Arthur Keller will provide strong planning and transportation expertise, good community values and innovative ideas. Kniss brings deep institutional knowledge and valuable regional relationships. Greer Stone is a smart, thoughtful, young renter and longtime resident who will work to maintain the diversity and livability that we value. Don MacDougall has the experience, vision, skills and intellect to be a leader on the council. Stone and MacDougall are focused on addressing our housing and transportation challenges in ways that will be sustainable for future generations.
Continuing the past two years of more constructive and balanced problem solving on the Council will require thoughtful and forthright leadership. Unfortunately, several leading candidates do not fit that bill. Fine has run a distinctly deceptive campaign that has re-cast his development positions as a Planning Commissioner while blaming generations of longtime residents for our housing needs. He opposed the office cap, limits on commercial PC's, residential permit parking, design compatibility and virtually every position taken by the City Council to moderate the rate of commercial growth and reduce its negative impacts. As a Planning Commissioner, Tanaka has taken similar stances, but has studiously avoided making his current positions clear to the voters during the campaign while exaggerating claims of his accomplishments. The community would benefit from an honest and open debate over competing plans.
As critical as they are, planning and development issues are only a fraction of the job responsibilities of the City Council. We need leaders who will also be effective at fiscal management, providing community services, performing organizational oversight, adopting environmental policy and running of our utilities. That is why I support Keller, Kniss, Stone and MacDougall.
