City Council Candidates Answer Chamber Questions

The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce asked the candidates for Santa Rosa City Council in the November 2008 election about their positions on key issues of concern to the business community. We received responses from fourteen of the fifteen candidates (Lawrence Weisner did not respond), and below are their unedited responses.

The fourteen responding candidates were also invited to attend a Good Morning Santa Rosa breakfast on October 8 to talk with Chamber members. At that event, Carl Campbell, Chair of the Chamber Advocacy Council, asked the candidates one follow-up question on their responses.

The following is the text of the questions:

1. SMART
a. What is your position regarding the November ballot proposal for a ¼ cent sales tax to fund SMART?
b. What challenges/opportunities do you foresee for CityBus to connect to SMART?

2. What five specific actions would you recommend to deal with the structural City budget deficit so we can avoid the kind of crisis facing Vallejo?

3. The Santa Rosa area lost almost half of its manufacturing jobs in the 2002/3 tech meltdown and faces more job losses in the current economic downturn. What strategies should the City of Santa Rosa use to attract, retain and create good-paying jobs?

4. Many have pointed to "Green" technologies as the engine of economic development in Santa Rosa as well as in many cities around the US. What can Santa Rosa do to distinguish itself from the other communities that want to attract "Green Tech?"

5. What opportunities does the Gateways Redevelopment Area provide for your vision of Santa Rosa's future?

Four Year Term
Michael Allen
Eddie Alvarez
Carol Dean
Hans Dippel
Bobbi Hoff
Ernesto Olivares
Lee Pierce
John Sawyer
Don Taylor
Marsha Vas Dupre
Gary Wysocky

Two Year Term
Jane Bender
Judy Kennedy
David Rosas