| | Published September 21st, 2016
| 4 for 4: Orinda City Council Candidates Answer Questions
| | | By Sora O'Doherty |  | | Linda Delehunt |
The Lamorinda Weekly asked the four candidates competing for two seats on the Orinda City Council to answer four questions about themselves and issues facing the city of Orinda. Here are their answers:
Linda Delehunt
1) Why are you running for Orinda City Council?
I am running for Orinda City Council because I believe my skills can assist Orinda in changing its approach to issues. The processes currently in place do not serve the direction that a majority of Orinda citizens embrace. Orinda has been painfully slow to correct its infrastructure deficits and the current council appears to have little regard for the integrity of the general plan that provides that Orinda embrace and expand its semi-rural character through the renewal process. Orinda's downtown is congested, in desperate need of refreshing, and plagued with traffic gridlock and parking issues. Orinda needs a new approach to decision making to echo the voice of the community.
2) What special expertise do you think you would bring to the Council?
I am a CAL alum, and hold a doctorate in educational leadership, a master's degree and several credentials including an administrative credential. I have a long career history of leadership in the public sector, government and school arenas. My area of expertise is assisting entities in targeting and allocating their monetary and physical resources in a fiscally prudent and appropriate manner. I have a track record of personal integrity and can assure the public that their faith and confidence is well placed in my leadership ability.
Orinda residents cherish their excellent schools and I am the only candidate running for City Council that has expertise as an educational leader. I possess the skills to work effectively with the local school districts with the goal of keeping Orinda schools "top notch."
3) What are the three biggest issues you see facing Orinda?
My priorities are to improve Orinda by giving downtown a fresh, new look, preserving Orinda's semi-rural character, maintaining local control and obtaining public input; prioritizing public safety, parking and traffic; and ensuring that local businesses thrive.
4) What are your thoughts about Orinda Downtown Development?
I believe in encouraging all citizens to be leaders and to engage in open discussion on downtown development and consistency with the general plan. My platform embraces local control, respecting the current 35-foot height limit for new structures, and refreshing downtown while enhancing and retaining Orinda's semi-rural environment.
Darlene K. Gee
1. Why are you running for Orinda City Council?
I was appointed to the City Council in July 2015, and want to continue my involvement and contributions to our road rehabilitation and be part of the efforts to revitalize downtown. I am a long-term Orinda resident with nearly three decades of community service, perspective, and expertise that will directly benefit Orinda.
2. What special expertise do you think you would bring to the Council?
My tenure on the City Council gives me up-to-date understanding of the city's issues. Previously I served four years on the Citizen's Infrastructure Oversight Commission. Five years of city service has given me an excellent understanding of our infrastructure challenges. As a civil engineer with nearly four decades of experience, I bring relevant expertise to roads and other projects. I have an MBA from UC Berkeley, 25 years of executive management experience and financial accountability for teams of up to 150 people. I have a proven track record of consensus building, problem solving, and financial performance.
3. What are the three biggest issues you see facing Orinda?
Roads and drainage infrastructure: continuing to deliver real progress on our roads and drainage infrastructure rehabilitation and obtaining the funding for the last two phases of the city's plan; downtown revitalization: deciding what type of downtown revitalization the majority of the community supports and taking the necessary steps to implement this vision; and financial management: maintaining the city's good fiscal condition and protecting against future downturns or emergencies.
4. What are your thoughts about Orinda Downtown Development?
I believe we can have so much more to enjoy in downtown without sacrificing our small town charm and beautiful natural environment. At our September 6th council meeting, I supported moving forward with efforts to obtain outside expertise to help us 1) formulate feasible scenarios; 2) define a framework for robust community input; and 3) identify actions needed to modify or augment the city's general plan. Engagement of economic development expertise along with the full participation of our residents, our property owners, city staff and council will put Orinda on a successful path to a more vibrant downtown.
Bruce London
1. Why are you running for Orinda City Council?
My wife and I have lived in Orinda since 1984. I have been following our city council very closely for the past several years. I attended every council meeting for the past three years, reading every staff report, and have become increasingly concerned that they were making decisions not beneficial to the entire community. Now I want to vote on important issues facing the city about which I care deeply.
2. What special expertise do you think you would bring to the Council?
As a retired medical doctor, I spent academic and professional careers reviewing volumes of complicated information, reaching independent conclusions, and developing strategies. Being a good council member requires the same ability. As chief of the Diagnostic Imaging Department and member of my hospital's Medical Executive Committee - the governance body of the medical staff - for six years, I developed expertise in achieving consensus.
3. What are the three biggest issues facing Orinda?
What keeps me up at night is the threat of loss of local control. Municipalities are under constant assault from Sacramento and the increasing power of regional agencies. Orinda's roads continue to be a problem. We've voted to tax ourselves three times in the past four years, but the repair work moves slowly. The emphasis needs to change from raising tax revenue to actually accomplishing the repairs. Downtown parking and traffic are high on the list of grievances. The recent Parking Study yielded very predictable recommendations, which need to be acted upon urgently.
4. What are your thoughts about Orinda Downtown Development?
I would use the Orinda Planning Commission's approval of the 25A Orinda Way Project, which will contain five retail/restaurant spaces, office spaces, and its own parking, while complying with the current 35-foot height limit, as a template. The city should invite new retail and restaurant applications and work with them to succeed, not demean such applications like our City Council did when they overturned the Planning Commission's 2013 approval of the Montessori proposal, which would have provided 4,500 square feet of new retail to the abandoned Phairs property.
Inga Miller
1) Why are you running for Orinda City Council?
Orinda is the best small town in the Bay Area. I am running to preserve its charm and move us into the future.
2) What special expertise do you think you would bring to the Council?
The tenacity, dedication and ability to ask pointed questions that I developed as a journalist focusing on local government matters, coupled with my experience negotiating deals as a transactional real estate attorney provide me with the skillset to ask the right questions, elicit information and lead thoughtful and objective decision making.
3) What are the three biggest issues you see facing Orinda?
A) Roads. We have hit important milestones in our journey to fix our Orinda roads but have a few more miles to go. We must finish what we have started by approving the last two phases of our five-phase Road and Drainage Repair Plan. B) Downtown. We need to bring a balanced approach to improve amenities and opportunities to shop and dine in Orinda while retaining our downtown charm. C) Education and public safety. Fiscal accountability and oversight is key to maximizing resources available for public safety and making Orinda a place where art and education thrive.
4) What are your thoughts about Orinda Downtown Development?
Downtown deserves our attention. The fact that Orinda has the second lowest per capita sales tax revenue in Contra Costa County (only Oakley is lower) is an objective signal that we are falling short of providing opportunities to our residents to stay in Orinda to shop, dine and utilize services. Respected members of our community have pointed to my skills as an active listener and objective thinker to bring a balanced approach to improve amenities and opportunities to shop and dine in Orinda while retaining our downtown charm. Providing direction to property owners while supporting initiatives like expanded access to and visibility of our treasured San Pablo Creek is part of such a balanced approach.
|
 | | Darlene K. Gee |  | | Bruce London |  | | Inga Miller | | | | | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA