Candidates for San Anselmo Town Council Answer Your Questions Tonight

As the candidates for San Anselmo Town Council head into their first of several debates this evening, Patch takes a look at where each candidate stands on the issues facing our town. Patch editor will be asking questions at the debates, and earlier this week .

We'll be filming the San Anselmo Town Council candidates debate this Friday and the Fairfax Town Council candidates debate next weekend. They will then start airing on Channel 26 on Comcast - check the Community Media Center of Marin's website for schedules.

One thing on which all agree is that we need to find a solution to the economic and fiscal constraints facing our local government but each has a unique vision of how to affect a solution.

FORD GREENE, current Mayor and attorney

For Ford Greene it’s “budget, budget, budget.”  It’s mundane but it is also critical, he said in an interview with Patch. In a second term, Greene wants to look at more sharing of services such as police to offset some of the shortages, and more sharing of the pension burden.

“It’s tough because there are different interest groups all of which have their own unique and legitimate values,” says Greene. According to him, city employees, the town and the taxpayers all have legitimate interests that need to be addressed: Employees have a completely legitimate interest in their pensions; the town has a legitimate interest in living within its means and still provide sufficient services; while taxpayers have a legitimate interest in not having to pay unnecessarily for the incompetence of others.

“As an elected public official, to be effective I need to look at all of those different interests and figure out a way to balance them so that one side is not unfairly saddled with burden,” says Greene.

Greene also supports a tax measure on the ballot where a tax is earmarked for infrastructure repair and improvements.

When asked how to improve the local business environment, Greene says he has worked to change the rules to make it more of a business-friendly environment, but “we don’t have any control over who puts in what kind of business.”  He does acknowledge that the town can improve the way permits are approved.

In his four years as a council member and now mayor, Greene fought for limits on monster homes - a fight, he said, that was against the interests of some of his supporters.  If re-elected, he would like to propose a view ordinance to protect the view homeowners have as part of their property rights.

DOUG KELLY, business owner and Chair of the San Anselmo Parks and Recreation Commission

Doug Kelly wants to help the town during the fiscal crisis. In a recent interview he stated that while he served on Parks and Recreation Commission, he believes that in order to effect greater change one has to be on the town council.

“I want to add my voice to the town council as a parent and a businessman,” he stated. The city has $6.8 million in fire and police costs and tremendous expense in road repair, he says, and as a supporter of shared services he wants to find ways to share more services not only for fire and police but for administrative services as well.

“I’m not a person who likes to raise taxes,” Kelly said. He supported some limited and targeted taxes such as the library tax and the school bond measure.  But when it came to the sales tax he opposed it because he believed it was a bad time for it and it was not targeted. If there is a need to raise taxes, he stated that he would go to the voters to ask for a targeted tax for such things as road repair, for safety and perhaps for recreation.

He also wants to find ways to save money by utilizing technologies that can lower costs. “In this economy you have to look at every little penny,” he says.

According to Kelly , there is no one on the council and no one in the race that has the same business experience that he does. Each candidate has important experience to contribute he says, “but making payroll, paying taxes, having vendors, having a lot of customers, having a building with employees adds a different view point.”

Kelly is a firm supporter of flood mitigation by keeping creeks clean and perhaps water diversion when possible.  “We need  to move forward on this hastily because the next flood is coming,” he says.

Kelly also has a vision to make lower San Anselmo Avenue a more vibrant business community. He proposes a plan that will invite different types of business to open up there and perhaps even establish some kind of nightlife there that will keep people coming to that area over the course of the day.

LORI LOPIN, CFO, business woman and community leader

Lori Lopin’s primary motivation to run for town council it to keep the small town character of San Anselmo intact.  “It’s just a really small town feel and I’d like keep it that way,” Lopin said in an interview with the Patch.

According to her web page Lopin wants to tackle issues such as pension costs, budget shortfalls and bringing business back to San Anselmo among many others.

Lopin believes that her greatest asset is her ability to take differing opinions and help bring them together, which she learned through her work in building the Red Hill Community Park. She contends that her background as a CFO helps her to understand budgets, tax issues and balance sheets. But it is her ability to communicate this to others in a way they can understand  that she believes will be a real necessity in this economy.

The issues to be addressed are the fiscal, she says; everything is affected by what is going on in the economy. While she believes the sales tax was untimely, she does believe that a targeted tax would be better.  “People like it better when they know where there money is going,” she says.

Lopin was a member of the Ross Valley School Board and worked with County Supervisor Hal Brown in as a member of the committee to bring Safe Routes to School as a countywide program. She also sat on the Measure G oversight committee.

According to Lopin her strongest asset is her fiscal experience and her past work with various local departments while on the RVSD board. Her focus is and always will be children and keeping the distinct community character of San Anselmo. “It’s rewarding when you can bring different points of view and let people come to an agreement,” she says. “If it’s good for our kids and it’s good for the community then let’s do it.”