 | | | Jill Keimach Photo provided
| | | | | | Jill Keimach, Moraga's Town Manager, gave a very informative talk about Moraga, its challenges and successes, at the Moraga Movers dinner June 13 at the Soda Center.
She elaborated on her definition of "minimal government" which means lower taxes with more efficiency that she, as a manager, can utilize to insure that her staff is accountable for what they do.
Minimum government doesn't mean lower expectations. It means keeping your expectations high, keeping your service level high, and not having bureaucracy. Her definition of bureaucracy is when you work for an organization, disappear, and not have accountability. There are no secretaries in the Town Office.
With pride, Keimach pointed out that Moraga's cost per capita for town government is $384, considerably lower than the surrounding communities, and much lower than Piedmont's $1857 (Piedmont is smaller than Moraga!)
Keimach gave the Movers a detailed analysis about five potential sites for a Community Meeting Room and Council Chambers, plans for the Hacienda, and road conditions. Do we want to pay $4 a square yard soon to fix our neighborhood roads or pay $33 as is presently faced in Orinda?
The 5 sites considered for the Community Meeting Room/Council Chambers were 329 Rheem, the Library, LaSala, the Casita, and JM. The Council will consider later this month adding a six-foot extension to the second floor at 329 Rheem creating a room to accommodate 100 people. The projected cost is $170M which would be the same cost of staying at JM for 10 years.
The evening ended with a spirited number of questions which were very capably handled. In a straw vote concerning our road conditions the majority of Movers opted for a general bond issue as opposed to a neighborhood benefit assessment tax. In the coming months there will be many facts presented to our citizens to help them decide the best course for our town.
The Moraga Movers welcomes all active adults age 55+. For more information go to www.moragamovers.org.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA