The Island’s Candidate Questionnaire

Rob Bonta, City Council Candidate

Name: Rob Bonta

Age: 39

Occupation: Deputy City Attorney, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office

Relevant experience:

I am currently an elected public official representing the entire City of Alameda

as a Director of the Alameda Hospital Board.

I am currently the Chair of the City of Alameda’s Economic Development

Commission (EDC). I have served for nearly four years on the EDC.

I am the past President of the City of Alameda’s Social Service Human Relations

Board (SSHRB). I served on the SSHRB from 2003 to 2006.

I am a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office where I

advocate for consumers and support the city’s public servants.

I graduated with honors from Yale College in 1993, earning a B.A. and majoring

in History. There I received the Roosevelt L. Thompson Prize awarded at graduation to

the student with the “greatest dedication to and capacity for public service.” I was also

honored to receive at graduation the William Neely Mallory Award for the “the best male

athlete at Yale.”

After graduating from Yale College, I pursued graduate studies in Politics,

Philosophy and Economics for a year at the University of Oxford in England as a

recipient of the Henry Fellowship, awarded for academic distinction.

I earned my J.D. from Yale Law School in 1998.

I attended public schools in Sacramento through high school.

Why are you running for this office?

The primary reason I am running for Alameda City Council is to continue and

deepen my commitment to public service to our city and to improve the lives of all

Alamedans. Alameda is at a critical juncture. The decisions the city council will make in

the next four years will have major impacts on the city for years to come. I will listen to

Alamedans and fairly represent them in those decisions in order to secure Alameda's

future.

I grew up the son of an immigrant mother from the Philippines and a father from a

working class background in Southern California. My parents wanted a good life for

their children-- my older sister, my younger brother, and me. Through hard work and

education, my parents believed we could do anything. I received a strong California

public school education growing up. And later, with the help of financial aid and work

study, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend some of the finest universities in

the world-- Yale College, the University of Oxford, and Yale Law School.

Now, as parents ourselves, Mia, my wife of thirteen years, and I dream of good

lives for our three children—Reina (11), Iliana (5), and Andres (1). We moved to

Alameda over a decade ago because we valued the high quality of life we all enjoy here.

We love the great schools, the safe streets, the “mom and pop” shops that fill our unique

business districts, the parks and open space, and the diversity of our community.

I grew up in a home that valued public service, activism and the common good.

Those values were instilled in me from an early age. My parents both worked for the

United Farm Workers with the great Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Phillip Vera

Cruz. They were part of the Civil Rights movement. And they dedicated their lives to

social justice and the service of others. They each served the people of the state of

California—my father at the Department of Health Services and my mother at the

Department of Water Resources—for over fifty years combined.

That commitment to public service has taken root with me and only grown

stronger over time.

I currently serve as a publicly-elected official representing all of Alameda as a

Director of the Alameda Hospital Board. There I helped oversee the greatest financial

turnaround in the history of Alameda Hospital—moving from an approximately $2.5M

deficit to an approximately $.5M profit, a $3M swing, over the course of one year—while

providing critical, high quality health care services to the community. And the Hospital

added over $1M to that surplus the following year for a total surplus of $1.8M. During

the time that I served on the Hospital Board, the hospital moved in a positive financial

direction every single year, which amounted to a total move of $5.5M in a positive

direction, and put together the only two consecutive years of a financial surplus in the

history of the City of Alameda Health Care District.

I serve as the current chair of the City of Alameda’s Economic Development

Commission, where I have promoted economic growth in Alameda that will improve the

quality of life for Alameda’s residents and employees.

I served as the President of the City of Alameda’s Social Service Human

Relations Board, where I helped ensure that safety net services were available for the

most vulnerable members of our community and that all of us could live, work, play and

worship in Alameda free of discrimination.

I work as a Deputy City Attorney at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office

where I stand up for public servants who stand up for us each day and I advocate for

consumer protections.

I served as the Co-President of the City of Alameda Democratic Club where I

fought for policies and candidates that represent the best values of the Democratic Party.

I served as the President of the Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of

Alameda County, where I worked to strengthen the political voice of the APA

community.

I have been a Board Member of Filipino Advocates for Justice (formerly Filipinos

for Affirmative Action) since 2004. Filipino Advocates is a community-based

organization that provides direct services to youth, immigrants, and laborers.

I have served on the Board of Directors and then the Advisory Board of Directors

of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation (MHF) since 2003. MHF is a community

development organization currently operating the Manilatown Center on the ground floor

of the rebuilt International Hotel in San Francisco.

I served as a Board Member of the Alameda Hospital Foundation from Spring

2007 to Fall 2009.

I served as the Board President of Alternatives In Action from 2005 to 2009 and

was on the Board from 2003 to 2009. AIA oversees a charter school (B.A.S.E.),

preschool (Home Sweet Home), and after-school enrichment program (H.O.M.E.)

centered in the West End of the City of Alameda.

I am a founding member of the Filipino-American Democratic Club of Alameda

County (2009-present).

I currently participate in the Robles-Wong vs. California litigation, in which my

daughters Reina and Iliana are named plaintiffs, that seeks to fix the state of California’s

broken public school finance system and ensure that children in Alameda and throughout

the state receive the financing they need to receive a high quality education.

And I am now running for City Council. Being a City Council member provides

the greatest opportunity to make a difference in the lives of Alamedans, to serve our

community, and to continue the work that I have already been doing.

While I believe that Alameda is a great City, I also believe that it has not yet

achieved its full promise. Alameda can still be more. And we need an effective and

experienced leader to take us there.

We need a leader who will promote economic development and support our local

businesses.

We need a leader who will support a fiscally responsible City budget that properly

reflects our community’s values.

We need a leader who will work to unlock the full potential of Alameda Point,

making it a world-class asset for all Alamedans, while creating jobs, mitigating traffic,

and doing so in a fiscally sound way.

We need a leader who values the enormous contributions of our public safety

employees (police and fire) and is willing to work with them to secure our City’s

financial future.

We need a leader who will build a partnership with and advocate for our schools.

We need a leader who understands that we need to fight to protect and enhance

Alameda’s high quality of life or else risk losing it.

I am running for City Council because, through my leadership and service to

Alameda, I have demonstrated that I can achieve these goals.

As a City Councilmember, I will promote sound economic development, preserve

public safety, exercise fiscal responsibility, build a partnership with our schools, and

protect services for our community’s most vulnerable. Working closely with the

community and fellow City leaders, I will work to improve the lives of all Alamedans

and ensure that we maintain and enhance the quality of life in Alameda that we all love.

Why should we vote for you?

I have a proven record of success addressing the biggest challenges our City

currently faces.

I have demonstrated fiscal discipline and responsibility. On the Alameda Hospital

Board, I oversaw the greatest financial turnaround in the Hospital’s history, turning a

deficit into a surplus, while preserving critical, high quality health care services. Under

my leadership, the Hospital moved from an approximately $2.5M deficit to an

approximately $.5M profit, a $3M swing, over the course of one year. And the Hospital

added over $1M to that surplus the following year for a total surplus of $1.8M. During

the time that I served on the Hospital Board, the hospital moved in a positive financial

direction every single year, which amounted to a total move of $5.5M in a positive

direction, and put together the only two consecutive years of a financial surplus in the

history of the City of Alameda Health Care District. Our City leaders must be good

stewards of our valuable public tax dollars and I have demonstrated on the Hospital

Board my ability to provide such financial stewardship.

I have demonstrated a deep commitment to our public schools. As a

Councilmember, I am committed to building a partnership with the public schools and to

supporting this pillar of strength for our community. I currently participate in a statewide

litigation, in which my daughters are named plaintiffs, that seeks to fix the state of

California’s broken public school finance system and ensure that children in Alameda

and throughout the state receive the financing they need to receive a high quality

education. And I have worked to ensure that our schools receive the local funding that

they need to remain strong.

I have demonstrated a commitment to sound and responsible economic

development. My work as current Chair of the City of Alameda’s Economic

Development Commission is evidence of this. As set forth in further detail below, this

commitment includes, but is not limited to, promoting effective business retention and

business attraction strategies for the City.

I have demonstrated the ability to successfully work with organized labor.

Recently, while I served as a Director at Alameda Hospital, in an atmosphere of trust and

mutual respect, the Hospital was able to negotiate fair contracts with its labor unions that

also planned for Alameda Hospital’s future. For example, the membership of the

California Nurses Association (CNA) unanimously ratified a contract that contributed

significantly to the financial health of the Hospital. In addition, Hospital management

was asked, and agreed, to give salary reductions to help secure Alameda Hospital’s

financial future.

I have demonstrated that I am an effective and experienced leader, who brings

energy, commitment and fresh ideas to address the challenges our residents are facing. I

have demonstrated that I am not afraid of and will not shy away from a challenge. For

example, when I joined the Alameda Hospital Board, the Hospital was just closing the

books on a fiscal year that ended in a multi-million dollar financial deficit. Some warned

against my joining the Board because they believed the Hospital could potentially close

on my watch. But, working closely with my colleagues and staff, I helped turn the

Hospital around financially and worked to preserve this valuable community asset. The

challenges that our City faces today are significant, and require the same leadership

abilities that I have demonstrated on the Hospital Board.

I have demonstrated a collaborative and cooperative approach to leadership. I

will work with colleagues and staff to move our City forward, rather than participate in

any divisiveness that will prevent the City Council from best serving Alameda’s

residents. I will lead by bringing people from different backgrounds and perspectives

together to find common ground. I will represent all residents of Alameda, not just a

particular segment. If we are to move forward as a City, we must do so together, with

civility, open minds, open ears, and a healthy and constructive dialog.

And I will work closely with the community. For example, as a City

Councilmember, I will make myself accountable to the voters who elect me by holding

regular community meetings. At these meetings, voters will have the opportunity to ask

questions and hear from me in person. And, perhaps more importantly, I will have an

opportunity to hear from them. I will listen. In addition, I will make myself available to

voters through email and telephone. In order to increase the community’s access to their

government, I was instrumental in ensuring that Alameda Hospital followed a more open

and inclusive process for its regular meetings. I spearheaded the effort to film meetings

and make the videos available to members of the public on the internet. I also worked to

ensure that all meeting agendas were posted and available well in advance of meetings.

What do you feel are the roles and responsibilities of the office you’re seeking?

I believe that the role of a City Councilmember is to promote and ensure the

overall health and success of our city.

A Councilmember’s role is to provide vision, policy direction, and oversight for

the city while ensuring that the entire community is fairly represented and given a strong

voice. A councilmember must provide proper oversight of city management/staff to

ensure accountability and transparency and to ensure that the Council’s direction is being

implemented and executed. City management/staff must not be allowed to stray from the

policy direction of the Council and must be held accountable for their conduct and

actions. If this is done well, Councilmembers need not engage in micromanagement of

day-to-day operational matters.

Ideally, the City Council and management/staff will have a symbiotic

relationship, each working seamlessly with the other in pursuit of the same goals. This

will result in optimal levels of service to the people of Alameda.

As a Health Care District Director for the past approximately three years, I am

proud to say that the District Board and management/staff have enjoyed an extremely

strong relationship. Together, we have formed a high-functioning team that has elevated

the best interests of Alamedans above all else. The hallmarks of this relationship include

cooperation, active listening, mutual respect, open-mindedness, and close collaboration.

The strength of that relationship is reflected in the many successes of the Hospital,

including, but not limited to, the financial turnaround of the Hospital, in which we turned

a deficit into a surplus.

What do you think is the most pressing issue you would face if elected and what

would you do to address it?

The most pressing issue will be preserving and enhancing the public services that

our community values most by exercising fiscal responsibility.

Under my leadership, as set forth in more detail above, Alameda Hospital effected a

financial turnaround, turning a deficit into a surplus. I will exercise the same fiscal

discipline on the City.

Exercising fiscal responsibility will require deliberate and intentional efforts both

to reduce costs and to generate additional revenue, an approach that worked successfully

at Alameda Hospital.

The work I have done as Chair of the Economic Development commission in

cultivating sound and responsible economic development, particularly in promoting

efforts for business attraction and business retention, will be a critical part of this

strategy. If we pursue sound economic development at Alameda Point, our business

parks, our business districts, in West Alameda, and elsewhere, we can substantially

improve the quality of life for all Alamedans while also generating important tax revenue

(transfer tax, property tax, sales tax, etc.) to support the services we care about most in

Alameda, such as our public schools and our public safety (police and fire).

The recently-approved VF Outdoor project at Harbor Bay Business Park is an

exciting economic development project that the City should build on and replicate.

Alameda recently attracted VF Outdoor (The North Face, JanSport, Eagle Creek, etc.) to

relocate their corporate headquarters to Harbor Bay Business Park. VF Outdoor will

build a five-building campus of all new construction, thereby generating numerous union

construction jobs. It will generate $3M in tax revenues over 12 years and another $3M in

AMP commercial rate energy payments. It will become one of the highest property tax

sources in the City (as well as one of the largest private employers in the City with 650

jobs). And it will be a catalyst for additional quality development, as high quality

companies attract other high quality companies.

Working effectively and collaboratively with our labor unions will also be critical

and is something I have demonstrated I have the ability to do. In an atmosphere of trust

and mutual respect, Alameda Hospital was able to negotiate fair contracts with its labor

unions that also planned for Alameda Hospital’s future. For example, the membership of

the California Nurses' Association (CNA) unanimously ratified a contract that contributed

significantly to the financial health of the Hospital. In addition, Hospital management

was asked, and agreed, to give salary reductions to help prepare for the future. I will

employ this same respectful, trustworthy, and effective approach in working with the

City’s labor unions to secure Alameda’s future. Our city employees want what we all

want—a thriving, healthy City—and they are willing to contribute appropriately to ensure

that outcome. But, recently, the City has not been able to bargain successfully with its

labor unions. I will continue to work with labor effectively, with an open mind and an

open ear and in a spirit of mutual trust and respect, so that together we can face the

significant challenges our City faces.

The City must also consider new and creative ways to generate additional

revenue. This could take the form of accessing federal monies, such as the recently-

approved Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant which

provided funding to put six laid off firefighters back to work. We must also, among other

possibilities, work to improve collections on emergency ambulance services and

seriously explore the possibility of the Fire Department providing interfacility ambulance

services, both of which could provide valuable dollars to the City’s bottom line.

What do you think needs to be done with Alameda Point – and what steps would

you take to make that happen?

I believe that we should pursue sound and thoughtful development of Alameda

Point. Alameda Point is one-third of our City and lies in a prime Bay Area location. But

the use of Alameda Point is not currently being optimized. It has been approximately 15

years since the Navy left and the Point is far from meeting its full potential.

But we do not need just any development, we need the right development.

I believe that we need to consider our full range of options for Alameda Point.

Community input will be critical to what we ultimately decide to do.

Any decision I make as a City Councilmember regarding how best to develop

Alameda Point will be guided by three critical principles: (1) Financial soundness, (2)

job creation, and (3) traffic mitigation.

Guided by these three principles, I believe that we should move the development

of Alameda Point along with a degree of urgency, while also moving thoughtfully and

carefully.

If done right, we can improve the quality of life for all Alamedans and create

wonderful public amenities for the entire community to enjoy (parks, open space, sports

fields, thriving waterfront business and entertainment districts, commercial, retail, etc.—

in short, a world class development) while also creating jobs (mostly in light industry,

including, but not limited to, green economy jobs) and generating tax revenue (transfer

tax, property tax, sales tax, utility users tax, business license fees, Alameda Municipal

Power (AMP) payments, and building permit and inspection fees), which revenue will

support other programs and services that our community values most, such as our schools

and our public safety (Police and Fire).

I am open to considering different and creative ways to successfully develop

Alameda Point.

However, the concept of the City being its own Master Developer raises some

major questions for me regarding my requirement that the project be financially sound.

How will the massive up-front costs of the project be paid for, such as cleanup, buildout

of public infrastructure (roads, sewer lines, water lines), addressing sea rise, addressing

seismic challenges, etc.? Are the proposed funding sources reliable? Will they be

enough?

The traditional method for redeveloping a former military base has largely been a

private-public partnership in which the City works with a private partner.

I understand the attraction to the City being its own Master Developer, especially

after having such a poor experience with our last master developer SunCal. I do not think

SunCal was or is a good fit for our community, I voted against Measure B (SunCal’s

ballot measure) way back in February, and I have taken an early, public, and strong

position against accepting any campaign contributions from any developers.

But the pendulum does not have to swing all the way to the other extreme.

Because it did not work out with SunCal or APCP, does not mean that we must write off

all private partners forevermore.

It means that we must find the right partner, not just any partner.

And, in order to do that, we need to do our due diligence and conduct an

extremely thorough and comprehensive review of the City’s potential partners to ensure

that (1) they have the required financial wherewithal to complete the project and (2) they

will adopt and embrace our community’s vision for Alameda Point.

We need to implement our community’s vision of what should be developed at

Alameda Point, not the private partner’s view. And in order to crystallize that vision, we

should invite and rely on substantial community input. The City Council—not the

private partner or an outside consultant—should lead this discussion and community

visioning process.

After four year in office, I would hope that the cleanup at Alameda Point is

complete or nearly complete and that a clear plan has been approved and supported by

the community and City leaders and is well under way.

What steps would you take to bolster Alameda’s economic base?

I am currently the Chair of the City of Alameda’s Economic Development

Commission (EDC). I am honored to have been elected to this position by my colleagues

on the EDC. By pursuing sound and responsible economic development, particularly in

promoting efforts for business attraction and business retention, we can bolster

Alameda’s economic base. We can substantially improve the quality of life for all

Alamedans while also generating important tax revenue (transfer tax, property tax, sales

tax, etc.) to support the services we care about most in Alameda, such as our public

schools and our public safety (police and fire).

I supported existing Alameda businesses and promoted business retention in

Alameda through the work of the EDC’s Business Retention Subcommittee. Formed in

March 2009 to help “support and maintain our current commercial and retail businesses

in Alameda,” the Subcommittee reached out to the local business community to solicit

perspectives about measures to retain and support the City’s current commercial and

retail businesses. The Subcommittee held three Community Forums as well as invited

local business owners and representatives to complete an on-line Business Retention and

Support survey posted on the City’s website. This short, anonymous survey was intended

to identify how the City may best serve the local business community during the current

economic recession. Finally, the Subcommittee members also individually received

comments in personal conversations with local business representatives. The

Subcommittee then made a series of recommendations to the City Council regarding how

best to support the City’s local businesses, including by streamlining and rendering more

efficient the City’s regulatory functions, such as the permitting process. These

recommendations including many of the following, for which I would advocate as a

member of the Alameda City Council.

As a City Councilmember, I will advocate for improved customer service and

facilitation for businesses within the City’s Planning and Building Department,

particularly for new business improvements and business expansions. In particular, the

City should bolster staff training within the City’s Planning and Building Department to

provide and maintain consistent code enforcement from application through inspection.

The City should also allow small project applicants the option to pay additional fees if

they would like to be assigned a specific team member to follow them through the entire

process, just as that option is available for larger development projects. And the City

should support the continuation of the Customer Service Improvement (CSI) Team

and/or appoint a citizen volunteer ombudsman to monitor the City’s planning and

building regulatory functions.

As a City Councilmember, I will advocate to continue, and attempt to expand, the

City’s façade grant program, which has been used successfully for many Alameda

businesses and can and should be used for many others.

As a City Councilmember, I will support Alameda Municipal Power’s

continuation of the Economic Development Incentive Discount program and encourage

AMP to accommodate extending the discount to new or expanding tenants that do not

occupy an entire building. Utility costs can be a significant factor in business success, so

this is a very important program to continue and even expand. Accommodations should

include steps such as sub-metering, and to the extent AMP is concerned about landlords

not passing on savings in a form AMP finds acceptable, suggesting standard lease

language that will address these concerns. I would also support AMP's strengthening of

its web site description of the discount program for a business attraction audience.

As a City Councilmember, I will compare City fees with other local cities and

make sure that Alameda’s fees do not include any inappropriately high outliers.

As a City Councilmember, I will ask the City to revise and update the information

on the City s website with new links to business resources that can assist Alameda’s

business community, such as the façade grant program, enrollment at schools, and

AMP’s commercial programs.

As a City Councilmember, I will ask that the City work more with local business

associations and regional organizations to co-sponsor business workshops. Such City-

sponsored workshops could include: networking with other businesses, navigating the

City permitting process, small business financing/SBA loans, marketing/joint marketing

with other businesses, marketing specifically to Alameda residents, etc.

As a City Councilmember, I will work closely and collaboratively with the

business community to determine how they can help keep our schools strong and how

they can participate in a school parcel tax in a way that will help support our schools and

support their businesses.

As a City Councilmember, I will work to ensure that our business community is

getting adequate attention from the Alameda Police Department so that their property and

personnel are safe and secure.

As a Councilmember, I will also ensure that our City has a robust business

attraction plan. I promoted business attraction in Alameda through the work of the

EDC’s Business Attraction Subcommittee. Formed in March 2009 to "help formulate a

set of recommendations for recruiting new businesses to Alameda," the subcommittee

recommended to the City Council methods for how the City can help attract businesses to

Alameda, including the use of a low-cost web strategy targeting specific types of

businesses/industries that have high potential, using proactive online recruitment

strategies, and improving customer service and providing an enhanced business-friendly

environment in Alameda for new and existing businesses. The Subcommittee’s

recommendations were accepted by the City Council on February 16, 2010.

As a City Councilmember, I will continue the City’s efforts to recruit businesses

through the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, city business brokers, and private

partners who attract businesses to Alameda. But the City needs to do more.

I will advocate for the development of a website with detailed economic

development information for the city that includes space available in real time, as well as

the other types of key information for a business attraction audience.

I will also advocate for the sound and efficient use of financial incentives to

attract to Alameda high-quality businesses that are good for our community, such as the

incentives that were used to help attract VF Outdoor to Alameda. Through additional

recruitment and implementation of the business attraction strategies set forth above, we

can continue to build on this success in Alameda.

Questions have been raised about whether the city is transparent enough in

conducting its business. Do you think this is an issue and if so, what do you see as

being specific problems and how would you seek to resolve them?

Yes, I believe that the City should be more effective in creating transparency and

I would take a number of concrete steps to encourage citizen participation in my

decision-making process.

Appropriate public process is critical to good government. This includes proper

public notice, a real opportunity for adequate public input and discussion, transparency,

and accountability.

I support, and will continue to support, open, transparent, and accountable

government. I am very familiar with openness, transparency, and accountability from my

work on the Alameda Hospital Board, Alameda’s Economic Development Commission,

Alameda’s Social Service Human Relations Board, and my role as a Deputy City

Attorney at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. I am accustomed to a culture of

openness, transparency, accountability, and sunshine and will promote it as a

Councilperson. The City’s role is to serve the public. The City government is the

people’s government. Therefore, City leaders must be accountable to the voters.

As a City Councilperson, through direction, oversight, and accountability, I will

work to ensure that staff provides full compliance with both the letter and the spirit of all

laws and guidelines regarding open, transparent, and accountable government.

I have promoted open, transparent, and accountable government in the past. I was

instrumental in ensuring that the City of Alameda Health Care District followed a more

open and inclusive process for its regular meetings. I spearheaded the effort to film

meetings and make the videos available to members of the public on the internet. I also

worked to ensure that all meeting agendas were posted and available well in advance of

meetings.

As a City Councilperson, I will make myself accountable to the voters who elect

me by holding regular community meetings. At these meetings, voters can directly

participate in holding me accountable as they will have the opportunity to ask questions

and hear from me in person. And, perhaps more importantly, I will have an opportunity

to hear from them. In addition, I will make myself available to voters through email and

telephone.

I will also work affirmatively to reach out to voters on topics of interest to them.

