Time to Think Globally/Act Locally

It's almost election day and the Santa Paula City Council has convinced itself and the city that it must make hard, grizzly choices to balance the budget.  In the past two months, each city council meeting sees a dizzying number of agenda items raised, voted on and/or tabled often without the benefit of adequate information or thought of consequences. Items come up, items disappear. And if money, or the lack of it, is the only determiner of what action to take we are in for some heartbreak. If you've been following the council meetings you will have noticed that even though they are conducted in slow-motion, we are left confused. Is selling off the city's assets, and cutting the city's workforce the only way to balance the budget? And what do we really know about the sewer bill?  But, don't despair. Look objectively at money, and you'll see that computerized transactions of financial capital total nearly 4 trillion dollars a day. No shortage of money in the world. So let's prioritize what needs to be done, and rally boldly and creatively to generate revenue. My recommendations are:

1. Contact our esteemed Congressman Gallegly, and ask (beg, implore?) him to bring stimulus money for one or two public works projects to Santa Paula. (Whether we like stimulus money or hate it, it's out there.) One project, for example, would be to build a retaining wall along the south side of the Santa Paula Freeway.  Residents whose homes are alongside the 126 have said they are not adequately protected against highway traffic accidents with only a chain-link fence separating them from the constant traffic. I agree. The second project could be to use the funds in a public/private partnership to restore the Tower theatre as a cultural venue for film festivals and music concerts.  There are many worthy projects out there and as voters, we will happily reward our congressman's concern for our city.

2. Woo American multi-billionaires so they step up to the plate in the style of their Rockefeller and Carnegie predecessors. Their capital and ours are inextricably meshed. A win-win outcome is their loosening the flow of capital to small business, and to thoughtful development. In a public and private partnership, private interests can invest and profit without owning every bolt and screw. In turn, the city can woo small business with incentives that make living and working in Santa Paula a most attractive option.

3. Where is today's Mies van der Rohe?  Experiment fearlessly to expand the middle class with ONE cutting edge, environmentally sound, small-scale development. Example: Take a minimum acreage of land and build 100 architecturally innovative prefab houses that take about 19 days each to build, that harmonize with the natural landscape, and that will appeal to young professionals in technological, scientific and engineering fields, and their families.

May this coming year see a city council with a little panache. How else can we win for Santa Paula?

League of Women Voters: Save the Date 10/5/2010

The League of Women Voters is hosting a Candidates Forum on Tuesday, October 5th from 7-7:50 PM at the Santa Paula Community Center, 530 West Main Street, Santa Paula.

Audience questions are written on cards and read by the moderator. Hope you can make it. It should be fun(?)  But mostly, would love your support. Please tell your friends.

Rough Rider Hits the Campaign Trail

Having never run for elected office before, everything is still very new. The fact that I'm really running for city council, while initially a self-induced shock, continues to amaze me; especially since there is no way I can compete with the experience of the other candidates. At a recent "Meet the Candidates" event, I sat listening to the other candidates in utter fascination. Four men, two of them incumbents, one of them a retired police officer and former city councilman, and the fourth, a member on the economic advisory committee for Santa Paula had all the experience I lack. They are directly involved in Santa Paula's political economy, and three of them, I believe, are natives of Santa Paula. They are not only on top of all the issues, they seem to have been born to the issues. So besides being a woman and being new (and humbled), what do I have to offer that would merit your consideration?
Not one to give up, I discovered that evening, and can say with total confidence,  that none of the gentlemen candidates has my perspective, which is to bring a generation of resourceful young people to Santa Paula with housing and industry, with new cultural venues and educational opportunities. Along with this approach is the conviction that Santa Paula's immediate problems can be solved in ways that may not have been considered before. For example, at the same candidates forum, one pressing issue for Santa Paula seniors living at Rancho Santa Paula is that they are facing an unusually high rent increase that will cause financial hardship for those on fixed incomes. It was revealed that the owner of the property purchased it at the top of the market, believing that property values could only go up. (Sound familiar?) The argument for rent control was raised, but rent control only gives property owners an excuse to not maintain their properties. A better solution would be for landlords of large communities where a high percentage of seniors on fixed incomes and those on disability reside, is to have a contract with the city that prevents excessive increases. This would not be anything like rent control because it would not apply across the board for everyone. In other words, we need to immediately protect those who need our protection until we can come up with a better solution during this unstable economic climate. Another problem that came up for discussion had to do with the Santa Paul Freeway, which runs parallel to Rancho Santa Paula. A recent accident has shown that the chain link fence alongside the road is not enough of a barrier to protect those living nearby. A wall can better help prevent a disaster and alleviate noise. Can this be a "shovel ready" infrastructure project that the federal government could fund right away? It would definitely help local residents and the local economy.

Sustainable economic development and the revitalization of Santa Paula's downtown has got to come from new blood. I will bet my life on this. Winning for Santa Paula is you and me, and the welcoming environment we create through tax incentives and the planning for new communities that resonate with the aspirations of a productive, imaginative younger generation. Bringing Santa Paula into the 21st century requires a zest for life, inventiveness, and the desire to succeed and be happy no matter what. So, yes, it's true, I am running for city council and time is running out. I have to hurry up and order yard signs and get them onto people's front lawns, and get my message across door to door. Hope to see you soon!

Build it Right, Now: Santa Paula's Future

Somebody must really be watching over Santa Paula. First, Santa Paulans in their illumined wisdom put off approving various mega-development schemes that would have obliterated Santa Paula's unpretentious originality. Then, an even greater blessing-- the economic downturn-- gave Santa Paulans time to catch their breath when faced with imminent commitments to developers. Can you imagine what it would be like today to have hundreds of empty, multi million-dollar MacMansions haunting the city? Yet, if we do nothing now, what will Santa Paula look like in 10 years?
With a new decade on the way, we should welcome a new era for Santa Paula. The issue of housing developments is once again up for debate and is an opportunity to look into the future. As your City Council member I would do everything possible to get the best and brightest architects and engineers to design and build sustainable, cutting edge homes, enviable throughout the world. New homes designed with architectural inventiveness, built with environmentally sound materials, and landscaped in harmony with the natural beauty that surrounds Santa Paula. These should be homes that are inviting to young, talented professionals looking for a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Why should our educated, talented young people have to go to Los Angeles or San Jose to live and work? An innovative housing development rivaling the most celebrated communities throughout the world would keep them here, and they are our human capital, our wealth. They are the ones who will make things happen now, just as the first young Santa Paulans built this city over a hundred years ago.

It's fine and good to offer commodious homes and golf courses, but those tend to appeal to my age group.  I firmly believe we need to look at our younger counterparts, our sons and daughters, the times they live in, the future they want to build and help make it happen. I would like to see a development, be it in Fagan or Adams or wherever, that draws on their youthful energy and talent, reflects their vision, and puts Santa Paula on the map for architecturally innovative communities. Frankly, I also think many in my generation would prefer to live in a community more modest and unconventional than a canyon full of mansions. Of course, I'm not talking about a log cabin, unless, of course, it was really cool.

The Tower

Whenever I see downtown's Tower Theatre, I think SAVE THIS. I doubt that I'm the first person to say this, but as many already know, the Tower Theatre is no ordinary theatre. It is an architectural landmark standing empty and waiting for a second chance. With a bit of vision and in the right hands, the Tower can be brought back to life. Since there's already a perfectly good movie theatre in the shopping center on West Main Street, the Tower could serve a different purpose-- that of a preeminent film and music center. The Tower can feature film retrospectives, independent films (including ones by local filmmakers), be the home of an annual film festival, and a place for other organized events such as concerts and musical performances. As a council member, I would do everything in my power to raise private and public funds to restore the Tower's best architectural features, upgrade the rest, and have a preeminent venue for film and music. This would be a significant step in revitalizing downtown, a boon for restaurants and the hospitality sector, and a benefit for Santa Paula's economy.

Santa Paula's Budget Shortfall: Part 1

Santa Paula was doing well fiscally until the state of California took some of its money away. But did the state give Santa Paula an IOU? Will it pay back the city once it gets money from the Federal government? And if it does, will that bring Santa Paula's budget back to good health?  If anyone has definitive answers to these questions, please leave a comment. In the meantime, money needs to flow back into Santa Paula and the possible move to privatize trash collection, to possibly let more city workers go, and so on has many wondering if that will really solve the city's financial problems. The city manager was hired to do the best job possible and certainly has the support of Santa Paulans. But actions have unforeseeable consequences, as with PERC and the water recycling facility. With the present situation, selling off a well performing city service for short term gain may well invite unexpected complications that cause inefficiencies that are not there now, and in the long term be more costly. In fact,  privatizing the trash collection may be the first step in creating an unwanted familiar phenomenon. That is, by selling off or outsourcing one city service and its assets, the temptation to sell off another and then another will increase. It's human nature to keep going down the wrong road in the hopes that at some point it will be made right, not unlike the federal government's stimulus packages, which have created more debt and have yet to accomplish their intended goals.
Santa Paula has a diligent city government and is no doubt looking at every proposal submitted by independent trash haulers very carefully. But maybe Santa Paula should tighten its belt and wait this one out.  I don't think the city should shut down a department or sell off its assets just to bring in quick money, or to satisfy one group or another. It should do so only because it's best for Santa Paulans. The budget shortfall has brought many issues to light, and the city must regain people's confidence and dispel feelings of doubt. Santa Paula is rich in natural resources, history and spirit; rich in industrious, capable people who will revive the local economy, and by extension, restore the budget. Down the road, when the economy rebounds and Santa Paula's doing well again, the city's residents will look around and not recognize their own town because someone else owns it, and the city will no longer have an infrastructure to call its own. Should the city want to get any of it back, it's going to be much, much more expensive to buy from its future owners. At the community college where I teach, the school needed money and sold off a substantial part of the campus to a developer who built a golf driving range. It's right under every student's nose, and for many who lived through that whole affair, the resentment has never subsided. Recently, the college has considered buying back that same piece of property. But, what they sold it for is not even close to what they would have to now pay to get it back. So, finally, it's not about what unions want, or what private companies eager to get a contract with the city want, or what politicians want. What do the people who live right here in Santa Paula want? It's their tax dollars. It is their right to hang on to their city's assets and demand that their elected officials courageously serve their interests.

Hi, my name is Rita Stafford and I'm running for Santa Paula City Council.

When people ask why I'm running for City Council, I usually say, I just love Santa Paula. Which is true, but obviously that's not going to win the confidence of voters. The real story goes something like this: On July 28th, the Santa Paula Times carried an article with the headline, Council race: Still no nomination papers pulled for November election.  I found this distressing and so I went over to City Hall. With papers in hand, I gathered signatures, submitted everything on time and took an oath. An oath is a powerful thing, and now here I am. I have no political aspirations, but  I have a strong vision for Santa Paula. We may like things as they are, but things never stay the same. They either get better or worse. As an educator, I care deeply about the state of our schools; as a Santa Paula resident I care deeply about the economic opportunities the city has to offer and the environment we live in.
Some of the topics following this post include the budget shortfall, issue of privatizing the city's trash collection, expanding educational options, restoring and renovating the Tower movie theatre and other ideas for reviving downtown, and ways to maintain a safe and beautiful community. In this blog, I'm inviting you to share your concerns and vision as to how we can make Santa Paula more prosperous and vibrant. I'm running for city council to listen to you.