I will simply create random comments and offer pondering on some things.
I feel that six of the seven candidates could serve our city well and all seven are very well qualified to serve. I will continue to have reservations about John McTaggart because I strongly feel he has served us very well for a number of years and it is my opinion that the other six candidates should have the opportunities to serve as John has utilized.
John commented that he currently serves on three committees already and his contributions to our city continues to this day.
From the get-go I felt that Paul Tetreault and Anthony Misetich both started off fairly rough but both of these fine gentlemen settled in to provide answers that helped everyone learn more about them.
Anthony Misetich and at least two others trumpeted the need for more volunteers serving our city and they opposed the current Council's action in limiting service on committees and the Traffic Safety Commission.
I applaud all who want to see the committee and Commission sized increased but I fear that our city's Manager is not of that same opinion.
I was very pleasantly surprised with just about everything Craig Mueller talked about. I can agree with him on just about everything. However, we are on opposite sides of the T.O.T. fee increase but that is no reason folks should not vote for him if he is one of their chosen candidates.
Jeffrey Lewis and Jim Knight talked about "Western" and its businesses and Anthony Misetich considers the 'eastern corridor' important to business in R.P.V.
Brian Campbell mentioned his vast experience in business and all of his answers to the questions posed to all the candidates were reasonable and respectful.
It was revealed by both Jeff Lewis and Paul Tetreault that they are the only two candidates who have been endorsed by four out of the five current City Council members and that is of some importance to me.
Three of the four current Council members who have endorsed Lewis and Tetreault will serve two more years on the Council before they are termed out. It may be important to have the two newest members of the Council being able to work well with the three other members for the next two years.
There has been some difficulty while the late Dr. Gardiner attended meetings with the other members of the Council and it didn't help our city. That does not necessarily mean that Misters Knight, Campbell, Mueller, and Misetich would have problems with the three remaining members of the Council.
I think it is also important that whoever voters choose to begin serving in December understand that those two Council members will be the anchor for an almost unprecedented change that will happen in December, 2011 when the three current members are replaced by three new members. Term limits have created the opportunity to have a complete change of the entire Council with this election and the election in 2011.
Fiscal responsibility in our city was a major concern of all the candidates as it should be. Concepts like maintaining and even growing our city's reserves were discussed.
The landslide areas, especially the areas near Palos Verdes Drive East and Palos Verdes Drive South were talked about as being critical to most of the candidates.
All the candidates support the success of Terranea, as I do. I did like the comments from, I believe, Craig Mueller who suggested that the T.O.T. currently being collected from Terranea could be earmarked for the critical needs along Palos Verdes Drive South.
Marymount was not the elephant in the room I hoped it would be. I would have liked to hear answers from each candidate as to whether they support or oppose the College becoming a four-year institution.
Jeff Lewis and Paul Tetreault were vocal opponents of on-campus housing at the College and I believe Jim Knight also voted against that.
I recognize that Brian Campbell and Anthony Misetich may be the most politically conservative of the six candidates I am writing about. However, they both offered great observations and answers to the questions posed by the moderator to all the candidates. I appreciate that this election is not using party affiliation and it should never do that in my opinion.
I guess I will be comfortable deciding on who I will endorse other than Jeff Lewis by the end of the October 7 Forum at Hesse Park.
I will use the concept that the two who begin serving in December will be the Council members leading in December, 2011 when the three new members come onto the Council.
All six of the seven candidates I feel deserve learning more about will be able to serve well at the beginning of December.
I have to admit that I am not that up to speed on the Annenberg land dealings with our city. I do like ideas that allow for increased open spaces in our city.
One of the big issues that many residents are concerned about is the building of giant houses in areas where smaller houses stand.
Since I live on the denser east side of the hill in a tract house among hundreds of tract houses, condos, businesses, and heavily traveled Western Avenue, I feel that the candidates are not talking about the areas I am most concerned about in our city.
But as I was the only Eastview resident at the Forum, I fully understand the importance to many of our city's residents who live on the southern and western side of our city, how important building huge houses in their neighborhoods might be.
We do have some fairly huge homes in our more local neighborhoods but our lots are usually much smaller that many of the other lots in R.P.V.
The Valero gas station and the proposed C.V.S. store on Hawthorne apparently are a thorny issue with many residents and the candidates. They are both nowhere near the east side of our city and I don't think many of us care much about that.
By the end of the Forum I feel we all learned a little more about all of the candidates. The six I mentioned improved during the evening and all six of them finished off with home runs, I think.
I was particularly pleased to hear the directness from Jeff Lewis about his beliefs and his vision. But it was already like trying to sell coal in Newcastle for me as I have already endorsed his candidacy.
Would Jeff and Paul be the best catalyst in December, 2011 by working with three current Council members before spearheading a whole new panel?
Would Jeff and Jim, or Brian, or Craig, or Anthony be the best to forge ahead toward 2011 and leadership?
I hope we are able to hear answers to different questions during the next two Forums that will allow us to make the best decisions on who we want to govern us.
I am also revealing my strong endorsement of increasing the Transitory Occupancy Tax from 10% to 12% on the TWO businesses in Rancho Palos Verdes that require guests to pay the fee.
It is a user fee that few R.P.V. residents would pay. It would help fund repairs along Palos Verdes Drive South in the slide areas. The 8/10 of a mile section of the slide area is the fastest moving roadbed in the Western Hemisphere. Why should all R.P.V. residents have to pay for upkeep on a roadbed used by so many Terranea and Trump National guests?
It is just a 2% increase and falls more in line with other cities along the coastline. For folks who can afford to stay at Terranea, it is less than chump change. For the folks staying at the Value Inn, it is not too much added to a fairly low nightly rate.
I think we are in good hands with six of the seven candidates and John does have the experience that is required to serve. Even though I wish he would step away and allow others to serve, he is a good man who only has 47 years in the area.
I came to the house I currently live in 54 years, 4 months, and 28 days ago, so I have seven more years than even John has in the area. These 'newbys', I still gotta love em.
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