| | Published October 15th, 2008
| Candidates Address Neighborhood Groups
| | By Cathy Tyson |  | | From left: Carl Anduri, Carol Federighi and Gabriel Froymovich Photo Cathy Tyson |
At their recent general membership meeting, the Lafayette Homeowners Council hosted a Candidates Forum for City Council candidates to discuss their positions on important issues. With complimentary cookies and coffee to set the tone, the friendly and very civil get together was off to a good start. Representatives from almost every neighborhood were in attendance.
There are four candidates vying for three open City Council seats, however incumbent Mike Anderson was unable to attend, and issued a prepared statement.
Carol Federighi, also an incumbent, went first noting that she's a product of the area's fine schools, obtaining an undergraduate degree from Stanford, a teaching credential from U.C. Berkeley and her J.D. from Hastings.
"I'm proud to be a part of a council that works well with each other and respects one another - I think that carries over to the general public." She continued, "I believe in strong fiscal management; I support long range planning."
Her priorities also include greatly strengthening protections for hillsides and ridgelines, and to continue to chip away at the road repair backlog.
The next speaker, incumbent Carl Anduri, started off by asking audience members if they have ever spent time volunteering for a civic, school or sports organization - a majority of hands were raised. Then he asked how many think a city council member should have volunteer experience in order to serve on the city council - again many hands went up.
He went on to highlight the nuances and understanding gained from over ten years of volunteering his time on the City Council, Planning Commission, Hillside Task Force, Environmental Task Force and more.
As President of Lex Mundi, a world wide association of law firms, his goal is to "constantly be improving" and "to be looking at ways to provide more value at less cost." These tenets obviously also apply to the City Council.
His priorities include fiscal integrity - to have strong fiscal management and to fix neighborhood roads. He also wants to find a way for seniors to stay in the area and believes in the importance of all generations being able to thrive and interact in Lafayette.
If elected, Gabriel Froymovich, the youthful challenger wants to put pressure on ABAG, the Association of Bay Area Governments, in conjunction with other similarly situated cities to see if they can have the housing element numbers adjusted downward. He would also like to find the money in the budget to fix Lafayette's roads and would fight any future sales tax effort. He went on to note that it's been many years since an incumbent has been unseated, but that he would consider other volunteer opportunities within the city if defeated.
In Town Hall style, questions from the audience wrapped up the evening. Candidates answered queries about the sales tax, concerns about density and development, the downtown strategic plan and more.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA