Hi,
I am a senior citizen and Petaluma has been
my home for the past 35
years. I love Petaluma. It is a wonderful City with plenty
of history and wonderful people. Like everything else or anywhere
else, politics is not perfect in Petaluma. Sometimes a group of
people can govern a city and if no one pays attention, bad regulations
can become laws.
It happened in Petaluma in 2004 when a
group of people with too much
influence with City Council drafted an ordinance that Council passed
unanimously. The result has been high cost to the City and
citizens of Petaluma and the death of hundreds innocent animals.
You can find out more here: Petaluma Feral Cats
Continued
here
"The
greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way
in which its animals are treated."
Mohandas Gandhi
And please vote . . .
with your heart and common sense.
The
Voice of Petaluma City Council Candidate
Mike Healy
(Candidates'
speech on PCA)
Posted here with permission
In 8 years on the City Council, I
established a strong reputation as an independent voice, not
permanently aligned with any Council faction. I also developed a
track record as a leader and consensus-builder on key issues. I
listen and respond to citizens' concerns.
I am committed to keeping Petaluma a
wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family. I am a
lifelong resident of Sonoma County.
I
recruited a movie theater to revitalize downtown, when many said that
was impossible.
I
wrote the floodplain building moratorium that was adopted.
I wrote the ballot measure supporting the
Rainier cross-town connector that got 72% voter support. I
continue to support Rainier. I also support the Southern Crossing
of Caulfield Lane to Petaluma Blvd. Funding for both of these
projects is included in the new development impact fees approved in
May. A total of $48 million is to be paid in development impact
fees for Rainier, and a total of $54 million is to be paid in
development impact fees for the Caulfield extension. That means
that the development anticipated under the new General Plan will pay
for both of these projects, aside from a modest contribution from the
Redevelopment Agency.
I wrote the ballot measure opposing a
Petaluma casino that got 79% voter support, and I'm a leader in the
fight against the Rohnert Park casino. I continue to advocate for
a county-wide advisory vote on the Rohnert Park casino because the
traffic from that casino - which would be somewhere between 18,000 and
60,000 vehicle trips per day - would clog Highway 101 even worse than
it already is, with no mitigation proposed for 101.
I served as a director of the SMART rail
district. I strongly support Measure Q this fall to start
passenger rail in the North Bay.I support giving citizens an
opportunity to extend the life of the existing Urban Growth Boundary in
its current location for an extra 7 years - through 2025 - which is the
term of the new General Plan. Together with embracing "smart
growth" principles, this will help fight urban sprawl.
I support promoting Petaluma's economic
vitality by revitalizing the historic downtown, attracting new shopping
opportunities to complement what we already have, and careful infill
development. I support having City hall taking a more proactive
role in recruiting companies that will create good jobs.
I work carefully to minimize the costs of
city services to our citizens. I was a leader in the successful
fight against awarding the garbage franchise to the highest cost bidder.
I oppose the water / sewer rollback
initiative, Measure K, and I encourage you to vote against it. It
would have a devastating impact on City services, on top of the
cutbacks due to the economy. At the same time, I think the
current city council could have done a better job of sharpening their
pencils and minimizing the size of the increases. As one example,
I would not have required current ratepayers to finance the first phase
of the recycled wastewater distribution system, but would instead have
waited for connection fees on new development to build the system on a
pay-as-you-go-basis. So my pledge is that if I'm elected, I will
reopen the question of water and sewer rates and examine every issue
with a goal of minimizing the size of rate increases.
I am very concerned about maintaining
service levels - for police, fire, parks, and streets - in the current
economic downturn. Our City faces serious challenges. I am
committed to growing the City's revenue base so citizens can receive
the levels of service that they expect and deserve.
I would appreciate your vote. Thank you.
Mike Healy
I
support Mike Healy for a seat on the Petaluma City Council.
Marcelle
Guy
"The
greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way
in which its animals are treated."
Mohandas
Gandhi
And please vote . . .
with your heart and common sense.
Continued from above
Mike Healy was a
member of City Council in 2004 when they voted unanimously to adopt the
inhumane law that banned outdoors cats from almost the whole city of
Petaluma. The ordinance was drafted by Petaluma Animal
Shelter Manager and a group of Shollenberger Park Docents and modeled
after organizations such as ABC and PRBO. (Read about it here)
Soon after adopting the ordinance, animal shelter began the
extermination of Petaluma outdoor cats.
Recently Mike Healy
met at my home with a group of concerned citizens and we spoke solely
about the ordinance and feral cats. I don't think anyone on the
council truly understood the impact of the ordinance they passed in
2004. As I often said, feral cats, if you don't see them, they
don't exist. They are invisible. They have no voice.
But for the first time, I think Mike Healy really heard the voices of Petaluma feral
cats. We spoke with passion about these innocent victims of our
society and our responsibility to them. We made him aware of the
considerable cost to this city to trap and kill the cats. We
provided him with information about the alternative method, TNR,
adopted by many cities all over the United States.
When the ordinance comes to the City
Council for a change, I feel
confident that the voice of these animals will be felt and heard.
Mike
Healy is a man with good common sense and I think he understands that
to continue the cruel treatment of our Petaluma animals will have
severe financial consequences
to the City of Petaluma by loss of tourist revenue. In
America we love our pets and cats are the largest number of pets in
America.
Marcelle Guy
|
Senior Advisory
Committee 
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