By building an email list and having subscribers indicate subject matters of interest (e.g.

Alameda Point, economic development, youth services, etc.), I can reach out to these

Alameda residents when relevant items of interest are on the City Council agenda, solicit

their input, and encourage their participation.

I would also propose reconsideration of City Council meeting times so that they

do not regularly run so late into the evening and into the next day’s early morning. Late

night meetings with critical decisions on important City business occurring after midnight

when public participation is likely to be at a minimum is far from optimal from a public

process and public accountability perspective.

Pensions and retiree health benefits will be a huge financial issue for the city. How

would you address it?

Working effectively and collaboratively with our labor unions to secure

Alameda’s financial future will be critical and is something I have demonstrated I have

the ability to do. Recently, while I served as a Director at Alameda Hospital, in an

atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, the Hospital was able to negotiate fair contracts

with its labor unions that also planned for Alameda Hospital’s future. For example, the

membership of the California Nurses' Association (CNA) unanimously ratified a contract

that contributed significantly to the financial health of the Hospital. In addition, Hospital

management was asked, and agreed, to give salary reductions to help prepare for the

future. I will employ this same respectful, trustworthy, and effective approach in

working with the City’s labor unions to secure Alameda’s future. Our city employees

want what we all want—a thriving, healthy City—and they are willing to contribute

appropriately to ensure that outcome. But, recently, the City has not been able to bargain

successfully with its labor unions. I will continue to work with labor effectively, with an

open mind and an open ear and in a spirit of mutual trust and respect, so that together we

can face the significant challenges our City faces.

Would you seek to preserve Measure A or amend it and if you’d amend it, under

what circumstances would you do so?

Measure A is contained in our City Charter. Its meaning to our City is analogous

to the U.S. Constitution’s meaning to our country. As such, only a vote of the people of

Alameda can amend Measure A. So, unless and until such a vote of the people occurs,

Measure A cannot be amended.

I have seen the critical role that Measure A has played in preserving the fabric and

character of our City. I have seen beautiful Victorians next to unattractive, chopped-up

apartments. Measure A was instrumental in preventing this from continuing. And

Measure A has ongoing meaning and significance in preserving the character of our City.

However, as a City a leader, I will not be afraid to discuss the application of

Measure A at Alameda Point or, for example, on Webster Street. I will facilitate and

promote a robust and healthy discussion regarding Measure A and will solicit input from

a wide variety of perspectives. In the course of this dialogue, different views regarding

the benefits and drawbacks of Measure A’s application to these areas will be shared and

the best ideas will rise to the top. Through this dialogue we as a community will decide

collectively what is best for our City in these discrete areas.

In the end, I have a great deal of respect for the will of the voters and would honor

their decision.

How are you financing your campaign and to whom are you reaching out for

money?

I have currently raised over $40,000 for the City Council race and I am close to

completing my fundraising. I am proud and honored that my campaign’s financial

support comes from a broad range of individuals and community members, many of

whom have known me for years, including neighbors, community leaders, colleagues,

friends, and family.

As reflected in my campaign financial disclosure statement that accounts for

every dollar of campaign contributions I have received through June 30, I have made a

commitment not to accept any campaign donations from any developer. You won’t find

a single campaign contribution dollar from any developer. Nor will you ever.

With individuals including family, friends, and colleagues making donations to

my campaign, I am clearly not beholden to any special interest. Given my position, I will

pursue the only guiding principle that would govern my work on the City Council:

Doing what's best for the City of Alameda and all of its residents, such as our seniors, our

working families, our young people, our business community, and all of the other

residents of our great City.

Based on the candidates' financial reports through June 30 (of which mine was the

most thorough, complete, and transparent), I have raised more money from within

Alameda than any other candidate for City Council. And I have the greatest number of

donations from within Alameda of any candidate. The vast majority of my campaign

donations are from Alameda and the Greater Bay Area. And I am proud to say that my

campaign appears to have the most volunteer support from within Alameda of any City

Council campaign-- precinct walkers, phonebankers, people hosting house parties,

envelope stuffers, etc.