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Health & Fitness

Blog: San Anselmo Candidate Forum -- A Picture of Decorum

Wednesday night's San Anselmo Candidate forum was interesting, with little differences.

The sponsored a candidate forum at last Wednesday evening.

-- Ford Greene, Lori Lopin and Doug Kelly -- answered a series of questions presented to them by the long time political columnist from the Marin Independent Journal, Dick Spotswood. The questions were from both the Chamber and the audience.

Since the evening was in the forum model, there was no chance to really judge any major differences between the candidates. Actually, courtesy was the tone of the evening, although there were some interesting tidbits that might give an indication of what the candidates each thought about different matters facing the town.

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Regarding pensions, Kelly suggested a third-tier of retirements for new employees. Greene is opposed to San Anselmo retirees receiving both a pension and social security. He called it "double dipping." Lopin is concerned about the entire matter of pensions.

In the case of a new sales tax measure, all three favored a targeted tax that would require a two-thirds majority vote dedicated to streets and roads. None suggested that it should be that soon because of economic conditions.

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All three of the candidates stated that they are running to give something back to the town. Greene wants to make sure that things "go right." Lopin raised her children here and served on the school board, and it is time to serve again. Kelly wants to use his experience as a small business owner.

When asked about their strengths to bring to the job on the council, Lopin said that she always does her homework, listens well, tries to bring people together and asks the question: "Is this best for the town?" Kelly sees himself as a "problem solver," especially with his small business experience. Greene is a person who is direct, can change his mind, and builds by example.

In order to strengthen the town's business climate Green suggested more events that are based on San Anselmo's "local charm" like "Friday night picnics." Kelly suggested going out and recruiting new businesses and Lopin wants to expamd communication opportunities for all.

Perhaps the most feeling was expressed when discussing the town's "character." Lopin said that "we care about each other;" "we are cozy;" "it's is good feeling." Greene likes living in a "georgeous place," and does not want to see us ever approving "big houses." Kelly loves the diversity, although he did note that we lack racial diversity.

If the town were to improve services, Kelly sees the services as "good" with little improvement needed. Greene said that none of the employees "abuse their power" when dealing with the public. Lopin noted that "we have incredible services provided by home-grown people."

When looking at the town's permitting process all three thought that in some cases we are too strict, especially regarding the application of the Floor Area Ratio. While we need to have some controls, the real issues are health, safety and mass of the work being done.

The question of flooding, by chance, fell to Greene first. He clarified that it is not the town's responsibility, but we give feedback to the flood zone people and help them raise the money to make the fixes. Kelly advocated for more education of citizens and creek cleaning by citizens' groups. Lopin said that we have to support the recommendations that are being made by the experts working now on solutions.

Greene made the most unique comment when asked about the unfinished project on Red Hill. He noted, "it's butt ugly" and thought maybe a huge mural could be painted on the big pad on the hill. Lopin suggested that it be "greened up" in some manner. Kelly stated that "it's not across from my house." (Greene lives across from it).

When the issue of shared services was discussed, Kelly advocated that we should look at sharing opportunities as they come up. He referenced the unique situation on San Francisco Boulevard, where the street crossed in and out of town, with the county strip in the middle. Lopin wants to first look at the smaller areas like joint purchasing or shared human resources. Greene cited the joint work done with the police and noted that "we all have to learn to give something up."

All in all, it was an interesting two hours for the rather small audience of about 35 people, maybe one half made up of town staff and politicians. Maybe it was because there were no cookies.

Ultimately, I think that every voter will simply have to choose two of the three candidates. As it appears that all three, Kelly, Greene, and Lopin will be able to serve San Anselmo well.

Don't forget you can also watch the on Ch. 27 today, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m.

 

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