 Welcome to the City Council Candidates Forum and we have three seats I believe that are available this November and four candidates. So you're going to have a chance tonight to listen to everybody. We've got a variety of questions so you can kind of see how they think and what their goals are. So enjoy it. There are refreshments in the back and please turn your cell phones off. We'd appreciate this. This event is being televised live by community TV and it will repeat right up until the election on November 6th. So we have a full amount of questions for our time frame tonight. We end at 9 p.m. If you have a question that you really want answered bring it up here and we'll see if we can squeeze it in. So let's get started. The questions asked this evening are from Capitola residents and the rules for the candidates. You have two minutes for opening remarks and two minutes for closing remarks this evening and then every question that is asked of you you will have a two minute response. And Scott is our timer and there's a time machine and then that's the 10 second warning so it's going to be pretty easy tonight. So thank you all for being here and we're going to start off with self introductions and you notice I put you in alphabetical order. So there's no favorites or anything. So Jock would you like to start with an opening statement. Sure. So thanks for coming and I see a lot of people I know friends and such for the last 20 years I've been here in Capitola and thanks for the chamber. You provide a great service to this community. So 30 years ago I moved to Santa Cruz County to raise my child. My wife and I decided that we wanted a environment that was conducive to what we now call free range kids and our daughter was definitely a free range kid. And I think a lot of people are starting to realize the benefit of that. It creates an environment where kids could be off away from the parents. They make their own mistakes. They come home with a bruise and it's not something that we protect them from. We encourage them to get out there. My daughter said this was the best place for her and if she ever has a family she wants to raise them in Santa Cruz. I did something right. This is what I want for other families that moved to Capitola. The other day I was in King's Plaza and I saw this man and father with his little daughter and his daughter was just running up and down the street and he was making sure that nothing was going to happen. But this is the kind of place where he felt secure enough with the people walking around that his little kid would be fine. This is what I want for Capitola. It's a place where my daughter went through junior guards. A place where she learned all the other kids in this community. We may not have been friends with them all but some were and she felt completely at ease walking up and down the streets because she knew those kids. She knew the parents of those kids. That's the kind of environment I want for my children and her children. Moving forward I ain't moving anytime soon. I want that environment for me when I retire and for all the other people that retire here too. Hi good evening. My name is Yvette Brooks and I'm running for Capitola City Council because as a civic leader I believe it is important that I invest my time in what matters most to me and that's my community. My husband and I were lucky enough to purchase a home two years ago which really motivated me to run so that I could ensure that my voice as a parent, a new homeowner and community member was heard at the table. My qualifications stem from my work in the field of education. For over 10 years I worked at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and as the executive assistant for the North Santa Cruz County Selva. I also serve on the childhood advisory committee and also serve for the Santa Cruz Children's Museum of Discovery board as a board member. In 2017 I was the campaign manager for the successful election of Martine Watkins for Santa Cruz City Council as well. Most recently I graduated from the Capitola Leadership Academy and have received the endorsements of every current city council member. I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to be here today and to be running for Capitola City Council and to work on behalf of Capitola residents would truly be a privilege. Thank you. Thank you. Jack. Hi everyone, my name is Jack T.B. It's a privilege to be nominated to run for the office of city council here in this beautiful city of Capitola. What a wonderful place this is. One of the reasons I know how wonderful Capitola is is because I've lived around the nation before. I grew up in the military. My family served in many branches of the Navy and many branches of the government and I've lived all over the nation and I was fortunate enough to come here and raise a family. And what a spectacular place this is. I've been a union iron worker for 20 years now here. I've been building infrastructure projects all around the Bay Area from San Francisco all the way down to Moss Landing, Monterey. So infrastructure is what I bring to the table. But I'm not just any ordinary mechanic. I'm a Harvard educated. I'm currently at the University of Berkeley working on my educational credentials. This community is so beautiful and so wonderful and I have the privilege of dedicating my time to the community with the Lighted Boat Parade in the Santa Cruz Harbor and recently here with the Capitola Beach Festival, which was quite a success. One of the main things that I want to bring to the table is fiscal responsibility. If you can't pay the bills, you can't go on vacation. I want to make sure that we run a good budget, that we pay our bills, we do the things that we need to do so we can protect and enrich this community. I'm running on a platform of responsible progress. I know that our town, our city is so beautiful that we don't want to see it grow that much. We don't want to see it grow or change, but we'll have to have some progress. And I'm running for your vote to be responsible. I don't belong to any party. I'm completely independent. And I think that's important to mention because the City Council is an independent office and you don't have to be a member of any party to do so. So thank you for coming tonight. Thank you, Jack. Sam? Thank you, Tony. Thank you to the Chamber for hosting this forum. I want to thank the other candidates. I'm honored to be among this group of candidates and admire their willingness to run a campaign. And I want to especially thank everyone who's here this evening. I appreciate. I know we have a lot to do, but I don't think there's anything more important that you could be doing other than maybe hearing your future elected leaders. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I've lived in Capitola for 39 years. I currently live on Deepo Hill with my wife, Helen, and our daughter, Ruby, who's 13. And she is not free range. Sometimes even though I'd like for her to be. But I don't think her mother would go for that. I've been an attorney for 39 years and I currently have a solo practice which is in Capitola Village. I feel blessed, as you can see, I'm kind of like all Capitola 24-7. And I feel blessed to be able to live and work in the city of Capitola. I've been involved in community service for most of my adult life. For 14 years I ran a local nonprofit, Community Bridges, which provided services to seniors, children, and families, such as Meals on Wheels and Lifeline Peritransportation. And in 2006, I was fortunate to be elected for the city council and served two terms. I was mayor in 2010 and 2014. More recently, I've been serving on the Planning Commission, on the Capitola Public Foundation, Safety Foundation, the Art and Cultural Commission, and the Capital Campaign, the Capitola Library Capital Campaign. I would be honored to have your vote for another term on the city council. Thank you. I see my time is up. Thank you, Sam. OK, the first question. Start with Jock. Why are you running for city council? OK. When I first came to Capitola, driving around, there's a whole story about why we chose Capitola. But I'll get into that. I came across the Rispin Mansion. And I thought, what a potential. What a wonderful thing that this city has. And what could it be? And then the longer that I was here, I found out more about the back story, all the different committees, and how many hours people had put on that particular project. And then Swenson came. And there was someone before him. And the whole idea that we're going to have a hotel there bombed out with a fire one night. The thing that got me thinking about that was not that it ended in a fire, but how long it took and the process. And so what I started thinking about, I want to run for city council again, because I want to focus on getting things done. You look at my flyer, I'm totally focused on doing the projects that Capitola needs right now. Library is one. It seems like it's all tied up in package. But believe me, there's a lot of people that put effort into that. And I recognize that. Dealing with the wharf is another. But the hardest one right now is having a concerted effort to make sure that we have a successful mall. We're going to have to pull together a lot of people in this town to make sure that we have actually that commercial area producing again. There's many other things that I'm concerned about. And that is providing safe opportunities for our kids, places where they could grow, places where they could get together with their peers. And I'll talk about that more afterwards. Thank you. Thank you, Jock. Yvette? So I grew up in East Side San Jose most of my life. And attended UC Santa Cruz, where I received my bachelor's in sociology and education. And lucky enough, did I land here in Capitola and rented for the last 10 years or so. Or gosh, more than that, because I just purchased a home two years ago. So once I was able to do that with my family, and I know my daughter Sedona is watching me right now. So I promised her I would say hello to her, because she can see me on TV, which is really special. Once I bought, we bought our home, it dawned on me that there aren't many families out there who are lucky enough to purchase homes in such beautiful areas. And when I was able to do that, I thought the best thing I can do is give back to my community. The best thing I can do is dedicate the time that I have to participate, to be part of an elected office, to reach out to community members, and really just hold on to something that I grew up believing in. And that was being a public servant to everybody. Another reason I'm running is to really make sure that we keep Capitola the way it is. Capitola is a small, quaint coastal community, and that's really important to me. That's where I walk and I play, and all of those things. So if I can come up with reasons and ideas and ways to keep Capitola safe, sustainable, and family friendly, that would be a dream come true. So that's why I'm running. Thank you. Jack? Well, my political career started out with a run for Congress in 2016. This wasn't a race that I thought I could win by any measure, but I've always had a drive inside myself to serve my community, to be a part of this great democratic process that our nation enjoys, to be a part of democracy, to be a part of freedom, to be a part of what it truly means to be an American. And that means standing up, running for office, defending the rights, privileges, and freedoms of the citizen. After that run, people of the community, people right here in the neighborhood encouraged me to run for city council. They said, Jack, somebody new has got to go, and you've already stuck in your neck out there, so why don't you keep going? That's a hard job to stand up to. We have a lot of heritage here in Capitola. We have a lot of opinions. We have a beautiful city, and I want to maintain this beautiful city. And so I appreciate all those in the community who've asked me to run. I'm running for you, and I want to be your voice. Part of the reason that I'm running for this office is because I'm a responsible person. I take personal responsibility in all I do. In my work life, I'm very responsible for the livelihood of others. And I've competed, and I've performed to an exceptional level, and that's why I present myself to you to be your city councilman because of my track record. I'm here to run for the future of Capitola, for the children, for my own children, who have been so fortunate to grow up here, to run and play on the beaches, to dive and sell here on the jewel of the Monterey Bay Capitola. I've been diving at the wharf for almost 10 years now. I've retired now, but I've been so grateful to be able to contribute to our society here, and I hope I have more opportunities to do so. Thank you. Thank you, Tony. When I was termed out in 2014, a lot of people would ask me, wow, aren't you glad that that's over, and you can get on with your personal life? And I thought about that, but I was actually disappointed that I had to step down from the council because I had so much enjoyed that work, working for Capitola and working with all the residents in Capitola. I think it's just in my blood of community service, civic participation, our governance process that is one of the responsibilities of the City Council here to make sure that there is fair and proper notice to all stakeholders. And there's a full and complete public hearings on the various issues that we were confronted with, and some of them being very difficult. But principally, and so I felt like that there was a lot of unfinished business that I had to because when I termed out, we had just completed our new general plan, and there were a lot of projects which I had been involved in helping to develop within the general plan but are still in process. So that's one reason why I wanted to come back is a certain sense of unfinished business. But another reason why now is because I want to acknowledge that we're losing two of our most staunch and I think dedicated public servants, and I'm referring to Stephanie Harlan and Mike Termini. They are both termed out now. And I think Capitola is going to lose a great deal from their just historical knowledge and experience in our community. I wanted to offer someone who has not equivalent experience but some experience to bring stability to the City Council. Thank you. Thank you. OK, Vett, we're going to start with you. What are your priorities and goals as a council member for Capitola? My priorities and goals would be to really focus some energy on what happens with the 41st Avenue Corridor. There has been some pretty big changes with the closing of Sears and Orchard Supply. And I think this is a great opportunity for the community and for City Council to get involved and to really think about the long-term goals we would like to create for the 41st Avenue Corridor. Like I mentioned, I'm a board member for the Santa Cruz Children's Museum of Discovery. So I've been able to kind of see what's been going on behind the scenes with the new owners of the mall. And the things I'm hearing are really exciting. We have an opportunity to have these conversations and really share some ideas. For instance, I'm interested in seeing really unique stores come up front and shopping experiences. We're new consumers now. Long time ago, we all used to want to wear the same type of shirt and all go out and get the same types of things. Now we want unique and artisanal and experiential experiences when we go out and shop. And so I like to be part of that conversation. From what I understand, the survey is supposed to come out soon with feedback from the community. And so I'd like to be part of that. And think about how we can connect the 41st Avenue Corridor with the rest of our businesses in the Capitola Village. It would be neat to see some continuous bike paths and walkways on 41st Avenue that would connect to the Capitola Village. Some other priorities is to work directly with the RTC on upcoming changes with the rail trail that's been, I'm going to be attending the Unified Corridor Planning report out tomorrow at the county soups meeting. So those are just a couple of things I'd like to prioritize. Thank you. Thank you, Jack. So my priorities are the wharf. The wharf is what brought me to Capitola. I'm a sailor, surfer, and a diver. And I love the water. I love the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. You can hear a lot of politicians talk out of one side of their mouth. You will never hear anything from me, but the fact that I love the sanctuary. And I will do everything I can to protect it. You will never see me waiver on that point. My second priority is the trestle. And I want to thank Greenway for being here tonight. I see a lot of supporters in the room. There's a lot of confusion on this issue. I build bridges for a living. And now I'm teaching school where I teach others to build bridges. And so I know a lot about this subject. And I hope that you'll have confidence in me to lead our city forward in getting that trestle rebuilt or refurbished. Whatever we're going to do, I'm going to do a good job for you. I want to represent the voice of the people. I'm not here to tell you what I want to do. I'm standing before you to let you know that I will represent you. You let me know what you want. That's what community is all about. My third priority is public safety. I have two children and I'm a single father. And I have to get up every day and leave for work at 5 30 in the morning. Oftentimes, my children walk to school by themselves. Public safety, that's really I know I said it was my third priority, but it's really foremost for me to make sure that the elderly in our community, that mothers and children are safe. That is a huge priority to me. And finally, my commitment to contributing to community involvement with our festivals, with our fairs, with all the things we do that make Capitola such a wonderful place. I want to be a part of that. I want to strengthen those events and move us forward into the future. Thank you. Thank you. I have three main priorities and some of them have already been mentioned by the other candidates, Son. And one is, as Yvette mentioned, shoring up our economic corridor on Forty-first Avenue, funding replacements for orchard supply, funding replacements for seers, and working with Verlongaer in their redevelopment and revisioning of the mall. Those are critical to our financial stability. And we need to, I think the city needs to do its part, working with the Chamber, the BIA, to continue to market Capitola as a regional destination, working with the Al family to help find and facilitate new tenants in the orchard supply space, and also working with Saratage to find new replacement tenants for the seers space. I think that's critical to the future of Capitola. Secondly, I want to bring up the rail trail corridor, and not just the rail trail, but the Highway 1 corridor. That has tremendous impacts on us, as we've seen over the decades. I want to work with the RTC, and maybe possibly on the RTC, to represent the interests of Capitola. I think that we need to work toward a relieving congestion on Highway 1, so we have less cut through traffic through the village. We also need to work on the issues of the rail trail corridor, because I don't know, and whichever way you may fall on that question, I don't know of one that will be more impactful on the community of Capitola than those two issues. And lastly, I want to see the new Capitola library be rebuilt, reopened, and in conjunction with the opening and landscaping of the Richmond mansion right across the street. Thank you. Jack? To pick up my flyer on the back, I list five distinct goals. And one thing that's colored how I approach Capitola is when I was elected to be the city treasurer. City treasurer is an inside view of the city. It helps you get a very clear idea how it's run. And one aspect of that is the budget. It's the revenue balanced by the expenditures. So that has basically sort of driven me in terms of how I view a lot of the different things I work on right here. The RTC, I've been a proponent of the investment study that just came out. Basically, it's going to tell us all the different options, stack them up against each other, and what can we afford in the long term. So a major decision there that we're going to be making pretty soon is dependent, in my view, on what this community can deliver in terms of resources. That's dollars. That's dollars that will be spent on a solution that we need, obviously, for congestion. We also needed for a variety of other things that could enhance the quality of life in this area. Safe for your kids on bike paths. So think about we need to focus always on the ability to pay for the things we desire. That is hard to accept sometimes, because sometimes we're very much an advocate for things. So about two years ago, getting back to the mall, which is a major thing on my list, I put forth that we need to have a site-specific plan. I think if we had started that two years ago, we'd be further ahead right now working with the particular owners of the various aspects of the mall. The reason why that's important, I was on the general plan. I've worked very hard. That was a two and a half years of effort, right? But we need to translate the general plan to something that works for this area, the people that live here, just as Yvette talked about, there's a different experience we need now, and the owners of the mall. We gotta do that site-specific plan. Thank you. Okay, Jack, we're gonna start with you on the next question. What is your stance on allowing an 80-unit hotel in the village? Historically, Capitola has been a resort town. That's what brings us our money. I know people don't like the tourists. My children don't like the tourists at all. I mentioned to them all the time that we're so grateful to live in a place where people come on vacation. Maybe it falls on deaf ears with them, and I know some of the locals don't like the tourists. But we need a hotel here. We need an 80-room hotel here, but let's make it great. Let's make it awesome. Let's make it one of the best hotels in the world. Let's not make it some consensus cow of a hotel where everybody put their two cents in and we got 29 cents. Let's go for the whole dollar. Let's go for something that's spectacular, something that we really wanna live in, something that will bring us tax revenue. All the programs that we have here in the city are not funded by hope and ambition. They're funded by revenue. It's important that we get revenue. So I'm very much for the design and build of an 80-room hotel, but that's part of the reason why I'm running for city council. I built a lot of skyscrapers. That's what I do for a living. And I wanna see something great built. I don't wanna see a bunch of contractors come in here and give us some hotel that they're gonna sell us and give us some bid that's not maybe the best. I'm a numbers guy and I have experience to bring to the table. And so if we're gonna get an 80-room hotel, we're gonna get the best 80-room hotel we can get. Thank you. Thank you. Sam. I'm opposed to an 80-room hotel. I think that's too big. And I'm not opposed to a hotel in the village if it's the appropriate size, if it's the appropriate scale, and if it's the appropriate architecture. It's gotta fit into the village, not dominate the village in our community. But I think it would be possible. I know we worked on that previously in our general plan considering the concepts for a hotel in the village. I'm thinking somewhere more around 60 units would be possible. However, whatever is placed there, it must provide some benefits to the residents of Capitola. I believe that the hotel, one, could be an opportunity if we had the developer participate with us in building the second-story garage behind City Hall here. And then we can relieve the lower co-parking lot and use it either as open space or public park or for whatever uses that the community may seem fitting. Because I don't think that if you have a hotel of that size that you can accommodate all that parking, additional parking down in the village. There has to be an alternative way to achieve that. I think the parking needs to be off-site and it needs to be valed and the way to do that is to have the developer participate in building a parking garage behind City Hall above the upper level. In addition, though, I do feel that maybe the hotel would be an opportunity if we had that additional spacing to maybe open up some of the Esplanade for pedestrian only and especially that end of it. I think that that could be a unique opportunity to accommodate the parking needs that we will continue to have to be able to open up the Esplanade for more resident and tourist space and provide other benefits as well. But it has to be the right size. Thank you. John? The hotel's never gonna be built the way it's imagined. Flat out. The reason why is the Coastal Commission's looking at the possibilities of sea level rise. A lot of people don't believe that. But the reality is the Coastal Commission does. As designed right now, Swenson wants to have a parking lot underneath the hotel. Well, first of all, that's already below the sea level. So the idea that this is gonna fly is not gonna fly with the Coastal Commission. So I agree with Sam on many different points on here. We need to get a working relationship with Swenson and redesign the concept there, okay? First of all, the parking on site, I don't think they're gonna be able to build it, but if they are able to build it, it's gonna cause huge morass of traffic flow in and out of that place and that's gonna gum up our area even more than it is right now, okay? So if we have something in the parking lot, a packed cove, whatever, and a shuttle that goes back and forth, we'll tell you what, a lot of you guys have traveled all around the world. I have, every time I go park somewhere, is 30 bucks go to San Francisco, might even be more right now, and everyone knows that that's what you expect when you come to a high-class hotel, and that's what I want here too. I think, though, that Swenson is starting to back out on this. They've waited too long. They've done this a couple of years ago. They might have been able to get what they want, but I think they're realizing now because the Coastal Commission and pushback from a lot of residents in Capitola because of the parking issue that they're gonna have to redesign, I look forward to that process. A lot of you guys know I studied physics when I went to school, got a master's in that, but I also took other subjects, including urban planning. One thing I learned from urban planning is that a successful project is one that includes multiple stakeholders, not just the person who's gonna build it and not just the city, it's the people that actually live here, and that's what we need to do with Swenson a second time around. Thank you. So I don't do not support an 80-unit hotel in Capitola Village. If Swenson comes to us, I would advocate for a much smaller hotel built, and would hope that I could work with the community on what that would look like. It would be really interesting to see if we could pull some of our residents together to create a committee to brainstorm about what would be ideal for that area, including opportunity for green space or closing down part of that. I mean, I think that's part of the village. I think that requires a lot of citizen resident input. If it were to be built, what I would be really excited about seeing is the increase to our sales tax. Right now we have a measure on the ballot called the Measure J, and that's an increase in the transient occupancy tax, which would increase the stay for folks who come visit a hotel from 10 to 12%. Some of those dollars will be used for our business association and for our chamber, in addition to youth programs and early education programs. And that really is what I fundamentally believe in, is that we need to prioritize what's important, and that's kids. And so if anything's built, I would hope that would be small in the village, and possibly something on 41st Avenue would be more ideal than Capitola Village for me. Thank you. Thank you. Next question. We'll start with Sam. Do you think that the new council should have a say in what the Capitola trestle should be used for and not have its hands tied by an ill-written proposition restricting its use? Well, that's an interestingly worded question. Well, I think the council should follow the direction of the residents of Capitola. And if they pass Measure L, then the council should support that and they should work toward achieving its goals. And to me, the goals are having bicycling and pedestrian safe bicycling and pedestrian access across the trestle. I think that's a worthy goal. It meets many of our local mobility goals in our general plan. And I think that's in the interest of Capitola and the potential users of the trail along the rail corridor. So I think that the council should try to achieve the objectives. If that's considered tying their hand, well, so be it. And there are many respects when council members are expected to follow the mandate of the voters. This is just another example of that if it should come about. I disagree that the language is confusing. To me, it's pretty straightforward. It says that the city will work toward achieving the goal of having pedestrian and bicycle usage over the trestle. I think that's a good thing. And the second is that the city won't use any of its funds for a detour of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Trail. The Monterey Bay Sanctuary Trail is governed by the RTC. The city of Capitola has no obligations to fund any of those aspects of that project. So I don't know why that would be a barrier to the city council at some point in the future. I think it's as simple and direct as that. And it's up to the residents to express their desires. Thank you. I was one of five that voted to put this on the ballot. Irrespective of the wording, irrespective of whether you were for or against rail trail or whatever, for a very simple reason. That qualified just like that. The other reason is when the citizens want to get something on the ballot and when the citizens say, let everyone else in town decide our town, I'm for that process. This is a republic. We depend on people's participation. I'm all for that. I think that the rail trail, that whole controversy is a little too much energy put in it. The real place we need to be putting energy is how we're gonna do highway one. How we're gonna do things on Soquel and freedom and such like that. But irrespective of that, we don't have the money right now to take up the rail and push it to a side and have a trail on one side sort of like Fort once. And remember, I'm the one that brought here to this council chamber, people from Fort and people from Greenway to see what capital residents would actually support or not support based on their presentation. So I actually think that what we're actually gonna get because we don't have the money to do any of this is we're gonna get portions of both. We might get tourist train that goes up to Davenport, something like what we have for roaring camp. We might have other sections that go back and forth between the major cities so we could augment our tourist areas and the development that comes from that. Or we might have certain sections they're out in the middle of nowhere where there's actually a trail alongside the rail that's probably inactive. I don't know, I really don't know. It's gonna take a long time for this to play out. But my main point in terms of this particular issue, L, is it's on a ballot. We're gonna get a sense of what people in Capitola want. Nowhere else in Santa Cruz have we ever had that chance. Lucky Capitola, I think it's great. Thank you. Can you repeat the question please? Sure. Thanks. Do you think that the new council should have a say in what the Capitola trestle should be used for and not have its hands tied by an ill written proposition restricting its use? Okay. So the question is do I think that the council should have a say? I think that the entire community has the opportunity to speak and it's clear. There is a measure on the ballot, measure L. Currently, the city council does have a say on the RTC. We are able to have one seat at the table for the Regional Transportation Commission. And from what I understand, one of our current city council members has a seat on the Metro, which allows actually we have two seats on the board. So with that being said, I believe that the city of Capitola needs strong advocacy on the RTC. And if I'm fortunate enough to be elected, I wanna ensure that Capitola's voice is heard equally on the commission. I would make it, I would do my best to ensure that we get what we want. And it'll be interesting to see what comes out of this measure, L. Thank you. Thank you, Jack. Well, I'll answer the question, yes. With respect for my longtime friends and residents of Capitola, I think that measure L is okay. I think it's the will of the people. That's what politicians are supposed to do. They're not supposed to represent their own special interests or their own special opinions. They're supposed to represent the will of the people and the people have spoken. And as your representative, I will abide by the will of the majority. As a part of the new council, I hope that I get to be the guy on the RTC. I've got a lot of experience building infrastructure. And although other people may have opinions, I think that you'll find my opinions be well-rooted in science and experience. I don't think that measure L really conflicts with our progress on the rail or the trail. I think that the people are merely giving themselves a voice. And I support that 100%. We can repel measure L down the road if we choose to. It's not permanent, it's just an initiative. It's the will of the people being spoken. And down the road, the will of the people changes, they can change this initiative. What it does do is give us a chance to use this rail corridor instead of waiting for the RTC to act. Many of my good friends and longtime residents have told me that they're supporting Greenway because of the inaction of the RTC. So while we wait, let's make it great. I'm 100% Greenway. I built the Little Selville Beach Trestle with my own hands. I erected it as a structural steel erector. People of that community at first had a lot of opposition until we built the new Trestle. Now they like it. It's not so horrible. It's not the same old one that they've always had, but it's a good quality product that will safely allow for traffic through the corridor. So I absolutely support L and I absolutely support the people's voice. Thank you. Okay, we started with you, didn't we? Okay, Jock, we're gonna start with you. What is your position on Measure L? And do you understand the city council's reasons for opposing it? My position on L. As I answered earlier, I put it on the ballot because I wanted to see what people of capital felt. Another reason why I put it on the ballot is something that gets to my real motivation of being involved in politics. I've been involved in politics since my 20s. I've been involved in multiple campaigns, San Francisco, every city that I've lived in, whether it was at school or anywhere, I've been totally focused on getting people in the community involved in what's happening around them so they can affect that change. So that's why I voted to put L on the ballot because I want people to start thinking about what that means. It has to go beyond advocates because they think the train's great or it has to go beyond advocates because they think a trail is great. You have to think about what the issues are and make up your mind. That's why I put it on the ballot. I learned something since I've been on the city council. I've been in other elective positions in San Francisco, San Lorenzo Valley, I was school board trustee, but here I've noticed the seam came up a couple of times, multiple times. Don't shackle the arms of the city council. Don't tell them what to do. Don't put them in some sort of position where they can't exercise their duties, right? Well, I'm a homo guy and in one sense, I gotta think about that. L is a way to get to the people, right? So I don't care if it was written poorly, the intent was there. In my mind, the intent is to give people a capital, a chance to have a voice in this particular issue that the RTC has sort of guaranteed for us in one way or the other, okay? The RTC is an entity that if you're gonna do anything, you have to form bridges with other people who are on that council, which I've done. I was able to help form a bridge of four people to vote on the progressive contract. That was extraordinary. That I was able to do in a very short period of time because I was able to get people convinced, in this case, that progressive makes sense in Watsonville because it provides jobs. It doesn't make sense going up and down the corridor to wherever, there's no place for commercial traffic. So I got turned down, but that took a lot of work, about two weeks of work, phones, phone calls, meetings, and getting people to agree with you on something that had never been done before. That is being effective. Thank you, Yvette. So I believe that this measure is a reflection of a greater issue that needs to be addressed and that there is a large segment of our community that fills that their voice on transportation issues and decisions made by the regional transportation committee in general not being heard. But with that being said, I believe that as a policymaker, it's important that as policies are moved forward and that we have to be really mindful about the intent of language brought forward. I think it's really important that the citizen's message is accurate and not confusing. I've read this several times and I'm still left a little confused about the intent of what Measure L really will do. And it may, for what I believe, might have some unduly repercussions for city council members. So with that being said, I do not support Measure L, but I would really make an effort and would hope that if I were chosen to sit on the RTC, I would advocate as much as I can to really push forward what the citizens really want. And from what I understand, that is a trail over the trestle and looking at opportunities and doing that and doing it soon is really important. And I would hope that I could do that for the community. Thank you, Jack. I've studied the RTC proposals. I've done the best I can to become educated on these matters. And that's why I'm stepping up today to offer my leadership to this community. After seeing the support of so many members of my community, I've changed my mind. I'm humble and I can do that. At first, I supported no on L. I thought no on L was the right thing to do until a barrage of my constituents came forward and they said, Jack, please sit down with us and talk with us. And they presented their case. And after reviewing the RTC reports, I agree that L is the way to go. Let's make it great while we wait. It might be 25 years until we see a train here. For 25 years, we're just gonna let the rail corridor sit unused. I don't think it's the way to go. And that's why I'm supporting Greenway. And that's why I'm endorsing yes on Measure L. Thank you. Yes. I support Measure L. I support a yes vote on Measure L since I've come to that, I haven't changed my mind. And I came to it early. Because fundamentally, the original plan for the trail was that it was gonna come off the corridor, come down through one of the hills, on which direction you're going, through Capitola, it would go through the village and then back up the other hill before it reconnected with the rail corridor. We here for decades talk about, complain about the traffic and the congestion that goes through the village. Well, here's another case where it's being added to by outside forces. I think that we should stand up and say, this is not right. We need to have another way, another path. I think it is better. And to me, it's a very simple question. So those people that are using the trail, should they be able to continue across the trestle on their bicycles and if they're walking and on their skateboards? And as an option, they could come into the village, but many of them may not want to. We have safe route to school programs here. There's many kids that live in the jewel box that go to New Brighton. They already go across that trestle. It should be made safe so that many of the kids are able to do that. We have a bicycle transportation program here that says that all the streets should be suitable for riders of all abilities. There are many young, old and novice riders that could not navigate our hills on either side and get through that traffic and congestion, especially in the summertime. It does not make any sense. It creates more enforcement issues for our police department to have to handle that. And so those are just some of the reasons my time's up, but that I supported, yes, on Measure L. Thank you. Thank you. Next question. If I don't, I mean, you did have one question that follow up about whether we agreed that the council was right to oppose it. And I just to respond to that, I don't know the answer to that. Those were done in closed sessions as appropriate. So those discussions, I'm not privy to that. I think that those council members should be questioned about that directly. My lips are sealed, it was closed. Next question, Yvette. The city of Capitola currently pays our police and city employees substantially less than the city of Scots Valley and the surrounding area while giving 500% more to special interest groups than the city of Scots Valley and other areas in Santa Cruz County. As a city council member, how would you correct this imbalance? Yeah, that deeply concerns me as well. I just recently attended the, or completed the Capitola Leadership Academy and one of the big surprises to me was that 50%, I believe so, of our budget is spent on our police officers and police force, which I absolutely respect and think it's necessary. We just had an orientation and Chief McManus was there and I asked him straightforward, how does he feel about the squad? Does he feel that after filling the three vacancies that he feels comfortable with the amount of law enforcement officers that he has? And he said yes. So that put me a little at ease. Regarding the pay imbalance, that will take a lot of evaluation of the current budget and looking at the new possible revenue streams that will come in should the marijuana tax pass. There will be new general funds dollars created with the TOT tax passing. So again, it will take a lot of looking at the current budget and allocating and distributing the dollars adequately. So that's what I think would be best. Thank you. Thank you. Jack? Well, public safety is so important to everyone here. The pension funds, that's a big bill. I know that's not a fun or a romantic city finance meeting to go to and those are big checks that we have to write. But remember, we're writing the check for our safety. You can't put a value on your loved ones, I can't. The people give often here. People here are very charitable. They give to many different charities and events, many different causes. I don't think it's the purpose of government to give their money away. If they wanna give their money away, sure they can find a way to do it. I'll let them have that choice. That pension, I have a hard job. I'm a union iron worker. I get out there every day and I risk my life. I put my life on the line for my community and part of the reason I do that is for my pension. Because I know that one day when I retire, I will retire with dignity and I'll have a pension so that I can live comfortably and I've worked hard for that pension. And I wanna let the police officers of Capitola know your pension is a priority to me. It's not something that I will let go by the wayside. It's something that I will make a priority to when I fund. So we've got a lot of work to do. It's not an easy question. But for me, on the issue of public safety and getting police officers here who are gonna get a good deal for themselves, for their family, I'm 100% behind increasing their pay, increasing their benefits, public safety in Capitola can never be second to none. Sam? Thank you. Last Saturday, I went on a ride along with Officer McDowley just so that I could learn and observe the things that they go through and what they put up for us. And let me tell you, if you've never done that, you may think about doing that because it's an eye-opener. They are confronted in deal with things that we never see. And we owe them a great deal of gratitude and appreciation for the work they do, put in their life on the line. And because, as Jack has mentioned, public safety is of great importance. We have to not only be safe, but to feel safe. So it is a concern if our police officers are being paid less than other jurisdictions in our area because that means that we can't attract the best and we can't hold on to them. I believe that we, and when I was on the council before, we tried to target doing studies of comparative communities, of salaries for equivalent positions, and we always strived to be somewhere in the middle. We knew that we could not be the top payer, but we did not want to be the lowest payer. So we were looking at that middle ground. I think that we should go back, and one of the things that I would want to do is make sure that we've kept up with those salary comparative studies and that we work. And if we've fallen behind, I think that we should work to try to get back up to higher levels so that we can attract the best officers that's in our interest. And then after we invest in them, that we're able to retain them for the long haul. And also believe our officers should be able to live in our community, and that's a separate issue about housing, but thank you. Thank you. So since I've been on the city council for four years, I've gone on scores of ride-alongs, and it's truly an eye-opening thing. I do suggest that it would be beneficial for many people to do this, depending on your views of the police and how they operate. It gives you an insight into this community, and it also gives you an insight into what the police go through every single day. And I've done it during the day, I've done it in the evening, totally worthwhile experience. I think it's a misconception or a misconception to say that we're spending too much money on nonprofits and other services that are provided by the nonprofits in this community. Would people get to realize when they're more involved in social services and when they're involved, dealing with people that have problems in the society, they realize these organizations help us. These organizations are, in a sense, the fail-safe mechanism for many people in their life. If we didn't have these organizations, a lot of those people would be the problems that police would be dealing with. We know right now that one of the things that police are dealing with right now is mental health issues. Our police are having to deal with them all the time. People in jail, because of that, a lot of these nonprofits are trying to deal with things that prevent those problems or give early treatment, okay? So in terms of the police wages here, we're just getting close to an MOU, I can't talk about, because it has been announced, but aspects of that are moving forward on many different fronts that will make our salary a little bit better, our benefits will be a little bit better. A major thing that I can talk about is health benefits, right? So because of the reality of healthcare right now, the per system is actually offering something that we were thinking about going to outside of the per system, and that will greatly reduce the amount each one of our officers and those on staff have to pay for, not just the officers, okay? So this will make more money available for the actual salaries. So we are moving forward. We will be doing a compensation study in two years because that is the intent. We do not wanna lose our good officers. We do wanna pay wages that are comparable to other areas around here, but like I said, having been treasurer here, we have to do it in a way that keeps in mind how much we can afford, and we need to balance that with the realities that the police actually face every single day, thank you. Thank you. Okay, we're gonna start with Jack. AB Assembly Bill 195 requires that all bond measures state on the ballot statement, the financial impact, and the duration of the bond measure on the ballot statement. The duration of the bond is 35 years. Knowing that this measure did not follow the law, what is your position on measure H, the affordable housing program? Thank you. You know, as I mentioned before, I grew up in the military. I lived all over the United States of America. There are a lot of places in this nation that are much more affordable than Capitola. They don't happen to be as nice. Beggars can't be choosers. We have to respect everybody who works hard for living here in our community, but at the same time we have to realize we can't control the price of real estate. That isn't the job of government. Government should not intervene with personal business interests. So when we come into the housing market and we put some lottery system up where a chosen if you get a free ride, what does that say to the people who are working hard? What does that say to the people who are raising their children like I am? I tell my children every day, you better bust your butt. You better work hard or you won't get to live here because this is a hard place to live. It's a hard place to raise a family. You have to be successful. You have to get out there and get the job done every day or you're not gonna be successful here. The people here pay so many taxes already. Taxes in California are amongst the highest in the nation and I absolutely won't support raising taxes here, especially for those on fixed incomes. They've already paid their dues. It's time to let the market sort itself out. I think when government steps into the market, it's not the best idea. Let the market take care of itself. Capital is a hard place to live. I make a pretty decent salary as an educator and I work really hard for that salary. The majority of my salary goes to my rent. Should somebody else get to live here for free? I just can't agree with that. Thank you, Sam. You know, housing is one of the most critical and prevailing issues that we're facing these days. It's a chronic issue. There's too much homelessness. Fortunately, that's not prevalent in Capitola, but we see it all around us. And the consequences of that are the rent control measures such as measure M that is taking place in Santa Cruz. So there's a lot of people that are working hard but they're still struggling. They're not able to afford a home because the market is not working for them and it's not working for very many people and working people. Wages are not keeping up. So what I understand about measure H is that it would provide additional funding to build affordable housing and I support that effort. We struggle with trying to provide additional housing in Capitola because we're built out. We can only do our fair share, but in our surrounding communities, they have the ability to provide additional housing. And I think that it is appropriate for the government to participate in subsidizing or assisting to build low income housing or moderate income housing so that you can have places for service workers, the low income workers, to be able to live in the county of Santa Cruz. Now on the question of the legality of it, I think that I would just rather leave that to the lawyers who are going to be confronting and handling those issues. And if it did not meet legal standards, I'm sure that the courts will effectively deal with it. Thank you. Okay, so I've come out in support of H. And the reason why is because we have a problem in this county. There's not only people that are homeless, there's people that can barely afford where they're living. So what do you want in your community? Do you want a community where you walk down the street and you see all the problems and you just walk around it? Is this the community we want? I don't think so. So I think this is a modicum of effort to deal with the fact that there is a housing shortage in this area. The legal thing I'm not aware of, but I'll tell you some stories. So I was asked to support H. And in my door knocking, I started talking to people, what do you think about this measure? And a constant story I got, and in one sense, I agree with Jack, a constant story I got is, I'm living on a fixed income, I'm not working, my husband died, look at my house, I have a rotting roof, gutters are gone, what am I gonna do? That's just one story. So the common theme here is that there are people who are making it and they're struggling and why should they pay more? I understand that. But I think the problem is a lot larger than certain aspects of our society. It's a lot larger than I even know about. It's a lot larger because our society is sort of not balanced. We've created a system that allows for those who can't afford to live places or who can't take care of themselves to be pushed aside and we walk around it. So I ask people in this community to support a measure like this. This is saying to you, you're not gonna walk around the problem. You're gonna try to deal with it. You're gonna deal with it in a small way, but it's the whole community of Santa Cruz, if it passes, that's gonna help this. And so your small contribution will go a long way. Thank you. Thank you, Yvette. I support measure H. This housing will accommodate local seniors, teachers, healthcare providers, farm workers, service workers. And I believe this is an opportunity to hold ourselves accountable for supporting the rest of the community and other community members who don't have the luxury of owning a home. From what I understand, this is approximately a $17 increase to every $100,000 of assessed value to your home. For 35 years, I'm a new homeowner. I purchased two years ago and I'm okay with that. And I believe that this is a opportunity to invest in our community and the rest of those people who don't have the opportunity like myself to own a home. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next question, Sam. For the past several years, we have seen a significant decline in city revenues with the disappearance of retail businesses. With the coming closures of seers and orchard supply, this has become even more in focus. How would you reverse this decline in revenue to our city? All right, thank you. That's an excellent question. I think one on the top of all our minds. So, first we got to stem the tide and, as I mentioned earlier, work with the owners of those properties to refilled those spaces as quickly as possible. I think that that's number one. And then also working with the new owner of the mall to proceed with their redevelopment plans so that we can attract new shoppers and visitors to the 41st Avenue corridor. I think the ways and steps that I would like to see that and the city can participate is working with the chamber, working with the BIA to promote among the, in the tourist industry and among the merchandising industry to promote Capitola as, again, a regional destination so that we can justify to some of the, I would say, higher end stores that it is worthwhile for them to look at us and look at our region. Number two, the council I think needs to be reviewing our zoning and making sure that we are flexible and in good shape to be able to accommodate worthwhile projects that these business owners want to bring into our community. We should, in other ways, try to facilitate their process, their permitting process and to work with them very closely. I would also, I mean, we also need to work with the infrastructure and to assure that new businesses are accessible, more accessible by pedestrians and bicyclists so that that area can now, once again, be a regional destination. Thank you. So I remember when I came to Capitola, there was a downtown committee and it envisioned a plan to make it a more attractive area to the citizens and the people who visit here. I'd like to bring that back. And I don't know about its success or non-success or its history or anything like that, but the reason why I'd like to bring it back was I've been involved in like main street efforts and such like that and the whole purpose behind that is you get to whole community of merchants working on a common view of what their area should be and there's tons of