Good Evening,
I'm SPENCE F. BURTON, and I am a candidate for the Petaluma City
Council. I am asking for your support, votes,
etc. in this election. Please share this e-mail with your list,
and anyone who may have similar views.
I have lived in
Petaluma with my wife Cathy for over 32 years,
and have seen our population grow to almost 60,000... almost doubling
since 1976. We moved here because of the small town feel, and the
Supreme Court ruling that protected (at least I thought back then) slow
growth policies. I retired from the Postal Service in 2004, and my wife
retired as a teacher at Tomales High School last year.
Since
1976 we have seen many things happening in our greater community! Since
the City of Petaluma shares their Postal ZIP Codes with our neighbors
outside of the City Limits, I believe that we should work more closely
together to better manage the other things that we share on a regular
basis. The aquifer and ground water recharge areas both within
the
City Limits and beyond city borders are shared by all of us. An injury to one, is
an injury to all! For far too long
there has been little "joint" planning or discussion of these mutual
issues and concerns.
I
have been a member of the Petaluma City Planning Commission for the
last 1 1/2 years, and I have seen the need for better communications!
Our newly adopted General Plan calls for us to use ground water in the
later years of the plan... a position that I strongly opposed and still
do! We should only be using groundwater in Petaluma for EMERGENCIES!
Over
the last 32 years we have seen Old Redwood Hwy, Stony Point Road and
other rural roads being used more and more as alternatives to Hwy 101!
While we see 101 widened in Santa Rosa, once again the south county
gets the "short stick!" We have a major gap in 101 through the narrows
to Santa Rosa. Until that gap is closed our secondary roads will be
overwhelmed with commuters. We have to find a faster solution. If
elected, I pledge to work together with everyone in the area to find
"joint" solutions to our problems.
This will be a very
close
election in Petaluma! Every vote is needed to change the course of this
Council! I will always have an open door to everyone who has positive
suggestions on how we can improve our shared resources, etc.
I hope that you will
ask/call your friends, relatives and neighbors to vote for me: SPENCE F. BURTON for
Petaluma City Council.
If you wish to help
by sending a contribution, you can mail it to:
Committee to Elect
Spence F. Burton
PO Box 5522
Petaluma, CA
94955-5522
Please
make sure you give me your full name, address, occupation and employer
and their address. This is required by law and regulations.
If you have any
questions, you can visit my webpage: http://SpenceBurton.org
Email me at: ElectSpence@SpenceBurton.org
or Call me at:
763-9082
Thanks again for
taking the time to read this email.
Sincerely,
Spence F. Burton
Candidate, Petaluma
City Council
Printed
in the ARGUS-COURIER
Answers
to Questionnaires submitted
by Spence Burton,
candidate for Petaluma City Council
Is
the
city
doing enough to provide affordable housing?
The
mobile home parks in our community are a significant part of our
current affordable housing market. Many of our seniors live out the
final years of their lives in one of our mobile home parks.
Unfortunately, the last several years have seen many of these mobile
home parks flooded, with mold affecting the health and welfare of our
seniors. We MUST do Better!
How should the city
protect its residents against floods?
If
I were on the Council, I would not have allowed the current
developments in the northern edges of town to proceed until a real FIX
was found. They were exempted, by the current Council Majority, from
the temporary moratorium in the floodplain. I am very fearful that with
the coming rain season the Senior Citizens in our Mobile Home Parks
will be in danger of flooding once again!
With regards to the
seemingly constant flooding, We MUST Do Better!
Do you support the
floodplain building moratorium enacted by the City Council earlier this
year?
Yes,
but I feel that the Council Majority failed to act in the best
interests of its current residents and businesses by exempting some
large projects! I really hope that we don₼t have to pay the
consequences for not implementing a full moratorium.
We Should Do
Better!
How can Petaluma,
with a population of more than 55,000, maintain its small-town
qualities while meeting affordable housing needs as well as economic
development needs? What is your vision for Petaluma?
We
also need to support the current mobile home residents in our
community; many of them are seniors trying to live their lives to the
fullest.
Mobile
homes are one of the best sources of reasonably priced homes in our
community. We need to make sure that they are not subject to exorbitant
space rent increases or owners who might try and capitalize on
increased land values that could be generated by a new crosstown
connector.
My parents spent
most
of their retirement years living in a mobile home park in Tempe, Arizona in a 'single
wide' home. They experienced, first hand, the additional
financial pressures placed on fixed income seniors when a series of new
park owners each decided to 'pad their pockets' with excessive space
rate increases! They tried to force many of the long time residents to
purchase new mobile homes so that the park would attract 'higher class'
residents who wouldn't object to the higher space rental charges.
How can we not
look out
for and protect our seniors who have given so much to us? Basic
common
sense needs to be applied.
Answers to Questionnaires submitted by
Spence Burton, candidate for Petaluma City Council
What qualifies you
more than the other candidates as a candidate for Council?
My lifelong experience of fighting for the underdog, and my proven
ability to work with everyone to reach consensus for the common good is
one of the major reasons that I will be able to serve on the Council
and ALL the residents of Petaluma, from day one. The fact that I cannot
be "bought" by any special interest group… that I have and always will
put the needs of others FIRST and foremost… the fact that I have no
upwardly mobile ambition to pursue higher political office, that I only
wish to serve my fellow residents of Petaluma… all are some of the
important reasons why I am qualified to be elected to one of the three
(3) positions currently on the ballot.
What is your message
to voters and how do you plan to make it heard?
We MUST do Better! Our children,
grandchildren, etc. can't wait till
they are adults for us to provide for them! Walking precincts,
literature drops, targeted mailings, talking to local groups, are just
some of the ways I hope to reach out to all the voters of Petaluma!
How should the city
address its transportation/circulation needs?
Burton: We need to continue to fix our
deteriorating infrastructure.
One half of a million dollars to pave the street near the old sewage
treatment plant (Hopper Street) and our animal shelter is one example
of the possible wrong priorities for our limited funds. Local and
county bus schedules must be better coordinated with Golden Gate
Transit, etc. We need to actually start working on the modified East
Washington interchange, instead of talking it to death. Two years ago
it seemed like it was "around the corner" from being done … today we
still haven't even begun. With the state possibly taking a huge chunk
out of our redevelopment funds, it will become even more important to
prioritize the small amount that will be left on projects that are
fiscally possible now.
How would you
provide more playing fields for Petaluma residents?
Burton: We have owned the land for
years, so why haven't we built the
fields? The designated parklands out East Washington Street, near the
airport, have been mishandled for years. Granted, it is always a good
idea when public and private enterprises can work together for the
betterment of all, but in this case we waited far too many years to
act. How many children are now adults and had no place to play? A
childhood lost can never be recovered. When I'm elected, one of my
major priorities will be to bring together our entire community:
Laborers, engineers, designers, heavy equipment owners and operators,
local business owners and the general populace to jointly build our
needed parks and playing fields. Throughout the history of this world,
when people saw the need for infrastructure or buildings, they banded
together and built what was needed or wanted. Whether it was an
aqueduct or the Coliseum in ancient Rome, a Cathedral in the Middle
Ages, a barn raising or a road to the local farm, people banded
together to build it. We need to rekindle that spirit in our community
and when we do, the sky will be the limit
What should be done
to improve park and field maintenance on the city's limited budget?
Burton: We need to convert our grass
fields to synthetic turf. That
alone will significantly impact on the needed regular maintenance and
save some of our limited water supplies. The same way that groups can
"adopt" a section of a highway may be a way for local businesses or
groups to adopt a park or section of a park. In the long run, we need
to make sure that new development is planned and approved in such a way
so that park maintenance, not just park construction, is factored into
the equation. We have to continue to find outside funding sources
(grants, etc.) to help expand our park maintenance staffing for the
future. While volunteers are good, they alone are not the solution.
Do you favor adding
more officers to the police department? How would you fund these
positions?
Burton: In 2000 or 2002 a study was
done that showed that the optimum
staffing for the Petaluma police department (based upon our population,
etc.) was 83 officers. We currently have 73 officers, with
approximately ten of them out on some kind of disability leave or other
kind of leave or assignment. We no longer have the turnover problem we
experienced, but everyone agrees that additional staffing is needed as
funds become available. I am not in favor of a sales tax increase that
would only deal with expanding our police services. I would support a
comprehensive proposal that would effectively deal with needed expanded
police, fire and ambulance services, together with a real plan to build
and permanently maintain our parks and other recreational facilities.
What should the city
be doing to combat gang activity?
Burton: I don't want to "combat" anyone
or any group. We shouldn't be
going to war with our children. We need real solutions for prevention.
It is far cheaper to prevent gang violence than it is to incarcerate
them when they break the law. The best way to prevent gang activity is
to provide other "real" activities and options for our youth. We all
remember what it was like to be children or teenagers (even if it was
many years ago). No matter what era we grew up in, we all sought out
places to go, places to "hang out" with our friends and be seen.
Whether we hung out on city street corners, harmonizing to "doo wop"
songs of the 1950s; went to the local movies or game arcades; went
dancing with our dates, or went skateboarding near the Petaluma pool,
etc., we all sought out places to go and things to do. Most of us
probably also experienced the frustration of "nothing to do." You would
think that we would have done better in providing venues for our
children and youth. Programs that have seniors and teenagers commingle
and work together are one good way of addressing the needs of both
groups. More support for families that are split apart should be
encouraged. Local church groups can help, if parents ask for help.
Violent gang activity must be nipped in the bud. A proactive community
and policing strategy should help significantly with prevention, etc.
Violent offenders have to be taken off the streets and provided the
necessary help, guidance, options, etc., that will keep them from
becoming lifetime criminals with no future in society. Remember, it
costs far more to house someone in jail than it does to provide a good
education and healthy activities.
Published:
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 6:22 a.m.
As published in the Press Democrat
Vote for Burton
Copied here with permission from Diane
Reilly Torres
EDITOR: People don’t realize how
Petaluma’s layoffs and service cuts
will affect them and why it is so important to elect City Council
candidates who are fiscally responsible.
Karen Nau and Samantha
Freitas with the rest of the current City Council established goals and
priorities for 2008. A top priority was to ensure the fiscal strength
of the city by planning for the impact of the state fiscal crisis. In
February, the council was given an update on revenues and expenditures
of the city. They were told “expenditures will have to be monitored
very carefully over the balance of the fiscal year to not exceed
budget,” overtime must be watched closely to remain within budget, and
revenues are anticipated to be flat due to the housing crisis, yet Nau
and Freitas were surprised when told about the budget shortfall.
Petaluma has made the most drastic cuts
in Sonoma County.
Spence
Burton’s years of financial experience balancing a million-dollar
budget, his expertise in negotiations with people and his willingness
to make the City Council his only job makes him the most qualified
candidate.
Vote for Spence Burton. Burton will make
Petaluma a better place to live for all of us.
DIANE REILLY TORRES
Petaluma
Candidates
for Petaluma City Council
|
Senior Advisory
Committee 
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