| | Published January 19, 2011
| Setting Goals
Or, So much to do, so little time
| | By Sophie Braccini | | |
About 20 residents joined the 12 town officials who convened at 8 a.m. on a Saturday at the Hacienda de las Flores to start setting the goals for the Town of Moraga. Finance Director Emily Boyd confirmed that frugality is keeping the Town's operating budget balanced, but that deferred infrastructure maintenance requires that new sources of income be found. As residents and community groups began to elucidate their ideas, it became clear that four hours would not be enough to prioritize all of the items; the goal-setting meeting will reconvene on February 9 at 7 p.m.
The phrase of the day was Bill Gross's 'New Normal' (recently used by President Barack Obama in a 60 Minutes interview). "The new normal is Moraga," stated Town Manager Jill Keimach, "Moraga has a very stable financial situation, we have always been a minimal government, and we need to continue to appeal to the many volunteers that have kept us lean." Nonetheless, Keimach believes that meager resources should not stop the community from having high expectations. "That's what motivates us," she stated in her opening remarks, "and we will succeed."
After Town staff and Mayor Karen Mendoca listed their goals, residents added some new elements. A partial list includes:
Claire Roth, speaking on behalf of the Hacienda Foundation, asked that the Town consider tearing down the Casita and rebuilding it as a community meeting room.
Dick Olsen, an MOFD board member who spoke as a Moraga resident, asked that the Town work on establishing an emergency response plan.
Former mayor Lynda Deschambault asked the Town to resume work on the ridgeline and hillside ordinance that was tabled when Measure K was proposed for the November 2008 ballot.
Ellen Beans, of the Moraga Citizens Network, wondered why the implementation of the Moraga Specific Plan was not listed.
Hollie Lucas-Alcalay asked that an interim plan or retail ordinance be defined for the Rheem Center.
For a complete list of goals presented at the January 8th workshop, go to the Town website, www.moraga.ca.us.
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