improvements that actually can come out of that. So I've had two businesses, a lot of you guys don't know this, but you depend on foot traffic. You depend on a lot of different things that make it a fun place to be and that's what attracts people because they enjoy that experience. And maybe we need to look at Capitola downtown and what would that be, okay? So if there is a Swenson coming soon for the hotel downtown, maybe that could be put in that mix, okay? Another aspect when I first ran for city council, I was with the chamber on the economic development committee. I think that should be revived. And the reason why is because I think we need to focus on knowing where businesses are gonna be vacant pretty soon. We need to have people in line that are gonna fit the mold, the mold of what we'd like to see in Capitola. So if we know a certain place on Capitola Avenue is gonna close pretty soon for whatever reason, it'd be great if we had already four or five businesses that might fit into that sought that really makes sense for Capitola. So just not leave it up to chance. To me, that's an economic development plan that I think we should have, okay? Yes, I agree. Main focus on the mall, main focus on 41st. And that is something that we have to do collaboratively. That's why focused on the site plan two years ago, we need to get that effort going, okay? Because that is the thing that moves forward, an effort of a developer when they see a community that wants to work with them. We need to broadcast through those kinds of actions that we wanna work with the developers because they're gonna be putting big bucks in here. Not gonna walk away in two years. They're gonna be 10 years, 20 years timeline. So we have to work with that kind of relationship. Thank you. Can you repeat the question, please? Sure. For the past several years, we have seen a significant decline in city revenues with the disappearance of retail businesses, with the coming closures of Sears and Orchard supply. This has become even more in focus. How would you reverse this decline in revenue to our city? So I think both Jacques and Sam have touched on the importance of building these relationships with the new owners. Since the Owes family owns the property where Orchard used to be and McGrone Grier just purchased the mall two years ago, it's gonna be fundamental to really to maintain and, or establish and maintain those relationships with them and to get ahead of their planning. Like I mentioned earlier, the survey for McGrone Grier will be released soon. So it'll be interesting to see what the outcome of the residents responses are to that and what they envision for the corridor. I agree with Jacques that we should look at revising the general plan, or excuse me, there was a plan made several years ago regarding the 41st Avenue Corridor and that was kind of put to the side once we had the new owners purchase the mall. So it'd be interesting to see and revisit that. And I'd like to bring that to the forefront if I were elected. Thank you. Well, we're definitely seeing a decline in revenue in the city and that's extremely important. Revenue is what makes our city go around. Everything our city does is propelled by revenue. The less revenue we have, the less propulsion we have as a community. Power brokers, people like Donald Trump, they don't like to pay their fair share. They're forced to pay their fair share by people like me, by union iron workers. People like Donald Trump respect union iron workers because we hold those guys to the table, we squeeze them and we get what we need. That's what we do, we just get that job done. So 41st Avenue, I think it should be mixed use and I absolutely agree with a vet. We need a space for middle-class workers, elementary teachers, firefighters, policemen, nurses, they all have to have a place in our community or otherwise they won't stay. We won't be able to retain the best talent if we don't have a place for them to stay. But I don't want a housing project for them. I want a housing opportunity, a place where they can have equity. And I think that converting the 41st Avenue Mall into a mixed use space is the best way to do that. Now I'm not proposing Santana Rowe there, but I think that we can have responsible progress that brings equity to the community while increasing the tax base, increasing that revenue. The best friend of capitalism is the well-paid worker, police officers, firefighters, teachers, those who build infrastructure are paid good wages and they can spend their money in the community. Part of the reason I'm against no on H is that if you bring people in who don't have an income, how can they spend money in our communities and contribute to revenue? So I agree with the vet 100%. We need space for police, firefighters, but nothing should be for free. Those who work hard should be rewarded. Thank you, Sam. Oh, you already did. Yeah, I believe you started with me. I'm happy to continue if you give me two more minutes. That's okay. That's okay. Okay. Jock. Okay. Oh my. There are several streets in Capitola that need repair. Is this a priority for you to see that the budget covers street maintenance? Street maintenance is, I have to admit, Steve Jesper has done a wonderful job. One thing that's on the CIP budget right now is, and it's happening right now, and you probably notice, is slurry seal. So that was a project that started with a complete inventory of all the streets in Capitola, looking at its index, you know, how good it is, and identifying the ones that actually would need the work right now. So you don't wanna let it go too bad because it gets worse later and it costs a lot. So when I'm well aware of when I go around to the neighbors and talk to them, we're talking about housing here, right? A person buys a house, I remember the first house I bought, I couldn't believe I did this foolish thing. It was too much for me, right? But I did it. A lot of people are in that same position. They want a street that looks nice in front of their house. They want a street that makes them feel proud when they pull up to their house. Anyone would feel that way. They don't want gutters that aren't working, they don't want potholes, they don't want, you know, gravies, whatever it's called, alligator skin, something like that. So to me, that's a given, a service that we need to provide on a continuous basis. What we can't do is repair every single street all at once. We have a plan. It's going to go incrementally from street to street, and the whole idea is to do all the streets in capital with this slurry seal. Some are going to need more work than others, which means it's going to cost more. That's usually something that has to be time because more work has to be done to, say, ground up the street and then actually rebuild it. So yes, I do support good streets, makes the town a lot easier to get around in, good on your shocks, things like that. But the main thing is it makes people in capital proud of the place they live in. Definitely support it. Thank you, Yvette. Yeah, I appreciate this question because I had the same question myself when I walk around and I've been walking a lot of precincts recently and have tripped over some uneven pavement myself. So I personally made a phone call to ask, ask what's going on? How are certain streets prioritized? What's been going on with the projects? And just three months ago, I was told that a new project manager was hired. And this person has been able to push forward a lot of new or not new, but a lot of projects that have been put at the wayside. So I definitely think this is a priority. I think that the city is currently prioritizing a lot of these projects that currently, that weren't previously being done. So I'm really excited about seeing those projects completed and hopefully maybe one of my streets very soon. Thank you. Thank you, Jack. The repair of the streets, potholes, sidewalks, street signs. These are some of my favorite things. The reason I love potholes and streets is because they're nonpartisan. It doesn't matter whether you're Republican, Democrat, whatever your gender is, wherever you came from, we all have feelings about potholes. But I'm an optimist. Potholes, streets that are in repair are an opportunity. They're an opportunity to give somebody in our community a job, do an apprenticeship program so that they can join the middle class so that they can purchase new vehicles so they can purchase a new home. Funding for infrastructure for a long time has been a gateway to the American dream for so many Americans. And so I look forward to the opportunity to work on our infrastructure, to keep our city beautiful, to keep our streets vibrant. That's what government should really be about. That's what people get elected to do to make our infrastructure good. Government many times goes off on all these tangents. Who should go to what bathroom? Who should do this? Who should do that? Hey, everybody drives somewhere and they'd probably prefer not to drive over the potholes on the way there. So again, I have experience in infrastructure. I've been building infrastructure for a long time. I've sat through hundreds of budget meetings and watched all these numbers and figures, confusion and opinions. And I hope that you'll vote for me because I have the experience and fortitude to get our streets renewed, to build a better community for us, and to provide opportunities for our young people to enter the middle class in the process. Thank you, Sam. Yeah, thank you, Tony. Our pavement management index, PMI goal is about 70. Currently, we're somewhere in the 60s. And it will take about $400,000 of capital improvement investment each year just to maintain our current index within the 60s and even more than that, $500,000 to increase it up to 70. So one, if we want to improve the streets, we need to look for additional funding in the general fund budget to be able to do that. And I want to look at where we can maybe find some additional money to keep our streets in good repair. And I will, and there are particular, I mean, when I was on the council previously, we had talked about, and I'm fan more in particular, that's, and it's still in horrendous condition because that's not just a simple overlay issue. It's really that street needs to be reconstructed. So that has languished and has not been upgraded for decades as well where there was going to be a project on Claire's street when I left the council and that has not been completed. So there are particular streets there that I want to focus on, those that have been neglected over these many years and we need to see if we can get them onto our capital improvement project plan. Work to get them funded. So then it's just a matter of scheduling. Another issue, and once they're scheduled and repaired, I would want us to be able to coordinate with PG&E and the Sanitation District so they don't follow up right behind that and dig it up. And then, because that's what creates the potholes and that's what happened on Bay Avenue and it gets kind of infuriating, but we need to make sure that we have good coordination among the various government public entities. Thank you. Thank you. Yvette, we're gonna start with you. What is your feeling about the city council members receiving a pension from the city? All of that money. All of that money. You know, it's funny because I actually, I'm