Ted Driscoll - Major Positions:

By Ted Driscoll

• Our current Town Center is dying. State Law explicitly prevents us from upgrading or remodeling it, or even investing a penny in it. However, it is currently non-compliant with the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act, so we legally must upgrade or rebuild it. We are stuck in a bind.
• Furthermore, our current Town Center activities are slowly being squeezed out. As the library employees' union became aware of the fault risk, they forced the library to shut its doors. As the Town's liability insurance carrier reviewed its exposure in our Town Center, they informed us we were losing our insurance coverage unless we moved. In today's litigious time, there are no other insurance options --- we checked.
• Why? Because our Town Center buildings lie directly across the San Andreas fault trace. At the time they were built (~1947-51) earthquake structural engineering was not as well understood and building codes were much less strict. Our current buildings are far below current engineering standards and building codes. They will very possibly collapse in the next major earthquake on this section of the San Andreas fault. Last year we had 60,000 visitors to these buildings, many of them small children.
• I believe we must view this as an oppor-tunity rather than a problem. We have fit our Town's community activities around an abandoned school complex for 30 years. We can now collectively consider what we want as a community+oriented Town Center, and build it together. We can have a Town Center that matches the quality of our homes and lifestyles, and functions as an example of our Town's environmental and sustainable ethics - a legacy for our children.
• Our investigations of our options led us to realize we already had a safe building site in our ownership. Our current Town Center site was capable of meeting our needs, but it was currently poorly organized. We had buildings where the fields should be, and tennis courts where the buildings should be. Extensive geologic investigation by world-recognized experts in the field has deter-mined that the back half of our site is as safe to build on as any other site in town. This allows us to save money on land, and to make a relatively smooth transition from the front to the back of the property.
• We have been fortunate in this Town in that for the first forty years of our existence, we haven't had to spend any money on Town facilities. Over the years, private donors and school districts have practically given us all our municipal assets. In contrast, neighboring towns and cities have invested millions in municipal facilities, and even our local school district has invested over $20 million in recently upgrading its campuses. It is time for us to show leadership on this issue and proactively address our Town Center. And we need to make these changes before a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina strikes here. Let's be proactive, not reactive.
• This doesn't mean our Town is changing its volunteer-oriented, frugal form of government. During my terms as a councilmember, our Town budget has been break-even or has run a small surplus every year in the past twelve. Our staff has remained essentially the same size for decades, and we remain dependent on our citizen volunteers for much of our town government's activities. In fact, the process for sizing, scoping and designing the Town Center complex has been the product of many volunteer efforts, dozens of public meetings, a public charrette and plenty of citizen participation. You are actively encouraged to contribute (just call me).
• The Town Council did not set out to build a new Town Center. Nine years ago, we looked into making a minor addition of a conference room to our old Town Hall and addressing our ADA issues. That process slowly led to our recognizing the much larger risks we faced. I am very confident if we didn't have to build a new Town Center, we would not be doing so.
• And finally, we will only build what we can afford. We need your help in the design process and your generous contributions to fund it.

Zoning: I believe our town should remain a rural, residential community. We currently have enough commercial and office space for our foreseeable needs. I do believe we should maintain some diversity in housing density to accommodate the varying needs of residents in all age groups. Currently we have parcel sizes as small as 0.2 acres in some older established areas in town. I don't think we need any higher densities than that, but believe we don't want to move toward a uniform 1+ acre zoning either. The level of diversity we have today is probably appropriate going forward. I favor obeying state law on Below-Market-Rate housing, but not getting ahead of that law. I also favor leaving the western hillsides as they are, i.e. relatively undeveloped, and covered by conservation easements.

Open Space Acquisition: I strongly favor acquiring open space when opportunities permit, and lead the Town's negotiations on the two major parcel we have recently bought.

Safety: The biggest threat to our Town's existence is a natural disaster, either from a wildfire or an earthquake. I strongly favor disaster planning and response organization. And I favor proactive, preventative actions to reduce exposure before that disaster happens. That is a key reason why I have been working to fix our Town Center problem.

Quality of Life: I moved here for the quiet breeze in the trees, the dark evening skies, the secluded trails and the relaxed atmosphere. I feel most strongly that that is what we must work to preserve --- and what is most distinctive about our town. We are fortunate to live here, and it is up to us to keep those important features that make this place special. Change is inevitable, but can and must be managed.

Fiscal Prudence: In my twelve years on the Town Council we have consistently run a balanced budget. During that period, we have retained our largely volunteer-oriented government, and our staff has remained constant while we have managed inflating real estate values, acquired open space, responded to natural disasters, and struggled with unfunded mandates on BMRs and ADA compliance. Now we are struggling with loss of our Town Center for the past 30 years. I favor finding and financing a solution to that problem which is consistent with that fiscal prudence.

Open Communications: I believe it is critical to maintain an open dialog with all our Town residents on all sides of the issues. Although I don't always agree with them, every opinion has merit, and I have consistently tried to reach out to my "opponents" and engage them in dialog. We are 5000 people in the same boat --- not 5000 people in 5000 boats. We must focus on our common benefit and avoid factionalism. I will continue that open communications policy as long as I serve on the Town Council. Give me a call at 851-9422, if you want to learn more about my positions, or tell me yours.