Volunteers Needed - Please Sign Up

The biggest challenge in a successful campaign is getting the word out that I'm running and what I stand for.  Name recognition is helpful, but it's only the beginning. In an effort to reach as many people as possible, I am asking for help placing door hangers throughout the city.

The plan will be to place a door hanger on every residential door in the city.  With a little more than 4,400 residences, the more people we have the better.

I am targeting 10/15/22 to distribute door hangers and am asking for volunteers.  To facilitate the signing up for various areas, I have created the following sign up sheet. Please click this link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4aa8a82da6fece9-volunteer

Once you are signed up, we will establish a central meeting place to distribute materials and depending on the number of people we can subdivide the areas even further. The more people we have the better, but I am asking for approximately 2 hours or so. 

Thank you everyone for your support and together we can do this.

Transparency and Misleading About the Need

A key aspect of being fiscally responsible is knowing what the financial demands of the city actually are.  If we are not clear on what we need to spend, how can we prioritize our activities to make sure we are being as effective as possible with taxpayer dollars? 

The first time a 5 year projection was prepared was in June-2021.  This is what was shared with the Budget/Audit Committee:

This reflected a balanced budget in 2022, and deficits starting in 2023 of approximately $200K, worsening approximately $100K each year.  And while I raised the alarm bells, no significant discussion took place at Council during the rest of 2021.  If I controlled the agenda I would have included a discussion item each meeting so we would have sufficient time to validate the information, brainstorm, and discuss potential actions.  Unfortunately this did not happen.

The next projection we saw was presented at the 2.1.22 meeting:

Here, the projection had improved.  Deficits still started in 2023, however the amount was reduced to approximately $100K, still worsening approximately $100K/year for the following 5 years.

Staff also presented what they characterized as "unmet needs" though I call it a wishlist.  Things like bringing our City Engineer to an in house employee rather than a contractor (this request was set aside in the prior year due to increased cost including associated pension), an additional police lieutenant, making up shortfalls in special district funds, etc.   This wishlist projection was also presented at the 2.1.22 meeting:

Here deficits still began in 2023, but instead of the approximate $100K baseline, when including the wishlist items the projection showed an initial 2023 deficit ballooning north of $600K, with the projection still worsening approximately $100K/year.

After the 2.1.22 meeting, the Pioneer published yet another table illustrating the projection, however it's unclear where the information was obtained from since it did not match the tables shown at the previous meeting:

This table reflected figures about the same as the "wishlist" projection, but it appears the writer was in contact with someone from the city as each of the figures had been updated.  So why use the "wishlist" version and not the baseline amount?  It seems misleading about the actual need if discretionary spending gets included as a way inflate projected deficits.

And then there was the $30K survey that the Council decided to spend money on (I voted no).  In this survey, the first question about a parcel tax was this:

After already inflating the projected deficit, staff crafted survey questions to query the public, the first of which characterized the first option as an additional parcel tax of $400/parcel.  But with approximately 4400 residential parcels in Clayton, a $400 parcel tax would yield approximately $1.76M!

If we have a baseline deficit projected at approximately $100K, why would we survey residents regarding a $1.76 million dollar tax measure?  Working with the paper to inflate the need and then using $30K of taxpayer dollars to hire a polling firm to inflate the ask is not transparent and is highly misleading.

We do have fiscal challenges.  But we need leadership that will not accept information at face value, especially when it is clearly misleading.  We need leaders who won't look to raise taxes an exorbitant amount as a first option. And before we do anything else, we need to gain a better understanding of our fiscal picture so we have better information to act upon.  This will take more than attending meetings and pontificating at the lectern - it is going to take real nuts and bolts work to dig into what is actually happening and work through solutions that prioritize and support city services so we can preserve Clayton as a great place to live and raise a family.

9.20.22 Meeting Summary

Last night the Council discussed several significant items:

- On the consent calendar was a resolution to update traffic patterns during school pickup and drop off hours near Mt. Diablo Elementary on Four Oaks Ln.  There has been issues with vehicles making U-Turns on this street causing unsafe conditions during school pickup and drop off times.  As a result, the city will be restricting U-Turns on that street at certain times.  We also were aware of the confusing nature of the signs and will be updating them for clarity and conformity.

