muscle to do that. If we can create 10,000 family wage jobs for the residents of Fresno, our city will transform--and that includes our downtown.

People will have money to buy things, go to restaurants and attend entertainment events. I am prepared to bring this city to a place where others cannot.

The city should first see if we can secure federal and state grants. Forest City is one of the most successful companies in the U.S. in helping rebuild downtowns. The cost is $237 million for the project. Forest City has asked Fresno to pitch in $99 million. I think we should exhaust every effort in finding the money in grants.

We need to ensure that our neighborhoods are safe, that we have quality schools for our kids and that we revitalize parks, plant trees and encourage neighborhood businesses to develop and thrive. Every neighborhood has its own character. We need to preserve that while we work to revitalize our blighted areas. By generating more good jobs and bringing new businesses to our city, we will have more money to rebuild our neighborhoods.

The boundaries are set .... do not extend them until there is infill. We have a lot of empty space throughout the city. That should be developed.

When we talk about jobs in this community, we must insist that they be family wage jobs. Redevelopment needs to occur in our downtown and other blighted neighborhoods. I want to encourage the development of business parks and bring new business to Fresno.

The current approach is working but to improve we need to stop giving free publicity to the gangs by advertising their gang names. We need more outreach to the young gang members. I know nothing keeps kids out of trouble better than a good after-school program. I also know that every dollar the bureaucracy wastes is money that should be spent in a good after-school program. As a Financial Crime Investigator, I know how to find that waste.

I am against. We have the D.A., city council and internal affairs already in place. However, we need to make the police department much more transparent

The number of parks should equal at least the national average. We need to make sure that new housing developments include building new parks. I want to work on private/public partnership in this area.

First, we need to find the waste and eliminate any duplicative city services. I will encourage input from City employees who best know where money can be saved. I also want to involve smart business people in finding the most efficient way to operate. And I want to hear from our citizens--what are people's priorities and where can we save money.

I am against that idea. It has been proven this will not work. There may be an initial savings but later the cost will go up.

There's a saying, "When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you do good." That said, I think we need to start with making sure our city is clean. Graffiti needs to be painted over right away. Trash needs to be picked up in our public areas, streets and alleys. I'd like to start neighborhood clean-up volunteer programs--to give people pride and sense or belonging in our community. I think we need to enhance our entertainment opportunities and expand the arts’ programs. We must bring new businesses here with family wage jobs. When people know that Fresno is a clean and safe place to live with good schools and parks, but also the chance to earn a decent living to support your family, our image will change.