sitting there thinking about new revenue. Where can we get new money? And I'm no joke, I swear, that I actually thought about this. I thought could this be an opportunity to really save the streets or save the increase the salaries for our police? And it's not a silly question. I actually think we can look at it. I would be open to looking at if it was a great enough cost savings to the cities and would increase the city's budget enough, then I would be open to having that conversation. I'm currently a PERS member through the county office of education. And from what I understand, you have to choose one or the other if you become an elected official through the city of Capitola. There's the option of PERS and there's an option of PERS because I'm a PERS member already. I would have to opt into the PERS membership or whatever you call that. So I'd be open to looking at that. And if it was significant of enough of a savings, I would be willing to opt out of it if need be, so. Thank you, Jack. Well, as I said before, hard work pays off. I currently have three pensions and I'm looking forward to a fourth one. While I stand up here and work for you and put myself on the line, I expect to be rewarded. That's one of the things that encouraged me to run for city councils because there's a pension. Pension's an awesome thing. You know, I think our young people have no idea what a pension is. I do. I'm looking forward to a nice retirement. I would never cut my own pension or any other city officials pension. Pensions are very, very good things. That's what's gonna give me dignity in my elder years. If I stand up here and work for you in the prime of my life, I hope that I'll have enough money to get something to eat when I'm old. Thank you. Sam? That's hard to follow. Number one, I fundamentally believe that council members and prospective council members should not be talking about arranging or coordinating whatever their pay and pension may be. That should be left to an independent citizen committee or the finance advisory committee. It's a conflict of interest, and I don't believe that we should be doing it. I don't believe any of us are really here for the pension. It's a rather miniscule amount. We get paid $500 a month and a tiny pension on top of that. But I do wanna maybe speak about the other side. And I think this is up to the residents of Capitola to make this calculation. The more you diminish whatever the benefits may be, the fewer people you're going to have striving and running for these offices. And I mean, look at this election. You got three seats open and you have only four people running for it. I consider that a small field for so many seats. I'm surprised that they're not more. So the question is, why aren't there more? And maybe it's because people can't survive doing this. I mean, we are the fortunate few that somehow are able to be able to do this because let me tell you, it's not about the salary, it's not about the pension. So I just think there's the other side of that coin and both of those sides need to be looked at and the community can decide how they want to best address this issue. This issue is not one that I consider monumental. There's not a whole lot of money that's involved, but I'm not here for that and let's somebody else make that decision. Thank you. We need a comp study. How much city council members are paid in Scotts Valley, San Francisco, San Jose? We need to get some equilibration here. So anyway, yes, I did not become a candidate for city council and I did not get elected last time because I thought I was gonna be rich or anything of that sort. I do get 500 a month, but quite frankly, I use a lot of that money to meet with people, buy coffee and let's talk about this particular issue. When I first got elected to the treasure I asked, this is kind of ridiculous. Why are you taking this money out of my account? 11 cents each track or whatever it was and I was told by law it had to be that way. Then when I dropped off being city treasurer, I had to pay all my money back. This is amazing. The money that I had contributed, they sent me a check and then I had to pay that back when I became city council member. It totally amazed me, but I have no control over that. City has no control over that. We have to do it. If there is any option, I agree with Sam. It should be something done by a committee that actually says relative to everything else where you should be paid. But I wanna get back to another question. In terms of revenue for the city, thought of something. In terms of grants, we lost our grant writer who worked with us for a long time. And so I'm wondering if we're missing opportunities here for other sources of income. So I think that if I'm reelected next budget cycle, I'm gonna be pushing for a permanent grant writer or someone that we can have a relationship with. And I'll give you some examples. We got a grant to fix Bromer. So Bromer is gonna be fixed. That's near the hotel, right? So that's gonna be really nice. We've had accidents there and that's actually causes some payout issues. We lost Claire's because we didn't get the grant. So there are a lot of opportunities out there if we had a grant writer that pays overhead, partial salary for our employees that helps fund many other things because of that. So I think it would be a benefit for this city to seriously think about getting a full-time grant writer or establishing a relationship with individuals that can write grants. And they all specialize in different areas. So it might have to be several people. Thank you. Okay, next question. I'll start with Jack. How do you feel about a second skate park in Capitola that would be privately funded? Well, we have a lot of skate parks here. And some people say we have too many. But if you go around the world and you say you're from Santa Cruz, California, because people don't know where Capitola is, they'll say Santa Cruz, like the skateboard. People make a living here skateboarding. People have careers skateboarding here. Skateboards from Santa Cruz are famous around the world. We have public skate parks already. And as I mentioned before, I don't believe it's the place of government to intervene with private commerce. So if somebody wants to build a private skate park and pay for it themselves, I'm all power to them. Will it increase revenue? I hope so. I think that the will of the people should be spoken and if free enterprise dictates that we should have another skate park here, if the market will allow for it, I'm all for anything that will get children to put their phone down for a few minutes. And if that's 10 more skate parks, let's go. Sam. Yes, thank you, Tony. I think it's all about the location and where you would want to put it. And I certainly, if it's in the right place, I certainly would support it. I think that skateboarding is a popular and active sport for young boys and girls. And we should encourage it as part of our recreational infrastructure and facilities. So it comes down to where would it be? Because we live in a small community and as we can see, it can be contentious about the location. And if it's too close to neighbors, they're not gonna want that, but it will affect their quality of life. And so if we can find the right place for it, yes, I would support a second one. I don't view that the McGregor is the, should be the only skateboard park in our community. It's at one end. And maybe there's another location off of 38th or on the other side of town. If we could get the school district to go along and looking at GH Street. And so, but those could be problematic sites. And so, now I did wanna maybe go back to what I mentioned earlier about if we did have a hotel in the village and having the developer work with us to build that parking structure so that then we could reclaim the Lower Pat cove as open space, as a park, possibly a skate park. Because there aren't a lot of residents around that particular area. That may be one that would be acceptable. So, and so if all the stars aligned, sure, why shouldn't we not provide that activity for our young people? Thank you. John. So the larger issue is things for kids, right? So Capitola has recently been blessed with a new recreation director, Nikki. And I met with her and I'm very impressed. One of the first things I did when I moved here, she was about 20 years ago, I was on the Park and Rec Committee. And at that time, I was thinking about we need to expand the Park and Rec Committee so that it actually reaches out to people and maybe re-envisions what Capitola would like to see in a recreation program. Well, I think the time is now. There's people in this community that have been involved in recreation that now live here and they would like to be involved. We have an energetic new executive that is running that program and she has wonderful ideas. I could just see it in her eyes. So this is the time to open up the process to engage with the residents of the city and say, okay, what do you want for the recreation program? Does it mean a new skateboard park? Maybe it does, I don't know. But one thing with any kind of process is community engagement. What do you want? After all, you're gonna pay for it. One way or the other, you're gonna pay for it, whether it's right next door to you because that's an activity you want or maybe you don't want it. So you're gonna have to deal with that. Or maybe it's an activity that you never thought about before. One thing I've put on the ballot, I mean, excuse me and our general plan a couple times, is exercise equipment for seniors. I've seen it in San Francisco. It's all in the different parks. You go there and I see seniors doing that. When I was, last time I was in Paris, I saw seniors doing their exercises in parks because there's equipment. This is not far-fetched balance issues and such like that. We don't always think of these ideas because we haven't actually focused on it. So I think this is the time to say, in terms of recreation, because it is a budget item, what do we want? How do we envision that? Things have changed. When I was a kid, I went down to the basketball court, gave the guy my keys and I got a basketball and I played. Yeah, five, six hours with my buddies. Recreation is a heck of a lot different now and we need to focus on that. If it could be a skateboard, it could be all sorts of other things. Let's start a new effort in that regard. Thanks. Thank you, Yvette. If there was adequate space and enough public buy-in, I would definitely support any facility that encourages outdoor play. I think the question was, if it were privately funded, I'm not familiar enough about the differences between a privately funded park versus what Jacques is referring to as a public park or recreation area. I definitely agree with Sam. In 2012, there was conversations then when we made Lower Pat Cove into a parking lot that we would soon change it, not so we would change it soon thereafter and I think that would be an exciting area to look at to possibly create something like a skate park for younger children or any sort of facility that encourages outdoor play for families. Thank you. Okay, start with Sam. Capitola, excuse me, is truly paradise. Because of that, the Chamber and other groups organize a number of special events for the community to enjoy. What are your thoughts about this and would you support these