- We formed a new Community Facilities District (CFD) in order to facilitate the HOA creation and fee collection for certain city services at the new Diablo Meadows development at the southern end of Mitchell Canyon Rd.  The rules require a vote of the landowners for this type of action, but as the developer is the only landowner of those parcels, the vote was unanimous.  

In addition to the creation of that CFD, the action taken by the Council also created a future annexation overlay for almost the whole city.  This was done to facilitate potential future developments entry into the CFD and allow them to piggyback off the process we just undertook.  Creating a CFD is a complex, prescribed process that takes several separate meetings and creating this additional overlay could make less administratively burdensome for future developments to pay for city services.  I was concerned this could make it easier to levy taxes, however after in depth questioning all the safeguards in place including the voter approval threshold would still be in place should any property outside of the Diablo Meadows development wished to participate in the CFD.

This development is scheduled to start selling within the next few weeks.

- We approved the placement of plaques in memory of Braden Fahey at the Grove Park and the Clayton Community Park.

- We discussed the preliminary design concept for the Complete Streets Feasibility Study on Pine Hollow Rd as a joint project with the City of Concord.  The initial draft called for improved sidewalk access and connectivity in several areas, two way bike lanes in certain areas, raised crosswalks and better lighting, overall improved signage and crossing areas, and certain curbs to be extended called "bulbouts" which reduce the distance that pedestrians need to cross and narrow the passing of turning vehicles to reduce speeds.

The city approved the feasibility study to move forward.  From there, more detailed work to flesh out specific design and overall cost, as well as potential funding sources, will be presented as a deliverable of the feasibility study.

- We discussed what feedback to provide to Councilmember Cloven as the city's representative to TRANSPAC related to the designation of Marsh Creek and Clayton Road as Routs of Regional Significance.  The benefit of such a designation would be notification and communication regarding projects in other areas of the county that could impact traffic or related issues in Clayton.  Cloven and Wolfe used the familiar refrain that they wanted to have a seat at the table rather than be on the menu.

Upon questioning however, it was clear from the permissive and conditional language used by representatives from CCTA and TRANSPAC, that any such discussion that may be had as a result of the Route of Regional Significance was simply that - discussion.  Nothing required other agencies or jurisdictions to take action based on the desire of the City of Clayton.  In fact, since all of these bodies and jurisdictions are subject to the Brown Act and aren't conducting their business in secret, the benefit of being part of the discussion can be had with or without accepting this designation.

I questioned whether any funding is jeopardized by not accepting the designation and there was no potential loss of funds or access to funds described.  Even if future funding was conditioned upon such a designation, the City could take up the discussion anew when more information was available.

My concern was that such a designation and the publicization of such a designation could lead to increased traffic through Clayton to and from East County.  Even things like publicizing a hiking trail on a website lead to areas within Clayton being inundated with traffic and congestion beyond what was reasonable. In addition, while the proposed designation doesn't require any specific action right now, we've seen how certain designations can be incorporated into other laws like "opportunity areas" that were defined and then incorporated into housing laws taking away local control.  This was also included in the staff report:

Because there was no tangible benefit, and only potential negative outcomes, I conveyed my opposition to designating Clayton Rd. and Marsh Creek Rd a Route of Regional Significance.  There was clear disagreement with the regular majority on the Council and Cloven as the representative to TRANSPAC is able to speak on behalf of the City as he sees fit.

- We were set to discuss a letter of support for the CEMEX Quarry Reclamation Plan Amendment, however a representative from CEMEX was unable to attend and asked that the matter be tabled so this items was closed without any action taken.

In addition to the above items, I requested future discussion regarding two items:

- I received a message from a concerned citizen regarding a family member that resides in Diamond Terrace.  The allegation was that the facility was adjusting fees in a way that may be contrary to the requirement for low income housing that the city monitors.  I requested a future agenda item to discuss what information was available and what potential action the City could take on behalf of the residents.

- I requested a future discussion item about the quality of recent pavement work, how the work scoped, performed, and accepted given the concerns of many residents.

ETA: I removed mention of Tillman in making the comment about "having a seat at the table".  While the majority clearly felt differently than I, it was only the two that made that specific comment.

Transparency and Social Media

There's something that I've been telling people consistently over the last four years and will continue to do so - residents should not have to be super dialed in to the minutiae of government to know what is happening in their city.  

Unfortunately, the city has made this more difficult in the last few years.  There was a change in how minutes were taken, going from a description of what was discussed to "Action Style" where only the result of votes are published.  This means that even reading the minutes of each meeting isn't sufficient to understand why a particular decision was made.  And while meetings are available to everyone, coming to meetings all the time, or sitting through hours of video is not a reasonable expectation of people's time.  

With technology today, the City and its leaders have the ability to communicate and interact widely with residents in a way residents are most comfortable.  We are a small city and there is no reason that people shouldn't be able to ask direct questions and get direct answers from those they elect.  Commonly requested information should be available at the City's website - things like a schedule of upcoming maintenance or the latest report on our street conditions (now on the website after I asked). 

When evaluating candidates, it's one thing to say they are transparent, but it's another thing to actually be transparent.  Take social media for example.  Do they share substantive policy positions?  Do they answer questions? I've heard folks including other Councilmembers bemoan social media and platforms such as Facebook and NextDoor as things they avoid participating in.  Of course there will always be those who act as troublemakers or are bad actors, but that should not be a reason to eschew the communication medium entirely.  In our small town, most people are able to filter out the the bad actors and get to the substance of what is being shared.

Really being transparent means being available, answering questions, and accepting criticism.  That should be both the expectation and the norm.

Upcoming Council Meeting 9.20.22

Since we cancelled our last meeting, it's been a while since my last meeting update.  I'll continue to do so throughout the campaign, along with other campaign updates.  Please stay tuned.

There are a few significant items we will discuss at our next meeting:

- As part of the consent calendar, we will be discussing extending our current contract with Republic Services for waste management so that negotiations for a new contract can take place.  The current contract has been in place since Aug-2011, and is set to expire at the end of 2022.  With over a ten year term, it's unfortunate we haven't been able to start negotiations so it could be in place more timely, but hopefully a six month extension will be sufficient to ensure we negotiate in the best interests of our residents.

- We will be having a first reading of an ordinance establishing a new Community Facilities District (like an HOA) for the new development, Diablo Meadows, at the southern end of Mitchell Canyon Rd.

- We will be discussing placement of plaques in memory of Braden Fahey at the Grove Park and the Clayton Community Park.

- We will discuss the preliminary design concept for the Complete Streets Feasibility Study on Pine Hollow Rd. as a joint project with the City of Concord.

- We will discuss feedback to provide Clayton's TRANSPAC representative regarding designation of Marsh Creek Rd and Clayton Rd as Routes of Regional Significance.  One impact of this designation would be increased regional pressure to provide improved connectivity and reduced travel times along these streets, likely increasing traffic volumes that use Clayton as a pass through from East County.

- We will discuss the request from CEMEX to provide a letter of support for their Quarry Reclamation Plan Amendment that is before Contra Costa County.

If you have any thoughts or questions on the above, please let me know.

Transparency and City Services

Transparency is an oft touted ideal but when it comes to the city and its activities, we often fall short.  

One of the questions I get most often from residents is around maintenance - when is a particular area going to be addressed, etc.  For several years now I've been asking for a schedule of activities from our Maintenance Department regarding their regular activities, and Engineering department related to the Oakhurst Geological Hazard Abatement District. What areas of landscaping will be worked on, and when?  When will the weeds be addressed?  And so on.  How are we managing our resources if we don't even have a schedule of activities?

Such a schedule would increase actual transparency and let people know what is supposed to happen and when. By preparing such a schedule, it allows for better resource management and helps city leaders and residents hold people accountable. Without such a schedule, no one really knows what is supposed to be happening, or when.  This makes it more difficult to set expectations and foments community dissatisfaction.  

Working with our departments to create such a schedule would be a valuable first step in demonstrating that the city is doing what it is supposed to be doing, or holding them accountable when they are not.  That is actual transparency and would be an early goal of mine in the upcoming term.

Let's Have a Chat - Meet and Greet 9/10/22

In order to get the word out about my candidacy, and give all residents a chance to get to know me, I am hosting a casual meet and greet so all the residents of Clayton can ask questions and talk about anything that's on your mind.  I will be at Skipolini's on the deck from 11-1pm this Saturday 9/10/22.  Please let your friends and neighbors know, and stop by to say hello.