events? I do support these events and I volunteer for these events. I think these are wonderful events and we should continue with the Art and Wine Festival and with the Auto Show and with the Wharf to Wharf. They are part of what makes Capitola, I think, that attraction that we all strive for. So I support the events that we have but I also recognize that I think a lot of the residents may have event fatigue and that we should be more judicious about permitting any new events that wanna come into the community because sometimes too much of a good thing can not be good any longer. But I do support the events that we have. I think they're important to the fabric of Capitola and I find them to be vibrant and bring the community to life. There are opportunities and sometimes the only opportunity to be able to walk in the streets without all the cars around and I appreciate that. So yeah, I would encourage all of us to enjoy these events but let's be careful about whether we add any new ones at this point. Thank you. Thank you, Jock. So I generally agree with Sam. There has to be a balance between what we do here trying to bring people from the outside world to enjoy this town. I think the last festival I enjoyed walking around because I saw a lot of kids. What a festival in my mind. And Sam, I think you judge the sandcastle. So it was a totally different feeling. It was great. I saw more neighbors than I had seen before. That's a good thing. I was seeing people just having fun, enjoying themselves and talking to anyone they saw and that's what I enjoyed seeing. It was truly amazing. So one thing I've noticed is that it has to be a balance I think between events that are for Capitolans. Things that we would like to go see, not that we go out of town that weekend. So that's sort of a thing that should be put in the mix. Also I'd like to put out that the police chief monitors these things. He gives a report every year and the last report sort of suggested to me he felt the balance was pretty good. He didn't have in terms of incidences and things like that and the crowd control and stuff like that. He didn't have any big problems. One thing I'd like to point out there's a lot of volunteers from the citizenry here that get involved in that. So it's one of the things, it's not just an event put on by some outside agency. It's an event put on by people who actually live here. And one of the outcomes is that is you get to know your neighbors. One of the first things I did when I moved here was the art and wine. I mean, I forgot how many years I did that. We did the recycling for Capitolam entry as I recall. So I met a lot of people there and some of those people are still my friends. So that's an aspect of this community that I really enjoy. And I think the whole idea of events that gives that kind of benefit to this community is wonderful. Another thing about it is people like coming here because of those events and actually volunteering in it. I've seen people from Aptos, Soquel and other areas around here who actually come here because they like that. It makes them feel at home in Capitolam. So a city that knows how to do that, make people feel at home, that's pretty good. Thank you, Yvette. Capitola is absolutely paradise. I am, every day I'm overwhelmed with its beauty and how I'm able to attend all of these wonderful events like the art and wine and the Easter egg hunt with my four year old and it's so beautifully run. I understand, since I've been walking precincts, there's definitely some conversations out there about the impacts to businesses and to locals. And that's something that I would encourage having more conversations about and how to find a good balance because on one side I wanna continue seeing these great events that are, some are sponsored by the chamber and some by other businesses like our ice skating rink last winter. I think it's really important to encourage conversations and how we can have a year-round balance of these events. Just today when I was walking precinct a woman said, I really want some recognition for all the people that come out on Sundays with all the ukuleles. Like it's just such a great thing that happens and I said, I'm out there with my four year old, you know, most Sundays and we listen to you. So there's even these events that aren't sponsored by anyone that just take place and that's really special and that's what makes Capitola special and another reason why I would be honored to serve on council so I could support those types of events. Thank you, John. Thank you. Well, as some of you know, I live very close to all the events that happen here. Sometimes, a little too close, but I chose to live here. I live in the village and I love living in the village even if people are building things at 4.30 in the morning on Saturday. We have the Capitola Art and Wine Festival and that's awesome. I'm really happy that this year, two of my own apprentices dedicated more than 70 hours of community service to making this event happen. I also contributed to the first lighted boat parade in Capitola and I think it was a major success. It's awesome when our community comes out and gets involved. When we meet our neighbors, as Jacques said, that's great, we can come out and have a good time. Capitola is paradise. It's part of the reason that I live here. I think it's the jewel of California. I think it's the jewel of the United States and I think that the community events that we have here are what really makes it special. I just wanna talk briefly about one of those events that touches me personally and that's the rowboat races at the Bagonia Festival. This year, my union iron workers local 377 was a proud sponsor of the rowboat races. A few years ago, about five years ago, I was walking through the village at the Bagonia Festival and I came upon these rowboat races and I was excited. I said, wow, these are awesome. Can I watch them? And they said to me, you can't just watch them. You can compete. And I'm happy to tell you that I've had multiple victories in the Capitola rowboat races. Free of charge. Anybody can just walk up, sign up and win and that's great. That's great when you can be a winner in your community. So I think that we need to have more activities like the rowboat races because rowboat races are a form of a green activity. Think about the environmental impact that rowboat races have on our community. It's not much. So I think if we increase things, I'd like to see the drift wood regatta come to Capitola next year and be a part of one of our festivals because that would be the building of boats and boat building for recreation is a part of our historical community. Thank you. Sam, did you answer that? Yes. Okay, it's time for closing statements. You each have two minutes and Jock, we're gonna start with you. Start the clock. My focus here that I say to you is my promise is I have objectives and goals for this community. I wanna see projects finished that will make Capitola proud. I want to include people in this community in the fashioning of those projects, like the work. I want people to realize this is a community where you can be involved. My passion, my passion ever since I've been involved in politics, early 20s, is creating community. I found a home here where there is a community. My sense of community is to be more involved. My sense of community is to try to make it easy for people to get that feeling also and to learn the advantages and the benefits of living in a community where you have trust, where you feel walking down the street could be an adventure, you might meet a neighbor, where you know your kids are gonna have after-school activities because there might be people that help make that program happen through our recreation district. This is a community that I love. I want it to be safe for other families that move here and I want it to be a place that people enjoy retiring here and safe for them as well. Thank you. Thank you. You bet. Well first I'd like to thank the Capitol of Soquel Chamber and Tony for moderating tonight. To be elected would truly be an honor. I'm eager to pave a path for my young daughter Sedona and hope to inspire others to pursue public service. I've seen other jurisdictions and seen different city council members in full effect and there is nothing in comparison when it comes to Capitol City Council members. There is a special respect that all council members have for one another and there is true collaboration that I have seen over many years and to be part of that and to be part of a community that has been so welcoming has deeply overwhelmed me. I'm invested in this community and we'll make sure that I keep Capitol the small coastal community that we all love to know. I would be honored to have your vote in November and if you have any questions afterwards I'll be more than happy to answer them. Thank you. Thank you. Jack. I just want to thank everyone for coming here tonight. Thank you so much for coming out and participating in your community government. Tonight we're serving here together. We're working together as a community to make Capitola a better place to live. And together we'll provide responsible progress for our community and provide a future for our children while preserving our rich history. I'm so grateful to be a part of Capitola. As I said before I've traveled around the United States and I've lived everywhere and I'm truly humbled by the embracement of this community. I would be so humbled by your vote on November 6th to represent you as your city councilman. Thank you so much. Thank you, Sam. Yes. Thank you everyone for coming out tonight and listening to us. And I believe that we, and I think we all acknowledge that we are truly blessed to be able to live in Capitola. And I know I feel that way and I want to be able to work for you and the community once again to keep Capitola the wonderful place that it is to maintain our small town feel, but at the same time move us forward with the right projects that bring us the outcomes that we share and want to realize, but at the same time preserving the quality of life in our neighborhoods. And I think that I will work hard to assure that we have those kinds of outcomes and we are able to move forward. We have a lot of good things going on in Capitola. We wanna preserve those, but we have some areas where we need to do a lot of hard work. I'm ready to step up and do that, but I need your vote on November 6th in order to be in a position to serve you. You know, my campaign slogan this round is let's work together for Capitola. And that's what I truly want to do. I hope you'll allow me to do that. But in closing, I do wanna say that we do have a high quality of life here. We have a lot to be thankful for, but I think the most important thing and the thing that is most reflective of our quality of life is really how we are and treat one another. Because that can be really what makes our day. We can all disagree, but we don't have to be disagreeable. And I think that if we all work together, we can accomplish great things for Capitola. Thank you, good night. Thank you, candidates, for participating this evening and good luck to you. And I'd like to thank the audience for participating as well. And don't forget to go out and vote on November 6th. And this is the end of our candidates forum. I'm Tony Castro, signing out. Thank you.